Since the San Miguel market was rescued, refurbished and turned into a tourist attraction 10 years ago, the rest of Madrid’s markets have followed suit, changing the stalls selling food for those that prepare it.
Asking how much a kilo is when you get your turn has not been lost, but it is becoming a minority act in the most gentrified neighborhoods. So the owners of these stalls have been reinventing themselves or closing down to make way for new gastronomic businesses. This has been the seed to open up to international street food, as is the case of Yokaloka in the Antón Martín Market, or to risky and more difficult to define proposals, such as Batch in the Vallehermoso Market.
Vallehermoso Market
The shadow of Tripea (best market stall in Madrid) might seem long, but in the shadow of this shadow, very interesting gastronomic projects are sprouting up. We have an article in which we compiled our favorite stalls in the market itself. In addition to Tripea and its fusion food with Peru on the horizon, you can find pierogi (typical Polish food), spicy curries from Kitchen 154 or pastrami from Craft 19. A place to stay and live.
📍 Calle de Vallehermoso, 36 (Arapiles)
Antón Martín Market
Going to eat at the Mercado de Antón Martín is like opening your favorite book to a random page. Whatever you come across at the time is going to be fine. Antón Martín is a market that a few years ago we defined as a market that gastronomic mecca. Not in vain, here there are food stalls such as Doppelgänger (we have tired of recommending it), Asian Army (almost nobody gives you so much, so different and so authentic for so little) or Cafés Tornasol (yes, another specialty coffee). Arrive, eat and return. And repeat
📍 Calle de Sta. Isabel, 5 (Antón Martín).
Mostenses Market
It’s not the prettiest, nor does it need to be. Entering here is happiness, the hustle and bustle, buying a loaf of cassava bread and continuing to stroll from stall to stall until your oil portrait is commissioned (is serious).
Renowned for its Peruvian restaurants (La Sarita, El Tinkuy, Restaurante Lily, Cevichería Mi Perú…), it hides jewels of other international gastronomies, such as Shanghai Lao Shengjian (specialized in freshly made baos) or the traditional and essential Bar El Rincón.
📍 Plaza de los Mostenses, 1 (Downtown)
Tirso de Molina Market
The Tirso de Molina Market has become the leisure center of the city Angel’s Gate the restaurants have been appearing both inside and around the square in which it is located, making a visit to the neighborhood on the other side of the Manzanares River worthwhile. The charms of this municipal market reached as far as the English newspaper The Guardian where it is defined as one of the best in the city.
From inside you can’t leave without a PanDomé bread or pizza and if Christmas is coming, their Panettone -although it’s usually sold out. Other must-visits are the vegan restaurant or the paella stand at the main ticket.
📍 Calle de Doña Urraca, 15 (Puerta del Ángel).
San Anton Market
The original Mercado de San Antón building was from the 19th century, but in 2011 it was demolished, redone and refurbished again in 2021. Now, in its more contemporary version, it is divided into three floors with a central skylight that functions as a huge photovoltaic energy collector.
This turn to gastronomic market has not made me lose the habit of asking for chicken at Pollería Ailan, which has been surviving the transformations of the place for 34 years, or at Octavio’s charcuterie, one of the best places to buy chicken buy cheese in Madrid.
Going up the escalators to the second floor, it is difficult to continue the walk without stopping for a drink at the Taberna La Ancha or eating one of the most awarded hamburgers juanchos BBQ, or a good steak at La Manuela steakhouse.
📍 Calle de Augusto Figueroa, 24 (Chueca)
Chamberí Market
In April 2016, this market became one of the pioneers in Madrid to transform some of its stalls into gastronomic spaces. It now houses 8 contemporary restaurants and food stalls offering proposals for all tastes.
Among the different gastro stalls in the Chamberí Market we highlight Juancho’s BBQ, whose hamburger restaurant in the market was the first of the 7 that we can find today in the city. Another of the most interesting stalls is Sake-ria, a Japanese restaurant that is a pioneer in the capital in pairing its dishes with sake. In addition, we can also find establishments such as La Virgen 154, a unique collaboration between Cervezas La Virgen and K154 or the Juan Sanz bakery, with its irresistible freshly baked products.
📍 Calle de Alonso Cano, 10 (Ríos Rosas)
Prosperity Market
Since 1954, this municipal and food market has been the meeting and consumption point for the residents of the neighborhood of the same name. It has 32 stalls offering a wide variety of fresh produce. In 2015, after a comprehensive renovation, the market reopened its doors with fully modernized facilities, eliminating architectural barriers and achieving a new layout that was much more attractive to the public.
In addition to shopping, in this market you will have the opportunity to try the various gastronomic stalls where you will find flavors from different cuisines of the world. These restaurants offer both traditional dishes and innovative culinary creations, using fresh ingredients from the market itself. Among the delicacies that can be enjoyed are pasta from Casa Vecchia, authentic Vietnamese food from Nem Nem, fresh fish from Ceviches & Wok or rice dishes from Paellamar.
📍 Calle de López de Hoyos, 81 (Prosperidad)
San Miguel Market
It is probably the best known gastronomic market in Madrid. This is attested to by the constant coming and going of people that can be seen through its glass windows at any time of the day and practically any day of the year. As is often the case, its popularity cannot be attributed to a single factor: its more than 100 years of history, its location just a few meters away from the plaza Mayor and, of course, a quality gastronomic offer could be three fundamental legs to explain its success.
This gastronomic offer is divided into beverage stands (Pinkleton & Wine, El 19 de San Miguel), coffee (Rocambolesc), food (various stands of the arzábal Group crab Crab Crab Crab, Prrimital) and sweets (Madreamiga). A selection that will force you to return more than once because you will want to try everything.
📍 Plaza de San Miguel, s/n (Downtown)
San Ildefonso Market
The San Ildefonso Market is defined as a street food market: with the eyes set on those that can be found in cities like London, New York, Singapore or Bangkok, this gastronomic space is designed as a continuation of the street where it is located: Fuencarral.
It has 16 stalls that, as cliché as it may sound, it is accurate to say that they propose a journey through different culinary traditions throughout the world: Peruvian, Venezuelan, American, Spanish, Argentinean… Not to mention Korean: Akma Korean Kitchen’s stand is one of the must-tries we recommend you try if you are going to eat at an market.
📍 Calle Fuencarral, 57 (Malasaña/Chueca)
San Fernando
The San Fernando Market popularly known as Lavapiés Market, is the clear example (or, at least, the most striking) that nowadays food markets are much more than just places to go to do the weekly shopping.
Among greengrocers, fishmongers and butchers, there are several pharmacies, bookstores, a hairdresser, a clothing repair store, a designer pottery stall and even a nail studio and a natural garment dyeing workshop. But that’s not all, the Lavapiés Health Center is located in the same building. You go to the doctor for gastroenteritis and, without stepping foot on the street, you buy oral serum, a chicken broth and stop by Sussan, the seamstress at the market, so she can tuck in your pants a little.
If the doctor has released you and you are safe and sound, you can stop by any of its many bars and celebrate with a cold beer and a good meal. The San Fernando Market has a wide variety of tasting booth s of all kinds and from all over the world.
Bars with a Spanish flair that offer traditional recipes, but also Valencian paellas, Asturian cider or Canary Island mojos; as well as restaurants with gastronomies as varied as Peruvian, Portuguese, Mexican, Japanese, Greek, German, Chilean… An international market that reflects the essence of its home, Lavapiés: Madrid’s most multicultural neighborhood.
📍 Calle de Embajadores, 41 (Lavapiés).
This article has been written by Isabel Nieto, Javi Bisbal, Miguel Sanchez, Alberto del Castillo, Lucía Mos y Elena French.