Cafes
Café Gijón
A historic literary cafe. The outdoor terraza is nice in the summer.
Café de Oriente
Overlooks the Plaza Oriente and faces Palacio Real. Outdoor tables in summer, cozy indoor rooms in the cold months. Basement banquet room with a glass floor over ancient remains. Excellent food.
Nuevo Café Barbieri
Slightly scruffy cafe draws an avante garde crowd at night.
Cafe Circulo de Bellas Artes
A soaring hall on the ground floor of Madrid´s art center combines atmosphere, excellent food and good coffee at reasonable prices. A wonderful place for lunch not far from Madrid´s shopping or museums.
Cafe Commercial
opened in the 1880´s, this is the oldest cafe in Madrid. Has been run by the same family since the early 1900's. There´s a modern internet cafe upstairs, but the downstairs remains traditional.
Café Pabellon del Espejo
Opened in 1978, but looks much older. Good food and very crowded during lunchtime.
La Mallorquina
Famous for its pastries. Peaceful upstairs room where you can linger undisturbed over your café con leche and napolitana de chocolate chocolate croissant.
Bars
Areia
Very cool chill out bar decorated with deep colours in a Moroccan style. Dark and inviting. The seating includes cushions on the floor, traditional tables and chairs, or if youâre lucky, grab the four poster bed at the back.
La Via Lactea
A swingin' bar where you can twist the night away with local hipsters.
Museo Chicote
Voted the Best European Bar 2004 by MTV-Campari. Extensive cocktail list. Claims to have served drinks to many famous celebrities, including, Ava Gardner, Frank Sinatra, Lana Turner, Gary Cooper, Orson Wells, Yul Brynner and Ernest Hemingway, Catherine Zeta Jones, Hugh Grant and Tim Robbins. They only serve drinks.
Nightlife starts later in Madrid, with most people heading to the bars at 10-11PM.
El Rincón de Fogg
El Rincón de Fogg. Calle Juan de Urbieta 12. Metro: PacÃfico. (http://www.elrincondefogg.com/) Open daily from 07:00 to 22:00 and Friday and Saturday till 00:00. You can have 2 litres of sangrÃa in a self service dispenser from just â¬14, or â¬13 for 2 litres of beer, and you get a free plate of patatas bravas. They also have a delicious selection of bocatas from â¬2,45. Big TV to watch the football matches while enjoying eating and drinking. If you say you've read this, they'll invite you to a glass of rosado wine.
La Corolla
Specializes in delicious âtostasâ small pieces of toast with different toppings and avocado aguacate, along with cañas small beers.
Miali
Nice terrace outside,great for people-watching. The interior is tastefully decorated.
Redbar
Small, cozy cocktail bar with great music and a very nice and original decoration. Extensive cocktail list.
Clubs
El Sol
Popular with the 20-30 age group. Plays a mix of 70s, funk, and bossanova sounds. No dress code, but people do tend to look cool.
Joy
Well known across Europe. Attracts at multi-national crowd. Popular with tourists as well as locals. It plays a mix of popular dance music. Every Thursday there is a Students Party.
Kapital
Enormous club with 7 floors. However, despite it's popularity this club is usually not worth visiting. The owner has a policy to try and limit the number of foreigners in the club so if you are from anywhere except Spain, you will likely get bad treatment.
Pacha
Different dance music styles from night to night. Glitz and glamour. Strict doormen.
Palacio Gaviria
Stunning club, decorated as a lavish 16th century palace, complete with sweeping marble staircase. Several rooms, including two dance floors with different music. Spanish pop, dance, R&B and other commercial sounds.
Clubs generally open at about midnight. If you go in any earlier you may find it quite empty. Many clubs don't close until 6AM, and even then everyone is still full of life.