25 best bars in Madrid

This award-winning project of Diego Cabrera's is indeed a cocktail bar, but it's one where, in addition to quenching your thirst in the most agreeable of ways, you can also please your stomach with a selection of hummus, mini-burgers, tapas and pickled treats that quickly become addictive. A comic-book theme dominates the casual ambience and 1960s-style cocktail-bar decor. Cabrera aims to democratize and dignify everything related to mixology while also offering dozens of classic cocktails, others of his own creation, and new combinations that he's concocted with Pepe Orts, the country's greatest botanist.

Half restaurant (with an open kitchen) and half bar, Arima is a must-stop on any vermouth fan's route. They've got some 30 varieties they've selected from around the country – from Tarragona to Coruña, and Amurrio to Castellón – and they serve your choice in an elegant glass (with an olive and a bit of orange), and you can find a description of each one in the menu. Not only is vermouth is revered here, it's also revisited. Try the slushy version they've come up with for a real treat in warmer weather.

The idea is for La Esperanza to look like an updated version of a bar that's been around the area forever, giving it a retro-modern flair. The result is a clientele that spans generations, from pensioners to millennials, everyone happily sharing space at the bar with a vermouth in one hand and a tapa in the other. The menu is similarly pleasing for all. Try ordering dishes at a half portion so you can taste more of a variety. La Esperanza has a bit of everything on its more or less classic menu, with familiar Spanish cuisine that's very tasty indeed.

Once you cross the threshold of this famous century-old tavern in the Malasaña neighbourhood, you might feel like you've been teleported back in time. As for the food menu, La Ardosa specialises in home-made recipes and tapas. If you're there for the drinks, bear in mind that La Ardosa were pioneers in bringing certain imported beers to Madrid, so don’t be surprised if the beer on tap is the Czech Pilsner Urquell. They also have a host of others, including Budweiser and Guinness. If you'd rather have a vermouth, don't leave without trying the one prepared exclusively for La Ardosa.

An obligatory stop on any bar crawl in Madrid. Word is the best draught beers in town are poured here (order a 'caña' to get one), and maybe that's why El Doble's fame has spread throughout the Spanish capital, and why both the bar and its surroundings are always bustling. As the name suggests, they serve cañas that are double in size of those you'd get elsewhere, and they're always accompanied by a delicious tapa at no charge.

Vermouth house, restaurant and wine bar all included. Oh, and it's located right on Gran Vía. Could it get any better? This music to our ears comes in the form of Gran Clavel in the Hotel Iberostar Las Letras Gran Vía. With Rafa Cordón running the kitchen, and Alejandra Ansón and Miguel Bonet at the helm, this space aims to bring together all things that define Madrid. And that means serving stew on Saturdays as much as creating a cosmopolitan atmosphere, and showing off the culinary diversity in the Spanish capital city.

This tiled bar has become a tourist destination in its own right. It is beautiful, with vaulted ceilings and evocative decor, but it tends to get rammed with young foreigners looking to pull, or at least get plastered, so you'll either love it or loathe it. Anyone over 21 will best appreciate it in the afternoon.  

If you’re looking for somewhere to grab a beer in Chamberí, this is the place. The proof that they know what they're doing when it comes to a well-poured beer is in the loyal clientele who come from all over the neighbourhood and beyond. The bar staff reflect a friendliness and efficiency of those who have dedicated themselves to their career. Fide is a classic where snacking on tapas at the bar is a religion – though there is also a small interior room when you fancy a bigger feast.

One of the most successful examples in the city of what is known as an ‘enlightened tavern’. It has a bar overflowing with tapas and a large selection of wines served by the glass. In the back there's a small dining room where you can sample more elaborate dishes, which, while not overly sophisticated, are tastefully reminiscent of home cooking.  

The Madrid of yore lives on not only in the decor and furnishings at Café Comercial – the original bar, floors and mirrors are all intact – but in the kitchen too, as traditional recipes are modernised but only a bit, so the most diehard traditionalists are happy too. Their 'patatas bravas' are made with sweet tomato, garlic mayonnaise and mustard. There's also the scrumptious shrimp croquettes and omelettes, both made with whole shrimps. We can also recommend the 'ensaladilla', and the meatballs with Pedro Ximénez sauce and saffron. All the quality recipes pay tribute to Madrid. 

This venture is based on respect for, and is a tribute to and an update of the most traditional recipes (crunchy cod cubes or 'patatas bravas', for example), that territory where tapas at the bar and a plate of offal share the limelight, where you can get a well-poured beer on tap or some of the best wines in the town, where there's fresh seafood at weekends and hearty stew to soak up all the bread in the basket. They've always got one hand stirring in tradition and the other searching for creative ways to improve it.

The crown jewel at Taberna Averías is the wine cellar. They define themselves as a place for people who like the good life and good wine. We say amen to that. And they don't disappoint. There are plenty of bodegas around town with not much to offer, but that's not the case in this tavern that offers dozens of wines by the glass (and even more by the bottle) of the biggest varieties in Spain and beyond. The collection is quite impressive. It's so big (and carefully selected) that you won't have trouble finding new labels to try. Just leaf through the wine menu and launch yourself into the blissful unknown.

With six taps of splendid craft beers (various in rotation) and traditional dishes served, the folks at Bodega Salvaje do their best to stay true to their inheritance from Alberto and Ramona, who came from León and managed this same spot, dispatching wine from the barrel since the 1970s. They want to bring back the kind of traditional eatery and bar that's been on the decline. Their biggest sellers are La Gorda and La Flaca, as they're the most accessible for newbies, but the sensation of the summer was called Wai-iti, made with eight experimental hops, a treat for the most experienced palates. Delicious tapas are topped off with the perfect dessert: their birramisú (tiramisú made with stout) and a Bola Ocho on tap make for a final ovation.

Take two traditional dishes found in nearly all Madrid bars – croquettes and 'tortilla' (omelette) – and combine them with the always-popular line-up of craft beers, and you can't really go wrong. In a traditional Madrid bar that's not been renovated much since its origins, the owners serve up a splendid sampling of croquettes with at least half a dozen different fillings, and incredible tortillas made of surprising combinations. Wash it all down with lagers, IPAs and pale ales from Spain and around the world, served from five taps that rotate on a regular basis – and you can get some great advice on pairings with the food.

Totally unrefurbished, La Venencia is gloriously shabby, with old, peeling sherry posters, barrels behind the bar and walls burnished gold by decades of tobacco smoke. It serves only sherry (locals will order a crisp, dry 'fino' or 'manzanilla', leaving the sweet stuff to the occasional tourist who stumbles in), along with manchego cheese, 'cecina' (air-dried beef) and chorizo by way of tapas. You’ll invariably be served some excellent olives with the first round. Orders are still chalked up on the bar, and an enamel sign asks customers not to spit on the floor or take photos. No tips accepted.    

The croquettes alone are reason enough to spend a bit of time in El Quinto Vino. But all the food options – from nibbles to stews – listed on the chalkboard go down better with the big variety that comes out of their wine cellar. The disjointed decor shows off the space's history and is something you can easily grow fond of. A mixed clientele sits at the bar and tables, but everyone comes to enjoy this place that's set in an unfixed time and is always at the top of lists of where to go for a bite and a drink with friends.

Another Madrid classic, with wonderful tiling outside and rows of dusty beer steins inside, La Dolores has been serving ice-cold frothy beer since the 1920s. There's a short list of tapas, which are good if a bit overpriced. Specialities are smoked fish, anchovies and 'mojama' (wind-dried tuna). Weekends see the space fill up with friends who meet up to have a snack and well-poured beers.

This small and lively tavern is a popular place for locals to come and have a beer or an open toasted sandwich (there are about twenty to choose from, topped with cold cuts, tinned goods, cheese ...) or a small dish of anchovies or tuna tartar. In good weather, its outdoor terrace doubles its capacity.

Garra Bar invites you to free your mind of preconceived ideas about hotel lobby bars as you step into the imposing interior design is full of winks to art deco, with plenty of gilt, careful lighting and a bar that's set around a majestic column/showcase displaying bottles of champagne. Goldfinger would be in ecstasy. Under the high ceilings there's a real New York vibe, while behind the marble bar, Ramón Jiménez works his magic to find the perfect cocktail for you. Among their concoctions are the curious fino and tomato, the sake and cider, and the rum and peach juice.

A tiny, bright and friendly mother-and-son operation, Bodegas Ricla does a great line in garlicky 'boquerones' (whitebait) and an incongruous one in soft rock. Cheap but good wine and sherry are available by the litre, poured from tall clay urns, or there's vermouth on tap. Also worth trying are the 'cecina' (thin slices of cured venison) and cabrales cheese in cider.

This is one of the best bar-restaurants in the Retiro neighbourhood, where guests are invited to enjoy tapas at a large bar or have a quieter meal in the main dining room. Its gastronomic offer is based on seasonal products, so the menu is constantly changing. Known for traditional Spanish cuisine with a modern twist, banner dishes include rabbit cutlets with fries, roasted aubergines with fried artichokes, stewy rice dishes, Russian salad, braised steak, oxtail, monkfish and hake with almond alioli, and suckling pig confit with cream of truffled potato. You'll appreciate the free snacks you get with each drink order, and be sure to check out their extensive wine list as well.