Now when I was living in Madrid I was a college student so I was all about the cheap eats, so most of my recommendations are just that. Also I'm a vegetarian so I spent a lot of my time in Madrid eating potatoes, cheese and bread. And churros. Can't really complain about that. If you're into meat then obviously eat all the jamon because Spain is known for that. Museo de Jamon always terrified me but maybe that's your vibe?
So obviously in Madrid you eat tapas! So yummy. As a vegetarian my main go to tapas were patatas bravas, croquetas de queso, tortilla espanola and pan con tomate. Like I said above, mainly potatoes, cheese and bread. You'll find that most restaurants in Spain just have slightly different versions of the same tapas. You can also find plenty of other fun food other than Spanish food! Some of my favorite late night eats were Mexican food (not like California Mexican food obviously) and pizza. I honestly ate at so many Spanish restaurants I don't remember them (this was 2-3 years ago) so unfortunately I don't remember a lot them (didn't know I would be writing this then!) but here is my list of what I do remember!
Cheap eats/Late night eats
El Tigre (first picture on the left)
This place is amazing!!! It is great not only for getting all the tapas you want but also for pregaming before you go out because for 6 euros you get unlimited tapas and a giant sangria! You can also ask for tinto de verano (red wine and soda). Right when you walk in the bartender starts yelling at you how many and what drinks so just yell out whatever you want. I swear no matter how much you think you are drinking your cup still looks full. Come here at night and it will be a party. People are always having a good time here! This is a place where you will definitely be standing and eating so don't expect to find seating anywhere. Feel free to ask the bartenders for more food or specific tapas when you want more! Also ladies sometimes the bartenders give you free tequila shots :)
100 Montaditos
You probably will see this place everywhere in Spain no matter where you are. It is a huge chain that has the best Spanish fast food you could ask for, in my opinion. Montaditos are basically mini bocadillos. What are bocadillos? They are sandwiches made with a Spanish style baguette. Both are super yummy! You can get them filled with all kinds of things (100 different ones here!). They have all kinds of options with the vegetarian options marked so it was great for me! When you go in you will see little stands with menu note cards and pencils for you to fill out what you want to order and then you go to the front and give them your order. Whenever I was traveling alone and had a tight itinerary and needed something fast I could always count on going here. You can also get a cheap sangria or tinto de verano here!
Papizza (see snapchat photo)
This is another fun chain and its open 24 hours! I love pizza so I was a huge fan of this place. For extremely cheap (just a couple euros) you get really good quality pizza! They have a huge variety so I'm sure you can find something you like! The ones I commonly went to are the two on Gran Via. Close to clubbing and shopping!
Tako Away
Another open for 24 hours! I am solely putting this on this list because there is one right across the street from Kapital (see #clubbing) by Atocha and it was a god send after a night of dancing all night, like you can't go wrong with some chips and guac.
Chocolatería San Ginés (middle photo)
You can't come to Madrid and not eat churros, and therefore you cannot go to Madrid and not go to San Ginés. It is the oldest chocolatería in Madrid and it is amazingggggggg. It is also open 24 hours and it is right behind my go to club Joy Eslava (see #clubbing) so I basically only went here around 5-6 am before going home. My friends would joke that every one of my night out snap stories would end with a churro snap. For pretty cheap you get a whole plate of 6 churros and a cup of chocolate to dip them in. Not gonna lie I would sometimes just eat the chocolate plain after I finished my churros. No shame. Also one time I went here around 4:30 am which is a little earlier than the post club crowd so it was pretty empty so my friend and I got a free plate of churros! You can also get porras here which are basically giant thicker churros. I personally like churros better you can try them both and decide for yourself!
Other fun eats
Lateral
This is a nice chain that has all kinds of yummy tapas! The one I always went to is on Fuencarral so you can go here after doing some shopping and relax with some tapas and wine. They have like 4 other locations too but I never got to check those out. When I went I would always get my standard go to tapas - tortilla espanola, patatas bravas and pan con tomate - they are all really good here! They also have these fried veggie fritters that is basically tempura but you eat it with a yogurt sauce and it’s lit. Try it!
Restaurante Sobrino de Botín
This is apparently the oldest operating restaurant in the world? So in general the interior and exterior of this place is just really cool to see. Also the food is really good (all your expected Spanish options) and I thought the service was great which isn't always a thing in Madrid in my experience.
San Miguel Market
Super close to Plaza Mayor is the San Miguel Market, you can find all types of fun food and drinks here. You can everything from fruits and smoothies, to Spanish tapas and wine to all kinds of pastries. My favorite was the empanadas! If I remember correctly those are towards the back. It is always crowded but sometimes you can find a little space on a table to stand and put your plates. I think most times I just walked around with my food though.
Cherry Pecas
So this is definitely not the San Francisco Mexican food I am used to but I still thought it was really yummy! This place was right across the street from my good friend's apartment so I went here a fair amount. It's basically a Spanish chipotle and they also have a lot of drink options. Its filling and tastes good and is decently priced. There is one other chipotle style chain in Madrid but I think this one is better and cheaper!
Now there are sooooo many places to eat tapas that I went to and I didn't take note of all their names of the ones I liked as I mentioned before (which was most of them tbh) so obviously explore and try lots of places! Madrid has amazing food other than my cheap eats places and several go to restaurants!
#food #eat #latenighteats #restaurants #market #fastfood #tapas #spanishfood #churros #madrid #spain #drinks #mondatitos
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