Churros con chocolate is Madrid's morning and after-midnight order: long ridged dough sticks fried golden and dunked into a thick hot chocolate, often eaten at 03:00 on the way home from a night out.
Churros may have originated with Spanish shepherds high in the sierras, who fried dough in animal fat over wood fires. The Madrid tradition centres on Chocolateria San Gines (1894), the 24-hour churreria off Calle Mayor where Lorca, Hemingway and Picasso took their post-cabaret breakfast at 03:00. The dough is a simple flour-and-water choux piped through a star-tip nozzle into bubbling oil at 190C, fried in batches for 90 seconds. The hot chocolate is thick (whisked with cornstarch) and served in heated cups for dunking. The Madrid order: 6 churros and a chocolate (4.30 euros at San Gines in 2026), eaten standing at the marble counter.
3 editor picks for Churros con chocolate in Madrid, ranked by editorial score. All Madrid signature dishes · Churros con chocolate across every city.
Chocolateria San Gines ★ 4.5
centro · Pasadizo de San Gines 5, 28013 Madrid
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 a queue at 03:00 from the late-night Madrid scene.
La Mallorquina ★ 4.5
centro · Puerta del Sol 8, 28013 Madrid
La Mallorquina on Puerta del Sol in Madrid has sold the napolitana de crema (custard-filled puff pastry) since 1894. The 19th-century counter still queues out the door every morning.
Cafe de Oriente ★ 4.2
centro · Plaza de Oriente 2, 28013 Madrid
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 looking at the Royal Palace.