Photo: La Taberna de PeñalverBest Paella and Rice in Madrid
Introduction
The Madrid Paella & Rice List We Send to Friends
La Taberna de Peñalver's "From Alicante" rice section runs eighteen dishes deep, priced by the person with a two-diner minimum, from a señoret rice and a black rice to a rabbit and wild mushroom rice, in a taberna on Calle Conde de Peñalver. Twelve Madrid restaurants take rice and paella seriously enough to land on this list, from a hotel restaurant that has run the same Levantine rice program for more than 35 years and family kitchens cooking arroces since the 1930s and 1970s, to Galician and seafood houses with a full rice section of their own.
The short answer
Key Picks at a Glance
In a hurry? These are the essential picks from our full ranking below.
- Best award-winning paellaSamm
family arrocería since 1973, with a Wikipaella-winning paella.
- Best historicLa Barraca
Valencian rice house near Gran Vía since 1935, run by the same family across three generations.
- Best Levantine specialistL'Albufera
more than 35 years of dedicated Levantine rice cooking inside the Meliá Castilla hotel.
- Best Alicante-style riceLa Taberna de Peñalver
Alicante-style rice specialist with an eighteen-dish menu, priced per person.
- Best rice by Madrid RíoArrocería Imperial
an arrocería with an eleven-dish rice list, from a hunter's rice to a seafood fideuá.
- Best Galician-kitchen riceFlor de Galicia
a seven-dish rice list priced per person, from vegetable rice to rice with lobster and clams.
Before you order
A Guide to Paella & Rice in Madrid
What is paella valenciana?
Paella valenciana is the traditional rice dish from Spain's Valencia region, built on rabbit, chicken and green beans, cooked in a wide, shallow pan called a paellera. It's a dry rice, meaning the liquid is meant to cook off entirely rather than leave the dish soupy.
What is socarrat?
Socarrat is the toasted, slightly caramelized layer of rice that forms at the bottom of the pan during cooking. It's considered a sign of a well-made paella, and Samm, on this list, calls it out specifically on its own menu or site.
What's the difference between paella and arroz caldoso?
Paella is a dry rice, cooked until the liquid is fully absorbed. Arroz caldoso is a soupier, brothier rice dish, closer in texture to a stew. Both are part of the same Valencian and Levantine rice tradition, just at different points on the dry-to-soupy scale.
What is arroz a banda?
Arroz a banda is a rice dish cooked in fish and shellfish stock, from the fishing tradition of Valencia and Alicante. The name means "rice apart," a reference to how the seafood used for the stock was traditionally served separately rather than mixed into the rice.
Is paella originally a Madrid dish?
No. Paella comes from the Valencia region on Spain's eastern coast. Madrid's rice restaurants are mostly the work of transplanted Valencian, Alicantino and Murcian families and businesses, which is why so many of the city's arrocerías trace their roots back to the east coast rather than to Madrid itself.
How We Built This List
Years of Eating, Asking, and Going Back
We read through five editorial sources covering paella and rice in Madrid, in English and Spanish, and built a consensus of which restaurants kept coming up. Then we checked every name against the restaurant itself: does its own menu or description back up a real, dedicated rice or paella offer, not just a single dish mentioned in passing? A few restaurants named by outside sources didn't clear that bar once we checked their actual menus, so we left them out rather than pad the list. We also added restaurants whose own menus carry a full rice section or which describe themselves as arroceras, even where none of those five sources mentions them; their entries rest on their own menus and descriptions. Where we couldn't confirm a specific dish name or a claimed award, we left it out rather than guess.
More on how we rank: our methodology and quality standards.
At a glance
The 12 Best Paella & Rice, Compared
Quick reference table. Click any name to jump to the full review.
| # | Restaurant | Neighbourhood | Price | Distinction | Signature dish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samm | Nueva España | € | Repsol Recommended | Arroz del Senyoret |
| 2 | La Barraca | Chueca | €€ | Repsol Solete | Paella Valenciana |
| 3 | Casa Benigna | Ciudad Jardín | €€€ | — | — |
| 4 | L'Albufera | Castillejos | €€€ | — | Paella Valenciana |
| 5 | La Taberna de Peñalver | Lista | €€ | — | Señoret Rice |
| 6 | Arrocería Imperial | Imperial | €€ | — | Hunter's Rice (hare, partridge, rabbit and vegetables) |
| 7 | Flor de Galicia | Goya | €€ | — | Vegetable Rice |
| 8 | El Gran Barril | Goya | €€€ | — | Clean Sailor-Style Rice, So You Don't Get Messy |
| 9 | El Barril de Recoletos | Recoletos | €€€ | — | Marinera, all cleaned so you don't get messy |
| 10 | El Espigón | Castillejos | €€€ | — | Marinera-style Soupy Rice |
| 11 | O'Grelo | Ibiza | €€€ | Repsol Recommended | Rice with Octopus |
| 12 | Arrocería Paladium | Aluche | € | — | — |
The ranking
12 Best Paella & Rice in Madrid
Samm
1. Samm — Family arrocería since 1973, Wikipaella-winning paella
Samm has cooked Valencian rice in Nueva España since September 1973, when Vicente and Carmen opened it; their children now run the kitchen. It's listed as Recomendado in the Guía Repsol, and its own site points to a Wikipaella 2020 award for its paella. The arroz del senyoret and the paella Valenciana are the signatures, alongside a classic ensaladilla rusa to start and a tarta de queso as the most-asked-for dessert. It serves lunch only, Tuesday to Sunday, 13:00 to 16:30, closed Monday, with a terrace and wheelchair-accessible seating. Prices run around €25 or under per person, with a €20 daily menu.
La Barraca
2. La Barraca — Valencian rice house on the same corner since 1935
La Barraca has served Valencian rice on Calle de la Reina, just off Gran Vía, since 1935, when the Solís family brought their style of rice cooking to Madrid. Three generations of the same family still run it today. It holds a Guía Repsol Solete, a distinction below a full Sol, and the kitchen works bomba rice carrying the DO Valencia designation. The rice list runs eighteen dishes deep, from paella Valenciana and seafood paella to a boletus rice with jamón ibérico and a rice with duck and wild mushrooms, each prepared for two or more and priced per person. It's open daily for both lunch and dinner, 13:30 to 16:15 and 19:30 to 23:15, at around €20 to €40 per person.
Casa Benigna
3. Casa Benigna — Michelin-pedigree founder's dry Valencian rices in a tiny room
Casa Benigna is the personal project of Norberto, born in 1946 in San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, who opened his first restaurant in Oslo in 1974, trained at houses like Arzak and Jockey, and won Alicante's first Michelin star at La Mónica before stepping away to open this small, personal room in the Prosperidad area. He opened it in 1990 with his mother Carmen, and the family still runs it. The kitchen is built around arroces secos, dry Levantine-style rices, cooked in his own patented Patella pan. "Benigna" is his mother, Carmen, who at nearly 95 still greets guests from her table by the door. The dining room is deliberately tiny and filled with Talavera ceramics. It's open for lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday, closed Sunday, at higher-end prices, and works well for groups.
“At Casa Benigna they present it in a patella, a container that manages to improve its texture and flavor”— Madrid Secreto
L'Albufera
4. L'Albufera — 35-plus years of Levantine rice inside a hotel
L'Albufera is the Levantine rice restaurant of the Meliá Castilla hotel in Tetuán, and by its own account has spent more than 35 years on rice cooking in Madrid. Rice runs the whole menu: a paella valenciana, paella mixta, paella del senyoret, paella cazadora and paella de marisco, a house paella L'Albufera with lobster, an arroz abanda, a black rice, a vegetable paella and a vegan paella made with Heura, plus three mellow, creamier rices with king prawns and lobster, or monkfish, prawns and squid, or boletus mushrooms. It opens daily for lunch only, 13:00 to 16:00, with vegan and vegetarian options and weekend activities for kids.
La Taberna de Peñalver
5. La Taberna de Peñalver — Alicante-style rice specialist with an 18-dish menu
La Taberna de Peñalver is a taberna on Calle Conde de Peñalver in the Lista barrio of Salamanca, with Alicante-style rices as its house specialty and homemade tapas alongside. Its "From Alicante" rice section runs to eighteen dishes, priced per person with a two-diner minimum: a señoret rice, a black rice, a mixed rice, a garden vegetable rice, a rice with grouper and octopus, a lobster rice, an arroz a banda, a rabbit and wild mushroom rice, and a fideuá señoret among them. It has a large terrace, is wheelchair accessible, takes cards, and opened a second branch on Cava Baja in La Latina in June 2024. Prices run around €20 to €40 per person.
Arrocería Imperial
6. Arrocería Imperial — Eleven-dish rice list by Madrid Río, open every day
Arrocería Imperial is a Mediterranean arrocería on Paseo Juan Antonio Vallejo-Nájera Botas in the Imperial barrio of Arganzuela, by the Manzanares and Madrid Río, and rice is the point of the menu. The rice section runs to eleven dishes, from a hunter's rice of hare, partridge, rabbit and vegetables to a black rice with baby squid, prawns and clams, a seafood fideuá, and the house Imperial with langoustines, prawns, monkfish, carabinero prawns, baby squid and clams. They're priced from €21 to €30, and the list covers brothy and dry rices as well as arroz a banda. Fish, seafood and grilled meats fill out the carta. It's open every day, from 09:00 Monday to Friday and 11:00 at weekends, closing at 18:00 on Sunday, with a terrace and wheelchair-accessible seating. Expect around €30 to €40 per person.
Flor de Galicia
7. Flor de Galicia — Galician kitchen with a seven-dish rice section priced per person
Flor de Galicia is a Galician restaurant on Calle Ayala in the Goya area of Barrio de Salamanca, cooking with produce brought from Galicia: seafood, fresh fish, Rubia Gallega beef, tortillas, empanadas and tapas. Rice gets a full section of the menu, seven dishes priced per person, from €19.80 for a vegetable rice up to €29.50 for the rice with lobster and clams or the one with carabinero prawns and clams. In between sit a seafood rice, rice with oxtail and wild mushrooms, a black rice with baby squid and langoustines, and rice with octopus and clams. You can eat in the dining room, at the bar or on the terrace, and there's a menú del día alongside the rice. It opens 12:00 to 00:30 Tuesday to Saturday and 12:00 to 17:00 on Sunday, and is closed Monday.
El Gran Barril8. El Gran Barril — Salamanca marisquería with rice and fideuà priced per person
El Gran Barril is a Grupo Oter marisquería on Calle Goya, in the Goya quarter of Salamanca, where line-caught fish and rice are the headline. The rice and pasta section lists five dishes, each priced per person with a two-person minimum: a clean sailor-style rice made so you don't get messy at €25, a black rice in squid ink at €25, rice with southern carabineros at €30, rice with lobster at €34, and a fine-noodle fideuà with monkfish and prawns at €25. There's a wine cellar, a shellfish and fish counter, private dining rooms and a summer terrace, plus a valet parking service. It opens roughly 12:30 to 00:30 every day. Expect €30 to €80 per person.
El Barril de Recoletos9. El Barril de Recoletos — Four rices made dry or soupy, priced per person
El Barril de Recoletos is a marisquería of avant-garde design on Calle de Recoletos in Salamanca, with a tapeo bar, a dining room, private rooms and a summer terrace. Its rice section has four dishes, each made dry or soupy, priced per person with a two-person minimum: a marinera rice served fully cleaned so you don't get messy at €25, a black rice with squid ink at €25, one with spring chicken and seasonal wild mushrooms at €24, and one with southern carabinero prawns at €31. Around them, shellfish is sold by weight, the fish comes from the lonja and meats are cooked over charcoal. It's open every day, roughly 12:30 to 00:30, at around €30 to €70 per person.
El Espigón10. El Espigón — Andalusian seafood house with eight rice dishes on its carta
El Espigón is an Andalusian seafood restaurant on Calle Poeta Joan Maragall in the Castillejos barrio of Tetuán, open since 1985 according to its own site, with a sister restaurant in Seville. The house speciality is the southern-style fried fish, but the Carta Sevilla also has eight rice and noodle dishes: a marinera-style soupy rice and an Espigón or marinera paella at €14.75 each, a cod rice and a rice with presa and Jabugo-style bites at €15.50, a black rice with cuttlefish and king prawns at €16.50, marinera-style noodles or fideuà at €17.75, and lobster rice and carabinero prawn rice at €19.70. There's a terrace and there are private rooms. It opens Tuesday to Saturday 13:00 to 00:00 and Sunday 13:00 to 17:00, closed Monday.
O'Grelo
11. O'Grelo — Michelin-listed Galician marisquería with a rice section
O'Grelo is a Galician marisquería on Calle Menorca in Ibiza, the residential barrio beside Retiro. The family brought the cooking from Galicia to Madrid more than thirty years ago, and the second generation runs it now. It's listed in the Michelin Guide and holds a Recomendado in the Guía Repsol. Rice has its own section of the menu: rice with octopus, with lobster, with carabineros prawns, and with capon and vegetables. Around it sit pulpo a la gallega, oysters, parrilladas de marisco and merluza a la gallega, with a bodega and its own wine list. It opens Monday to Saturday 12:30 to 00:30 and Sunday 12:00 to 18:00, so Sunday is lunch only, in the €51 to €100 per person band.
Arrocería Paladium
12. Arrocería Paladium — Casual neighbourhood arrocería at €10 to €20 a head
Arrocería Paladium is a casual neighbourhood rice restaurant on Calle Valmojado in Aluche, in Madrid's Latina district, built around rice dishes with a broad everyday menu. It sits at the wallet-friendly end of this list, at around €10 to €20 per person. There's no need to book: walk in, eat in the air-conditioned room or take it away, paying by cash or card. It's set up for groups and families, with a wheelchair-accessible entrance and free parking. It opens for lunch only, 11:00 to 17:00 from Wednesday to Sunday.
Also worth trying
Honourable Mentions
Rocacho
Hispanoamérica
Rocacho, on Padre Damián in Chamartín, with its own "Tradition" rice and fideuá section: seven dishes including paella del señoret and black rice.
Venta el Buscón
Sol
A charcoal-grill taberna near Puerta del Sol whose menu includes an arroz caldoso with lobster alongside rabo de toro and grilled fish.
La Bien Aparecida
Recoletos
Cantabrian cooking on Calle Jorge Juan in Recoletos, with a rice section that includes a Pedreña-style clam rice at €35, a rice with cuttlefish in its ink and a vegetable and wild mushroom rice; listed in the Michelin Guide.
O'Pazo
Nuevos Ministerios
Galician seafood house in Nuevos Ministerios with a dry-rice section: rice with Huelva scarlet shrimp at €28 per person and a black rice with line-caught baby squid at €33 per person, both for a minimum of two.
Los Remos
El Plantío
Seafood and meat restaurant in El Plantío whose stews section lists a creamy lobster rice, a carabinero prawn rice and a marinera-style soupy rice; listed in the Guía Repsol.
The bigger picture
The Paella & Rice Scene in Madrid
Madrid has no paella tradition of its own; the dish comes from Valencia, on the other side of the country. What the city has instead is decades of transplanted arrocerías, restaurants opened by Valencian, Alicantino and Murcian families and chefs who brought their rice cooking with them. Samm has run in Nueva España since 1973, and La Barraca just off Gran Vía since 1935, both still family-owned. L'Albufera has cooked Levantine rice inside the Meliá Castilla hotel for more than 35 years, and La Taberna de Peñalver works from Alicante-style rices in the Lista barrio of Salamanca. Beyond the dedicated arrocerías, Galician and seafood kitchens carry deep rice lists too: Flor de Galicia lists seven rice dishes, El Espigón eight rice and noodle dishes, and El Gran Barril and El Barril de Recoletos price theirs per person with a two-person minimum.
Practical tips
Know before you go
A short survival guide for eating paella & rice in Madrid— everything we wish we’d known on our first trip.
- 1
Several of the rice menus here, including La Taberna de Peñalver, La Barraca, El Gran Barril and El Barril de Recoletos, price rice by the person with two diners as the minimum. It isn't really a solo dish at these kitchens.
- 2
A couple of these restaurants serve rice mainly or only at lunch. Samm is lunch-only Tuesday to Sunday, and L'Albufera serves lunch only, 13:00 to 16:00. Check hours before planning a dinner visit.
- 3
Several entries hold a Guía Repsol distinction (Recomendado or Solete). A Solete sits below a full Sol.
- 4
Days and hours differ across the list: Flor de Galicia and El Espigón are closed Monday, Arroceria Paladium lists 11:00 to 17:00 hours and its own site disagrees on the timetable, and El Gran Barril and El Barril de Recoletos list roughly 12:30 to 00:30 every day.
Know the terms
Glossary
The vocabulary you need to order paella & rice in Madrid like a local.
- Arrocería
- A restaurant built specifically around rice dishes, as opposed to one that serves rice as part of a wider menu.
- Paellera
- The wide, shallow, two-handled pan traditionally used to cook paella and other dry rice dishes.
- Socarrat
- The toasted layer of rice that forms at the bottom of the pan, prized as a mark of a well-cooked paella.
- Arroz seco
- A "dry rice": a rice dish cooked until the liquid is fully absorbed, the category paella itself belongs to.
- Fideuá
- A noodle dish cooked the same way as paella, using short noodles (fideos) in place of rice, usually with seafood.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
All restaurants on this list were independently verified as open and serving the dishes described as of .
What is the best paella in Madrid?
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There's no single verified "best," but Samm holds a Wikipaella 2020 award for its paella after more than 50 years cooking Valencian rice, and La Barraca holds a Guía Repsol Solete after cooking Valencian rice since 1935.
Where can I find paella near Gran Vía in Madrid?
+
La Barraca, on Calle de la Reina just off Gran Vía, has served Valencian rice since 1935 and is still run by the same family, now in its third generation.
What's the difference between paella and arroz caldoso?
+
Paella is a dry rice, cooked until the liquid fully absorbs. Arroz caldoso is soupier and brothier, closer to a stew. Both belong to the same Valencian rice tradition, just at different points on the dry-to-soupy scale.
Which Madrid rice restaurant has been open the longest?
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La Barraca, near Gran Vía, has served Valencian rice since 1935, making it the longest-running dedicated rice restaurant on this list. Samm has run since 1973.
Is paella originally from Madrid?
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No. Paella comes from Valencia, on Spain's east coast. Madrid's rice restaurants, including Samm, La Barraca and L'Albufera, are largely the work of transplanted Valencian, Alicantino and Murcian families and chefs.
Where can I eat paella or rice near Goya and Recoletos in Madrid?
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Flor de Galicia on Calle Ayala lists seven rice dishes priced per person, El Gran Barril on Calle Goya has a rice and pasta section of five dishes, and El Barril de Recoletos on Calle de Recoletos has four rices made dry or soupy.
Where can I get rice with lobster in Madrid?
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Arroceria Imperial lists brothy or dry rice with lobster at €29, El Gran Barril has rice with lobster at €34 per person, Flor de Galicia has rice with lobster and clams at €29.50 per person, El Espigón has lobster rice at €19.70, and O'Grelo has rice with lobster on its rice section.
Where can I eat rice in Madrid without spending much?
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Arroceria Paladium in Aluche is banded at €10 to €20 per person, takes walk-ins and offers takeaway. At El Espigón, the rice dishes on the Carta Sevilla run from €14.75 to €19.70.
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About the author
Justin Mota
Guidavera founder
Justin Mota is the founder of Guidavera. He has lived in Spain for over 10 years and runs a native AI agency alongside building this platform. Food has always been the way Justin connects with friends, and Guidavera started as the list he kept sending to everyone visiting Barcelona. He built it for himself and his friends first, and now hopes it can transform the way people discover great food experiences everywhere.
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