Coffee in the morning is a ritual, but going out for breakfast in Madrid is a pleasure and sometimes a whim that becomes necessary when you start to replace the late night by getting up early to meet.
In Madrid there is a wide variety of cafes that are defined by those details that make them unique. The ones in the neighborhood where they know your name and you have a “the usual”, the ones that have a “the usual”, the ones that have a “the usual” stand out for their specialty coffee and artisanal products or those that conquer you first by the eyes for their decoration and elaborate presentations: all of them are part of the places in Madrid where having breakfast is synonymous with starting the day on a very good foot.
1. Café del Art
If you are passionate about coffee, your place is in this coffee shop of La Latina. In their beverage menu you will find a wide variety of natural coffees, some of them made by unconventional methods such as drip or Japanese immersion, as well as herbal teas, vegetable drinks or kombucha.
As an accompaniment, you can try their desserts (many of them of Portuguese origin, such as the cream cake), sweet or savory croissants and toasts. If you have trouble deciding, we recommend you try the “Reina Pepiada” toast, made with avocado cream, chicken, onion, cilantro, mayonnaise, black salt flakes and paprika de la Vera.
📍 Plaza de Cascorro, 9 (La Latina)
2. Pavlov’s dog
Without leaving La Latina is located in this small and cozy place, which is as close as you can get to meeting friends in your living room. That said, we let the morning go by with an offer of lattes and teas, specialty espresso coffee, sourdough pastries or vegan and vegetarian options that we would be hard pressed to find in our pantry.
That is one of the merits of this oasis of tranquility: to make you feel at home. You can visit any day from Tuesday to Sunday and, in addition, you can enjoy the temporary exhibitions of local artists that it hosts.
📍 Costanilla de San Pedro, 5 (La Latina)
3. Churrería Chocolatería La Encarnita Chocolatería La Encarnita
It is hard to talk about a place like La Encarnita without appealing to a memory that, if not universal, is at least shared by many: that of the cold Sunday mornings of childhood when the laziness of the early morning lasted until the moment you crossed the threshold of the door and the promise of a warm breakfast fit in a brown paper bag and a jar of chocolate to go.
This family business, one of the mythical ones in the neighborhood, continues to make churros, porras and hot chocolate with the same dedication as when it opened and with the treatment of those who know that, before being customers, their patrons are neighbors.
📍 Calle de Meléndez Valdés, 45 (Chamberí)
4. Prohibited fruits
An option vegan which has it all: it is beautiful and bright, works with local and organic products and serves spectacular breakfasts and brunches, both in taste and presentation. There is specialty coffee (roasted on site), juices, smoothies, kombucha, lemonades… And their wide variety of side dishes will keep you coming back to try them all.
Especially recommended are their vegan eggs benedict, which are their star dish for a reason: they are made with oatmeal, virgin olive oil and seaweed, and are served on a toast of multigrain sourdough bread and a bed of smashed avocado covered in “forbidden” sauce.
📍 Calle de Conde Duque, 26 (Conde Duque)
5. Bread and pickles
Marta de Miguel, one of the owners, defines Escorial, the street where Pan y Pepinillos is located, as a village. And the synergies it creates with local neighbors invite you to think that very thing. Some of the pastries are made by La Creueta while bread and croissants are brought from Santos Bakehouse, a recently opened bakery at Malasaña and whose success has been almost immediate. Added to this is a specialty coffee that is blessed glory.
📍 Calle el Escorial, 2 (Malasaña)
6. Acid Bakehouse
Acid, like many of the things that succeed in this life, started out as one thing and became another. First, in 2017 he opened Acid Café, a specialty coffee shop that continues to provide service to religionists who frequent 9 Veronica Street. And then he opened the cafeteria and bakery we are referring to, which is located in Antón Martín. They can boast of having one of the best breads Madrid and many other delicacies sold on site and made in the workshop that houses the cafeteria itself.
📍 Calle de la Magdalena, 27 (Lavapiés) and Calle Verónica, 9 (Las Letras)
7. HanSo Coffee
There is no other place in Madrid where you can have breakfast like HanSo Café. To drive this sentence home: there’s nowhere else you can eat an avocado toast with Dukkah (Egyptian spice blend) or their kimchi and baconsandwich. In addition to that, of course, they have other traditional breakfast classics and lunch options.
pez Street, 20 (Malasaña) and Costanilla de los Ángeles, 7 (Ópera)
8. Coco Mocca
Its aesthetics, characterized by flowers and pink, has turned this corner of the Arganzuela neighborhood into one of the most popular places in the city the most Instagrammable places in Madrid. Like its décor, the food and drinks at this cafe-bakery are also an explosion of color. The formula of its coffees, topped with cream and toppings of different flavors, makes them the perfect option for the sweetest palates. And their cakes are no slouches either. They usually offer up to 7 different types that rotate every day, but the most requested by their customers remain fixed, as is the case of white chocolate with strawberry. However, for those who prefer more conventional breakfasts, the classics also have a place on the menu .
📍 Paseo de las Acacias, 49 (Acacias)
9. Mür Café
An English-style café divided into two floors where you can enjoy the comfort of its armchairs or share a table with friends. Although the most characteristic feature of the Mür Café is its its Anglo-Saxon inspired brunch their breakfasts are one of the best options in Madrid. It is the ideal place to find all kinds of British products, but in their offer they also have more classic options such as Spanish breakfast. A special detail is that it is a dog friendly place, so your pet will also be welcome .
📍 Plaza Cristiano Martos, 2 (Noviciado)
10. Naked & Sated
Naked & Sated’s locations are known for championing food quality. Its claim is clear: to take care of both the environment and its consumers. For this reason, its focus is on fresh, uncooked and seasonal products. Behind the dishes of its varied menu is Roberto Bosquet, a self-taught chef driven by his desire to adapt well-known preparations to a healthy diet without losing their essence. Its breakfast offer, all of them under the naked seal, is made up of the classics and other savory options such as toasts.
11. Neutral House
In the Parisian network of the narrow streets of the Las Salesas in record time, Casa Neutrale has become a meeting place for a neighborhood that takes breakfast time very seriously. This Nordic-made coffee shop serves specialty coffee (from Costa Rica, Ethiopia and Honduras), freshly made sandwiches, homemade pastries and a good assortment of savory options. Among the neighborhood favorites, the sourdough toasts topped with wild tuna, with sobrasada and cheese or with figs, pear, cheese and walnuts or the bocatines (also for vegans).
A refuge where the ecological awareness of its creators does not go unnoticed. Casa Neutrale’s philosophy claims a sustainable way of life, respect for the environment and a service dedicated to the cause. And all this in a space curated by the DIIR studio, which has transferred to Casa Neutrale Mediterranean precepts of interiors that rely on materials such as granite and ceramics.
calle de Regueros, 13 (Salesas) and pl. de Cataluña, 2 (Concha Espina)
12. Gosto Café
Those who pass by Gosto Café for the first time might mistake it for a clothing boutique or a design studio. However, if you pay attention, you will immediately see the diners through the gigantic windows, where they offer breakfasts that are ideal for sharing (and for uploading to social networks).
A minimalist refuge, bathed in natural light, where Marcelo Bergamo, ideologist of this Nordic corner on Leon Street, practices a concept as old as it is accurate: excellent raw materials, ‘at home’ atmosphere, friendly service and a menu based on handmade delicacies: freshly baked pastries, cookies, assorted bowls or sweet or spicy toasts on special breads.
calle del León, 30 (Las Letras) and Calle de la Palma, 47 (Malasaña)
13. Dot Café Bar
Breakfast with a view. And not precisely because of what you can see through the window, but because of what’s inside: delicious coffee, tempting pastries and a decoration of those that catch you. This café neighboring Madrid Río and Matadero has carved out a niche for itself among those who have something to do in the neighborhood and those who don’t. “Going down” to Dot Café Bar, devouring a hard-to-beat bikini and staring at the wall (yes, take our word for it) with a cup in your hands is more than enough reason to get out of bed in the mornings.
📍 Calle de Eugenio Sellés, 6 (Chopera)
14. Bite Me Café
Waking up in the mood for breakfast in Madrid is one thing, waking up in the mood for Bite Me is another. Those who have tried it, know it. The vegan donuts at this coffee shop are hard to imitate. They are also incredible, in equal parts, for the size of the donuts and the originality of the recipes. The flavors rotate every few months, so the only way to avoid missing out is to become a loyal customer.
📍 Plaza de la Beata María Ana de Jesús, 2 (Chopera)
15. Panod
Panod won the award for the best “roscón de Reyes” of 2023 and although it is a seasonal sweet, both the handmade pastries and the bread they make in their bakery will brighten up any breakfast away from home. One advantage is that it has several establishments spread throughout the Community of Madrid and it is easy to find one. Of course, it’s also a cafeteria, so you’ll be able to dunk your chocolate palms in situ.
16. Schotis
is there anything more traditional than having churros for breakfast? Schotis is a churrería that is not satisfied with just perfecting its star product (the churro), but has also created three more versions of this classic Spanish pastry. Under the label ‘fritters’, the menu includes churros de lazo, porras, ‘mads’ (mini churros rosca), ‘schotis’ (like the flowers of La Mancha) and ‘pichis’, the mini version of the usual churros, which, in boxes of 12, are served under the name “verbena de pichis”. Punishment squared.
📍 Calle Santa Engracia, 55 (Chamberí)
17. Crustó
In Crustó there is also a balance between bakery, patisserie and French-style cafe not always easy to find when looking for a place to have breakfast in Madrid. It’s a good place for those who can’t decide on one type of breakfast, or if sweet is as much your thing as savory. They also serve four types of brunch on weekends, but only in some of its establishments.
18. Cafecito Weather
If you’re into specialty coffee and chia pudding, you’ll love Clima. They have everything from healthier (and saltier) options with toasts full of Verde to the unabashedly sweet: American-style cookies and brownies, and they serve them all day long. Breakfast is assured, but if you’re running late, that’s okay.
📍 Calle de Alonso Cano, 51 (Ríos Rosas).
19. Wilko
Wilco is a specialty coffee shop where they also make homemade pastries. In fact except for the bread, which is from Panic, and the coffee from Hidden, everything else, from the peanut butter cookies to the sandwiches, is made in their Chamberí kitchen. They also serve brunch every day and allow pets.
📍 C alle de Fernández de los Ríos, 40 (Arapiles)
20. Bô Coffee
The breakfasts at Bô Coffee are colossal. Seriously, you have to go hungry, none of their toast, sandwiches, bowls or pancakes are of a measured size. Considering that when you go out for breakfast it’s done ahead of time, the digestion afterwards will be worth it, and to be fair they also have healthy options. Nomad specialty coffee is served for points.
📍 Calle de Espronceda, 16 (Chamberí)
The capital is practically unmanageable, so it is certain that there will be absences in this selection. However, its offer is also one of the features that makes breakfast in Madrid can be an experience and an opportunity to discover new flavors.
This article has been written in ten hands between Alberto del Castillo, Lucía Mos, Sara Morillo, Selene García Torreiro, Isabel Nieto y Elena French.