Madrid’s best cocktail bars sit in three walkable pockets of the city centre, and the thing that splits them is the door policy. Angelita on Calle de la Reina 4 is Madrid’s highest entry on The World’s 50 Best Bars 2026 at No. 50, with cocktails at €13. Salmon Guru on Calle de Echegaray 21, at No. 66, charges €14 for most drinks and takes no reservations. Museo Chicote on Gran Vía 12 takes online bookings from over-18s only, and Viva Madrid opens at noon. Del Diego, on the same street as Angelita, pours classics until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays.
What are the best cocktail bars in Madrid? Angelita (Calle de la Reina 4, No. 50 on The World’s 50 Best Bars 2026) and Salmon Guru (Calle de Echegaray 21, No. 66) lead, with cocktails at €13 and €14. For classics, go to Museo Chicote, Bar Cock or 1862 Dry Bar. The catch: Salmon Guru and its sister bar Viva Madrid take no bookings at all.
- Booking: 1862 Dry Bar online; Museo Chicote takes over-18s only, so carry ID.
- Cheapest sip: Angelita’s tiny cocktail at €8; alcohol-free drinks from €10.
- Getting there: Angelita is 170 m from Gran Vía Metro, Lines 1 and 5.
- Watch out: the Metro closes at 1.30am; after that, night buses leave from Cibeles.
How much does a cocktail cost in Madrid?
A menu cocktail at Madrid’s leading cocktail bars costs €13 to €18, and only three bars print their prices. Angelita charges €13 for any of its fourteen drinks (two marked ones are €14), Viva Madrid €13 for a classic and Salmon Guru €14 for nearly everything on its menu.
Smaller and cheaper options exist if you want to try more than one bar. Angelita’s tiny cocktail is the same drink in a small glass for €8, Viva Madrid serves a half-size highball, the media combinación, and both Salmon Guru and Viva Madrid list alcohol-free cocktails from €10. At Museo Chicote, Bar Cock, Del Diego, 1862 Dry Bar, Santos y Desamparados, Macera and Savas, you find out the price at the bar. Menu prices in Spain include VAT, and tipping is an optional courtesy rather than an obligation.
If you only have time for one, pick by plan. Weekday date: Angelita, with a tiny cocktail to try two drinks. Group with no booking: Viva Madrid, open from noon. A classic with a guaranteed seat: 1862 Dry Bar or Museo Chicote, which both take bookings. A speakeasy: Jack’s Library, entered through a florist.
Which Madrid cocktail bars take reservations?
Four of the bars below take bookings, two refuse them and Angelita splits the difference. 1862 Dry Bar books online, Museo Chicote books tables online for over-18s, Bar Cock and Macera book by phone or email, while Salmon Guru and Viva Madrid seat walk-ins only.
| Bar | Bookings | How | Nearest Metro, walking distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salmon Guru | No, walk-in only | Groups through its events email | Antón Martín (Line 1), 390 m |
| Viva Madrid | No, walk-in only | Groups of 8 or more by email | Antón Martín (Line 1), 390 m |
| Angelita | Restaurant only | Hibiki private room for 6-8 people | Gran Vía (Lines 1, 5), 170 m |
| 1862 Dry Bar | Yes | Online booking on its website | Noviciado (Line 2), 110 m |
| Museo Chicote | Yes, over-18s only | Online; groups of 10 or more by email | Gran Vía (Lines 1, 5), 290 m |
| Bar Cock | Yes | Phone +34 915 32 28 26 or web form | Gran Vía (Lines 1, 5), 310 m |
| Macera Taller Bar | Yes | Email or +34 910 115 810 | Alonso Martínez (Lines 4, 5, 10), 270 m |
If you are in Madrid for one Saturday and want a guaranteed seat, book 1862 Dry Bar or Chicote and treat Salmon Guru as an early stop: it opens at 4pm, and Viva Madrid, 50 metres away, opens at noon under the same owner. Bar Cock has a small capacity and queues form at the door, so call ahead.
Cocktail bar for a date, a group or a classic drink
For a date, Angelita wins: a basement bar on Calle de la Reina 4 with drinks built on produce from the owners’ family garden in Zamora, open Monday to Friday from 5.30pm to 2am, and a wine bar and restaurant upstairs for dinner first. Order the Topinambo or La Colmena, the two €14 drinks. Not for a Saturday: its published hours stop on Friday.
- A list-chaser’s night: Salmon Guru, Diego Cabrera’s flagship, with a menu split into refreshing, fruity, sour and strong drinks and a room that moves from neon to comic-book art. Order the Habibi Fizz, served with a pre-cocktail. Not for a fixed dinner slot or a big group, because it takes no bookings.
- Old-school glamour: Museo Chicote on Gran Vía, a bar the Ayuntamiento lists among the city’s iconic establishments with a plaque on its façade. Order a classic such as a Dry Martini or a Negroni; bookings are for over-18s only.
- English club-style bar: Bar Cock, behind Chicote on Calle de la Reina 16. Order a Gin Fizz or a Pisco Sour from its house list. Not for big groups: capacity is small and queues form.
- Quiet classics: Del Diego, run by Fernando del Diego, a pupil of Perico Chicote, with a long menu of gin and tonics, mojitos and daiquiris and a calm room for conversation. Closed on Sundays unless a holiday follows.
- The cocktail historian: 1862 Dry Bar in Malasaña, named after the year Jerry Thomas published the first cocktail book. Order a Mint Julep, a Gin Fizz or a Martinez, and book online.
- A low-key local: Savas in Lavapiés, founded by two Lithuanians, with twelve classic-based drinks and no fuss. Open on Sunday, closed on Monday and Tuesday.
- Last drink with rock music: Santos y Desamparados, a gothic-styled bar in Barrio de las Letras open until 3am every night. If you want a quiet chat, Del Diego suits better.
Are there real speakeasies in Madrid, and how do you get in?
Yes. Jack’s Library, at Calle de Santo Tomé 6 in Chueca, is hidden behind a bonsai florist: walk in and ask for a flower. Inside is a dim, book-lined room with armchairs where photos are not allowed. It is about 330 m from Chueca Metro (Line 5).
Jack’s Library opens Monday to Thursday from 7pm to 2am, Friday from 6pm to 2.30am, Saturday from 5pm to 2.30am and Sunday from 6pm to 1am. The other door-ritual bar is Bad Company 1920, a Prohibition-themed room near Callao: ring the bell and give the password the bar posts on its social media. Salmon Guru, Chicote and Angelita’s basement often appear on speakeasy lists, but all three have an ordinary street door.
Which Madrid bars are on The World’s 50 Best Bars 2026?
Madrid has two bars on The World’s 50 Best Bars 2026: Angelita at No. 50 and Salmon Guru at No. 66 on the 51-100 list. Angelita climbed from 51 in 2025; Salmon Guru dropped from 37 in 2025.
The two rank differently but suit different nights: Angelita for a weekday date with a booking upstairs for dinner, Salmon Guru for an early walk-in, since it takes no bookings.
Is the bar open on the day you go?
Seven of the eleven bars open every day of the week. Bar Cock closes on Sunday and Monday, Savas on Monday and Tuesday, Del Diego on Sunday and Angelita lists cocktail-bar hours for Monday to Friday only.
Sunday is the tricky night around Gran Vía: only Museo Chicote is open on that stretch, from 6pm to 3am. Barrio de las Letras is the safer Sunday choice, with Salmon Guru, Viva Madrid and Santos y Desamparados all open.
What to know before you go out for cocktails in Madrid
Madrid goes out late. Most of these bars open between 4pm and 7pm and close at 2am to 3.30am, so the cocktail round usually comes after dinner, not before it. On a Saturday the night runs like this.
Four things to sort out before you leave the hotel:
- Carry ID. Alcohol cannot be served to under-18s in Spain, and Museo Chicote accepts bookings from over-18s only; a photo ID or a copy of your passport saves an argument at the door.
- Check each bar’s closing time. Salmon Guru and Viva Madrid close at 2.30am on Friday and Saturday; Museo Chicote and Bar Cock serve until 3.30am, and Macera also reaches 3.30am on Friday and Saturday. The general rules are in Madrid’s closing times for bars and clubs.
- Skip the rooftops for late drinks. Hotel roof terraces follow terrace rules and close earlier; Madrid’s rooftop bars and viewpoints lists their hours.
- Pick an area, not a list. The eleven bars cluster in three zones; Madrid nightlife by area shows what else each zone offers after midnight.
Getting back to the hotel. Service starts at 6am and the Metro closes at 1.30am every day, with no weekend extension, so after a 2.30am close you need a night bus or a taxi. EMT night buses, the búhos, leave mostly from Plaza de Cibeles, about 660 metres from Del Diego; routes and the airport services are in Madrid Metro hours and night buses.
From Salmon Guru or Santos y Desamparados, Antón Martín is the nearest Metro station for an early exit before 1.30am.
Where are Madrid’s best cocktail bars?
The eleven bars fall into three walkable clusters: Barrio de las Letras (Salmon Guru, Viva Madrid, Santos y Desamparados), Calle de la Reina by Gran Vía (Angelita, Del Diego, Bar Cock, Museo Chicote) and the north edge of Malasaña and Chueca (1862 Dry Bar, Macera, Jack’s Library). Savas sits alone in Lavapiés.
Calle de la Reina is the best base for a bar crawl: four bars within 150 metres. From Salmon Guru to Del Diego is about 710 metres, a ten-minute walk. For dinner nearby, Huertas tapas bars are on the same streets as Salmon Guru, and the Chueca neighbourhood guide covers the rest of the night around Angelita. For live music after a drink, Madrid’s jazz clubs are a short walk from Barrio de las Letras, and if the night starts with a big concert, see getting to the Movistar Arena.
What you might not like
- Waiting with no booking. Salmon Guru and Viva Madrid cannot be booked; with a fixed dinner slot, pick 1862 Dry Bar or Chicote.
- The vibe. Salmon Guru is a neon-and-comics room and Santos y Desamparados plays rock; Del Diego is the place to talk.
- Small spaces. Bar Cock limits capacity and Savas is a small room, so neither suits a large group.
- No prices online. At eight of the eleven bars the price is given at the bar; where it is printed, a menu cocktail starts at €13.
FAQ about cocktail bars in Madrid
Which Madrid bars are on the World’s 50 Best Bars list?
Two in 2026. Angelita, on Calle de la Reina 4, is No. 50, up from 51 in 2025; Salmon Guru, on Calle de Echegaray 21, is No. 66 on the extended 51-100 list, down from 37. Both positions come from the list announced in October 2026.
Do you need a reservation for cocktail bars in Madrid?
It depends on the bar. 1862 Dry Bar and Museo Chicote take online bookings, Bar Cock and Macera take them by phone or email, while Salmon Guru and Viva Madrid seat walk-ins only. At Angelita the online booking covers the upstairs restaurant, not the basement cocktail bar.
How much is a cocktail in Madrid?
At the top cocktail bars in central Madrid, €13 to €18. Angelita charges €13 a cocktail and €8 for a tiny cocktail, Viva Madrid €13 for a classic and Salmon Guru €14 for most of its menu, with three drinks at €18. Alcohol-free cocktails at Salmon Guru and Viva Madrid start at €10.
How do you get into Jack’s Library in Madrid?
Jack’s Library is hidden behind a bonsai florist at Calle de Santo Tomé 6, near Chueca Metro. Walk into the shop and ask for a flower; the bar is a book-lined room where photos are not allowed. It opens at 7pm Monday to Thursday, 6pm on Friday and 5pm on Saturday.
What time do people go to cocktail bars in Madrid?
Later than in London or New York. Most of these bars open between 4pm and 7pm and stay open until 2am or 3am, and Museo Chicote and Bar Cock serve until 3.30am on Friday and Saturday, so the cocktail round usually starts after dinner.
In Madrid the drink is easy to find; the door policy is what decides your night.