Last summer I went to Madrid with a boyfriend who took me to this great little tapas bar that used to be a cave - it was all carved out...well, he does not remember the name and only says "I know how to get there but don't know the streets"...Does anyone know where it is or what it is called? I just remember it was an off street of Plaza Mayer.

[ 01-21-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

Eva writes:
Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas - entrance is halfway down the steps of Arco de Cuchilleros(southwest corner of the Plaza Mayor) Luis Candelas was a bandit - now the banditry is limited to charging tourists exorbitant prices for tapas and drinks and meals in the restaurant.

[ 01-21-2002: Message edited by: Eddie ]

Hi Eva!
Seems Eddie had a similiar experience with Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas. I just went there last month and for wine and a jámon serrano and manchego cheese plate (just one!) we were charged a surprising amount. Even my madrileña ladyfriend responded "¿¡Para Que!?" (For What!?) when hearing the total.

The door to the bar area is at the bottom of the stairs of El Arco de Cuchilleros as Eddie says. The restaurant entrance is about halfway up the stairs on the right. I ate at their restaurant in 1998 and really loved the place and the cochinillo (roasted suckling pig) was good too, but didn't pay so I don't know how much that was.

I don't know of any other which claims to have been a cave, but there are a number of restaurants with lower, underground levels which were once wine cellars where they now might have restaurant/bar seating.

Saludos, MadridMan

On the same street as Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas are numerous "tapas" restaurants and I believe in general they are all referred to as "las cuevas" or the area of "las cuevas". They all have a "cave like" atmosphere to them....low ceilings, etc. Some are much more expensive than others. I have never tried Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas, but I did try one with four other friends for dinner one night and our total bill came out to 5,000 ptas (about $25). We had 6-7 different tapas and 2 pitchers of sangría. Doesn´t seem to be the rip off that people percieve Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas to be.

Thank you everyone...those are exactly the ones I am talking about...

I love this board...by the way, Madridman, I am the one who recomended your site on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree! You are fabulous!

Hi Eva!



Thanks for the mention on The Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree, Eva! Now THERE'S an active, worldwide message board for you! And by the way, I'm not the fabulous one around here (but thanks! :o ) -- it's the fine people here on this message board. I just provide the "roof" under which we gather to share our love for Spain.

Hope you make it back to Spain again someday soon, Eva!

Saludos, MadridMan

On the same street as Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas are numerous "tapas" restaurants and I believe in general they are all referred to as "las cuevas" or the area of "las cuevas". They all have a "cave like" atmosphere to them....low ceilings, etc.

I (finally) finished putting together my restaurant/tapa bar notes from my October trip last night. There are several "cave" bars built into the walls of the Plaza Mayor. I just found my notes from one that was so much fun. It's called "Meson de Champignon", the mushroom bar as I lovingly call it. Its located at Cava de San Miguel 17 (91 559 95 31). It doesn't look like anything from the outside but once you enter you're in a dark cave-like room with little fake mushrooms hanging from the ceiling. There's a cask behind the bar with a scoop for the sangria. They serve wine in itsy bitsy glasses. There were 3 generations of 1 family behind the bar when we visited one Saturday evening. The garlic/olive oil sauteed mushroom were to die for. There's a small room in the back with entertainment (a man playing a synthesizer and spanish tunes). It was not at all expensive.

[ 01-29-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

I'm glad someone else loves this place as much as I do. I was in last summer, and mentioned to one of the bartenders that it had been almost 25 years since I had last been in. (I used to travel to Madrid a lot and never missed going when I could.) He said it hadn't changed much, and I pointed out that the mural of someone eating the mushrooms was gone. He said that the building was 400 years old and they had to renovate it every two hundred years.

Anyway, my granddaughters (5 & 8) absolutely loved the place and we went several times and consumed lots of mushrooms. :p Great place.