Where is the street food in Barcelona actually good?

Barcelona is not a street food city in the Southeast Asian or Mexican sense, so recalibrate expectations before you arrive. The best casual eating happens at market stalls rather than sidewalk vendors: inside La Boqueria on La Rambla, skip the tourist-facing counters at the entrance and go straight to the back, where El Quim de la Boqueria serves anchovy-topped fried eggs and offal at a counter surrounded by locals. Santa Caterina market in El Born is less photographed and generally better value, with solid prepared food counters. For street-adjacent eating, the bocadillo de calamares at any no-name bar in the Barceloneta neighborhood costs around three euros and outperforms most sit-down seafood. The churros at Granja M. Viader in the Raval are eaten standing or perched, which qualifies. Avoid anything sold from carts near the Gothic Quarter tourist corridors; the quality drops sharply the moment a vendor has a captive audience.

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• Where do locals actually go for aperitivo in Barcelona?
• Where do locals drink coffee in Barcelona?
• What does a local breakfast look like in Barcelona?
• Where can I eat after midnight in Barcelona?
• How do I get from the airport to the city in Barcelona?
• Cash or card in Barcelona — what do locals actually use?