Madrid is probably the city that has surprised me the most in my entire life. I like to joke about how I am such a good planner that nothing every surprises me, but somehow Madrid blew my mind! I don’t quite know why I didn’t know what to expect, but I was stunned by how much I adored this city. This post contains my favorite spots to eat in Madrid.
First of all Madrid is BEAUTIFUL, shockingly beautiful. There are so many different neighborhoods and vibes and every single one is SO COOL. The buildings and architecture are incredibly lovely, there is so much to do, the people were so welcoming, but above all… THE FOOD! We spent four days trying to eat everything in Madrid and I am so thankful we visited in February! No beach body needed any time soon, and we acted like it!
Here are a few of the places that I genuinely believe you should eat in Madrid. You can and SHOULD make reservations at all of them, except for the markets. These are in no particular order because I would lose my mind trying to order them, they are all wonderful and delightful in their own ways.
Each heading contains a link to the website (if they have one). These are not affiliate links, just helpful links so you can have the best experience hen you eat in Madrid.
La Lloreria
I don’t even know where to begin with this spot. The minute we walked in the door we could tell it was going to be excellent. The design was so light, bright, and welcoming. We were surely looking a bit like the confused and jet lagged Americans that we are, and sometimes that can be met with some less than kind reactions. Not here, they were SO kind, welcoming, and helpful throughout the entire experience. I say experience, because it truly was! I think I could write an entire blog post alone about just this spot. This was the first meal we were able to eat in Madrid and goodness was it an epic start.
We sat down and they asked us if we wanted to order a la carte or if we wanted them to create a tasting experience for us. We immediately jumped on the experience opportunity and just sat back as they took care of everything. We had a delicious white wine that went very well with our meal and was also very well priced. This place has Michelin recognition and it DESERVES it!
The meal started with an egg that was cooked to taste like butter and some bread for dipping, what a surprise it was! Absolutely delicious and so unique! Next up we had a French oyster that was in a phenomenal dressing and was possibly one of the best oysters I’ve had in my life. Following that was a salad with some of the most fresh tomatoes I’ve ever had and a really nice bowl of greens. Next was calamari and cauliflower and it was UNREAL! The flavors were out of this world and it was again, some of the best squid I’ve had. After this we had a tamale with tuna on the side and pumpkin seeds. I have never had a tamale I liked more in my life (are you noticing a theme here?). If all tamales tasted like this one, I’d eat them daily.
At this point in the meal they asked us if we were full or wanted to keep going. We loved that they asked and let us take control of the menu. Of course we kept going, on to the octopus dish. Which was incredibly good and had such unique flavor. The meal ended with lamb meatballs that were one of our favorite dishes of the trip. Overall La Lloreria was 10/10 for the food, the setting, the staff, the wine, literally everything was perfection and I couldn’t recommend any place more! We went for lunch and went right when they opened at 2 and the timing was perfect! If I’d known how good it would be, I would have likely gone twice! If i returned this would be the first place I’d eat in Madrid.
L’Artisan
This place was an immediate charmer too. We didn’t realize before coming but brunch is a big event for people who like to eat in Madrid. We walked in and found the decor so simple and lovely! We knew right away from looking around at other diners plates that this was an excellent brunch choice. They had both a brunch and lunch menu and we ordered some things off of each.
We had some fun drinks here like Vietnamese coconut coffee, matcha etc. The food here was so delicious as well. Here we tasted a pulled pork sandwich with a fried egg on top, the jerk shrimp tacos, the squid (which was my favorite), and some unique and delightful croquettes!
This spot was really relaxed, casual, and fun and we enjoyed everything we ate here. The neighborhood is really nice too and has a more local feel when walking around. I recommend this as a brunch spot, and they take reservations which makes everything easier.
Lamian
Wow, another place that blew our minds! This spot is tucked right off the Grand Via (which is the main road in Madrid). But it is on a very quiet little corner. It smelled amazing when we walked in and we already felt good vibes. I was continuously mind blown by how many unique spots there were to eat in Madrid.
This place is basically an Asian inspired tapas spot. We loved it! We tried so much food here and had an excellent red wine. I was a complete failure at this spot and was so busy eating and enjoying that I didn’t take any food photos. Honestly, I’m so bummed about this because everything was amazing. We had eggplant sticks with satay sauce, dragons hand wontons, stewed ribs, fried rice, sirloin steak, pork dumplings, shaomai, and the duck tacos. The duck tacos were INSANELY good! Truly you have to get them or you have failed me! But honestly everything here was fantastic and my best advice is just order as much as you can! Make a reso here if you can, it’s just the smart thing to do when you eat in Madrid. Even in February, many places were quite crowded.
Bar La Campana
This was one of those instagram famous spots to eat in Madrid that I was nervous wouldn’t live up to the hype. Holy moly, this was the best 4 euro I ever spent! The fried calamari sandwich is HUGE, simple, and perfectly delicious. The calamari have a perfect fry, the bread is delightful, and you can not skip this spot if you are in Madrid. It is right off the Plaza Mayor so it is a place you’ll probably end up near a lot anyway. They also have other options but the menu is simple and straightforward. This is the kind of place where you just know absolutely everything is good. Highly recommend for the best value for money thing that we had to eat in Madrid.
La Casa Del Abuelo
We went here for the garlic gambas and boy do I wish we had booked a full meal here. We had some ham croquettes here and they were delightful. But there is a reason that everyone talks about the gambas. We showed up around 2 and were able to pop right in, lucky us! If I was returning to Madrid I’d make a full reservation for lunch or dinner here. We had a lovely white wine here and enjoyed the vibe of the place so much. Absolutely everything on every other table in the place looked amazing! It’s right in the center of the action too, so it’s an easy place to get to!
The Markets
You can not miss the markets if you want to eat in Madrid. There are quite a number of them and they can get quite crowded. The most popular is surely Mercado de San Miguel and for good reason. It is quite upscale looking and the building is absolutely stunning! There are SO many amazing stalls selling absolutely EVERYTHING you could imagine. I would recommend not going to this one on a weekend, or going early, but it really is an amazing place. Madrid is blessed with tons of markets though, so get off the beaten path and check out some other ones if you can. We also loved Mercado San Anton!
Ham Tasting Experience in a Shop
One of the best things we did during our time in Madrid was a jamón tasting experience in a shop called “Lopez Pascual” with Alberto. We booked this through airbnb experiences and I am SO glad we did!
Alberto was incredibly knowledgeable about jamón and everything we wanted to eat in Madrid. We learned so much. There is nothing better than learning about something from someone who is so incredibly passionate about what they do. We got to taste so much, and we learned all about how to know which jamón is the best. I was so thankful that we did this on our first evening so the rest of our time in Madrid we knew how to select the best ones and what to look for when shopping or ordering jamón!
Alberto was so impressive and had such great storytelling. We had so much fun and laughed a lot during this experience. The wine was wonderful, and the shop was delightful! I couldn’t recommend this experience more highly!
I will definitely have more posts to come on Madrid itself and where else to eat in Madrid. We absolutely LOVED this city.
If you’re looking for a food tour to give you more options for things to eat in Madrid, you can check out some options here ——> Madrid Food Tours
In the meantime if you’re looking for some other great food experiences in Spain…
Here is a post about an amazing —-> Sunset Wine & Tapas Tour in Barcelona
This post about where to eat in Madrid may contain affiliate links, if you book through these links, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.