Girona is in the middle of the most profitable decade its restaurants have ever seen. And that’s exactly the problem.
The boom has two sides. On one side, the city’s genuine kitchens are thriving — more demand, better product, international recognition. On the other side, a wave of operators has arrived to harvest the tourists: restaurants built as businesses first and kitchens second, priced for visitors, engineered for reviews, and designed to extract rather than to feed.
Here’s what the boom looks like from the inside. Rent in the old town has tripled in ten years. That pushes out the family places that can’t justify the increase — and pulls in the concept places that can, because they’re pricing for tourists. The result is a slow-motion swap: the pretty streets fill with restaurants that look right and taste wrong, while the real kitchens retreat to the streets tourists don’t walk down.
It’s not that the good places disappeared. It’s that they moved — or stayed where they’ve always been, and now compete with a new neighbour who’s selling atmosphere instead of food.
You can see the split in the reviews. The trap restaurants accumulate thousands of five-star reviews from visitors who had a lovely evening and didn’t know the food was reheated. The real places accumulate hundreds of five-star reviews from locals who’ve been going for years. Same stars, completely different meaning.
This is why the city’s best food guide is the one written by a local — because a local has watched the boom happen and can tell you who’s feeding the city and who’s feeding on it. That’s the Girona Foodies guide.