Madrid Food Guide: Where to Definitely Go & Where to Maybe Skip

As the largest city in Spain, Madrid is full of cute cafes and trendy restaurants. During my 2 days in Madrid, I had the chance to try out some wonderful eateries. That being said, I’ve compiled this Madrid food guide to give you some personal recommendations as well as a couple of places I would have also liked to try out.

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Madrid Food Guide

HanSo Café 2

If you’re looking for a good cup of coffee, check out HanSo Café 2. This cute little coffee shop offers a variety of coffee and tea beverages, as well as food.. I tried the iced oat milk caramel macchiato and found it to be the coffee forward with a hint of sweetness.

Address: Cost.ª de los Ángeles, 7, 28013 Madrid, Spain

Mercado de San Miguel

Mercado de San Miguel is a food market that offers a variety of different things to eat and drink. There’s an aperol spritz bar, plenty of iberian ham, empanadas and more! If you’re with a group this is a good place to go because there’s different options for everyone.

I recommend grabbing a glass of sangria and trying a few bites from the various restaurants.

Address: Pl. de San Miguel, s/n, 28005 Madrid, Spain

Casa Rua

One of the most popular things to eat in Madrid, is a bocadillo de calamares. As we were approaching Plaza Mayor, I saw Casa Rua advertising this popular sandwich and decided to grab one to go. A bocadillo de calamares is literally just bread and fried calamari. Although it’s super simple, it’s delicious. The bread was great and the calamari was perfectly seasoned.

There are a bunch of places to grab a bocadillo de calamares in Madrid, and I highly recommend picking up at least one while you’re in the city.

Address: Calle de Cdad. Rodrigo, 3, 28012 Madrid, Spain

Salmon Guru *Madrid Food Guide Top Rec

If you go to one bar while in Madrid, let it be Salmon Guru.This is the kind of place that if we had it in Phoenix, I would frequent often. You can sit back, chat with friends, and enjoy a delicious cocktail. They also serve food, but we went for the drinks.

A lot of the drinks come out in a fun cup. I got the dragon’s daughter which came out in a big dragon which featured smoke coming out of its nose. Outside of the awesome representation, the drink was also amazing. When the drinks are served one of the servers will come up and explain your drink to you more in depth and give instructions on how to best enjoy the drinks if there are different elements.

One thing I learned about going to cocktail bars in Spain is to just trust the bartenders. Some cocktails have a mix of ingredients that make you wonder if it’s going to be good or not. My suggestion is to find a couple of ingredients you know you like, and just trust the rest of the unknown flavors will work with them.

Address: Calle de Echegaray, 21, 28014 Madrid, Spain

Botín

Botín is the longest continually running restaurant in the world. The restaurant is known for their suckling pig, which you can see being prepared through a small window in the back of the restaurant.

Although it didn’t sound that appealing to me, I ordered the pig because it was “the thing to do.” Brooke opted for the steak and we shared a ½ pitcher of sangria. We both agreed the sangria was the best part of this meal. For how renowned the pig is, I was expecting a lot more. To me it wasn’t spectacular, but then again I don’t eat a lot of unsauced pork so this could just be a me thing. Brooke said her steak was good; however, she asked for medium and the center of her steak was almost still mooing. All in all, it’s cool to say you’ve eaten at one of the oldest restaurants in the world but I don’t think it’s an absolute must.

Address: C. de Cuchilleros, 17, 28005 Madrid, Spain

Chocolatería San Ginés

While researching places to eat in Madrid, San Gines came up time and time again. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the best experience here. We ordered the traditional churros, the larger ones, and a cup of chocolate for dipping. The chocolate was great, but the churros were not so great. I’m not sure if it’s because we went later in the day or what, but the churros just didn’t taste very fresh. The small ones tasted like old grease and the larger ones had an off taste as well.

If you’ve heard good things about San Gines and want to taste the churros for yourself, maybe try going earlier in the day for a better experience.

Address: Pasadizo de San Ginés, 5, 28013 Madrid, Spain

La Rollarie *Madrid Food Guide Top Rec

If you’re looking for a good place to grab a more American-style breakfast, check out La Rollarie. They offer an assortment of pastries, drinks, and breakfast/brunch dishes. I got the Copenhagen benedict and loved every bite. Rather than a stale english muffin, the benedict was served on top of soft brioche accompanied by herbed cream cheese, smoked salmon, tartar hollandaise, and garlic sprouts. Brooke got a donut and eggs with toast that came with the best jam we’ve ever tasted.