Almost five years ago, Billy and I celebrated our anniversary in Barcelona. Ever since, we've been big tapas fans. I had visited the Barcelona restaurant for a friend's birthday shortly after the Atlanta location opened (this group has restaurants in a handful of Connecticut cities), but hadn't ventured there with my partner in crime. Luckily, we were able to score a table on one of our recent Date Nights and had a feast! Our reservation window came and went without our table opening up, so we spent some time in the bar. I was excited to see a variety of Tempranillo wines on their list. My favorites come from Paso Robles (CA bias, I know), but their Spanish wine selection is great. I can see why they call themselves a "Wine Bar & Restaurant." I can safely say that Barcelona is not filled with a bunch of married couples out on date nights. Instead, we found the crowd more of the "awkward date nights" variety, typical in a single scene. Overall it's a very fun scene.If it's not blazing hot when you go to Barcelona, it's worth the wait for an outside table. We ordered a variety of tapas that were mostly hits. We started with the Ceviche which just didn't have enough punch for my taste. (Recall how I like heat in my own recipe here.) Still, the presentation was nice.

Next up was a delicious platter of sauteed mushrooms with a pesto sauce. We LOVED this dish - though there were a couple of other mushroom options that looked equally appealing. Also, the olive oil at Barcelona is deeeelish!!!

Our favorite dish of the evening, the chorizo with figs, was next. Wow, was this a full flavored meat. The sauce was both sweet and savory. Chorizo never wins any prizes for being good looking, but the flavor is fantastic! We used our bread to sop up every last drop of the sauce. For our "Platos Principales," Billy ordered the skirt steak. Though he asked for medium, the meat was slightly overcooked. On the whole, he was pleased, but next time we'll opt for more tapas.

I chose the Mussels al Diablo which is Spanish for "mussels that melt your face off." Lots and lots of crushed pepper in this dish. Plenty of heat - plenty of garlic. I LOVED it, but you should decide ahead of time if you want to sweat during dinner!The real treat of ordering mussels is that at the end, you have another excuse to eat bread.We had zero room for dessert (which seems to be the case with many of our meals). If you hit Barcelona and try anything different that's amazing, let us know!

Happy dining !