Café Gijón calls itself the “Gran Café de la historia de España” (the great Café of Spanish history). It first opened in 1888 and for well over 100 years it has been associated with artists, actors and writers, and many others artistic and political types. Places like Café de Gijón became very well known as establishments where people could, and still do, meet for ‘tertulias’ – informal chats about a range of topics. Café Gijón has hardly changed over the years and is a great place to meet up with friends and look out on to the busy Paseo de Recoletos. As you go in there is an interesting plaque above a cabinet (used to sell tobacco), which reads: “from here Alfonso, match seller and anarquist, sold tobacco and saw the world pass by” and it is dedicated to him by his friends at the Café. The nearest metro is probably Banco de España

Casa Mingo is on Madrid’s Paseo de la Florida, a short walk from Prícipe Pio Metro. It is an old-style Asturian (from the region Asturias) bar/tavern which is famous for its cider, roast chicken and its chorizos. The place is popular with all sorts of people, many students frequent the bar, and the cider is brewed and bottled by them. The setting is very informal with large wooden tables and surrounded by bottles of cider. Casa Mingo is situated next door to the la Real Ermita de San Antonio, where you will find fresoes by Goya.

Metro: Prícipe Pio
Address: Paseo de la Florida, 34

See also: Madrid Restaurants

This is a small establishment of the c/ Alcalá, near the Metro Manuel Becerra. The bar serves great food and jeréz (sherry) from Andaluía, in the south of Spain. However, the reason that I particularly like this place is that at 11 p.m. every night the lights are turned off, candles distributed and the whole bar starts singing to the Virgin, Rocio Chicó, of which they have a small statue on the wall of the bar. It is quite incredbile to see not just the bar but the pavement outside filled with people singing! Well worth a visit.

El Anciano Rey de los Vinos can be found a couple of hundred metres south of the Royal Palace, in c/ Bailén. This ‘taverna’ was established in 1909 and still displays many of its original features: high ceilings, pillars and wall-to-wall tiling. It has a good selection of wines, the cider and vermouth is served from the tap and each drink is accompanied by a small biscuit/pastry. Metro: Sol or Ópera

Love chocolate, then this is definitely the place for you. Next to the Church of San Ginés, just off c/Arenal, you will find a favourite haunt of many Madrileños – Chocolatería San Ginés. This place serves thick cups of chocolate with churros (long sticks of fried dough) in a white-marbled bar. It has been around for well over a hundred years and is still popular with people of all age groups. It is busy in the early evening and absolutely packed from 4 o’clock onwards, after a night out on the tiles!

Pasadizo de San Ginés 11 (91 365 65 46). Metro: Sol, lines 1, 2 & 3.

Casa Labra is a small bar hidden away in a street behind the Puerta del Sol, in Calle Tetuán. It is famous for being the bar where the Spanish socialist party (PSOE), who came to power in 1977, was founded on the 2nd May, 1879. A typical old-style Spanish bar, with heavy wood-panelling and only standing room in the bar, you can order bacalao (small pieces of cod in batter) from a separate bar and if there’s no room at the bar, simply take your beer and cod onto the pavement!