Syra Coffee on Carrer de Bonavista is a small, takeaway-leaning room in Gràcia: a short counter, a tight shopfloor, beans on the shelf, and enough pastry to make the stop feel complete without pretending to be a long-lunch cafe. The format is direct. You come in, order quickly, and are back on the street before the rhythm gets muddy.
That plainness suits a brand that started in Barcelona in 2015, roasts in the city, and now runs a wide local network. Bonavista feels like the clearest version of the idea: specialty coffee made easy to buy, easy to carry, and easy to return to, but still specific enough to reward a more deliberate stop.
Coffee style
The menu sits squarely on espresso, filter coffee, and cold brew/drip, with plant-based milk in the mix and manual-brew drinkers able to ask for V60 or Aeropress. That range matters more than any one signature drink. Syra is at its best when you treat it as a roaster-led daily stop rather than a place built around theatrics.
Food
Bonavista is not trying to be Barcelona’s big brunch answer. The food lane is smaller and sharper: pastries, cookies, and breakfast items that suit the pace of the room, plus enough baked sweetness to pair naturally with a fast espresso or a cleaner filter cup. That is the right amount of food for the format.
What people go for
The feel
The room reads as compact and practical rather than cosy. That can be a plus. There is less room for drift, less temptation to turn coffee into a project, and more sense that the counter is there to keep the day moving. Bonavista is better for a short sit, a bean pick-up, or a quick coffee before walking deeper into Gràcia.
Why Syra Coffee is shortlisted by Filter Notes
Syra Coffee is shortlisted because Bonavista shows the brand at its most readable: a Barcelona-grown roaster with a real retail shelf, proper filter options, simple pastries, and a room that respects your time. Cross town for the coffee, the bean selection, and the speed; know before going that this is a compact, take-away-first stop, not a sprawling cafe to settle into for hours.