Cava Baja, the calamari sandwich, cocido madrileño — eating Madrid without tourist prices
Madrid eats late, stands up, and orders in rounds: the tapeo is a walking sport, dinner starts at 21:30, and the city's defining dishes are working-class classics — the bocadillo de calamares by Plaza Mayor, cocido madrileño in three courses, garlicky mushrooms and vermút on tap. Eating brilliantly here costs less than eating badly in most capitals, provided you stand where madrileños stand.
The geography matters: La Latina for the crawl, Lavapiés for the world's kitchens at €8, Chamberí's Ponzano for the fashionable counters, and the neighbourhood markets everywhere for the honest version of what San Miguel sells at double.
300 metres of tabernas — one tapa and one caña per stop. Sundays after El Rastro it becomes the city's social event; weeknights it's yours.
The fried-squid sandwich from the bars ringing Plaza Mayor — €4–5, best standing, best slightly too early for lunch.
Chickpea stew served in three acts — soup, then vegetables, then meats. The classic houses serve it lunchtimes only; several require booking days ahead.
Indian dosas on Calle de Lavapiés, Bangladeshi curries, Ethiopian platters and Senegalese thieboudienne — central Madrid's best cheap eating by a mile.
The tapas strip madrileños actually queue for — seafood counters, new-wave tortilla, natural wine. Go early or stand.
Skip San Miguel's mark-up: Mercado de la Paz (Salamanca) for Casa Dani's tortilla, San Fernando (Lavapiés) for craft beer and oysters, Antón Martín for everything between.
San Ginés has fried the same churros since 1894, 24 hours a day — the traditional end to a Madrid night, dipped at 6am among clubbers and early-shift waiters.
The wood-oven cordero of Chinchón's plaza mesones and Navacerrada's mountain houses — the region's great Sunday lunch, worth planning an overnight around.