THE TAPAS LOWDOWN
All the travel series show the host eating tapas. All the guidebooks illuminate the tapas experience. All your friends who previously visited Madrid won’t stop talking about tapas. You finally get to Madrid and there seems to be tapas everywhere. Where do you begin?
With children in tow, the best strategy is to find a cluster of quality tapas joints near one another. A singular, tapas bar can be rather intimidating. But, assessing a tapas scene in its entirety allows you to observe the tides of people ebbing and flowing from one place to another. This allows you to pick your holes. It can’t be proven, but the concept of a bar crawl may have begun as a tapas crawl.
We’re from Wisconsin, so we are preternaturally inclined to allow children in bars, yet we always tread carefully. Your kids aren’t explicitly banned from tapas, but you won’t be given any special considerations. Seats can be hard to come by, and if they do exist, they are most likely a bar stool. That is why carving out a little space for yourself is essential.
Now that you’re inside, you’re part of the scene. Strangers are passing by thinking to themselves, “now there’s a cool, sophisticated family!” Take a quick scan of the menu, but more importantly, is there a particular dish everybody appears to be eating? This is a way to suss out a house specialty or a seasonal item. Next, try to assess the service protocol. Are there servers? If so, don’t order from a bartender unless you are explicitly sitting/standing at the bar. They can get persnickety about things like that.
Remember cañas are the tap beers and copas de vino are the wines by the glass, probably listed on a menu board above the bar. Vermut on tap is always trustworthy, as vermouth in Spain is made more for sippin’ and less for mixin’. Tinto de Verano is a savvy alternative to the over-rated sangria – red wine and Fanta Limon over ice – very refreshing. Staff (typically) are not rude, they’re just efficient. They are keeping track of a buzzing bar’s worth of tabs, only to be calculated when you ask, “la cuenta, por favor.” Don’t be offended by anything that may sound curt or blunt.
An added bonus. You never have to be conscious of your kids’ volume levels when you’re out for tapas. Chances are that everybody is yell-talking to one another, so any outbursts from your family get lost in the overall din.
For those of age (moms, dads and adventurous teens), a tapas scene at full tilt is an exciting proposition. As you politely elbow your way to the bar remember these nuances in apologizing as you bump into people: disculpe or permiso is a proactive way of saying “excuse me, I’m coming though,” perdón is a reactive response to somebody you just bumped into, lo siento means “I’m sorry,” and expresses sympathy for spilling somebody’s drink.
With the basics in hand, here are a couple of tapas scenes to consider as well as a couple of noteworthy spots.
Calle de la Cava Baja
Calle de la Cava Baja is where the medieval Madrid city walls once ran. Farmers who brought their produce to market would stop at one of the many posadas or inns on Calle de la Cava Baja for nourishment, rest or drink. The medieval wall is (almost completely) gone, but that tradition carries on six centuries later.
It is currently the Shangri-La of tapas. Just below Plaza Mayor, on a street three football fields long, sits 50 tapas bars and restaurants. Sporadically open during the day, the tapas bars along Calle de la Cava Baja really come to life in the evening, peaking around 11:00 pm. Since the pandemic, these establishments have increased their seating footprint outside. This helps your prospects of finding a spot.
Calle de la Cava Baja as a whole isn’t a hidden gem, as every guidebook the worldover sends people to this street. With 50 places to choose from, they can’t all be winners. Where there are throngs of people, tourist traps and mediocrity will follow. Target these three tapas bars as you make your way down the street and enjoy the spirited scene around you.
Taberna La Concha: Come for the vermouth, stay for the tapas. This is the place to begin a lifelong love affair with vermut. In Spain, vermut is often on tap alongside beers. Taberna La Concha takes it a step further with a house vermut served up with a spritz of gin and garnished with an orange peel – a refreshing way to kick off a tapas crawl.
Los Huevos de Lucio: When the dish you’re after is also the name of the bar, that’s a good sign – literally and figuratively. Lucio’s eggs are a straightforward version of huevos rotos, in this case perfectly fried eggs served upon french fries. Optionally, add chorizo or jamon, and you will elevate your dish to transcendent bar food.
Juana La Loca: Awaiting you at the end of Calle de la Cava Baja, just around the corner is this home to pintxos (Basque-style tapas served on small skewers) as well as some classics such as tortilla. You will find yourself squarely in La Latina neighborhood and you can use Juana La Loca as a launchpad to discover yet another tapas scene with more of a locals’ bent around the colorful Mercado de Cebado.
Calle de Jesus
This 2-block run of tapas spots marks the eastern end of the pedestrian-only zone of central Madrid. Maybe it’s the nearby government and office buildings, but this scene is a little more businesslike. People are having fun, don’t get us wrong, it’s just not as obliquely a party as Calle de la Cava Baja. Most of these restaurants have been in operation for over a century, so they know what they’re doing.
You might be wondering, does this street translate into Jesus Street, as in THE Jesus? The answer is yes, THAT Jesus. A fun fact about Madrid is that street signs on the corners of buildings are often accompanied by painted tiles depicting an image of whomever or whatever the street is named after. Once upon a time, much of the citizenry couldn’t read, so the pictures helped.
Cervantes Cerveceria: This recommendation ought to have some sort of FDIC warning, “past performance does not guarantee future results.” We encountered the nicest tapas barman here on our last trip to Madrid! Full disclosure, it was August and particularly slow on this given evening. Nonetheless, the barman joked around with our kids like a beloved uncle. The kids ate it up – just like they ate up the ratatouille with eggs and french fries.
Cervezas La Fábrica: This is mainly known for its tinned seafood, not usually a big draw for kids. However, the menu extends beyond boquerones and razor clams to the usual greatest hits of tapas with jamón Ibéricos, cheeses and salads. The wine list is heavy on Rioja and Ribera del Duero reds and Albariño whites – classics for good reason.