If you are a young international and you want to improve your student housing experience in Madrid we recommend you something you may have heard before: tapas. Madrid's streets are full of tabernas, the best place to try them. You may not have noticed but apart from all the cultural things to do in this city, trying new tapas is one of them. 

Everybody loves the Spanish cuisine, and not only the foreign people, but also the locals love to enjoy some tapas with friends on the evening after work, or on a Sunday morning after waking around Madrid. No matter the time or the company, tapas are always the best option! But be careful, because there's a lot of tabernas where you can go, which one should you chose? We have the answer for that question so keep reading if you want to find the best places to go and try the  best tapas in Madrid.

Best tapas bars in Madrid 

Some of the bars in Spain (tabernas) - they’re in Madrid, but popular all over the country - where you can eat tapas are:

• El Tigre

You can find this bar in Chueca. Here you will find big tapas for an economic price. A lot of young people goes before partying, so the atmosphere in the evenings is great.

• Casa Revuelta

Casa Revuelta in Plaza Mayor offers a good service with very attentive waiters. It's nothing special on the outside but wait to enter and discover their tapas. They're delicious!

• Matador

With flamenco music and bullfighting decoration, customers are always satisfied with the food. Sometimes you can even see tourists waiting in the queue to have a sit in this cozy place.  

• Taberna la Tia Cebolla

This is one of the bars in Madrid where you can enjoy tapas and drinks on the terrace. You will love the homemade food. Make sure to plan your visit because it's a small place.

• Rosi La Loca

Close to la Puerta del Sol, in this Mediterranean tapas bar you can also drink cocktails. They have normal tapas and super tapas. They both combine the classic taste of the traditional Spanish food with the modern kitchen. 

• Docamar

We recommend you to go to this place if you want to eat patatas bravas, one of their most requested tapas. They have more than 50 years of history, tourists and locals love this place because it's very familiar. 

• Taberna La Concha

Great place to taste some tapas or toasts along with a glass of wine. In this rustic bar there's a place for everyone, they even have gluten free tapas! 

• Casa Alberto

A typical place where apart from food, you can enjoy the vermouth and the beer. Also with bullfighting decoration. 

• La Sureña and 100 Montaditos

These two bars are always crowded with young internationals students. They are very economic and you have a large variety to chose. Great place to go at any time, you won't regret it. 

 Now we want to recommend you two famous markets in Madrid full of tapas bars.

• Mercado de San Miguel 

It's located in Plaza San Miguel. 

A food market where you will be able to taste tapas from every corner of Spain. They have more than 20 stands, you can either eat there or take the food away. You will find it hard to chose in which stand to pick the food, you will want to try everything! Once you try the high-quality tapas you won't be able to leave Madrid. 

• Mercado de San Fernando

This is a classic food market located in Lavapiés. The good thing is you can also do some shopping, so buy anything you like, maybe you won't find it anywhere else. 

In here you can also try food not only typical from Madrid, but from other cities of Spain, which means there is a huge variety.

Markets are a great choice to eat but also to walk around and enjoy a talk with local people, learn about them and continue discovering everything about tapas. Let's be honest, tapas drive everyone crazy!

Top 10 tapas in Madrid 

As you can see there's a lot of tabernas, markets and restaurants where you can enjoy an incredible tapas meal. If you are in Madrid you may have noticed there's a large variety of food, so there's a large variety of tapas too. It is normal you want to try all of them because they all seem delicious, but that's impossible. But don't worry because in this guide we give you the top 10 tapas you need to try to have the best culinary experience in Madrid. 

Tapas are for every type of person, you can choose between ordering an entire portion or half of it.

1. Tortilla de patata: probably the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about Spain is their spanish omelette. It's a delicious dish made by the most simple ingredients and that's what makes it special. It's very popular in Madrid, so you have to make sure you go somewhere where they really know how to do it. 
2. Jamón: whether it is serrano or iberico, this tapa is very iconic. You can find it in every bar and restaurant of the city. Even though it's a quite expensive one it's worth to try.
3. Patatas bravas: another simple dish but a very special one, because they are covered with a spicy sauce that you will love. Again, make sure you go to a place where they make homemade tapas, you don't want to eat store-bought potatoes, do you?
4. Croquetas: a delicious tapa you can't miss! Croquettes are crispy on the outside and you can find them with all sorts of filling on the inside (vegetables, codfish...) but the original ones are filled with ham.

5 Calamares fritos: this one is a seafood tapa. Everyone, including locals and tourists, go to La Plaza Mayor in Madrid to enjoy this tapa while drinking a beer. It's a traditional thing to do, especially at Christmas. 

6 Albóndigas: meatballs can sound familiar to you, but this tapa is served with a yummy sauce. Good to taste especially on winter to escape from the cold of Madrid. 

7 Pimientos de padrón: originals from Galicia, the north of Spain, peppers are another tapa you have to try at least once. But we warn you, some of them can be very spicy!

8 Torreznos: even if it doesn't sound very attractive, this tapa consists of fried pork rinds. Once you try one you will finish all the plate and you will even ask for more. 

9 Gambas al ajillo: hot garlic shrimps are very popular in Spain. This isn't an economic tapa, but we recommend you to try it in one of the restaurants where they make incredible shrimps along with sweet wine: La Casa del Abuelo. 

10 Gazpacho and salmorejo: they are both cold soups and in Spain there's a discussion about which one is better. Salmorejo has a tomato base while gazpacho includes more vegetables. Try it and decide by yourself which one you like best!

These are all the tapas worth trying when being in Madrid. We’re sure you’re willing to try all of them after reading this post. So pool your friends and explore the places we recommend you in here, there’s a whole new world of different flavours to discover!

See you soon,

helpHousing team