Boyberry on Calle de Pelayo in Chueca is the city's gay cruising bar and club, with a ground-floor bar and social area plus separate cruising zones, open 365 days a year from midday.
Tip: Open every day from 12:00; the cruising area carries a 3 euro cover on top of a drink. The basement zone is the larger of the two play spaces.
Address: Calle de Pelayo 25, 28004 Madrid
El Willy HiFi on Calle de Campoamor in Justicia is the listening bar with an IFAUDIO custom sound system, where the architecture was built around the speakers and the cocktail list runs craft drinks for the room.
Tip: Tuesday is the jazz night; programming through the venue Instagram. The bar is intimate, walk-in only and the seats fill early at weekends.
Casa Neutrale Musica on Calle de San Mateo in Justicia is Madrid's first Japanese-Jazz-Kissa-inspired listening bar, a two-floor space with a Mediterranean shareable carte upstairs and a vinyl basement.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday; doors from 18:30. The basement is the music room with weekly DJ programming; reservations on the venue site help.
La Analogica on Calle de las Huertas in Las Letras is the vinyl-led listening bar with handcrafted cocktails and a curated 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.
El Willy HiFi on Calle de Campoamor in Justicia is the listening bar with an IFAUDIO custom sound system, where the architecture was built around the speakers and the cocktail list runs craft drinks for the room.
Tip: Tuesday is the jazz night; programming through the venue Instagram. The bar is intimate, walk-in only and the seats fill early at weekends.
Casa Neutrale Musica on Calle de San Mateo in Justicia is Madrid's first Japanese-Jazz-Kissa-inspired listening bar, a two-floor space with a Mediterranean shareable carte upstairs and a vinyl basement.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday; doors from 18:30. The basement is the music room with weekly DJ programming; reservations on the venue site help.
Fenomeno on Calle de Recoletos in Salamanca is a 400 square metre hi-fi listening bar inspired by Japanese Jazz Kissa, with two DJ booths, multiple bars and an 80s and 90s funk and disco programme.
Tip: Open every day 17:00 to 04:00; weekends fill quickly. Reservation through the venue site helps at peak. The vinyl room is the back lounge.
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.