Best Tapas in Madrid

Bodega La Ardosa has been pouring its own vermut from a dedicated tap on Calle Colón since 1892, when Toledo vineyard owner Rafael Fernández Bagena opened it as part of a chain of Ardosa bodegas selling his own wine. More than a century on it's still a bar de toda la vida, and El Español credits it as one of the first bars in Madrid to bring in imported beer. The kitchen keeps to the classics: tortilla de patatas, salmorejo with jamón and egg, rabas, fried squid and salt cod, plus a croqueta lineup that runs to cabrales, shrimp, cecina and bacalao. esMadrid singles out the deep-fried pig's ears, tortilla and preserved shellfish. It's the kind of place where nothing on the menu has changed much, and nobody wants it to.

Casa Labra has served bacalao from the same spot in Sol since 1860, and it still keeps the old-Madrid habit of separate counters for ordering food and drink. The soldaditos de pavía, battered and fried strips of cod, are the reason people queue, alongside cod croquetas, bacalao al ajoarriero, a cod omelette, banderillas, jamón ibérico cured for 36 months and vermouth on tap. Spain's Socialist Party was founded inside these walls in 1879. In 2023 the Academia Madrileña de Gastronomía gave Casa Labra its Premio al Plato Castizo for the soldaditos it's served since the beginning, an award current owners Manuel and Álvaro Molina accepted on the restaurant's behalf. esMadrid calls out the same soldaditos de pavía and croquettes by name.

“soldaditos de pavía (battered cod pieces) and croquettes”— esMadrid

Repsol

Miguel Ángel Jiménez opened La Catapa in 2010 after years cooking in some of Madrid's better-known fine-dining rooms of the era, among them El Comedor, Príncipe de Viana and El Amparo. He wanted a tavern with soul rather than another star chase, and in 2025 the Academia Madrileña de Gastronomía agreed, naming La Catapa Best Bar/Taberna. The kitchen blends classical Spanish cooking with contemporary technique: potato and truffle croquettes, cecina, and a rotating daily seafood selection laid out at the bar for diners to choose from. It holds a Repsol Sol and a wine list built with the same care as the food. gastroactitud picked out the croquetas, ensaladilla, cecina and anchoas by name.

Brothers Javier and Paco opened La Raquetista in the Ibiza neighbourhood in the summer of 2015 as a double homage: to Bodegas Santurce, the winery that had closed that year after 53 years, and to their maternal family's pelota-playing history, a line that ran from Bilbao to Barcelona, Madrid, Mallorca, Miami, Milan and Manila. Paco, a former automotive press officer, built the wine cellar himself. The kitchen works from seasonal, market-driven tapas: red partridge, game meats, Navarrese vegetables and market fish, finished with a torrija made from the sobaos of Selaya. It holds a Repsol Recomendado listing. Both gastroactitud and esMadrid cite it, the latter pointing diners straight to the curried oxtail.

“top-quality ingredients and bold combinations. Try the curried oxtail”— esMadrid

Brothers David, Javier and Miguel Laredo run this family taberna on Calle Doctor Castelo, between the Ibiza and Niño Jesús neighbourhoods just north-east of the Retiro. The family opened its first taberna in 1993 and moved to this address in 2012. Tapas and raciones get served informally off a big bar counter, with a livelier, more modern room behind it that's become a meeting point for fine-dining regulars and wine professionals. Miguel has run the wine programme for more than thirty years, building a cellar of roughly 250 references with real depth in champagne and Burgundy, and in 2025 he won Sala/Sumiller honours at the Premios Gastronómicos de Madrid. The cooking is produce-driven and traditional: jamón ibérico, croquetas, salmorejo. gastroactitud names the ensaladilla, callos, salmorejo and manitas specifically.

“ensaladilla, callos, salmorejo, manitas”— gastroactitud

Manero is the Claudio Coello address of the Bar Manero name, a stylish tapas bar and delicatessen in the Recoletos and Salamanca part of central Madrid, holding a Repsol Solete. The room is classic and elegant, the cooking traditional and built for sharing, with a delicatessen counter running alongside it. Bar Manero also runs a separate branch on Marqués de Cubas. gastroactitud calls out the lobster roll by name, alongside rabo de toro and pastrami, and unbuendiaenmadrid cites the ensaladilla with marisco. Prices sit in the €26 to €50 range, on the higher end for a tapas bar but in line with the quality of the counter.

“lobster roll”— gastroactitud

Bodegas Rosell is a classic, rustic tavern on Calle General Lacy in Delicias, holding a Repsol Solete for its traditional Madrid cooking. The Rosell family turned an old bulk-wine shop near Atocha into this taberna in 1920. The kitchen is ingredient-led and good value: bacalao Rosell, callos a la madrileña, homemade croquetas, boquerones en vinagre and a long list of tostas, with a cocido madrileño available to order for groups. Spain Revealed singles out the wine list as one of the better ones in the neighbourhood, and gastroactitud names the croquetas and Madrid-region wines specifically. It's often hard to book.

“wonderful wine list”— Spain Revealed

VRRO is the casual, counter-led spin-off of Varra, opened on Calle Serrano by chefs Jorge Velasco and Joaquín Serrano when they wanted a more accessible version of their restaurant. The format trades formality for a long bar and high tables, built around seasonal Mediterranean sharing plates: Joselito ham croquettes, ensaladilla, anchovies in vermouth and a cecina, truffle and cheese bikini. In 2024 it won Best Tapas Bar at the Premios Metrópoli, one of the clearer third-party validations on this list. It's a newer name than most of the historic tabernas here, but the award and the cooking both back it up.

Angelita is a two-storey wine bar, cocktail bar and restaurant in Chueca, the family project of brothers David and Mario Villalón, who opened it in 2016 and run both the bar and the kitchen. It holds a Repsol Recomendado and, more unusually for a tapas address, a run of international bar recognition: it placed on the World's 50 Best Bars extended list in 2024 and 2025, and on the inaugural Europe's 50 Best Bars list in 2026. The kitchen is seasonal and produce-led, much of it grown in the family's own garden, with dishes like pisto and a bull's tail stew reworked as cannelloni. gastroactitud calls out the terrina de campaña by name.

“terrina de campaña”— gastroactitud

Taberna & Media sits on Calle de Lope de Rueda in the Ibiza barrio, on the east side of the Retiro park, and it bills itself as more than a taberna: a place built to revive the habit of tapas with a good glass of wine in a cosy room. It's chef José Luis Martínez's family project. It holds a Repsol Recomendado. The house is proud of its patatas bravas, which it says won a bravas championship in 2020, and a meal runs €26 to €50 a head. esMadrid describes the cooking simply as simple and traditional cuisine, which is about the point.

“simple and traditional cuisine”— esMadrid

Hevia has stood on Calle de Serrano in Salamanca since 1964, founded by Pepe Hevia and Elena Arbizu and an early Madrid gastrobar. Three generations on, the founding family still runs it. The kitchen built its name on gourmet delicatessen, canapés and quality tapas, with a smoked-fish salad and callos among the signatures, and there's a terrace for slower afternoons. esMadrid calls it a well-established restaurant in Barrio de Salamanca, which undersells six decades of history a little, but the point stands: this is a Salamanca classic that hasn't needed to chase trends.

“well-established restaurant in Barrio de Salamanca”— esMadrid

El Anciano Rey de los Vinos sits on Calle Bailén in Palacio, the stretch of central Madrid wrapped around the Royal Palace, and it dates to 1909. It's on the Ayuntamiento de Madrid's Comercios Centenarios register and holds the Comunidad de Madrid's Establecimiento Centenario designation. The cooking is traditional Madrid tavern fare served as tapas and sharing plates, with a bar inside and a terrace outside that looks out over Palacio. It closes on Tuesdays.

Bar Melo's opened in Lavapiés in 1979, founded by Ramón and Encarni. It closed briefly in 2020 and reopened in 2021 under Ignacio Revuelta and Rafael Riqueni, and added a second location in Moncloa in 2023. The cooking is home-style Galician tapas and raciones, and the two signatures are the croquetones de lacón and La Zapatilla, a one-kilo sandwich of lacón and melted cheese, alongside empanadas and pimientos de Padrón. esMadrid calls out the zapatillas by name, describing them as huge slices of Galician bread. The room stays casual and works well for groups.

“famous for its zapatillas”— esMadrid

La Perejila is a well-known taberna in La Latina, the old Madrid quarter built for Sunday vermut and bar-hopping, named after a popular coplas singer from the early 20th century and built around a tribute to Andalusian folklore, right down to the dishes on the menu. Deep-green walls and flamenco touches set the tone in a small room that fills fast on weekends. The tapas lean Andalusian, mostly traditional Spanish cooking with the occasional modern twist of flavour or texture, the kind of small-plate list built for standing at the bar with a glass of wine rather than settling in for a full sit-down meal. esMadrid describes the offering as Andalusia-inspired tapas, which is about as tidy a summary as the place needs.

“Andalusia-inspired tapas”— esMadrid

La Musa Latina is the La Latina outpost of Grupo La Musa, the younger sibling of the group's original spot in Malasaña, and it sits right on Plaza de la Paja. By day the kitchen turns gourmet dishes into tapas and portions with an international slant, and the brunch has become a fixture. After dark, the downstairs room shifts into a cocktail-and-music space, and there's a terrace for groups. esMadrid describes it as offering innovative treats made with top-quality ingredients, which tracks with the group's reputation elsewhere in the city.

“innovative treats made with top-quality ingredients”— esMadrid