restaurants near Placa de Catalunya

traditional Spanish food

This may come as a bit of a shock to some but there is no "traditional Spanish food". Spain is a country made up of several regional food cultures, each with their own history and ingredients. Also may I suggest eating this at lunch time (around 2 pm), in Spain we really don't have the big dinner like in the USA, for us Lunch is the big meal of the day where we serve the best food.

That being said, if you are looking for a good lunch or early dinner (before 10 pm) then may I recommend the gourmet cafeteria at the top of El Corte Inglés department store at Pl. de Catalunya. Great views and a good mix a foods from various regions of Spain.

Carlos, glad to hear the food at El Corte Ingles is good. I've seen the view and thought it was an excellent place to sit and enjoy the view.

Is it just cafeteria style?

thank you. We are coming by train and do not arrive at hotel until 6pm. What about El Nacional-too tourista? We'd be walking from Hotel Indigo.

Another vote for El Corte Inglés. We ate there twice. I especially enjoyed the Vegetarian Paella and the delicious Sangria! We enjoyed the ambience, the view & mingling with the locals. They were enjoying the Churros.The basement has the fabulous Supermercado & El Gourmet Club- the store’s luxury delicatessen.https://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/shopping/el-corte-ingles-barcelona.html

Is it just cafeteria style?

Yes it's self service, casual ambiance, but food and setting are restaurant quality.

We are coming by train and do not arrive at hotel until 6pm

Then I think the cafeteria at the top of El Corte Inglés will suit your needs just fine. Remember in Spain restaurants don't open for "dinner" until 8:30 - 9 pm at the earliest, especially the non touristy ones.

You usually don't find the best food for dinner around the Eixample (its business district catering mainly to lunch for working professionals). If it were me I'd just take a cab to El Born, Gracia, or El Poble Sec, much better night time food scenes in those neighborhoods

Then I think the cafeteria at the top of El Corte Inglés will suit your needs just fine
thanks. This looks like it will work fine. I would have never thought of that. Plus, we can "see" our food before selecting it. And, we'd likely get in/out quickly to have time to have a nice promenade after dinner (after sitting on a train for 7 hours).

We've eaten at the department stores in several European cities. Wish our us stores had them.