A bocadillo de calamares is Madrid’s calamari sandwich, battered and fried squid rings in a crusty white roll, and at La Ideal, a few steps from Plaza Mayor, it costs €4. It is street food eaten at a counter, not a restaurant meal: you order at the bar, it arrives in minutes and tipping is optional. Five classic bars sit around the square, and a sixth, El Brillante, faces the Atocha roundabout and opens at 6.30am, handy off an early train. What catches visitors out is the weekly closing day, since Bar Postas shuts on Wednesdays and Sol Mayor on Tuesdays, and the price, which only La Ideal puts on its menu. Sol Mayor, on Calle de Postas, is about 175 metres from Sol metro. La Ideal opens from 10am to 11pm every day.
Where can you get a calamari sandwich in Madrid? Around Plaza Mayor, at La Ideal (listed at €4), La Campana, Casa Rúa, Bar Postas or Cervecería Sol Mayor, all within a 300-metre walk of each other. By Atocha, at El Brillante, open 6.30am to 12.30am. The catch is the weekly closing day: Bar Postas is shut on Wednesdays and Sol Mayor on Tuesdays.
How do you order a calamari sandwich at a Madrid bar?
Nobody hands you a menu at the counter, so this is how it goes:
- Go to the bar, not a table. At Postas almost all the space is counter, and at Casa Rúa the tables are upstairs.
- Ask for “un bocadillo de calamares”. A “ración de calamares” is a plate of the rings without bread, €7 at La Ideal.
- Pay when it comes or when you leave. Tipping is optional, as set out in tipping in Madrid, and what a bar owes you with a drink is in what Madrid bars owe you.
- Take it outside if you like. La Ideal wraps it to eat in the square.
Spanish meal times run later than at home, with lunch from about 2pm and dinner from about 9pm, but these counters ignore the clock and serve straight through the day. A sandwich at 11am or 5pm is normal. If you are ticking off Madrid’s other bar classics, the best tortilla in Madrid and callos in Madrid cover the next two.
Which bar near Plaza Mayor should you pick?
- Want to know the price first → La Ideal, Calle de Botoneras 4, where according to La Ideal every sandwich on the menu costs €4.
- Want to sit down → Casa Rúa, Calle de Ciudad Rodrigo 3, counter downstairs and tables upstairs, on the way to Mercado de San Miguel.
- Late on a Saturday → La Campana, next door to La Ideal, open until 1am on Saturdays, according to esMadrid.
- Quick and standing → Bar Postas or Sol Mayor on Calle de Postas, both under 200 metres from Sol Metro.
| Bar | Closed | Hours | Price | Address |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Brillante | Open daily | 6.30am to 12.30am | Ask at the counter | Plaza del Emperador Carlos V 8 |
| Cervecería Sol Mayor | Tuesday | 8am to midnight | Ask at the counter | Calle de Postas 5 |
| Bar Postas | Wednesday | 8am to 11pm | Ask at the counter | Calle de Postas 13 |
| La Campana | Open daily | Sun to Thu 9am to 11pm, Fri to midnight, Sat noon to 1am | Ask at the counter | Calle de Botoneras 6 |
| Casa Rúa | Open daily | 10am to 11pm | Ask at the counter | Calle de Ciudad Rodrigo 3 |
| La Ideal | Open daily | 10am to 11pm | €4 sandwich, €7 plate | Calle de Botoneras 4 |
What time is each calamari bar open?
For breakfast off a train, El Brillante is the only one serving before 8am. For a late bite, El Brillante runs to 12.30am, Sol Mayor to midnight and La Campana to midnight on Fridays. The one day to plan around is midweek: on a Tuesday avoid Sol Mayor, on a Wednesday avoid Postas.
How do you get there from the airport, Sol or Atocha?
Sol, on Metro lines 1, 2 and 3, is the station for the Plaza Mayor bars: its Calle Mayor exit is about 175 metres from Sol Mayor, 190 from Postas and 340 from La Ideal and La Campana. Casa Rúa is closer to Ópera, about 355 metres away. A Metro single costs €1.50 to €2 depending on distance, as the price guide in Madrid Metro ticket price explains, and coming straight from Barajas adds the airport supplement covered in Madrid airport Metro supplement.
El Brillante, at Plaza del Emperador Carlos V 8, is the pick if you arrive at or leave from Atocha. The Estación del Arte Metro entrance, line 1, is on the same roundabout, and the bar has a second door onto Calle de Santa Isabel, beside the Reina Sofía, whose free evening hours are in Reina Sofía free hours. It opens every day, and according to El Brillante there is no booking, so it works as a walk-in with the suitcase: order at the counter.
Frequently asked questions about calamari sandwiches in Madrid
How much is a calamari sandwich in Madrid?
La Ideal, at Calle de Botoneras 4, charges €4 for the sandwich and €7 for a plate of calamari without bread, according to its menu. The other bars around Plaza Mayor do not publish prices online, so ask at the counter.
How do you order a bocadillo de calamares?
At the counter. Ask for un bocadillo de calamares, pay when it arrives or when you leave, and eat it standing or take it out to the square. La Ideal wraps it to take away, and Casa Rúa has tables upstairs if you want to sit.
Can you get a calamari sandwich near Atocha station?
Yes, at El Brillante, Plaza del Emperador Carlos V 8, by Atocha and the Reina Sofía. It opens 6.30am to 12.30am daily and does not take bookings, so you just walk in, suitcase and all.
What time can you eat a calamari sandwich in Madrid?
Almost any time. El Brillante serves from 6.30am, the Plaza Mayor bars from 8am to 10am (La Campana from noon on Saturdays), and all of them go on until at least 11pm with no afternoon break, unlike Madrid restaurants, which serve lunch from about 2pm and dinner from about 9pm.
Do you need to book for a calamari sandwich in Madrid?
No. You order standing at the counter, and El Brillante by Atocha says outright that it takes no booking. If you want a seat, Casa Rúa has tables upstairs at Calle de Ciudad Rodrigo 3.
Check the day before the bar: on Calle de Postas one of the two calamari counters is always open.