A good traditional plan starts or ends with standing in line at one of Madrid’s churrerías. Flour, water and salt are the main ingredients of this dessert? breakfast? snack? that might look easy to make, but anyone who has tried it at home knows it is not.
Despite their simplicity, churros are a global success. It is not unusual to find a chichis (one of the ways of saying churros in French) stand in the Bastille Square in Paris, or to come across them in a hipster pastry shop in New York. Its origin also seems to vary depending on where you are. In the United States they believe that churros are Mexican, in Mexico that their origin is in China and in Madrid that they are from here. The truth is that its ingredients are the same as those of the fritters and it is very typical in Spanish pastry making to fry the dough in oil.
1. Chocolatería San Ginés
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_4LOtlcO4E&t
If a specific flavor of Madrid were to be created, San Gines churros would have to be included in some way. Who hasn’t lined up on New Year’s morning to be resurrected with their churros con chocolate? Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so you can enjoy it at any time of the year, yes, even in summer if you dare.
Pasadizo de San Ginés, 5 (Downtown)
2. Chocolat Madrid
At Chocolat they make their chocolate thick daily and use very little sugar and their churros are worthy companions for dipping in the cup. Although it is one of the youngest restaurants on the list, it has earned its place. If for whatever reason churros or porras don’t appeal to you, they have all kinds of classic pastries, including chocolate palmeritas.
Calle de Santa María, 30 (Las Letras)
3. Churrerías Siglo XIX
Churrerías Siglo XIX achieve very crispy and not very oily churros –an art to find the right balance. It is essential to take them with their corresponding chocolate and do not be scared if you see the place very full, because it has two floors and upstairs you can almost always find a space.
Avenida de la Albufera, 270 (Vallecas) and calle de San Onofre, 25 (San Sebastián de los Reyes)
4. 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 customers are neighbors.
45 Meléndez Valdés Street (Chamberí)
5.La Antigua Churrería
La Antigua Churrería belongs to another old churrera family that managed to have several locations in the Community of Madrid and in the capital, although currently only the original premises remain. Their churros have just the right amount of oil, thanks to the fact that they have little crumb. They are made in the classic version, simply with sugar on top, or in more modern versions: dipped in chocolate or with different fillings (the dulce de leche ones are spectacular).
Bravo Murillo Street, 190 (Tetuán)
6. Churrería La Andaluza
Churrería La Andaluza is a very small place, it has no tables or chairs, but it is always full. The reason? Its porras and churros (in bow version). If you have any room left you must try their fritters, which are also delicious. This churro shop in Madrid began its activity shortly before the Civil War, when Tetuan was almost a village, and belonged to the same family until 2005, when churrero Javier Mata Serna, an employee until then, became the owner.
Calle de Hernani, 10 (Cuatro Caminos)
7. Chocolateria 1902
Los Artesanos 1902 is one of the centenary churrerías in Madrid. Five generations ago this establishment prepared churros with sugar, covered with chocolate and, of course, the “porras”. They are still as good as they used to be, and they also have gluten-free churros. The experience gets even better when you add one of their different types of chocolate:pure, with cream or rum.
San Martín Street, 2 (Sol)
8. Manosanta
Manosanta is the representation of what a churrería would be like if churros were typical of Copenhagen, but this one is in the salamanca neighborhood. Manosanta explains that they wanted to move away from the appearance of a churrería to do something more “cosmopolitan and current, where new and old generations feel identified”. The innovation is not only aesthetic, they have also created a kind of sandwich with two rolled churros, replacing the bread and ice cream in the middle, which they have called Pecado Mortal (Deadly Sin).
Hermosilla Street, 97 (Salamanca neighborhood)
9. Schotis, neocastiza churro shop
The union of (S)Chotis, carnations and churros in Chamberí perfectly justifies the neo-castizoterm that apostilles its name. This modern churrería is not content with 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 Manchegan flowers) 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)
10. Churrería Santa Ana
La Churrería Santa Ana is a small place that since 1895 has been brightening up the mornings of the residents of El Rastro. Here there is no space to sit down, the take away was already in use at the end of the 19th century. The recipe is the same, they only sell churros, porras and chips, also chocolate and coffee to drink. There is usually a queue, but it goes fast.
Calle de Santa Ana, 7 (El Rastro)
11. Chocolateria Valor
The classic chocolate from Villajoyosa takes the form of a churrería in Madrid. Fifty percent of the success of the business was already assured, the thick chocolate of the house is already a classic, adding the churros and the porras was almost a no-brainer. It has worked so well that they already have three spaces in Madrid and many others throughout the country.