Our story
The name comes from a dance hall. The churro shop, from a couple who had been together since they were fifteen.
The Trébol dance hall
On the corner of Còrsega and Pau Claris stood the Trébol, a dance hall, a kind of cabaret with live music. Outside, a mobile churro stand served the people coming out, and it kept the hall’s name.
Joan and Cecília
Joan Balcells and Cecília had been a couple since they were fifteen. Around 1950 they brought the churro shop to these premises at Còrsega 341, and they lived in the back room, so you could almost always come and buy. With a shopping trolley, Joan delivered churros and chocolate, crisps or fritters to the homes nearby. With a locksmith, Vidal Sonet, he came up with a motorised potato peeler and a machine, also motorised, to cut them to size, and the invention ended up being sold all over Spain. Cecília received the Master Craftsman’s Charter from Jordi Pujol. At the back of the shop, on ceramic tiles, the founder’s name is still there: “J. Balcells”.
«Han estat més de setanta anys de feina, amb èpoques molt difícils, però les hem superades totes.»Barcelona by night
On the same street there was the Cibeles dance hall, and after dancing many people came by for hot chocolate and churros. Police officers, city guards and all kinds of night owls came in, and on Sant Medir the horses and carriages stopped outside the shop. The Trébol was the first churro shop to open twenty-four hours straight, and still today, from Thursday to Sunday, it doesn’t close at night.
«El lloc on les teves cames et porten sense voler quan surts de festa per la zona.»A Guinness record
At the Iceland Cod Fair in the Jardinets de Gràcia, the shop’s owner set the Guinness record for making salt cod fritters. The salt cod fritters are still on the menu.
Today
After the founders it was run by their son, Ramon Balcells, and today Francesc Minga is in charge. Work in the kitchen starts at seven in the morning, an hour before opening: first the xuixos, because their dough needs to rest, then the water boils for the churro dough, which takes only flour and just the right measure of salt. For the hot chocolate, the milk boils for sixty-five minutes and takes three cocoas: Brescó, Torras and Plata.