Nightlife - or
la marcha, as the Spanish fondlycall it -- reaches legendary heights in Spain's capital. It has been said thatMadrilenos rarely sleep, and that's largely because they spend so much time intapas bars -- not drunk, but socializing in the easy, sophisticated way that isunique to this city. (The practice of spending the evening wandering from bar tobar and eating tapas is so popular that the Spanish have a verb to describe it:
tapear.)Choose your place to enjoy the night in Madrid:
Bars
Cafe Gijon
Paseo de Recoletos 21, Chamberi, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/521-5425Cafe Gijon may be Madrid's most famous cafe-bar. Ithas hosted the city's most highfalutin
tertulias (discussion groups thatmeet regularly to hash out the issues of the day) for more than a century.
Cervantes
Leon 8, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/429-6093Cervantes is a small, bright-tiled tavern that isessentially a hole-in-the-wall pizzeria until midnight and then serves beer andwine to a young neighborhood crowd.
Champagneria Gala
Moratin 22, Santa Ana, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/429-2562Champagneria Gala is one of the city's better-knownchampagne bars, offering especially good Catalan
cavas (sparkling whitewines).
El Clandestino
Barquillo 34, Centro, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/521-5563El Clandestino is run by a French couple who seem to beSpaniards at heart. With a local following for its impromptu jam sessions andtwo floors alternating mellow jazz with house and ambient music, this bar-cafeis a hidden, low-key hot spot: atmosphere without attitude.
Hard Rock Cafe
Paseo Castellana 2, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/435-0200Hard Rock Cafe is wildly popular with young Spaniards.Madrid's version of this U.S. classic serves up the usual drinks, burgers, andsalads with a heavy dose of loud music.
La Dolores
Plaza de Jesus 4, Santa Ana, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/429-2243La Dolores is a crowded, noisy, and wonderful placethat's rightly reputed to serve the best draft beer in Madrid. Just behind thePalace Hotel.
Los Gabrieles
Echegaray 17, Santa Ana, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/429-6261Los Gabrieles is featured in most of Madrid's touristliterature for its remarkable tile walls, but the clientele is largely made upof fashionable Spaniards.
Meson Gallego
Leon 4, Santa Ana, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/429-8997Meson Gallego is a hole-in-the-wall that serveswonderfully hearty Galician potato soup (a famous cure for those who've drunktoo much) called
caldo gallego. Not for everyone is the Ribeiro, thesomewhat acidic white wine made with grapes from Galician riverbanks.
Oliver
Almirante 12, Centro, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/521-7379Oliver is two bars in one. In the afternoon and eveningthere's relaxing live piano music in the upstairs lounge; after midnight, thedownstairs becomes a full-fledged Chueca disco.
Palacio de Gaviria
Arenal 9, Sol, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/526-8089Palacio de Gaviria is a restored 19th-century palacehidden away on a tawdry commercial street between Puerta del Sol and the RoyalPalace. Allegedly built to house one of Queen Isabel II's lovers, the palace nowserves drinks in a sophisticated setting, with live jazz late at night. OnThursday night, "international" parties (aimed at foreigners)transform the place into a techno disco.
Soho
Jorge Juan 50, Salamanca, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/577-8973Soho is something of a slice of New York in theSalamanca district. Filled with rap and reggae fans, it has an eclectic menuthat includes exotic island drinks as well as Spanish variants of Tex-Mexcuisine.
Viva Madrid
Manuel Fernandez y Gonzalez 7, Santa Ana, Madrid,Spain
Phone: 91/429-3640Viva Madrid is an extremely popular bar with a Brassaimotif and serious personality. Packed with both Spaniards and foreigners, it'ssomething of a singles scene. There are tables and a small sel
ection of bar foodin the rear.
Tapasbars
Alhambra
Victoria 9, Sol, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/521-0708Alhambra has been serving excellent wine, beer, andtapas to a gregarious crowd since 1929. Around midnight the one-room tavernfills up, the windows get steamy, and the crowd begins to do pseudo-
sevillanadance moves to traditional music. When it's packed, they jump right onto thewooden tabletops without missing a beat.
Bocaito
Libertad 6, Centro, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/532-1219Bocaito is said by some to serve the best tapas inMadrid -- a heady claim. It may, however, be the only tapas bar with anall-acoustic flamenco venue. Performances start at midnight.
El Abuelo
Victoria 12, Sol, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/521-2319El Abuelo is a key stop on any Madrid tapas tour. Alegendary favorite even in the tapa-saturated Plaza Santa Ana area, El Abuelo (TheGrandfather) serves only two tapas -- and does them better than anyone else:grilled shrimp and shrimp sauteed with garlic. House tradition is to drink thesweet, red homemade house wine while tossing shrimp shells onto the floor.Grandpa himself sweeps up the shells with a short broom in one hand and a trayof wine balanced on the other.
El Rey de Pimiento
Plaza Puerta Cerrada, Madrid, Spain
Phone: no phoneEl Rey de Pimiento serves some 40 different kinds oftapas, including roasted red pimientos (hence the establishment's name) as wellas the intermittently hot pimientos
de padron. El Rincon de la Alpujara
Puerto Rico 35, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/359-9000El Rincon de la Alpujara is wonderful in summer, asit's one of the few tapas bars in Madrid with an outdoor terrace. If you orderfrom the excellent, international wine selection, the first tapa offered willprobably be a wedge of
queso manchego, a sharp regional cheese.
El Ventorrillo
Bailen 14, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/366-3578El Ventorrillo is a place to go between May and October,when tables are set up in the shady park of Las Vistillas overlooking the city'swestern edge. Specialties include croquettes and mushrooms. This is Madrid'sbest place to watch the sun go down.
La Trucha
Manuel Fernandez y Gonzalez 3, Santa Ana, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/429-5833
Museo del Jamon
Carrera de San Jeronimo 6, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/458-0163Museo del Jamon (Ham Museum) is a Madrid chain oftapas bars that has become an institution. Look for the window full of danglinghams with hoofs. The best tapas are, of course, the selection of hams fromaround the country. Don't be daunted by the variety; try the
serrano orthe
iberico to start.
Reporter
Fucar 6, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/429-3922The Reporter, true to its English name, is hung withgreat Spanish and world news photos. Its other great attraction is a gardenterrace shaded by a grapevine trellis. The
raciones (entree-sizeportions of tapas, intended for sharing) are very good, and the pate plate isa savory treat.
Taberna de Antonio Sanchez
Meson de Paredes 13, Lavapies, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/539-7826Taberna de Antonio Sanchez is reputed to be the oldestbar in Madrid -- the proprietors claim it's been around since 1830. Order wineand tapas at the old zinc bar in front; head to the back for a full meal.
Taberna de Cien Vinos
Nuncio 17, Lavapies, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/365-4704Taberna de Cien Vinos is tucked into a charming oldhouse with wooden shutters and stone columns. You can order by the glass from awide selection of Spanish wines, and the
raciones border on the gourmet.
Danceclubs
Archy’s
Marques de Riscal 11, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/310-5008The well-heeled crowd likes Archy's.
Azucar
Paseo Reina Cristina 7, Atocha, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/501-6107Salsa has become a fixture in Madrid; check out themost spectacular moves at Azucar, or "Sugar."
E
l Sol
Calle Jardines 3, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/532-6490Madrid's hippest club for wild, all-night dancing tointernational music is called El Sol.
Fortuny
Fortuny 34, Chamberi, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/319-0588Fortuny attracts a celebrity crowd, especially insummer, when the lush outdoor patio opens for partying under the stars. Put onyour best dancing shoes: the door is ultraselective.
Joy Eslava
Arenal 11, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/366-3733Joy Eslava, a downtown disco in a converted theater, isan old standby.
Pacha
Barcelo 11, Centro, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/447-0128Pacha, one of Spain's infamous chain discos, is alwaysenergetic.
Musicclubs
Amadis
Covarrubias 42, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/446-0036Amadis has telephones at every table, encouragingpeople to call each other with invitations to dance. The scene is sophisticated;you must be over 25 to enter.
Cafe Central
Plaza de Angel 10, Santa Ana, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/369-4143Cafe Central, the city's best-known jazz venue, ischic and well run, and the musicians are often very good. Performances generallybegin at 10 PM.
Cafe del Foro
San Andres 38, Santa Ana, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/445-3752Cafe del Foro is a funky, friendly club on the edge ofMalasana, with live music every night starting at 11:30.
Cafe Jazz Populart
Huertas 22, Santa Ana, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/429-8407Cafe Jazz Populart features blues, Brazilian music,reggae, and salsa, starting at 11 PM.
ClamoresAlbuquerque 14, Chamberi, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/445-7938
Negra Tomasa
C. Espoz y Mina and C. Cadiz, Santa Ana, Madrid, SpainNegra Tomasa is a Cuban music bar. Under palm frondsand fishnets, the crowd drinks Mojitos (made from sugar, crushed limes, mint,crushed ice, and flavored rum) to horns, maracas, and drums. On weekends, thehouse trio draws an international crowd.
Siroco
San Dimas 3, Centro, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/593-3070Siroco bills itself as a "soul club," butTuesdays through Saturdays it offers two different kinds of music: live Spanishpop downstairs, '70s disco, and acid jazz on the dance floor upstairs.
Suristan
La Cruz 7, Santa Ana, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/532-3909Suristan is a hip indie spot for nightly rock and popconcerts, as well as occasional theater and readings. A relaxed venue just offthe Plaza Santa Ana, it's a cafe by day, a college bar by evening, and anavant-garde theater of sorts late at night.
Torero
Cruz 26, Santa Ana, Madrid, Spain
Phone: 91/523-1129Torero, a thoroughly modern club despite its name, isfor the beautiful people -- quite literally: a bouncer allows only those judged
genteguapa (beautiful people) to enter. It's one of Madrid's most stylin' spots.
