Join me and a number of others at 8pm Saturday evening, 24 January 2009, for a night out on the town in Madrid. We'll have eating, drinking, and.... whatever!

Who'll be there there? ME and some of my Spanish friends.

Who's Welcome? Anyone living in Madrid, visiting Madrid, Message Board & Facebook members, or just anyone who'd like to come along.

What'll we do? We'll start once again at the famed El Brillante for the first couple of hours and possibly move on from there.

This is the first evening-time "Party with MadridMan" in about a year so I hope the turn-out will encourage to make the outing a more regular thing.

We have a month to plan & discuss the details but the date is set for 24 January 2009. Hope to see you there! Start discussing!

The Facebook event can be viewed by Facebook users at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=62813960968

Saludos, MadridMan

Thanks MadridMan for the post. By some cosmic coincidence, I will be in Madrid at that time.

My two cents would be to start somewhere around Sol to be able to quickly move from place to place sampling "the classics". Gambas at El Abuelo, bereneja at Casa Toni, orejas at...La Oreja, mussels at La Ria, La Tosta (a Steve Robinson favorite!), bunuelos at Casa Labra, esparagos at Vina P, etc, etc, etc. There are so many choices and I like to move!

MadridMan-They have a good bocadillo de calamares at Bar Sol y Mayor which would lead us to Torre de Oro in Plaza Mayor for their great bullfight photos. There is also a great Asturian taberna near Mayor (I'll post the address after arrival in January) that has cider and cabrales. Also, don't forget Chocolateria San Gines!

Just some random thoughts...

Hi Mongo! Wow! That IS a cosmic coincidence that you'll be in town at that time. hehehe..

And you have some good suggestions about where to go. But places like "El Abuelo", "Casa Labra", and "Torre de Oro" are all very good - but very small places. If we have more than 5 people it'd be impossible to wedge anyone else inside if there are (and there will be) other patrons. What would we do if we had 50 people show up for the party and 40 of them had to stand outside in the January cold? Of course, we're not likely to have anywhere close to 50 people, but for that reason, among others, I mentioned "El Brillante" because they have a big space in the middle.

I remember a couple times our large groups left El Brillante in search of other places and found it nearly impossible to get all of us inside because the places were already too crowded. I can already guess/calculate we'll have a minimum 10 persons. You know how small "Torre de Oro" is on the Plaza Mayor. If you put 10 people in there the bar is full. Add 8-10 patrons there upon our arrival and we have a problem. To "tapear" is something best done in groups of 2 to 5 maximum.

(and now Mongo groans.... "Oh god. What have I committed myself to?")

Saludos, MadridMan

Be sure to take pictures and, most importantly, tell us what you EAT!

Hehehe.. You can be SURE of that, sparkalina. Wish you could be there!!!

Saludos, MadridMan

So far we have about 4 message board members and 1 non-message board member intending to attend.

Anyone else? Remember, NON-message board members are allowed to attend as well.

Saludos, MadridMan

Hi board members,

I´ll join this party for sure, so I hope to meet knowed and unknowed people :-)

See you!

I'll be there for sure !

Steve

Maybe one in March, say the 14th maybe, as well!!

Does anyone have suggestions for bars with space and, preferably, not too loud so we can talk without shouting? Sitting down is always nice too, but I know this is a rarity for bars in Spain.

El Brillante (next to Atocha) is always a popular choice for me because the space is large, there's no music so you can talk easily, and the tapas and drinks are cheap.

Saludos, MadridMan