Sundy Village, the new development tucked just off Atlantic Avenue at 22 W Atlantic Ave, has been slowly filling in over the past couple of years, and Barcelona Wine Bar was the first restaurant to actually open its doors there. It sits in Suite 140, and for anyone who has watched that corner of Delray Beach evolve, it is a meaningful first tenant.
I spend a lot of time walking clients through downtown Delray Beach, and Sundy Village has become one of my favorite areas to point out, partly because of what is happening architecturally and partly because of what is moving in. Barcelona Wine Bar gives a good, honest read on what to expect there, so here is what the menu, the reviews, and the hours actually tell us.
A Spanish Kitchen Built Around Sharing
The kitchen at Barcelona Wine Bar is Spanish, tapas style, which means the menu is built for ordering several small dishes across a table rather than one entree per person. Real dishes on the menu include eggplant caponata, a spinach and chickpea cazuela, roasted mushrooms, chicken thigh al verde, ham and manchego croquetas, Berkshire pork tenderloin, garlic shrimp, roasted carrots with spiced labneh, braised cabbage, and a raw tuna tartare. That is a wide range for a tapas menu, covering vegetables, seafood, and meat without leaning too hard on any one category. That kind of range is part of what makes a tapas menu work: it gives a table of four or six people enough variety to order across categories instead of everyone circling back to the same one or two dishes. It also means the kitchen has to execute a lot of different techniques well, from raw preparations to braises, rather than leaning on one signature dish.
What really sets the place apart, though, is the wine program. There are 49 wines available by the glass and more than 400 bottles on the list, which is a serious selection for a tapas restaurant in Delray Beach. Mondays bring half price bottles, a detail worth knowing if you are planning a visit and want to try something you would not normally order.
What the Reviews Actually Say
Barcelona Wine Bar has 70 reviews and 263 photos on Yelp so far. The dishes are described as full of flavor, well presented, and precisely executed, with service that reviewers call attentive and warm. That is a strong showing for a relatively new spot inside a still developing area like Sundy Village. That kind of consistency between the food and the service comments matters more than a single five star write up, since it suggests the kitchen and the floor staff are both performing well on a normal night, not just during a slow moment when a restaurant can put its best foot forward.
It is a smaller review base than some of the more established restaurants nearby, which makes sense given how new both the restaurant and Sundy Village itself are. Worth keeping in mind if you are the type who reads through a hundred reviews before booking a table: there simply are not that many yet.
Who You'll Find at the Tables
The crowd here tends to be couples and small groups who want quality tapas and a real wine list rather than a loud night out. It fits the overall feel of Sundy Village, which reads as a newer, more polished corner of Delray Beach compared to the older stretch of Atlantic Avenue. It is also the kind of place that works well before or after spending time elsewhere in Sundy Village, since the setting invites lingering over a glass of wine rather than rushing through a meal.
Lourdes' Take as a Local Agent
Sundy Village has become one of my favorite areas to bring clients after we have spent an afternoon touring properties in downtown Delray Beach, and Barcelona Wine Bar is a big part of that. I like suggesting it for a tapas dinner with clients coming in from Spain who miss having something like this nearby, since the format and the wine list translate well for anyone used to that kind of dining. It is also a useful stop if you are trying to get a feel for how Sundy Village is shaping up before deciding whether that part of downtown fits what you are looking for in a home. It is also a place I bring up with clients who ask what has actually opened in Sundy Village versus what is still under construction, since Barcelona Wine Bar being the first tenant to open there tells its own story about how the development is progressing.
For clients weighing a move to Delray Beach, whether they are buying in person or handling the whole process remotely from out of state or abroad, I always suggest spending an evening in this pocket of downtown. A wine bar with a serious bottle list and a menu built for sharing tells you a lot about the kind of neighborhood you would be living in.
Good to Know Before You Go
Barcelona Wine Bar is located inside Sundy Village at 22 W Atlantic Ave, Suite 140, Delray Beach, FL 33444. Hours are Monday through Thursday 3pm to midnight, Friday 3pm to 2am, Saturday 11:30am to 2am, and Sunday 11:30am to midnight. If you go on a Monday, remember that bottles are half price, which is a good excuse to try something new from the list.
Written by Lourdes Alvarez, licensed Realtor (FL #SL3559024) with Charles Rutenberg Realty, serving Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Palm Beach County.
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Lourdes answers in English or Spanish, usually the same day.