Cava Universal (La), Barcelona

This is a very cute, outdoor/indoor cafe perfectly located at the entrance to Las Ramblas where one can eat, drink and people-watch while taking in the lovely Barcelona ambiance. The food, okay but not great, will satisfy your hunger pangs on a lazy afternoon. However, Americans beware. On our last visit to Barcelona, we made a special effort to visit this cafe. On our two previous trips we intended to enjoy tapas and sip some wine, but it didn't fit into our agenda. But this trip was different. However, the experience left us less than satisfied and even humiliated. We entered the cafe choosing not to sit al fresco in the blazing sunshine. We were immediately seated, but when the young, dark-haired waiter discovered we were Americans, he refused to wait on us. After fifteen minutes of ignoring us while waiting on other customers to our left and right, or watching a soccer game on the TV, we finally waved to the manager at the bar, who instructed him to take our orders. Even then, he took his sweet time. When he finally made his way over to our table, he took our order, but was obviously aggravated by our presence. We ordered fried calamari, a salad, and a nice bottle of white wine. The food was pretty good, but the waiter didn’t tell us that the calamari came with a salad, so we order salad with a salad. While we ate our food, the good-looking waiter stood near our table, waved over another waiter where he--not knowing we speak Spanish--made disparaging remarks about us personally and Americans in general. At this point, we got up and left without finishing our food, paid the bill, and decided never to return again. This is very popular restaurant due to its location; however, the staff seems to appreciate European and even Canadian customers, but does not seem to value American customers or their money.