I feel that late dining in Spain is a bit of a myth. Granted, you won´t find places to have dinner at 19:00 in the evening (unless you are planning to stay in one of the "northern european ghettos" at the infamous "Costas", and even then), but there is usually not a big problem to have dinner at 20:30 or 21:00. Restaurants try to serve at least two turns, and if you begin serving at 22:00, you certainly cannot do it.

Places to have dinner or lunch in Barcelona ... I am not a big fan myself of the tapas and pintxos there ... God, I am not a big fan of the pintxos served outside from the Basque Country and neighbouring regions They try hard to replicate them, and although sometimes they can be decent, all that story about collecting toothpicks and then saying how many you have eaten is one of the most "unauthentic" things I have seen (although I recognize that it is kind of neat for the tourists ... my friends in Madrid do enjoy it). But if you choose that option, I would say that Euskal Etxea and Sagardi are two of the best :

Euskal Etxea, near the Picasso Museum. Placeta Montcada, 1-3 Tel. 93 310 21 85 Metro: Jaume I Opening times: Restaurant from 13:30 to 16:00 h. and from 20:30 to 23:30 h. Pintxos from 11:30 to 16:00 h. and from 18:30 to 23:00 h.

Sagardi Argenteria, 62 Tel. 93 319 99 93 Metro. Jaume I Opening times: every day from 10:00h to 0:30. Fridays and Saturdays until 1:00 in the morning.

Both places have restaurants. Simple food, but decent.

Pinotxo, in the Mercat de la Boqueria ( http://www.boqueria.info/ ) is a must, although difficult to find a place at the bar. It is a small place located inside the market, pretty good.

The restaurants in the Barceloneta, between Maremagnum and the Port Olimpic, are a good place to have a taste of paella and seafood.

The "Take Off" guides is an interesting "do-it-yourself" guide : http://www.takeoffguides.com/english.html . Lots of great advice in there.

Bye for now,

Covadonga Bilbao/Madrid - Spain