Bivio
By Jessica Holom
Bivio means a fork in the road in Italian, which is a fair description of the choice facing anyone walking down Passeig Joan de Borbó. One way leads to the seafood terraces the promenade has always been known for. The other leads here, into a steakhouse that has been working this stretch of Barceloneta since 2018 and now says as much right in its name.
The beef is the point, and it comes off the charcoal grill. Cuts run to Argentine Black Angus, aged beef and rib of rubia gallega, with a Wagyu burger for anyone who wants the flavor without the ceremony. The signature move is the stone: your steak arrives seared but short of done – on a slab hot enough to finish the job at the table – so the last few degrees are yours to get right. Tenderloin carpaccio and steak tartare make the better openers. Figure around €30 a head, more once a serious cut is involved.
The terrace is leafy and set back from the pedestrian flow, which makes it a better spot than most on Joan de Borbó for a cocktail and an hour of watching the neighborhood go by; the dining room is the warmer call when the wind comes off the water. There’s a long wine list to work through, and the kitchen runs straight from midday to midnight, seven days a week. Come hungry and let the stone do the last of the work.