Madrid
Where to eat near Plaza Mayor without falling into a tourist trap
Short answer
Do not eat on Plaza Mayor itself or in Mercado de San Miguel: both are pretty and overpriced. Walk five minutes to La Latina (Calle Cava Baja and around) or towards Lavapiés and you will be eating with madrileños at half the price. Rule of thumb: if the menu has photos, is in six languages, or someone is inviting you in from the door, keep walking.
The five-second tourist-trap test
- Photos on the menu, or a laminated menu in six languages: walk on.
- Someone at the door inviting you in: walk on. Good places in Madrid never need to.
- Paella and sangría in big letters outside: walk on. Paella is from Valencia, and madrileños drink beer, wine or vermouth, not sangría.
- Empty at 14:30 or at 21:30: walk on. Those are Spanish lunch and dinner times and a good place is full then.
- A short handwritten menu, Spaniards at the bar, and noise: stay.
Where to walk to instead
Cross the square and go down to La Latina. Calle Cava Baja is one long street of tapas bars and old taverns; the local way is one drink and one tapa in each and keep moving. On Sunday after the Rastro flea market the whole neighbourhood turns into one big aperitivo. Ten minutes further south, Lavapiés has cheaper, more multicultural food and the terraces of Calle Argumosa.
For a market, skip San Miguel and go to Mercado de San Fernando in Lavapiés or Mercado de Antón Martín, both real neighbourhood markets where people shop and then eat at the stalls.
A few famous places that are the real thing
These are well known and you will not be the only tourist, but they are genuinely good and genuinely old, which is why locals still go. Casa Revuelta, a minute from the square, for a fried cod bite with a small beer, standing at the bar. Casa Lucio on Cava Baja for huevos rotos, the famous broken eggs over chips. Sobrino de Botín, just behind the square, the oldest restaurant in the world according to Guinness, for roast suckling pig; book ahead and accept it is a classic rather than a hidden gem. For Madrid's great winter stew, cocido madrileño, the names are Malacatín in La Latina (tiny, book) and La Bola, where it is cooked in individual clay pots over coal. Lunch only; nobody eats cocido at night.
What to order around here
- Bocadillo de calamares: the fried squid sandwich that is Plaza Mayor's real local dish. Cheap, eaten standing, with a caña.
- Huevos rotos, callos (tripe stew, a Madrid classic), croquetas, tortilla.
- At lunch, the menú del día: three courses with bread and a drink at a fixed price, the best value in the city, usually served until about 16:00.
- Vermouth (vermú) before lunch, on tap, with olives or a tapa. This is the most madrileño thing you can do.
Quick questions
Is Mercado de San Miguel worth it?
Worth a walk through for the building and the atmosphere, not worth a meal. Prices are two to three times those of a neighbourhood bar and the quality is average. Locals go to the markets of San Fernando or Antón Martín instead.
What time do people eat lunch and dinner in Madrid?
Lunch between 14:00 and 16:00, dinner from 21:00 onwards, often 22:00 at weekends. A restaurant that is full at 19:00 is full of tourists.
Do I need to book restaurants in Madrid?
For the famous names (Botín, Casa Lucio, Malacatín) yes, days ahead. For tapas bars, never: you walk in, squeeze up to the bar and order.