Madrid Black Book
Capes and espadrilles, a tapas crawl with gin & tonics in oh-my-god sizes—my quickfire itinerary plus a deep list from some of our favorite insiders
I just spent a whirlwind 48 hours in Madrid, which I hadn’t visited since 2016, when we did a story for Condé Nast Traveler following the suggestions of then-U.S. Ambassador, James Costos. This time, I came armed with a sheaf of recommendations from our contributors, as we have been planning this Madrid Black Book for a while. We checked into the Gran Hotel Inglés, had an epic first lunch filling the table with tapas, and headed out to explore. Of course, our first stops are always of the vintage variety, so we headed towards the El Rastro area, since we were going to miss the legendary Sunday market. Although we forgot that most shops in Madrid are closed until at least 4 (rookie move, I know), we killed some time “testing” some neighborhood spots: a beer and tortilla here, a gin and tonic and fried shrimp there. That evening, we had dinner at La Parra, now one of my favorite restaurants. On Saturday, we put in our steps all across town, picking up a pile of great espadrilles, eating all day, and checking out various hotels, bars and restaurants. I love this city—how inexpensive and accessible it is, and how, honestly, you can’t go wrong with the food. Every single place we stopped in—and there were a lot—had, besides the food, great signage, interesting interiors, and was so affordable! It’s extremely refreshing to be in a place where prices are fair and quality is a given. What follows isn’t a cultural deep-dive—you don’t need me to tell you to go to the Prado or any other defining sites you can find in a guidebook—but a round-up of places that our local friends and frequent travelers love most.