Lona

We had a quick cup of coffee at Lona Pintxos Bar. We'd noticed it was there, but it wasn't until we were in the mood for a coffee late one afternoon that we ventured in.   Even then, it wasn't until I subsequently checked out the web-page (in particular, under the heading "press") that it all became clear to me.

First, the name, "Lona".   Well, it's owned by Charles S, who also owns Barca, up the road.   Put the names together, and what do you get?  BARCA-LONA!!!

And why is it a "pintxos" bar?   Well, the web-site explains, "Pintxos ("spike" in Spanish) is a style of tapas that has its origins in San Sebastian, Spain. The concept is simple – food is both laid out throughout the bar and brought around in a ‘take what you like fashion’. Each food item, usually a small tapas size portion, is held together by a spike. Customers take what they like, keep the spikes and then pay later".  Kinda like a sushi train?

Barca is just up the street

Now that we know what it's all about, yes, we'll be going back to check out the food.  Although we haven't (yet) investigated the "pintxos" offering, or the Spanish beer on tap, we can vouch for the facts that (a) coffee is available there quite late in the afternoon, when other places have closed; and (b) the coffee is fine!    We'll overlook the minor anomaly that San Sebastián is in the Basque region and Barcelona (with an "e") is in Catalonia.