A sherry bar frozen in the Civil War and unwilling to thaw. Sawdust on the floor, dusty casks behind the bar chalked with cryptic markings, a no-photography rule enforced with quiet certainty. The bartenders pour fino and manzanilla from barrels into small glasses, mark your tab in chalk on the wood, and leave you alone unless you want olives. There is no cocktail menu, no wine list, no craft beer. There is sherry, poured as it has been poured here for the better part of a century, in a room where Hemingway drank during the war and the decor has not changed since he left. Madrid's most essential bar is also its most uncompromising.
Location
Barrio de las Letras, Madrid
Map
Insider Intel
Fino from the cask — dry, pale, cold from the barrel. Manzanilla if you prefer the coastal salinity of Sanlucar. An amontillado for something darker and nuttier. Olives and almonds from the small dishes on the bar. Do not ask for anything else. The simplicity is the entire philosophy.
Late afternoon from 5pm when the room is quiet enough to hear the sherry pour. Evening fills with a crowd that knows what they came for. Avoid weekend late nights when tourists outnumber regulars.
Calle de Echegaray 7, Barrio de las Letras. Sol or Sevilla metro. Sherry EUR 2.50-4 per glass. No photos — they will tell you, and they mean it. Tabs chalked on the bar and settled in cash. Standing room and a few tables.