The Golden-Age literary quarter east of Sol, where Cervantes and Lope de Vega lived; now a cobbled tapas crawl around Calle Huertas and Plaza Santa Ana.
Casa Gonzalez on Calle del Leon in Madrid's Barrio de las Letras is the 1931-founded ultramarinos (deli-and-wine-bar), with 30 by-the-glass wines and tablas.
Signature: Tablas de quesos, Iberico, Wines by the glass
Order: A tabla de quesos (12 euros), a plate of jamon iberico de bellota and three by-the-glass wines.
Tip: Walk-in only; the marble tables fill up by 13:30. Closed Sundays. The deli sells the same products to take away.
La Venencia on Calle Echegaray in Madrid is the 1930s sherry bar where Hemingway drank manzanilla; cash-only and no photographs. Open daily 12:30 to midnight.
Signature pour: Manzanilla en rama from Sanlucar
Wine focus: Andalusian sherries (fino, manzanilla, oloroso, palo cortado, pedro ximenez)
Food: Conservas, mojama
Tip: Cash only. No photographs (rule since the 1930s). The bar serves five sherry styles and three conservas; nothing else.
Salmon Guru on Calle Echegaray in Madrid is Diego Cabrera's neon-lit cocktail room (2017), the World's 50 Best Bars regular with tiki-style drinks.
Signature drink: Tikki-style cocktails by Diego Cabrera
Food: Small plates
Tip: Closed Mondays. Book the back-room tasting flight (4 cocktails for 40 euros) three days ahead; bar takes walk-ins.
Viva Madrid in Madrid's Las Letras is the 1856-founded tile-fronted cocktail bar, with a long bar, gin tonic carte and the daily-changing tapas pizarra.
Signature drink: Gin tonic carte
Food: Tapas
Tip: Walk-in only. The terrace on Calle Manuel Fernandez seats 8; cocktails 10 to 14 euros, tapas 5 to 12.
Mercado de Anton Martin in Madrid's Barrio de las Letras is the 1941 neighbourhood market reborn in 2014 as a working market plus gourmet upstairs counters.
Tip: Closed Sundays. The traditional ground-floor butchers and fishmongers serve until 14:30; upper-floor tapas until 21:00.
Café Central Ateneo is Madrid's canon jazz cellar since 1982, now in the Ateneo de Madrid after the April 2026 move from Plaza del Angel, with two concerts nightly (20:00 and 22:00) every night of the year.
Tip: Two sets every single night, 20:00 and 22:00; book on the venue site for the headliner. The Catedra del Ateneo annex at Calle del Prado 21 runs the second programme.
Salmon Guru on Calle de Echegaray in Las Letras is Argentine bartender Diego Cabrera's 2017 cocktail bar, ranked No. 37 on the 2025 World's 50 Best Bars list with a comic-book-themed neon room.
Tip: Walk-ins only, no reservations; queues outside from 21:00 on weekends. The Pantera Jackson milk punch and La Mano de Dios cocktails are the headline pours.
La Analogica on Calle de las Huertas in Las Letras is the vinyl-led listening bar with handcrafted cocktails and a chosen record programme in the heart of Madrid's Literary Quarter.
Tip: Open Wed to Sun from 19:00, Sunday afternoon from 15:00; closed Monday and Tuesday. The basement is the listening room; the vinyl wall is the photo seat.
Inclan Brutal Bar on Calle de Alvarez Gato by Plaza de Santa Ana in Las Letras opened in 2018 across three settings, a cocktail bar by the open kitchen, a luxury-library room and an indoor patio, with live music in the evening.
Tip: Open noon to 01:30 daily with a non-stop kitchen; the patio is the calm seat. Best Cocktail Bar-Restaurant in Spain 2021 at the Fibar Fair in Valladolid.
La Venencia on Calle de Echegaray in Las Letras has poured Jerez and manzanilla sherries since 1922 in an old taberna with dark-wood barrels, the prices marked in chalk on the counter and a no-photographs Civil-War rule.
Tip: Five sherries on the list (Manzanilla, Fino, Oloroso, Amontillado, Palo Cortado), tapas of tuna, olives and pickles. No tipping (socialist principles), no photos.