Best Cheap Eats in Madrid

Casa Dani is a tortilla de patata counter inside the Mercado de la Paz, on Calle de Ayala in Salamanca, not a restaurant with its own street entrance. Daniel García and Dolores 'Lola' Cuerda from Albacete opened it in 1991, and their children Daniel and Noelia run it now. Its own menu tags the dish ‘the best tortilla de patata in Spain,’ sold by the pincho in small, half or whole portions, with or without onion. The house says it won the II Campeonato Nacional de Tortillas in Tenerife in March 2019 and the Academia Madrileña de Gastronomía's Premio al Bar the same year, and Phil Rosenthal filmed there for Somebody Feed Phil. Beyond tortilla, the counter runs homemade croquetas, raciones of morcilla and chistorra, and a seasonal menú del día of cocido, lentejas and callos. It holds a Repsol Solete and, like the rest of this list, stays under €25 per person.

Casa Labra has run in the heart of Sol since 1860, keeping a rare old-Madrid habit: separate counters for ordering food and drink. Bacalao is the constant, above all the soldaditos de pavía, battered and fried cod strips, which won the Academia Madrileña de Gastronomía's Premio al Plato Castizo in 2023. The carta also runs to croquetas de bacalao, banderillas, tortilla española, jamón ibérico cured 36 months and vermouth on tap. Spain's Socialist Party was founded within these same walls in 1879, and owners Manuel and Álvaro Molina run the place today. It's a walk-in, quick-service bar, open daily, and holds a Repsol Solete at under €25 per person.

La Sanabresa is a traditional casa de comidas on Calle del Amor de Dios, in the Barrio de las Letras, the kind of room that used to fill old Madrid, and it holds a Solete in the Guía Repsol for its consistency. Lunch is the strong point: a menú del día of platos de toda la vida served at speed, with a choice of stews, braises and vegetable dishes, plus raciones. The Guía Repsol points to the garbanzos guisados, the ternera guisada and the alcachofas con jamón. There's no website, so book by phone. It opens for lunch from 13:00 Monday to Saturday, adds dinner from 20:30 Thursday to Saturday, and closes on Sunday.

Antoñita is a casual restaurant on Calle de Garcilaso in the Trafalgar quarter of Chamberí, with a Solete in the Guía Repsol and a motto that says it's more Madrid than callos and more castizo than cocido. Chef Fernando Muyo Talavera, born in Madrid in 1986, cooks the city's classics with Mexican and street-food touches: a whole piece of pork belly baked for six hours, cocido croquetas, callos with trotter and snout served with sourdough, and pig's-ear tacos on nixtamalised corn tortillas. Most dishes cost €4.50 to €14. It's open Wednesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner and Sunday for lunch, closed Monday and Tuesday.

Tasca Barea opened in 2017 on the corner of Calle de Rodas and Embajadores in Lavapiés, set up by neighbours Benjamín and Jaime, who wanted a tasca pouring draught vermouth, and it holds a Repsol Solete. The house tapa is the Murcian marinera, creamy ensaladilla rusa on a crisp rosquilla topped with a Cantabrian anchovy, at €3.50, with variations on it, a classic gilda at €2.50 and €9 raciones of Cádiz-style chicharrones, pickled turkey and the house peppers. Next door, its shop Comestibles Barea sells local producers' goods and runs tastings. It opens evenings Monday to Thursday and from midday Friday to Sunday, a natural stop after the Rastro.

Little Dragon sits on Calle de los Reyes at the Plaza de España end of Universidad, in the Centro district, and it's listed in the Michelin Guide, a Guide entry rather than a star or a Bib Gourmand. The carta leans Shanghai: xiaolongbao soup dumplings from €7.80, pan-fried shengjianbao buns, wontons in chilli oil, hand-pulled noodle soups, and dishes like Shanghai-style pork chop rice and Sichuan-pepper chicken, traditional and ingredient-led rather than fusion. The restaurant's own site lists three other branches, in Serrano, Moncloa and Ponzano, so confirm which one you're booking. It's closed Monday, open Tuesday to Sunday 13:00 to 16:30 and 19:30 to 23:30, budget-friendly despite an elegant, modern room and polished service, and bookable online through the restaurant's own site.

Biang Biang Bar is run by Óscar Ling, who opened it in July 2019 after training at Madrid's School of Hospitality and travelling to Xi'an to learn how biang biang noodles are made. Each bowl is one wide, hand-pulled noodle, made daily from flour, salt and water. The signature noodles run €13.90, the same as the aubergine and triple-mushroom versions, with prawn and beef at €16.80 and an Ibérico pork and black-truffle version at €18.90. There are two locations: the original on Calle de Pelayo in Chueca, and a second stall inside the Mercado de Vallehermoso in Chamberí. It holds a Repsol Solete and stays under €25 per person.

Mi Dang is a tiny Korean restaurant on Calle de San Antonio in Cuatro Caminos, a few steps from the Mercado de Maravillas, and it holds a Solete in the Guía Repsol. It's run by a Korean couple who moved to Spain in 1989 and, now in their seventies, cook family recipes from Jeolla province, which they call Korea's culinary province par excellence; the name means 'the home of delights'. Expect dolsot bibimbap sizzling in a hot stone bowl, jeyuk bokkeum pork in the house chilli sauce, mandu and a seafood pancake, with side dishes alongside every main and kimchi made in the house. There's a weekday set lunch, and it's closed Sundays.

Rasif brings Lebanese street food to Calle del Humilladero in La Latina, a few steps from the Plaza de la Cebada, and it has held a Solete in the Guía Repsol since October 2023. The name means 'pavement' in Arabic, and the menu follows: hummus from €4.50, muhammara and other dips with Lebanese bread, kibbeh and sambousek by the piece, shish taouk and shawarma rolled in Lebanese bread, grilled skewer plates and knefe to finish. Much of it is vegetarian or vegan, everything can be taken away, and the drinks include Lebanese wine from Ksara. It's open every day from 13:30, except Friday, when it opens at 19:00.

Piccola Napoli opened on Calle de Palencia in Cuatro Caminos in 2010, Mario's project backed by his family, cooking Neapolitan pizza and pasta from recipes handed down the generations, and it holds a Solete in the Guía Repsol. Pizzas come in 25 cm and 30 cm sizes, from a marinara at €7.50 and a margherita at €8.50 to house specials like the Bella Roma with pumpkin and truffle cream, smoked provola and pancetta; pastas such as spaghetti carbonara run about €10.50 to €13.50, and gluten-free pasta is available. A weekday lunch menu costs €13.50. It's open Monday to Saturday for lunch and dinner, closed Sunday, and has since added branches on Cristóbal Bordiu and López de Hoyos.

Portacos opened in 2021 on the outer side of the Mercado de Numancia in Vallecas, founded by Venezuelan cook Andrés Federico Rodrigues Fuentes and his wife María de los Ángeles Yánez, both trained in fine dining, and it won a Solete in the Guía Repsol six months later. Tacos come in pairs on 100% white or blue corn tortillas, which the kitchen notes are gluten free, from cochinita pibil and al pastor at €5.90 to the panceta taco, €7, that won the house a Taco de Oro in 2023. In 2025 it received the Sello Copil, the Casa de México en España's authenticity seal. Micheladas, mezcal and margaritas run from tamarindo to siete chiles. There's a terrace, and it's closed Mondays.

Buenas y Santas opened in June 2009 on Calle Bolívar in Legazpi, between Matadero, Madrid Río and the Planetario, and it holds a Solete in the Guía Repsol. The name is how people still greet each other in the Argentine countryside, and the Argentine family team cooks homemade, fresh food, some of it with vegetables from their own garden: hand-crimped empanadas in seven flavours at €3.90 each, milanesas, quiches, burgers and dulce de leche panqueques. The grill cuts, entraña and bife de chorizo, push past the band, but a weekday lunch menu costs €15.30. Lunch runs every day, with dinner Thursday to Saturday.

Casa Pachuco has been on Calle de los Tres Peces in Lavapiés since 2012, and it holds a Solete in the Guía Repsol. Self-taught cook José María Lobelos is its driving force, turning out imaginative 'travelling' dishes that mix Mediterranean, vegetarian and fusion ideas, in a place built as much for wine and music as for food. Since September 2026 it serves a menú del día at lunch Tuesday to Friday, lunch on Saturday, and dinner from the carta on Friday and Saturday evenings; it's closed Sunday and Monday. There's no website, so book by phone.

Samm has cooked Valencian rice in Madrid's Nueva España, in the Chamartín district, since Vicente and Carmen opened it in September 1973. The arroz del senyoret and paella Valenciana are the signatures, with a classic ensaladilla rusa to start and a tarta de queso as the most-asked-for dessert. Its own site points to the Wikipaella 2020 award it won for its paella, and it's listed in the Guía Repsol. Lunch only, Tuesday to Sunday from 13:00 to 16:30, closed Mondays, with a wheelchair-accessible entrance and seating and a terrace, it's set up for groups. It runs around €25 or under per person, with a daily menu at €20 covering a starter, main, drink and dessert.

Mo de Movimiento occupies the former Teatro Espronceda on Calle de Espronceda in Ríos Rosas, rebuilt with recycled materials. It's the flagship of Proyectos Conscientes, which friends Felipe Turell and Javier Antequera set up in 2018, and it hires and trains people facing barriers to work through partner foundations such as Norte Joven, Fundación Tomillo and Fundación Raíces. Wood-fired, Roman-style pizzas are the draw, made with stone-ground organic flours from Sigüenza and Zamora, and the Guía Repsol singles out the one with green asparagus and Iberian papada. It's cash-free, card or app only, and it's one of the picks in a Gastroactitud roundup on eating cheaply and well in Madrid. It holds a Repsol Solete and runs under €25 per person.