Tapas Crawl in Madrid

"Tapas Crawl in Madrid"

What a wonderful Monday evening I had last night in old downtown Madrid. About 2 weeks ago I get this email from a couple of Americans with the subject line, "Show us the ropes for free tapas and drinks?" Talk about intriguing! Of course, I opened it immediately.

Turns out they were a 30-something couple of New Englanders living in Kentucky and working a cattle ranch - but both had other day-jobs. They were such a beautiful couple, pleasant, funny, educated and open minded. The 5.5 hours we spent together on our Tapas Crawl in Madrid went by all-too quickly. (read more...)

Another great post on the blog. I appreciate you naming those tapas bars, what you enjoyed, and how you got there. It makes a sort of treasure map to follow to the gold. Looking forward to trying a few when we get there in April.

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Glad you enjoyed it, admiral44! But I assure you I enjoyed the Tapas Crawl last night much more than you enjoyed reading the blog posting today.

As a follow-up not included on the blog post, I took the metro home - which took about an hour because of the lesser frequency of metro trains late at night and having to change lines twice. I got home at about 1:30am and couldn't believe I was out on a Monday night - and so happy to do it!

Got to bed by 3am and purposely set my alarm for 9am this morning, otherwise I'd certainly have slept 'til 11am and have ruined my day. Took me more than 2 hours to write the blog post this morning, too.

Saludos, MadridMan

ANOTHER FANTASTIC BLOG

very informative and one of my favourite things to do in Spain
"keep emm coming"

Ohh I wish I´d´ve joined you !!!... It sounded a great night despite the weather . Let´s hope our evening with Miguel turns out well tomorrow !!

Wow, two blogs in a week! We are fortunate that you are so willing to share. Like Admiral, I too am glad you posted names and locations so that I can try some of these places when I visit in April. I am trying to remember from previous visits, but can't...If I take a teenager into the bars with me, will they let us stay? I recall being in bars in the morning and seeing young children, but I don't remember if kids were there at night. I have the feeling that nobody is going to mind, Spain being what it is. (a gracious country that allows freedom)
Anyway, if you know, let me know.

We had such a nice time. I got home, sat down, and thought, "That was such a pleasant evening."

I know. I know. Two blogs in one week! They take a lot out of me, really, very intense two or three hours to write each one.

You can certainly take your kids in the bars with you. "They say" that if the establishment allows smoking minors are not permitted to enter - but I've never seen it enforced. Plus, "minors" are under 16 years old. In the next couple of months smoking in public places will be banned throughout the country. Might even happen before you arrive.

Saludos, MadridMan

Great blog. The wife and I loved it. Been to most of the spots you hit that night. Her favorite is Café del Príncipe, the chocolate souffle is wonderful. That's also where she lost our passports.

Fun Blog!

Cafe del Principe has a BEAUTIFUL dining room upstairs overlooking Canelejas. Worth a visit for lunch.

Mongo, Café del Príncipe was pretty. The old, curling wooden staircase leading above was inviting. I'll keep that in mind for lunch sometime. How was the food?

Saludos, MadridMan

I´ve been there a few times . The last time was with a friend from the Basque country . He used to be a waiter/barman in Madrid . We had a great time just sitting downstairs drinking wine . When we paid the bill I left a tip ... Ivan picked up the tip and gave it back to me saying that the service was not good enough .. The service was "serious" .. but I´ve had worse service in País Vasco ! Hahahahahaha

Thanks for the blog, MM! I always enjoy reading them.
My favorite place to tapas crawl is to start out at Plaza Mayor and then go straight down Cava Baja, hitting many, many establishments before we hit Plaza San Andres, which you know well!
Let's plan a crawl in July!!!!

great memories on Casa del Abuelo, wow, still there, I just had a friend going there,and thought it was good...recommended it to me Lol!
My hangout in the 70's ::)
Casa Alberto a bit less, and Cerveceria Alemana a lot more...
great blog nice stories,good info.Keep it going!

It seems this particular blog entry has stirred quite a bit of interest! Shortly after its posting I got two emails from people asking if I could do the same with them - and they'd pay for my drinks and tapas! Unfortunately, one of them I had to turn down because I'd be in Barcelona.

Saludos, MadridMan

Hi MadridMan, In your message on 02/23/2010 Tapas Crawl in Madrid, "In the next couple of months smoking in public places will be banned throughout the country." My question is in public places do you mean cafes and restaurants. I know smoking is not permitted in public places, for example, buses and the Metro.
Also will the banned be a law from the Spanish congress or will each city and town have to enact their own law.
Thank you

Jim, they're taking their good-old-time signing the Spain-wide "act" into Spain-wide law but it seems inevitable. I have to wonder, however, if it's taking so long, maybe they'll relent or "modify" the law somehow like they did last time.

Smoking will be banned in ALL INDOOR public places, including all bars and all restaurants, no matter their size. Proprietors cannot choose to allow smoking. Outdoor spaces like terrazas, bullrings, and stadiums will still allow smoking.

Saludos, MadridMan