Rita Blue Bar / Restaurant

El Raval, Barcelona –

Bright colors are the order of the day at Rita Blue, starting with the cheerful blue, green, red, and yellow cloths that cover the tables on its popular terrace on Plaça Sant Agusti, and continuing with the brilliant vermillion and turquoise on the interior walls.

Split into two main spaces, the front area features a bar and dance floor surrounded by heartshaped stools and plump beige sofas, while the softly-lit back room with its intimate orange glow provides a mellow atmosphere for dinner.

Succulent Catalan and Spanish cuisine graces the menu, and Rita Blue is regularly full of elegantly-attired diners on the way to or from the nearby Liceu or Romea theaters.

A more boisterous, fashionable, and affluent crowd arrives later in the evening to indulge in excellent cocktails and maybe even shake a leg on the dance floor if the DJ drops the right tune. A magician also stops by on the weekends to pull improbable objects out of his wizard’s sleeves and sprinkle a further dose of magic over a truly classy venue.

Although there’s not much mingling going on between patrons, Rita Blue does provide an upbeat and upscale vibe for groups of friends looking to start the night in style.