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There are a thousand ways to position yourself when it comes to breakfast: sweet or savory, coffee or tea, sandwich or toast… There are many options, but Barcelona has long since taken a stand: the city’s quintessential breakfast is the croissant. The heritage of French pastries has taken hold in the city, and there is no doubt that the most traditional thing you can have for breakfast on a sunny terrace in the morning is a café amb llet with a freshly made croissant.
It doesn’t matter if it’s butter, with French inspiration, or lardo, the traditional one here, the fact is that Barcelona is the crescent capital of pastries, and there are many bakeries that embroider it.
And as it happens in any capital city, here everyone wants to be king. In the nerve center of the croissant there is a fierce competition to see who takes the throne. We don’t know who the winner is, but to help decide here is this list, which brings together some of the best croissants in croissant city.
Brunells, croissants with 200 years of history
Brunells Patisserie has hastily earned a spot on this list. In 2020, just a few months after its reopening, it won the award for the best butter croissant in Spain. Its secret lies, on the one hand, in the fact that one of the partners in the reopening is Canals, pastry chef of another of the usual award-winning bakeries. On the other hand, that bicentennial oven, as big as a room, which has been in the same place for almost two centuries. Brunells is a century-old pastry shop, and although it has now reopened, its history is the same as that of the Barcelona. From the mouth of the oven come out delicate and crunchy croissants that seem to have a thousand layers, a delight that makes you understand the reason for its award.
📍 Carrer Princesa, 22, el Born.
Pastry shop Canal, seventies croissants
That said, if Brunells is heir to the Canal croissant, Canal could not be missing in this list. With several pastry shops located in the uptown Zone, this pastry shop born in the 1970s has won the award for Best Butter Croissant in 2016 and 2019. If they keep winning it every three years, this year it’s their turn, so keep an eye on them. Its croissant, similar to Brunells’ (they are cousins for a reason), is also light, with a very fine honeycombed interior. Watch out because this is not the only pastry they work with, so be prepared for a hearty breakfast.
📍 Carrer de Calvet, 15, El Putxet
📍 Carrer de Muntaner, 566, Sant Gervasi
Forn Mistral, pleasure in mini format
Forn Mistral has earned its reputation. Curiously hidden in the hustle and bustle of University Square, this bakery, whose most attractive shop window is at the back door, has one of the smallest and most recognized delights by those who know about sweets in the city. The mini croissant, whether regular or chocolate, is a delicious snack, a gourmet bite of which one buys a few in moderation and ends up going back to buy more when one sees that they have run out in a few steps. It is not his only talent. The rest of the croissants, made with lardo and not with butter, in the traditional way, are at the same level, and their pan de pagés has already won several awards.
📍Ronda Sant Antoni, 96, Sant Antoni
📍Torres i Amat, 5, Raval
📍D’asturies, 35, Gràcia
Hoffman, haute cuisine croissants
They are not the only gastronomic croissants in town, far from it, but they are undoubtedly one of the most iconic. From their small store in the Born, they dispatch croissants that for years have fascinated locals and strangers alike with fantasy fillings that find the delicate balance between a crunchy croissant that supports with talent the filling with a gooey and sweet tooth. The mascarpone is one of its flagships, but the chocolate classic is close on its heels. No wonder in a pastry shop that has won the last two awards for the best pastry shop in town. A necessary place to understand the city’s cruasanterismo.
📍 Carrer dels Flassaders, 44, el Born.
Sant Croi, by Albert Roca, croissants far from downtown
The headline is literal and figurative. Albert Badia’s croissants are a far cry from the city center, with an upscale pastry shop opened in an unlikely location on the border of L’Hospitalet. But their croissants are also far from orthodoxy, always looking for innovation. It is not strange, in someone who has the name of the best pastry chef at the Bulli and the surname of the best at the Celler de Can Roca. Banal coincidence, but in any case, from her hands come cakes that are fantasy and delicious croissants that, attention, can be ordered at home in breakfast packs, to eat one or give as a gift to others. Their croissants, mind you, are Best Butter Croissant Award 2009 and 2018, so we already have a plan for tomorrow’s breakfast.
📍 Carrer de Bassegoda, 56, La Bordeta.
Escribà, the king in the royal streets
Escribà is the superstar of Catalan pastry, the Ferran Adrià of sweets. A man who has taken pastry to another level, whether it be for his gigantic and absurd creations, his crossovers with the art world or his television appearances. With two legendary restaurants on the Ramblas and Gran Via, it serves a butter croissant that was one of the first to be introduced in Barcelona. It is one of its star pieces. If you manage to find them without getting lost admiring the fancy cakes on their counters or the work of the bakery open to the public you get the prize of tasting a delicacy.
📍 La Rambla, 83, el Raval
📍 Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 546, Eixample Esquerra
El Prat-Can Carriel, from Roda de Ter, best croissant 2023
The sixteenth edition of the award for the best butter croissant fell in 2023 in the pastry shop Prat “Can Carriel” of Roda de Ter (Barcelona), the brand new winners of the ‘Best Artisan Butter Croissant of Spain 2023’. This is the second time this pastry shop has won the competition after winning for the first time in 2017.
Its croissant was the most highly valued among the sixty or so entries. The jury members especially highlighted its flavor and the honeycombing of its interior, in a contest where the jury scored the croissants according to the following criteria: taste (40 points), honeycombing (15 points), flakiness (15 points), color (10 points), format (10 points) and finish (10 points).