The bars of Madrid are not only a central axis of leisure: they are part of literature, advertising slogans and part of the political discourse. The bars of Madrid have seen the forging of great literary works and have brought together the best of Spanish culture, political parties have been formed in them, such as the PSOE in Casa Labra, and signings have been closed, such as Zinedine Zidane for Real Madrid.
There are times when the line that separates a bar from a restaurant is very thin. Here, to select those that make up this humble list, we have established two criteria: that they sell portions and that you can eat at their bar. And the result is what you read.
1. Eusebio’s Corner
Eusebio’s corner is the canonical representation of the aesthetic idea of a bar. Its bar is crowded with people and tapas that can be eaten in open bar format. People who sigh for El Tigre don’t know that La esquina de Eusebio exists: with a drink you have a free pass to stock up on their canapés.
A sheet of an article from 2014 presides over a wall. In it, the journalist in question says that the double beer is a bit expensive (2.5€). Years have passed, the price has not gone up, the quality is maintained and the journalist’s comment would now be contradictory. It is also worth sitting down and trying their tomato salad and churrasco. A fixed stop.
📍Location: Caramuel street, 16 (Puerta del Ángel)
2. Almeria Tavern
Classic among classics. If the question is where to eat cheap tapas in Madrid, the answer is Taberna de Almería. A bar that would be the delight of students if it were in Moncloa and that being in La Latina is a meeting point for people of very different age ranges.
Normally you will not get in because it is always full, but if by chance you manage to get a spot at the bar or among the tables, you have two options: eat with the tapa that you get with each drink or try each and every one of their tostas. A staple of La Latina.
📍Location: Calle de las Aguas, 9 (La Latina)
3. La Casa de los Minutejos
Impossible to dodge the joke: if 60 minutillos equals an hour, 60 minutejos, undoubtedly, equals an ear. Here the ear is served in sandwiches of sliced bread. The ear, when its gelatin melts, forms a block which is then used to make these sandwiches, which are sold at 1.20€ per unit. They are also accompanied by hot sauce. It is a must in Madrid if you are looking for a place to eat ear and is a bastion that resists pokes, NY rolls and all kinds of gastronomic fashions.
📍Location: calle Antonio de Leyva, 17 (Marqués de Vadillo)
4. Los Chicos
Not even the rain usually prevents the terrace of Los Chicos from having more people waiting to sit down than sitting down. Whoever sits at their table knows why: with every drink, they bring out a tapa. Like anywhere else? Yes, but with extra generosity.
Los Chicos bring out (for free) what they do best: their bravas. And with each drink, bravas with a different sauce. Sauces, by the way, that they sell and you can take home.
📍Location: Calle de Guzmán el Bueno, 33 (Arapiles)
5. Bodega de la Ardosa
Located a few meters from Fuencarral street, this bodega founded in 1892 is an icon of the Malasaña neighborhood and has become a place of pilgrimage for lovers of tortilla de patatas (Spanish omelette). And no wonder, because its recipe is juicy, tasty and delicious in equal parts. The rest of the pinchos and portions of its menu do not disappoint anyone either. Croquettes, artichokes, salmorejo? The traditional cuisine as you have never tasted it before.
📍Location:Calle de Colón, 13 (Malasaña).
6. Rocablanca
This is, without a doubt, one of the best bars in Madrid to eat croquettes and eat them without spending too much or sacrificing quality. With huge croquettes (much bigger than the ones you can find in most bars) and with prices that do not exceed 2 euros per unit, Rocablanca offers a wide variety of this breaded delicacy as soon as you get off the Tribunal metro stop. Although it also has hamburgers, montaditos and tortilla skewers. A traditional temple that deserves a visit.
📍Location: 71 Fuencarral St. (Metro Tribunal)
7. La Chispera
This is the perfect place to have a vermouth on a Sunday after a stroll through the hundreds of stalls that fill the neighborhood of La Latina with life. You will most likely find it full of people, but La Chispera always has room for someone else. Their specialties are vermouth on tap and gildas, of which they have different varieties, even a vegetarian version! in addition to their tostas and Mexican-inspired dishes. A classic that never fails.
📍Location: Calle de Santa Ana, 13 (La Latina)
8. Japy Bar
In one of the busiest streets of the flea market every Sunday is Japy Bar, a place that swims between the traditional and the modern and seeks to bring the traditional bar to a younger, more open and freer public. With quite affordable prices (sandwiches at 5 € and bollitos preñaos de tortilla at 3.50 €) and with tapas ranging from huevos rotos or patatas braviolis to nachos or gyozas, in this small bar in La Latina there is room for everything and everyone.
📍Location: street Ribera de Curtidores, 21 (La Latina).
9. Tasca Barea
📍Location: Calle Rodas 2, corner with Embajadores, 36 (Lavapiés).
10. Benteveo
One of the most beautiful bars of all Antón Martín in Almodovarian red. This corner of Santa Isabel street with San Eugenio street is a succession of windows from which you can sense people toasting, talking, sharing. Its bar is fun, frenetic, how many thousands of cane glass butts have kissed it, spilling their foam! With the cane, a little tapa, which is usually cheese, some toast smeared in various hummus.
And on the menu, Argentinean dishes (such as choripán or lomito cordobés). The Benteveo has been a classic of the neighborhood for years and they (or we) point to the fact of being, also, the smallest museum in the city (for those showcases in which curiosities, pieces of local artists, books… are exhibited instead of fish, meats and food that usually show the rest of the showcases of bars in the city).
📍Location: Santa Isabel Street, 15 (Antón Martín)
11. El Maño Wineries
El Maño seems more chulapo than from Zaragoza: he always welcomes you with red carnations. Here you can share his omelette with tripe, his bravioli potatoes, anchovies in vinegar, squid tails… Strong dishes and a bar to put the elbow, grab the fork with one hand, the wine with the other, and snack non-stop.
📍Location: Calle de la Palma, 64 (Malasaña)
12. Tribuetxe
It probably goes unjustly unnoticed in front of the stalls of the San Fernando market. But right in front of the market door on Tribulete street, you will find this secluded bar with little space for tables, but a shiny bar where you can enjoy dishes with top quality meats and fish. The important thing here is the essence, the flavor and the Basque-Andalusian mixture that moves away from the “pincitas cuisine” returning to the basics: product, product and product. We recommend the ventresca with piparras or the tostas de chipirón.
📍Location: Tribulete street, 23 (Lavapiés)
13. Alfaro Winery
The black and white photographs of Bodegas Alfaro speak of a Madrid that only remains in the bars, in those same bars that have survived decades, fashions, redesigns and trends. These bodegas have been making Madrilenians happy and sharing conversations and gildas since the beginning of the 20th century. With each caña or vermouth, a portion of handmade potato chips (bought at the San Fernando market).
Happiness is a vermouth in this centenary tin bar (watch out for the taps, pure history of Madrid) which also usually sounds like flamenco: do not be surprised if on its terrace a good party takes place between palms, guitars and cante jondo.
📍Location: Calle del Ave María, 10 (Lavapiés)
14. Bareto
Bareto is a brewery that defines itself this way on Instagram: “bar, chopsticks and napkins on the floor“. Although it does embrace a classic aesthetic, it gives it a twist, updates it and makes it its own. The same with its menu. They serve gildas, Russian salad and torreznos, but in a fine version.
This bar next to Cibeles also fulfills another basic requirement of any good bar in Madrid: here you can watch most of the soccer matches of the Spanish league.
📍Location:several locations.
15. Vinegar Brothers
It is difficult to renew what has been working well for decades, but Hermanos Vinagre manages to appropriate the phrase “bar de toda la vida” being one of the youngest on the list.
What survives and distinguishes this neo-tavern from the new openings is its commitment to the bar culture, the pickles – hence the vinegar – the quality of the well-drawn beer, no longer so easy to find, and the homemade vermouth. All wrapped in an updated decoration in which there is no lack of modern versions of the tiles.
📍Location:Calle Cardenal Cisneros, 26 (Chamberí); Calle Narváez, 58 (Ibiza) and Calle Gravina, 17 (Chueca).
16. La Dolores
La Dolores is one of those traditional Madrid bars in the neighborhood of Las Letras, which, since its founding in 1908 as a restaurant, has been a must on the route of beers in the area.
In fact, it is precisely for the quality of its beer and the perfection of its beers that it is known. It is also easily recognizable by its beautiful tiled facade, traditional decoration of the time. In its cozy interior, where wood and old posters stand out, pinchos and montaditos are served, to alternate between tapas and vermouth at aperitif time.
📍Location:Plaza Jesús, 4 (Las Letras).
17. Casa Labra
Although currently the Casa Labra’s dining room where food was served as in a restaurant is closed, you can still enjoy its tapas of battered cod and croquettes, in the rest of the premises, which has been unchanged since 1860. But this curved and centennial facade at the back of the Puerta del Sol also has its place in the history of the country. Here, on May 2, 1879, Pablo Iglesias founded the Spanish Socialist Workers Party.
📍 Location: Calle Tetuán, 12 (downtown).
18. Little Graná
Serving the caña with a tapa is very Madrid, but where have you ever seen that you can choose your tapa for free from a menu with more than ten options? This is the modus operandi of La pequeña Graná, a jewel coveted day and night by those who know the Arganzuela district inside out.
Getting a table on the terrace or a space at the bar to accompany each drink with a mini cheeseburger, a chistorra and sweet onion sandwich or avocado hummus with tortilla chips is a dream plan that ends with a full stomach and a full wallet. The menu changes from time to time, but the classics remain.
📍Location: Calle Embajadores, 124 (Delicias)
19. Tortilla Fish
In war and in Pez Tortilla anything goes. The crowd of people squeezed in the place, the elbowing to make their way to the bar and the waiters juggling to bring a beer (miraculously intact) to the tables is something that is only understood and accepted with the first tasting of some tortillas barely curdled with unforgettable flavors such as parmesan, blood sausage or goat cheese.
You drink just as well as you eat: the selection of craft beers is all that is needed for a portion of tortilla that is always finished too soon. Good thing there are also croquettes.
📍Location: Calle Pez, 36 (Malasaña); pez Tortilla Cara B – Calle Pez, 7 (Malasaña); Calle Cava Baja, 42 (La Latina); Calle Espoz y Mina, 13 (Las Letras) and Calle de Gaztambide, 50 (Chamberí).
20. Julio House
Casa Julio’s croquettes are famous all over Madrid (and practically all over the world). The walls of the bar are decorated with photographs of well-known people who have come to try their cuisine. From the music group U2 to Alaska and Mario are part of this wall of fame located in a small establishment in Malasaña. The business, which has been open since 1921, is still family-run and prices remain affordable.
The traditional red façade, which enunciates the name of the tavern, serves as a certificate of casticity. Inside the establishment we find a bar and a few tables, also with some tradition. The croquettes are the specialty of the house and are served in a variety of different fillings, with traditional ones, such as ham or chicken, or more original ones, such as raisins and gorgonzola or minced meat.
📍Location: Calle de la Madera, 37 (Malasaña)
21. Bar Arco Iris
Plaza de Olavide is one of the most iconic places in the Trafalgar neighborhood. Considered by the Financial Times magazine as one of the places in the world where the ‘European dream’ is most lived: a pedestrian area, a large grove of trees, a children’s playground and, of course, bars.
The Bar Arco Iris, open since 1991, is run by Secundina Román, Nina for her most loyal clientele. A woman who, at the age of 70, comes every day to serve and help in her establishment. Since its opening, El Arco Iris has been a meeting place in the Trafalgar area, especially for its huge terrace in the shade of the trees. There, young and old alike gather to enjoy a perfectly pulled beer accompanied by a delicious tortilla skewer, a sandwich or a hearty ration.
📍Location: Plaza de Olavide, 2 (Trafalgar)
22. The Embassy of Ambassadors
La Embajada de Embajadores is one of those establishments that, despite being relatively new, has the essence of the traditional bars. From its large bar, located in the center of the bar, delicious portions are served on metal trays and, of course, refreshing beers. The prices are unbeatable and the service is always friendly and attentive.
In La Embajada de Embajadores the kitchen never closes, so you can go at any time to enjoy one of its dishes, portions or sandwiches. In its menu the calamari, meatballs in sauce or the milanesa stand out. But, undoubtedly, if you go to this bar you have to try their version of El Paquito, a stewed lamb sandwich that in 2022 won the award for the best in Madrid.
📍Location: Calle de Embajadores, 66 (Lavapiés)
23. Toboggan Bar
The Toboggan, located a few meters from Matadero, is a neighborhood bar where the neighbors of Arganzuela gather to enjoy a beer in the sun. The bar combines the traditional with the contemporary in both its aesthetics and its menu. The authenticity of this bar can be tasted inside, but also on its large terrace in the Plaza Rutilio Gaci.
The menu is a mosaic of traditional raciones mixed with more international dishes, all at very affordable prices. From bravas and croquettes to gyozas and tequeños, from cochinita pibil tacos to calamari montadito or pepito levantino. A mix that satisfies all tastes.
📍Location: Plaza de Rutilio Gaci, 2 (Delicias)
24. Santa Canela
Richstreet food and a young and casual place in the heart of Chamberí. Santa Canela is everything you would ask from your favorite bar with a modern twist. Although you can also have dinner, here we are dealing with its bar facet and it is the ideal place to order some raciones and have tapas with friends.
Among them we can highlight the artichokes in flower battered with truffled hummus and the patatas bravísimas with two chipotle and aji amarillo sauces and a base of sobrasada and fennel. For something has earned one of our stickers and the rating as one of the best bars in Madrid.
📍Location: calle de Guzmán el Bueno, 20 (Chamberí)
25. Velarde 13
In Malasaña there is no shortage of places to have a drink, but precisely for this reason it is sometimes difficult to choose which bars in this area of Madrid are really worthwhile. A safe bet is, without a doubt, the former Bar Malos, now renamed Velarde 13.
This brother of the legendary Melo’s in Lavapiés shares a large part of the menu and, of course, you can’t leave without trying one of the most iconic dishes of the house and of Madrid (along with the croquettes): its huge Galician loaf bread slippers with lacón and tetilla cheese.
📍Location: Calle de Velarde, 13 (Malasaña)
26. Bar La Gloria
“If the body asks for it, give it to him”. With a slogan like this that greets you at the entrance of this tavern you already know that La Gloria comes to one thing: to enjoy. And the indicator that confirms it is that you will often find a group of people waiting at the door of this place, located in that miscellany of environments and businesses that is Noviciado.
The Andalusian air with which it defines itself is present throughout its menu (especially in its molletes de Antequera, of which you should not miss the ones with pringá), but you will also find rations such as croquettes, bravas, fried eggplants, torreznos melosos or ensaladilla.
📍Location: Calle de Noviciado, 2 (Downtown)
27. Viva Chapata
“Cooking traditional recipes in a conscious and sustainable way”. That is the principle that governs the menu of the 100% vegan tavern Viva Chapata, in Lavapiés. A menu in which you can find options for snacking such as its tortilla skewer, not calamari, falafel with veganesa, boletus edulis croquettes and, as its name suggests, chapatas of different flavors.
It also offers burgers, pizzas and arepas among other dishes, so it is also ideal for lunch or dinner, and has a menu of the day that on Wednesdays consists of vegan stew.
📍Location: Ave María street, 43 (Lavapiés)
28. Casa Brava
Casa Brava has not been in Madrid for long, but in Rosario (Argentina) it is a classic for those who like to extend the dinner as long as possible and that same idea has been transferred here. Live music, velvet sofas and wooden walls of this place in Malasaña accompany the beers, wines and cocktails they serve.
If you are hungry do not hesitate to order the fried chicken, you will taste few so juicy. The milanesa or the sweet potato with yogurt, honey and sriracha are also among our favorites.
📍Location: Calle de Valverde, 4 (Malasaña)
29. La Gildería
Even when you’re in control of trends you never know what’s going to be the next foodie trend . The sudden passion for gildas already has several places that have taken it over, with La Gildería leading the way. Pickles, canned food, skewers and vermouth, what they serve is not new, glamorizing it is.
📍Location:Calle de Calatrava, 17 (Downtown)
30. Casa Kike
Paseo de los Melancólicos no longer has a stadium, but people still make the pilgrimage to Casa Kike. This bar proves that a possible key to success is to do well what you have been doing all your life. No more pretensions and no more grandiloquence. Oxtail, cod in pilpil sauce, croquettes and a huge terrace. Its jungle sauce and the secret that hides it is another reason to visit Casa Kike.
📍Location: Paseo de los Melancólicos, 43 (Arganzuela).
This article has been written by Isabel Nieto, Javi Bisbal, Miguel Sánchez, Carmen Seco, Alberto del Castillo, Lucía Mos and Elena Francés.