Tapas bars might be Spain’s singular difference from the rest of the eating world. Where else do people crowd into standing room only often tiny bars to eat? You may have to shout your order across heads to the person behind the bar, and then retrieve your glasses and plates from the hands of strangers standing between you and the bar. Some tapas bars have a few small tables; more often a few high tables. You can rarely reserve at a tapas bar so you had better come early, at opening time, especially on weekends.
Andalucía in southern Spain is thought of as the heartland of tapas. Tapas bars are found in every city and town and even many restaurants there serve tapas portions. And Madrid is a city fed by immigrants from the provinces and Andalucía is very well represented there. So with the Andalusian immigrants came Andalusian style tapas bars. Today many Madrid tapas bars owe their flavor and their vibe to that 20th-century Andalusian exodus.
In Madrid, each tapas bar tends to have specialties. Some focus on cheese, charcuterie and other cold tapas accompanied by drinks. Many tapas bars, however, serve complex cooked dishes in a tapas format. You might have grilled or fried seafood, hearty stews or wild game standing at the bar. The portions can vary from very small individual tapas like a few croquetas to plates designed for sharing.
Here are a few tapas bars in Madrid that we like, we return to whenever we’re in Madrid. They are by and large traditional, unmodern, good eating.
Bar El Boquerón
The multicultural Lavapiés district near Madrid’s Atocha train station is an unlikely place to eat some of the best seafood in the city, but Bar El Boquerón is that place. This family-run bar looks like any of the decades-old neighborhood bars in the city, but inside you’ll find something out of the ordinary. Behind the metal bar, under bright lights, white-clad waiters juggle beer glasses and plates heaping with the freshest seafood in Madrid. The kitchen consists of a plancha, the iconic metal griddle that is a mainstay in Spanish cooking. Shrimp, prawns, small lobsters, barnacles, crabs and other sea creatures are first tossed onto plates and weighed, and they then make their way onto the hot metal with a dash of salt and oil. The chalkboard menu, which changes daily, has prices more at home in a fish market than a restaurant. It’s a democratic, loud, crowded, joyous kind of place so loved in Spain. If the (Spanish-only) menu is cryptic, just watch what’s coming out of the kitchen and follow along. Look out for the spicy clams cooked with wine and chili peppers! Regulars wash it all down with ice-cold Mahou beer served in tiny glasses, but you could opt for Albariño or even Manzanilla Sherry. Note: Standing room at the bar and a few small tables.
Casa Alberto
If there is a single spot that sits at the heart of traditional Madrid cuisine, it has to be Casa Alberto. Behind the red shuttered doors on Calle Huertas in Madrid’s Letras district lie a bar and dining room that have been in operation for nearly 200 years. (They say the bar is in the same spot where Miguel de Cervantes lived and wrote part of Don Quixote.) The tapas bar section in the front, where you can order drinks and tapas, consists of a bar and a few low tables. You’ll be surrounded by enthusiastic locals and adventurous travelers. If you prefer to be able to reserve a table, there’s a dining room in the back.
But the bar remains the heart of Casa Alberto. Order their house vermouth and dive into a menu full of Madrid classics. For the carnivorous, you’ll find top-tier examples of Madrid staples such as stewed bull’s tail or veal meatballs. Casa Alberto also serves lighter dishes–gazpacho, salads, and daily fish and seafood specials. It’s the perfect place to stop for tapas while exploring the center of Madrid, and gives us a window into Madrid as it once was.
Taberna Laredo
Taberna Laredo is beloved by its loyal clientele for an unrelenting dedication to good food, good wine and a joyful atmosphere. This tapas bar and restaurant in the local dining destination neighborhood of Ibiza, near the Retiro Park, is a family affair, with the three Laredo brothers in charge. They’ve built a following for 25 years by serving up unpretentious seasonal Spanish cuisine for the past 25 years. The bar area is legendary, with couples and groups devouring plates washed down with wine from the long and well-chosen by-the-glass list. In the back, a quieter restaurant area, perfect for long lunches and bottles of wine from the extensive wine list. The menu is a mixture of seasonal dishes that showcase the best vegetables, meat and seafood available and classic dishes like the salmorejo (thick gazpacho topped with Iberian ham) and the rabbit ribs with herbs–a must-order. Laredo is a local favorite for a reason, and a great reason to go a little off the beaten track in Madrid.
Alimentación Quiroga
On a busy narrow artery of the Letras district, with a corner location and plate glass windows, Alimentación Quiroga is an old-school Madrid spot for wine and tapas. The name “alimentación” has been preserved from the bar’s former life as a gourmet food store. With time, Quiroga became a store-bar where customers could try the products, and eventually a full-fledged tapas bar. Eating at Quiroga is like eating in a classy European store with great wines by the glass.
Today you can enjoy cooked tapas alongside the products from the deli counter like Iberian ham, charcuterie, and a wide range of Spanish and imported cheeses. The food would be enough to make Quiroga worth a stop, but what makes it a destination is the liquid part of the experience. You’ll find a diverse selection of Spanish wines by the glass, alongside numerous vermouths and the requisite Spanish beer. If you decide to enjoy a bottle of wine, you can choose one from the display in the center of the room. Pick your bottle, paying a nominal corkage fee. The prices are right, the food and wine selections respectable and the vibe is casual. It doesn’t take long to grasp why this is a place that fills up with locals night after night.
El Lacón
Mesón El Lacón is the archetype of a classic Madrid tapas bar and restaurant. For more than a century, this taberna has been serving up good drinks and traditional cuisine in the heart of the capital. Hand-painted tile work decorates the wall behind the long wooden bar. This is a tapas bar as well as a restaurant. Sit at the bar and order a drink, whether a cold beer, one of the dozen or so wines by the glass or an iced vermouth, and you’ll be able to choose a free tapa to accompany your drink. The menu, whether you’re ordering tapas or plates to share, features classic Spanish dishes, from the hearty stews of central Spain to Andalusian-style fried fish and two-pound Basque-style chuletón steaks. This is a comfortable place to stop in for a bite or a whole meal. If you prefer a table, you can reserve in one of the dining rooms, or opt for tapas outdoors at one of the barrel tables out front.
Hermanos Vinagre
Hermanos Vinagre, the hot new aperitivo spot in Madrid, is not a restaurant. There are no tables, only bars with stools. The menu is short and simple. This is a place to enjoy tapas the way the Spaniards do: fast, standing up, with a quick drink. Grab a spot at the bar and you're in for great classic Spanish tapas. Most everything is served cold, from the gildas (anchovies, olives, and peppers on a skewer) to cured and canned shellfish to charcuterie. This is where you meet before heading to lunch or dinner, getting warmed up for the main event. You can certainly have a glass of wine, but the best pairings with the salty flavors of these cold tapas are ice cold Spanish lager and spicy, slightly sweet Spanish vermouth. Both go down far too easily with a well-made gilda.
Taberna Antonio Sanchez
On a street deep in the La Latina district of Madrid’s center is a place straight out of 19th-century Madrid. Taberna Antonio Sánchez is one of the oldest taverns in Madrid, and even before walking through the door you can feel it. The exterior announces wines of historic prestige as well as a phone number two digits short for this century. Inside, everything speaks to history and tradition, from the bull’s head on the wall to the ancient bottles that line the shelves behind the bar. Sit down at one of the tiny tavern tables and order a vermouth or a cold beer and take in the atmosphere. If you decide to have a bite to eat, you’ll find one of the city’s most traditional menus. Deep in the heart of the oldest part of Madrid’s old town, Taberna Antonio Sánchez is the perfect place to escape from anything modern for the length of a pour.