Taste Madrid: The Time Out & Devour Tapas Tour
About this activity
A Time Out-recommended tapas and drinks tour through Madrid's Malasaña neighborhood, tracing its story from an 1808 uprising to tonight, with 8 tastes and 4 drinks.
Highlights
- Taste 8 dishes and 4 drinks across 4 Malasaña stops
- Sip a local vermouth cocktail at a 1920s bar
- Try birria from Madrid's first specialist taquería
- Taste traditional croquetas in a former tobacco shop
- Toast with cava and Spanish cheese to close the night
Full description
You’ll spend the evening tasting your way through Malasaña’s past and present, from a century-old bar pouring its signature vermouth and gin to the city’s first specialist birria taquería. Try traditional croquetas made over two days, then finish with Spanish cheese and cava in a neighborhood wine bar. Every stop has been carefully chosen by Time Out’s local editorial team, drawing on years of experience deciding which Madrid bars, restaurants, and newcomers are worth your time. With 8 tastes and 4 drinks across four stops, you’ll experience how Malasaña has evolved from working-class barrio to international food destination—and where it’s heading next.
Begin at a bar that's poured vermouth from the barrel since the late 1920s, its tiled walls and zinc counter barely changed since. Taste a local vermouth cocktail, the same drink locals turned to during Madrid's wildest years after Franco's death, alongside traditional tapas at the bar.
A short walk brings you to a taquería run by a mother and daughter, where the birria comes from a family recipe three chiles and twenty spices deep. It's Madrid's first specialist of its kind, proof that the neighborhood's food scene stopped being only Spanish once the city's borders opened for good. Your table is already reserved, so there's no waiting behind the crowd at the door.
Continue to a bar built inside a former state-run tobacco shop, the original counter and cabinetry still standing behind a working kitchen. Taste traditional croquetas made the two-day way, paired with a curated white wine chosen to complement the food.
The evening closes at a reopened bar built around natural wines and a short, quality-focused menu. Toast with a glass of cava alongside Spanish cheese and a classic Madrid-style potato salad, a fitting final course to close a night that moved through more than two centuries of the same neighborhood.
Included / Excluded
- Guided walking tour of Malasaña
- Entrance to four local eateries
- 8 tastes and 4 drinks throughout the tour
- Local expert English-speaking guide
- Hotel Pick-Up/Drop-Off
- Gratuities
Cancellation policy
Up to 24 hours before the beginning of the activity: full refund Less than 24 hours before the beginning of the activity or no-show: no refund
Reviews
Lara was a wonderful local tour guide!! The whole trip was as seamless, fun, and we felt prepared with parking logistics. Highly recommend the morning tour, as there was very little traffic and we had fewer tourists to navigate around. Also be prepared to be soaked on the boat tour! The priority tickets get you to the front of the boat and the waterfall spray hits you directly in the face. So fun!!
Lara was an excellent tour guide and the whole experience was worth the price.
Amazing Tour!!