Finding a typical restaurant in Madrid between the perpetual openings and the tourists who collapse anything that looks like a tasca can be a bit tricky. The capital is capable of absorbing almost everything it receives and making it its own, and in the process it is difficult to maintain the essence of the local.
Some typical dishes such as tripe and stew, in addition to the centenary restaurants, are the pillar for the castizo to survive, and is even living a new wave in which it is claimed.
1. Lhardy
Émile Huguenin arrived in Madrid in 1839 and created Lhardy in the image and likeness of the restaurant that was fashionable at the time in Paris, Café Le Hardi. This emblematic restaurant was the first fine dining establishment, designed to bring together the city’s aristocracy in its dining rooms. The Marquis of Salamanca planned here the neighborhood that would bear his name, the queen brought her lovers, Primo de Rivera was a regular during his dictatorship and here Alcalá Zamora was elected president of the Second Republic. As Azorín said: “Madrid cannot be conceived without Lhardy“.
Although in 2021 it was acquired by Pescaderías Coruñesas, the restaurant is still decorated in the style of the 19th century. Here the typical thing is the cocido madrileño and it is served in two vuelcos, it is usual that the first one (the soup) has pieces of meat and chicken, although everyone takes it in their own way.
Price : €€€€€
📍Location:Carrera de San Jerónimo, 8 (Sol)
2. Casa Ciriaco
Another undisputed witness of the history of Madrid. It was at this point on Calle Mayor, where Casa Ciriaco is located, where an anarchist attacked King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenia de Battenmberg when they were returning from their wedding at Los Jerónimos and were on their way to the Royal Palace. The bomb never hit them, but it did hit the crowd that was watching the monarchs pass by and 24 people died.
In addition to this tragic event, the relevance of this eating house continues. The intelligentsia gave it fame since Valle-Inclán turned the tavern into the Cueva de Zaratustra. Later, a gathering was created that was presided over by the cartoonist Antonio Mingote until his death in 2012. In fact, you can order the hen in pepitoria to the taste of the cartoonist and is one of the typical dishes along with meatballs and tripe.
💶Price : €€€€€
📍Location:Calle Mayor, 84 (downtown)
3. La Bola
We continue on the cocido route, but if the weather is not good, the callos (tripe) are also a specialty of the house. At La Bola the stew is prepared for more than 4 hours over very low heat and over holm oak charcoal.
In addition, here they use the traditional clay pots and it is served in the same container in which it is cooked. The raw ingredients are put inside the pots: chickpeas, water from Madrid, bacon, potatoes, chorizo and it is taken to the charcoal, where it is cooked for more than four hours, during which time the pots are periodically refilled with broth.
Price: €€€€€
📍Location: calle de la Bola, 5 (Sol)
4. Botín Restaurant
Casa Botín is incombustible: the oldest restaurant in the world, king of Madrid de los Austrias. It has only closed during the months of pandemic, it was the first time in three centuries that the centenary restaurant did not serve its customers: not even during the Civil War did it stop serving meals.
In 1987 the Guinness Book of Records named it the oldest restaurant in the world, which also mentions that Goya may have worked as a dishwasher in 1765.
Its menu is a good summary of Spanish gastronomy with special focus on Castilian roasts of suckling pig and lamb, as well as grilled meat.
💶 Price: €€€€€
📍Location:Cuchilleros street, 17 (downtown)
5. Malacatín
Another castizo classic is Malacatín. They have been preparing cocido madrileño since 1895, their motto used to be: “he who finishes it, doesn’t pay” and now they even serve it at home. It is a quite small place, so finding a table is not an easy task, but when you get it… You surrender yourself to the pleasure with each of the three turns of the stew, especially with its soup, which is quite dense and rich in fats. But if you prefer, they can serve it all together in a single pass.
💶 Price: €€€€€
📍Location:calle de la Ruda, 5 (La Latina)
6. Café Comercial
Café Comercial has long ceased to be a simple cafe to become one of the most typical restaurants in Madrid. Its leather sofas and marble tables could tell more stories than anyone who has been there, although after the renovation little remained of the original decoration.
It was open uninterruptedly for a whopping 128 years until it was forced to close due to a bureaucratic issue. Its windows were then filled with farewell messages, as if the biggest rock star had left, but in March 2017 it returned to the charge, reformed, and with a new “glamour castizo”, in the words of Juan Luis Medina, in charge of the reform.
💶 Price: €€€€€
📍Location: Gta. de Bilbao, 7 (Malasaña)
7. Casa Macareno
Casa Macareno is a classic tavern in Malasaña founded in 1920, where patatas bravas shine in a menu with just the right innovation and strings of garlic and peppers hang on the walls. Proof that castizo is back is that Rosalía paid a visit after a concert in Madrid and left proof on her Instagram.
Surviving in a neighborhood that has undergone such a transformation has merit, perhaps the key is in its menu of the day and the cocido Thursdays in winter.
💶 Price: €€€€€
📍Location:Calle de San Vicente Ferrer, 44 (Malasaña)
8. Casa Lucio
If you come to Madrid for the first time, no matter the time of the year, one of the restaurants that you have to check in your list is Casa Lucio. It could be said that Casa Lucio’s are the most famous huevos rotos, not only in Madrid, but also in Spain.
In fact, the success of this dish crosses borders, tasted by legends of the small and big screen such as Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith or Eva Longoria. The restaurant opened in 1974 and its success has not ceased since then. Its emblematic dish can also be enjoyed at La Taberna de los Huevos de Lucio, run by the tavern keeper’s sons. With a more relaxed atmosphere, its menu offers other varieties such as those with chistorra sausage, ham or ratatouille.
Price: €€€€€
📍Location:calle de la Cava Baja, 35 (La Latina)
9. Casa Alberto
Since 1827 Madrilenians have been coming to this tavern in Las Letras to have a glass of wine and a tapa of cod or tripe. Casa Alberto maintains the mythical red façade of the restaurants that have been open for over a hundred years and its sign with black background and golden letters. Before it opened in this same space was the building where Cervantes wrote the second part of Don Quixote, so to commemorate it there are some objects that recall the work and life of the great of Spanish letters.
💶 Price: €€€€€
📍Location:calle de las Huertas, 18 (Las Letras)
10. Café Gijón
The Café Gijón has seen the best of the Generation of ’27 pass through its wood-paneled walls, taking the place as a meeting and debate point. The list of great characters is endless and crazy, even Mata Hari herself was seen here. It is part of modern Spanish history, and continues to be an indispensable stop to see and be seen in the capital.
Price: €€€€€
📍Location: P.º de Recoletos, 21 (Downtown)