The Madrid cafe runs in two registers: the grand historic salon and the new wave of specialty roasters. Cafe Gijon on the Paseo de Recoletos and Cafe Comercial at the Glorieta de Bilbao carry the literary tradition, with Cafe de Oriente facing the royal palace. The newer current sits in Malasana and Chamberi, where Toma Cafe, HanSo Cafe and Mision Cafe lead, and Chocolateria San Gines still serves churros con chocolate near the Puerta del Sol.
€€€€CaféMalasana
Toma Cafe on Calle de la Palma in Madrid's Malasana is the city's first specialty third-wave room since 2011, with single-origin beans roasted in-house.
TipOpen Mon-Fri 08:00-19:00, weekends 09:00-19:00. The weekend brunch (12 to 16 euros) fills up by 11:00.
€€€€CaféMalasana
HanSo Cafe in Madrid's Malasana is the Korean-Spanish specialty room since 2015, with matcha lattes, single-origin filter coffees and a small carte of brunch.
TipOpen Tue-Sun 09:30-20:00; closed Monday. The matcha latte (4.50 euros) and the avocado toast are the morning headlines.
€€€€CaféChamberi
Mision Cafe in Madrid's Conde Duque is the specialty third-wave room with house-roasted beans, a daily-changing brunch carte and a clean Scandinavian-design.
TipOpen daily 09:00-20:00. The weekend brunch sets (14 to 19 euros) book up by 11:30; walk-in only.
€€€€CaféLavapies
Hola Coffee on Calle Doctor Fourquet in Madrid's Lavapies is the specialty roaster-and-cafe since 2017, with beans roasted in the back, single-origin filter.
TipOpen Mon-Sat 09:00-19:00, Sunday 10:00-17:00. The bag of single-origin beans (12 to 18 euros) goes home with regulars.
€€€€CaféLa Latina
Slow Cafe in Madrid's La Latina is the specialty third-wave room with a focused pour-over carte, in-house pastries and a clean concrete dining room.
TipOpen Tue-Sun. The pour-over filter (4 to 4.50 euros) is the staff's first recommendation; flat white is 3.50.
€€€€CaféChueca
Federal Cafe on Plaza de las Comendadoras in Madrid's Conde Duque is the Australian-style all-day brunch room since 2014, with avocado toast.
TipOpen daily 09:00-22:00. The weekend brunch (15 to 22 euros) fills up by 11:30; walk-in only, no reservations.
€€€€CaféChamberi
Cafe Comercial on Glorieta de Bilbao in Madrid is the 1887-founded grand cafe, reopened in 2024 with chef Carlos Moreno on the carte. Located in Chamberi.
TipOpen daily; breakfast set (cafe con leche, tostada, OJ) is the morning staple, with cocido madrileno among the weekly classics.
€€€€CaféCentro
Cafe de Oriente on Plaza de Oriente in Madrid faces the Palacio Real, with the chocolate con churros tradition, a fin-de-siecle dining room and a terrace.
TipOpen daily 09:30-24:00. The terrace (12 tables) faces the palace; the inside is wood-panelled and full of red velvet.
€€€€CaféCentro
Cafe Gijon on Paseo de Recoletos in Madrid is the 1888-founded literary cafe that hosted the post-civil-war tertulia (literary discussion circle) of Cela.
TipOpen daily 07:30-01:30. The breakfast set runs 6 euros; the terrace under the trees is the seat to book in summer.
€€€€CaféMalasana
Cafe de Ruiz in Madrid's Malasana is the wood-panelled neighbourhood cafe since 1981, with the cake counter, daily-changing brunch and the marble tables.
TipOpen Mon-Sat 09:00-22:00. The weekend brunch (12 to 16 euros) runs from 11:00; walk-in only, no reservations.
€€€€CaféMalasana
Bianchi Kiosko Caffe in Madrid's Malasana is the Italian-Spanish corner cafe pouring proper Bianchi-roasted espresso, with a four-stool counter.
TipOpen Tue-Sun 09:00-20:00; closed Monday. The cornetto with espresso runs 3.50 euros; standing room at the counter.
€€€€CaféMalasana
Ojala in Madrid's Malasana is the daytime cafe and evening cocktail bar with the famous beach-sand basement (Ojala Beach), serving brunch upstairs.
TipOpen daily 09:30-24:00. The basement Ojala Beach with sand floor is the room locals send first-time visitors to see.
€€€€CaféMalasana
La Bicicleta Cafe on Plaza de San Ildefonso in Madrid's Malasana is the laptop-and-flat-white coworking cafe since 2009, with a sofa-strewn back room.
TipOpen daily 09:00-24:00. The back-room sofas are the laptop seats; the front terrace is for the social crowd.
€€€€CaféChamberi
Panaderia Mision in Madrid's Conde Duque is the bakery-and-cafe by the Mision Cafe team since 2020, with sourdough breads, croissants and a focused brunch.
TipOpen daily 09:00-19:00. The croissant with cortado (4 euros) is the morning headline; sourdough loaves sell out by 14:00.
€€€€CaféSalamanca
East Crema Coffee Hermosilla in Madrid's Salamanca is the larger second outpost of the East Crema roastery, with a wide counter for the V60 and espresso bar.
TipOpen daily 08:00 (09:00 weekends) to 20:00. The 11.50-euro brunch set (coffee, juice, toast, pastry) is served until 13:00.
€€€€CafeCentro
Chocolateria San Gines off Calle Mayor in Madrid has fried the churros con chocolate for the after-midnight crowd since 1894; the 24-hour counter still pulls.
OrderChurros con chocolate
TipWalk-in only; the post-club queue 03:00-05:00 is the busiest slot. Set of 6 churros and chocolate cup runs 4.30 euros.
€€€€CafeCentro
Chocolateria San Gines off Calle Mayor in Madrid has fried the churros con chocolate since 1894, a set of 6 churros and a thick chocolate cup runs 4.30 euros.
OrderChurros con chocolate
TipWalk-in only. Open 24 hours daily. Cash and card. The 03:00-05:00 post-club slot has the fastest queue.