Where is the best place to get churros in downtown Madrid?

Chocolateria San Gines just of c/Arenal is widely known as the original and best, but really any half decent cafe will offer up excellent churros.

Is it near the Puerta del Sol?

I've been several times to Chocolatería de San Ginés and I think they are not as good as they are meant to be by their reputation and by their prices!!.

You can try Cafetería RocaBlanca at Fuencarral, 46. Their "chocolate con churros" are quite good and much cheaper than the ones at San Ginés.

We avoided San Gines because of its high profile and prices. Found reasonable chocolaterias near P. de Sol on Carretera de San Jeronimo, just a couple short blocks from the Tio Pepe end of Sol...also a decent place on Atocha,....the one off S. Jeronimo was very accomodating...the man behind the counter sold me some bags of Chocolate, even, so I could make it at home. (Later I discovered it in the supermercado. Oh well. It was fair priced.....)

Any hole-in-the-wall dive restaurant will probably have the most wonderful, cheap, greasy, sponge-like (for dipping into the pudding they call hot chocolate here), crusty churros. There is a nice small cafe on the corner of Atocha, across from the theater and the underground parking, off Plaza Angel (south-east side of the Plaza, across from it) which is really good. I also like the German restaurant in Santo Domingo, north-east of the city.

As always, I recommend staying away from the high-profile tourist whatevers (hotels, restaurants, sights, etc.), and eating where the locals eat, stay where they stay. Otherwise, why go to all the trouble to be around more tourists just like yourself? Stay home in that case, and help unclog the streets.

I once met an extremely beautiful Iranian lady who lived in Los Angeles, California waiting to cross the street outside the Prado. I invited her fro a coffee at Plaza Mayor since she was looking for the place. She whined about how no one spoke English, how she wished Spain was more like LA! I suddenly remembered an appointment I was late for and left. I hope she made a bee-line for LA and never leaves the place again. Everyone would be happier.

Martín de Madrid
President
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Correction: change "dive hole-in-the-wall restaurant" to "dive hole-in-the-wall café!"

Martín

Martin De Madrid: Great to hear other people that think the same about traveling. When I travel, I try to get as far away as possible from touristy sites , and find the gems that the locals frequent. Thanks to all that post on this site ... I leave for Madrid on Wednesday for a solo trip (1 week) and I've gotten so many great tips! MadridMan, a special thanks for this great site!!

Martin de Madrid writes: All Iranian ladies are not like the one you describe! I shared a taxi once from Barajas airport to Madrid's main Bus Station with one beautiful Iranian lady after an EasyJet flight from London. She spoke perfect castellano (using the conditional & subjunctive tenses as appropriate). She was on her way to Salamanca - I was catching a midnight Secorbus to Sevilla. ¡Que lastima!

The best Churros I have encountered in the Madrid area are in Barajas Pueblo - Toribio's Churreria on the Plaza. Airline crews from all over have breakfast there. Sorry, it's not in downtown Madrid, but it's definitely worth a mention.