Make Every Bite Count with These 18 Must-Try Tapas in Madrid
Madrid is a food-lover’s paradise. To really experience this city, you must try it’s most famous tapas! From fried potatoes to fresh seafood, the tapas in Madrid showcase Spain’s bounty of incredible ingredients.
Fried calamari, Spanish omelet, pickled skewers, olives and (of course!) a caña of Mahou are what tapas dreams are made of!
As the capital of one of Europe’s most agricultural countries, we have access to incredibly fresh produce, meat and seafood, all of which is grown or caught within a 5-hour drive of the city.
Orchards and vegetable patches in southern Spain give us tomatoes, potatoes, oranges and olives. The green hills of northern Spain give us grass-fed beef and cow’s milk cheeses while the ranches of the south give us the famous Iberian pork for making jamón. All roads lead to Madrid from Spain’s major fishing ports, giving the capital city the second-largest seafood market in the world!
With so many dishes to try, we’ve narrowed down the list of must-try tapas to those that Madrid is most famous for. Make every bite count while you are in town with our picks for the best tapas in Madrid!
1. Tortilla aka Spanish Omelet
When eggs and potatoes meet in a Spanish omelet, magic happens. The potatoes, which have been poached in olive oil, create an almost creamy texture as they meld with the egg. Served in thick slices, the center should be ever-so-slightly oozy and perfect for sopping up with a hearty slice of bread.
Where to try it:
Casa Dani - Calle Ayala, 28
Pez Tortilla - Calle Pez, 36 or Cava Baja, 42 or Calle Espoz y Mina, 13
2.Bravas
Feeling brave? Patatas bravas are crunchy chunks of fried potatoes doused in bravas sauce. Spicy paprika gives the sauce a touch of heat, thus the name “bravas” aka “brave”. You have to be a bit brave as this is likely the spiciest thing you’ll encounter in Madrid (usually about as spicy as a mild jalapeño).
Where to try it:
Bodegas el Maño - Calle Palma, 64
La Esperanza - Calle Torrecilla del Leal, 3
The patatas bravas at Bodegas el Maño are some of the best in the city! Perhaps it’s because they come with a whole dish of extra brava sauce…
3.Huevos Rotos
“Broken eggs” aren’t just one of the best things you’ll eat in Madrid, they are a tapas ritual. At their most basic, huevos rotos are fried potatoes, usually cut in long strips, topped with pan-fried eggs. The yolks look like bright orange suns, just waiting for someone to “break” them, coating the potatoes in eggy goodness. They are often topped with cured ham, sausage, green peppers or mushrooms.
Where to try it:
Los Huevos de Lucio - Cava Baja, 32
Casa Macareno - Calle San Vicente Ferrer, 44
4. Gambas al Ajillo
When bread shortages after the Civil War made selling their signature sandwiches impossible, the family behind Casa del Abuelo searched the market for any ingredient they could get in large amounts. Luckily for us, it was baby shrimp! They painstakingly peeled the tiny shrimp, then added them to a shallow clay dish of piping-hot olive oil with a dash of garlic, parsley and a dried cayenne pepper. The result is now one of Madrid’s most famous tapas: gambas al ajillo aka garlic shrimp!
Where to try it:
Casa del Abuelo (the original) - Calle Victoria, 12
Cervecría El Doble - Calle de Ponzano, 58
5. Tostas
A tosta is an ingenious Madrid tradition created to get food from bar to mouth without using utensils. In a packed tapas bar, there’s no space for forks and knives! Tostas, aka “toasts” are thick slices of toasted bread topped with all sorts of delicious things. Be sure to try the grated tomato with cured Iberian ham!
Where to try it:
Pepa y Josefa - Calle Cristo, 1
Los Gatos - Calle Jesus, 2
Casa Gonzalez - Calle Leon, 12
The tuna belly, salmorejo, roasted red pepper and black garlic tosta at Pepa y Josefa is without a doubt one of the most delicious tapas in Madrid!
6. Jamón
Did you even really come to Spain if you didn’t try Spanish ham? Jamón comes in many different quality grades. For the best cured ham experience, be sure the hoof is black and it is cut to order. The very best Iberian ham will have a red or black tag around the hoof which means it is 100% free-range, at least 75% pure-bred Iberian and cured for upwards of 5 years.
Where to try it:
Café Commercial - Glorieta de Bilbao, 7
Degustación R. García - Corredora Alta de San Pablo, 7
7. Calamares
Despite being a landlocked city, Madrid has some of the best seafood in the world! Fun fact: The Spanish highway system is designed to get fresh seafood from the coast to the capital as quickly as possible. The most famous seafood dish in Madrid is fried calamari. Be sure to try the iconic bocadillo de calamares or calamari sandwich when you’re near Plaza Mayor.
Where to try it:
La Campana - Calle Botoneras, 6
Taberna La Carmencita - Calle Libertad, 16
8. Boquerones en vinagre
There are the sad pizza-topping anchovies of our childhood and then there are the glorious, fresh, plump anchovies of Spain. To use the same word for two such radically different things seems just wrong! When in Madrid, be sure to try vinegar-cured anchovies, aka boquerones. They pack a vinegary punch and pair beautifully with sweet and tangy vermouth on tap!
Where to try it:
La Paloma - Calle Toledo, 85
El Boquerón - Calle Valencia, 14
El Doble - Calle de José Abascal, 16
The perfect aperitivo! Vinegar-cured anchovies with vermouth from the tap at a historic tapas bar in the Malasaña neighborhood of Madrid.
9. Croquetas
Creamy on the inside and crunchy on the outside, croquetas are kings of the tapas kingdom. Almost every bar serves them, but only some reach the level of bechamel-bliss that we look for in a great croquette. Typically fillings include ham or mushrooms or blue cheese.
Where to try it:
Bodegas Rivas - Calle Palma, 61
Casa Julio - Calle Madera, 37
Casa Manolo - Calle Jovellanos, 7
10. Offal
We take nose-to-tail eating very seriously here in Madrid. Many of the city’s specialty tapas are made from the less common cuts of pork, lamb and beef. If you’re feeling adventurous try the famous callos madrileños (Madrid-style tripe stew), mollejas (lamb sweetbreads, best grilled!), oreja (pig ear), or entresijos (woven lamb intestine fried into a crunchy ball)!
Where to try it:
Taberna Elisa - Calle Santa Maria, 42
Casa Toni - Calle Cruz, 14
La Tasqueria - Calle Duque de Sesto, 48
11. Fried cod
Back in the day, salt cod was one of the only types of fish that could survive the journey from the coasts into Madrid. As such, you’ll find this flakey, salty fish in many traditional dishes! Be sure to try the Madrid classic: a tejada de bacalao aka a deep fried filet. Think of it as the Madrid version of fish and chips (but served with a beer instead of fried potatoes)!
Where to try it:
Casa Revuelta - Calle Latoneros, 3
Casa Labra - Calle Tetuán. 12
12. Conservas
Extraordinary things come in tins here in Madrid. Forget the sad “chicken of the sea” tuna that might plague your supermarket shelves at home. Only the top grade of fish and seafood makes it into the highly celebrated tins here in Spain! Try mejillones en escabeche aka mussels in a spiced vinegar sauce or ventresca aka tuna belly in olive oil.
Where to try it:
Latazo - Stall in Mercado Anton Martin on Calle Santa Isabel, 5
El Economato - Calle Echegaray, 16 or Calle Belén, 5
13. Ensaladilla
This is the potato salad of our dreams! While each bar does it a bit differently, the best ensaladillas are made with homemade mayo, boiled potatoes, carrots and peas and are topped with either tuna belly or shrimp.
Where to try it:
Urogallo Casa de Campo - Plaza de la Puerta del Angel, 12 next to the lake in the Casa de Campo park
PerretxiCO - Calle Rafael Calvo, 29
14. Grilled mushrooms
Button mushrooms are taken to a whole new level at the Mesón del Champiñón, an institution in Madrid tapas culture. Pop in for a plate of their grilled-to-order mushrooms which are stuffed with garlic, parsley and a bit of chorizo. They get a quick sprinkling of salt and lemon juice just as they come off the grill!
Where to try it:
Mesón del Champiñón - Cava de San Miguel, 7
Grilled mushrooms stuffed with garlic, parsley and chorizo at Mesón del Champiñón in Madrid.
15. Fried eggplant
If you live for a good sauce, then berenjenas fritas con miel are made for you! Usually served in thin medallions or long sticks, fried eggplant is the perfect vehicle for cane honey from the Canary Islands or salmorejo, a chilled tomato and garlic sauce that is so good that it is often served as a soup.
Where to try it:
Taberna Sanlúcar - Calle San Isidro Labrador, 14
Bodegas el Maño - Calle Palma, 64
16. Banderilla and Vermouth
It is a sacred weekend tradition in Madrid: the pre-lunch aperitivo or as we like to call it here, “la hora del vermut.” This “vermouth hour” is typically from 1-2 in the afternoon, just before lunch, and consists of an appetite-opening glass of sweet, spiced vermouth paired with something pickled. Olives are common but the real queen of the aperitivo is the banderilla, a skewer of usually pickled fish, olives, peppers, onions and the like!
Where to try it:
Hora del Vermut - in Mercado San Miguel located in the Plaza de San Miguel (just next to Plaza Mayor)
La Dolores - Plaza Jesus, 4
Hermanos Vinagre - Calle Gravina, 17
17. Grilled shrimp
Do as the Madrileños do and go for the head-on shrimp! It is very rare to serve pre-peeled shrimp in Spain. Instead, whole shrimp are lined up on a piping-hot grill, doused in course sea salt and served head and all. There is a special technique to peeling them so be sure to spy on your fellow tapas-goers to pick up the tricks! Or join us on our daytime De Mercados experience and learn how to buy, cook and peel market-fresh shrimp!
Where to try it:
Taberna La Mina - General Álvarez de Castro, 8
El Boquerón - Calle Valencia, 14
La Paloma - Calle Toledo, 85
In Spain, shrimp is often served whole! That’s how you know it is super fresh.
18. Torreznos
They say everything old becomes new again and that was never more true than with torreznos. This pan-fried pork belly is THE trendiest tapa in Madrid right now, popping up on just about every menu in the city. It’s got the extra-crunchy crackling with a thin strip of melt-in-your-mouth meat. No wonder this old school, nose-to-tail type tapa is making a comeback!
Where to try it:
El Escaparate in Mercado Vallehermoso - Calle Vallehermoso, 36
Los Torreznos - Calle de Goya, 88
Check 11 of these dishes off your list on our De Mercados: A Malasaña Neighborhood Market & Tapas Experience! We’ll introduce you to the artisans behind Madrid’s most delicious dishes as we explore a century-old café, an artisan cheese shop and the neighborhood fresh food market. It’s the Madrid dream day!