Mercado de San Ildefonso on Calle Fuencarral in Madrid's Malasana is the three-floor street-food market since 2014, with 18 counters across hamburgers, ceviche, sushi, vermut and a top-floor cocktail terrace.
Tip: Open until 02:30 Thursday-Saturday. The terrace floor with the bar is the headline; walk-in only.
Address: Calle de Fuencarral 57, 28004 Madrid
Mercado de Maravillas in Madrid's Tetuan district is the city's largest traditional municipal market with 200 stalls, an unmatched seafood section landed daily from Galicia and the city's strongest jamoneria selection.
Tip: Closed Sundays. The seafood section runs until 14:30; the iberico counter Cantanal sells whole shoulders.
Mercado de la Paz in Madrid's Salamanca is the 1882 neighbourhood market that hosts Casa Dani's reference tortilla counter, plus 50 stalls of fresh produce, iberico jamoneria and Galician seafood.
Tip: Closed Sundays. The Casa Dani tortilla counter inside is the headline; arrive before 13:30 to skip the queue.
Mercado de la Cebada in Madrid's La Latina is the 1875 working-quarter municipal market, with 80 stalls of fresh fish and meat, plus a Saturday tapas-and-vermut spillover into the surrounding plaza.
Tip: Closed Sundays. The Saturday after-market spillover at Plaza de la Cebada with vermut barrels is the local scene.
Platea Madrid near Plaza de Colon is the 2014-built gourmet market in the former Carlos III cinema, with 12 chef-led counters (Paco Roncero, Pepe Solla, Marcos Granda) and a top-floor cocktail bar.
Tip: Open daily. The chef-counters serve full carte; the basement Costa Brava sushi counter is the late-night option.
El Rastro on Calle Ribera de Curtidores in Madrid is the centuries-old Sunday flea market with 1000 stalls plus the parallel vermut and tapas crawl through La Latina, anchored by the Calle Cava Baja taberna route.
Tip: Sundays only 09:00 to 15:00. The vermut crawl post-rastro on Cava Baja (Lucio, Matritum, Tempranillo) runs until 17:00.
Mercado de San Miguel beside Plaza Mayor in Madrid is the wrought-iron 1916 market reborn in 2009 as the city's reference gourmet tapas market, with 30 counters and an evening vermut scene under the glass roof.
Tip: Walk-in. Cash and card. Counters: gilda tapas 2.50 euros, vermut at Casa Real Andaluza, oysters at La Casa del Bacalao.
