Note: Sadly, this place has shut down! 🙁
“You went to a vegan restaurant??” my dad sputtered when I told him what I’d had for lunch. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay? How did you end up there?”
I had two more surprises in store. 1) I went there on purpose. 2) I actually really, really enjoyed it. (This is coming from the girl who subscribes heavily to the “I love animals. They’re delicious” school of thought.)
But it’s hard not to enjoy your meal when the food is as good as it is at Juicy Jones in Barcelona. The funky vegan restaurant is just steps away from Las Ramblas, and it offers a fresh, healthy, and cheap option. Or I think it must have been healthy – I’m still suspicious that it tasted too good to have been good for you too! It’s definitely one of the top choices for vegan food in Barcelona.
In a country where dishes with ham and tuna count as “vegetarian” options, imagine trying to explain the concept of vegans. I’ve attempted it a few times; one person responded “So they can still eat fish and chicken, right?” Another said “Well, I’m basically vegan. I eat jamón and mostly vegetables and fish.” Basically, a lot of people just don’t quite get it.
So to have a successful vegan restaurant in Spain, I’m betting your food has got to be pretty damn tasty. After all, you’ve got to convert all the jamón-worshippers to back away from the pig products and embrace weird-sounding dishes like “seitan” and “bulgur”. Luckily, Juicy Jones does great food!
There are actually two locations (one in the Gótico, one in the Raval). The interior is decorated with rainbow graffiti-style paintings splattered all over the walls. And why’s it called Juicy Jones? Because they do excellent fresh-squeezed juices, like pear, grape, and orange blends, and almond milk shakes with fresh pineapple and papaya. Smoothies are one of the #1 things I miss about California, so I love stopping by Juicy Jones for a fresh juice fix.
It was only recently that I tried the food as well though. I went with a friend, and we both ordered the menú del día. Here’s some of the delicious food they serve:
To start, she had a salad with lots of fresh, crunchy veggies and topped with avocado. I had very garlicky hummus served with carrot sticks. Both were really tasty, and the hummus was surprisingly filling. They also brought us a small basket of wheat bread, which had more substance than the normal white baguette you get at Spanish restaurants.
For the second plate, she tried their famous thali plate, which is a selection of 3 Indian-style curries served with rice and chapatis. (The curries change by day). I tried two of hers and they were both seriously delicious.
I picked the seitan with potatoes and peppers with lemon sauce, because I just wasn’t sure what it was and wanted to know. The waitress described it as being “meat-like”, which left me unsure, as meat substitutes can be pretty awful. But it was pleasantly surprising; I actually liked it so much I ate the whole thing. I’m afraid I played the “Oh, I’ll just have one more bite…” game until it was all gone. The vegetables were nice too, and the lemony sauce was delicious and added a tangy zing to the dish.
To finish, we both had vegan carrot cake, which was light and fluffy. The slice of orange served with it was a nice touch too. We weren’t really hungry any more, but it was so yummy! I’d originally anticipated buying juice to take home after my lunch; afterwards, I was far too stuffed to even think about more food-related stuff. All those chickpeas, seitan, and veggies definitely hit the spot.
So if you’re looking for good vegetarian or vegan restaurants in Barcelona, try Juicy Jones! If you can convince even this carnivore to willingly eat vegan food and enjoy it, you know it’s a good spot. Both locations are the same style and in the same area, so there are no major differences. They do breakfasts, brunches, juices, teas, lunches, and dinners.
Two notes though: as a caffeine-starved friend was aghast to find out one morning, they don’t do coffee! I also read a lot of complaints about how slow the service is online, but I didn’t have any problems with it. Ah well, I suppose one place can’t have everything.
Here’s all the practical information about Juicy Jones:
Where: Carrer de Cardenal Casañas, 7 and Carrer de l’Hospital, 74. (Both are close to metro stop Liceu).
Prices: €8.50 for the menú del día (includes starter, main course, dessert, bread, and a drink).
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Closed on Mondays.
Have you ever eaten at a vegan restaurant? What was it like? Also, do you know of any other good Barcelona vegan food (or vegetarian!) that I should try?
Besos!
-Jess
Teresa Carles Cuina Vegetariana
based on 21 member reviews
Jovellanos, 2, Barcelona
933171829
It received 4.5 of 5 maybe it’s worth a try?
Benjamin
Wow, that place looks great! I’ve never even heard of it, but their menu looks incredible. Thanks for the recommendation!
Cat Bar on C/Boria 17 – near Metro Jaume 1 – is awesome. Massive veggie burgers and groovy ambience!
Ooh thanks! I’ve been in there, but only for drinks and live music. Veggie burgers sound great though, so I’ll have to go back for real food soon.
Another notch on the ‘reasons for why I must move to Barcelona’ bedpost. Am not vegan (or even vegetarian), but I do love varied, tasty food.
Haha it’s getting to be a well-notched bedpost from the sound of things. 🙂
my friend has been meaning to take me there forever. i’m a vegetarian (i couldn’t survive without cheese…) but even that, they don’t quite get it!
a friend once sent me this “los vegetarianos no pueden ser felices porque no pueden comer perdices”. ouch, as you probably know, all children’s books and stories end with “fueron felices y comieron perdices”.
oh well… i’ll have to take them to juicy jones:)
Ooh I hadn’t heard that phrase before! But yes, you should definitely take them to Juicy Jones – I left very happy, even without comiendo any perdices. 🙂
You should also try Sesamo in Sant Antoni, very tasty and good value veggie food. I think it may be only open in the evening and night though. The tasting menu is especially good value. Address is Carrer de Sant Antoni Abat, 52 🙂
I’ve heard of that one! It’s supposed to be really delicious. Thanks for the recommendation! 🙂
How cool! I’ve been getting into going to vegan/vegetarian establishments recently, if only because it’s interesting to see how they provide balanced dishes within the set limitations. There are a couple vegan ice cream shops here in NYC, one of which looks like an old school ice cream parlor 🙂
Yeah, it really is interesting! What was vegan ice cream like? Have you actually tried it?
yeah! It’s pretty good. One place mixed coconut, rice, soy and hemp milk (all different mixtures for each of the flavors) so one wasn’t very overpowering. For chocolate/nutty flavors they tended to use soy/rice milk and then coconut for fruits, etc. Here’s a post I did on it http://ericakjordan.com/dairy-free-frozen-treats-in-nyc though looking back, it’s not as informative as it could be.
Oooh interesting! Hemp milk??? Haha there are all kinds of interesting foods in the vegan culinary world…
yeah! Hemp milk tends to be the closest to being creamy without adding any other flavors. I’m actually not very fond of nuts and legumes so soy, almond, etc milk are not very viable alternatives for me. Enter hemp milk. Plus, I’m from Seattle. heh!
Let me know if you get an opportunity to try it some time!
Will do! 🙂 Maybe I’ll check it out next time I’m back home in California.
If you don’t find any, you can come up to visit me in hippie WA, we definitely have some there. ha!
Deal! 🙂
Juicy Jones a great spot! My boyfriend introduced me to its delicious food (and of course, the freshly squeezed juices) when we were in Barcelona. Yums!
Yeah, the juices are so yummy! It’s one of my new favorite spots.
Excellent post.Regards.jalal
Thanks!
Vegan/organic restaurants can actually be pretty tasty! I recently had lunch at a new organic restaurant here with a friend and I was surprised at how much I liked it. I hate most vegetables, my taste buds have not evolved beyond a four year old’s. And it was pretty tasty! This is also great news for vegetarians in Spain and people allergic to gluten. My sister was diagnosed with Celiac last year and I’ve become very aware of restaurants who do not have gluten-free restaurants–I judge them if they don’t have one! So many people are allergic–it makes sense to have one. It’s not so bad in the States but the rest of the world has yet to catch on. My sister had to educate waiters in France last summer who thought it was some kind of spice.
meant to say restaurants who do not have gluten free menus 😛
Yes, I was surprised how good it was! I have a friend who can’t eat gluten either, and I was amazed at how much interesting, tasty stuff she managed to eat. As long as you know what you’re doing, it doesn’t seem too hard.
That’s hilarious that the French waiters thought it was a spice! I wonder what the Spanish think of it…although my local Open Cor does have a gluten free section, so it must not be too uncommon to go without it.
Would find it hard to give up..er…jamon and suchlike but the place looks great. Thali, hummus, fresh veg…yum.
When the food tastes this good, I don’t think it would be too hard to ditch the jamón and pick up the veg instead. 😉
It is so strange to see vegetarian and vegan restaurants popping up around Spain, a country that goes cross-eyed at the sound of ‘no meat’. My friend is a pretty lax veggie, and when we went to a restaurant and she told the waiter, he was like ‘Well….we have cheese…and bread.’
Hahaha cheese and bread! At least Spain has tasty cheese and bread…but still!
My sister was a veggie for a while, and when she came to visit they were convinced jamón serrano was allowed in a vegetarian diet. I guess the thought of not eating ham was just unbearable.
I am completely impressed that you were able to find a vegan restaurant in Spain. I am a vegetarian, and I lived in Spain for six months. I realize how hard it is to find anything vegetarian, let alone vegan. Good find!!
I was shocked too! I think it’s slowly catching on though…little by little.
That looks so nice, lovely, colourful and just “I WANNA GO AND EAT THERE!” :D.
It’s super tasty! Everything is just as good as it looks. 🙂
pretty sure that concept does not exist in seville yet!
-katie
Haha I’m pretty sure you’re right – when I was there, a lot of people even struggled with vegetarianism!