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Tastes like home: 3 great burgers in Madrid

December 23rd, 2011 | Posted by Stephanie Dosch in Food and Restaurants | Stephanie D. - (3 Comments)

Let’s face it: sometimes you just want a cheeseburger. So what’s a guiri to do when McDonald’s just won’t cut it? Never fear—there are plenty of good burgers right here in Madrid. Here are three of my favorites.

Best gourmet burger

The burgers at Home Burger Bar aren’t cheap, but they’re definitely worth the splurge. You can taste the quality of the organic beef, and combinations like “goat cheese and red pepper jam” or “caramelized onions and brie” make my mouth water just thinking about them. There is also a range of classic burgers for traditionalists (I’m a bacon-cheeseburger girl myself), and even several veggie options for the non-carnivores. The contemporary diner décor further complements the style of the food.

Best retro burger

There was a time when I swore that if I saw another retro burger joint in Madrid I would go crazy. Now I just think of it as having more options. And there are plenty. Mel’s has generous portions and waiters on roller skates; Peggy Sue’s has wall-boxes that work (for 20 cents) and darn good milkshakes. But my money’s on TM Burger & Fries, where you can get a surprisingly delicious burger for €2.95. Of course you’ll have to deal with all the Malasaña hipsters, but I think it’s worth it for a burger that costs little more than Whopper but tastes way better.

Best all-American burger

Ask any American expat where to get a good burger in Madrid and most will probably answer, “Alfredo’s.” Alfredo’s Barbacoa is the original hamburger restaurant in Madrid, opened by a real, actual American in 1981. Amazingly, I’ve only been there once, but the burger was possibly one of the best I’ve ever had—good meat with lots of char-grilled flavor. If you like your burgers smokey, juicy, and messy, you’ll love Alfredo’s; if you don’t, well…

There are plenty more burger joints in Madrid—do you have a favorite? If so, let us know in the comments!

Home Burger Bar dominates the 28004, with locations on C/ Espíritu Santo, C/ San Marcos, and C/ Silva. www.homeburgerbar.com has all the details.

You can find Mel’s all over the place—there’s even one in León! Apart from the shopping malls, Mel’s has locations in Madrid at C/ Hortaleza 34 and C/ Pedro Teixeira 8. Specifics are at www.tommymels.com.

Peggy Sue’s has majorly expanded, with locations all over the country, and plenty of options if you live in “las afueras.” There are no fewer than eight Peggy Sue’s here in Madrid’s center, which makes for too many contact details to put here, so go to www.peggysues.es to find the one nearest you.

TM Burger & Fries focuses all their energy on their C/ Espíritu Santo 7 location. www.tmburger.com.

Alfredo’s Barbacoa fires up the grill at two locations: their original restaurant at C/ Lagasca 5 (Metro Retiro), and the offshoot at C/ Juan Hurtado de Mendoza 11 (Metro Cuzco). I love that they have a Texas-style oil drill as the main image of their home page—go to www.alfredos-barbacoa.es to check that out!

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Happy Holidays from the Guiri Guide!

December 23rd, 2011 | Posted by jodiehop in What's Happening Madrid - (0 Comments)

The Guiri Guide team have gone back to their various homes and families for Christmas and our new years holidays, we’ll be back in January with more tips, tricks and stories to help make life smoother and more fun  in Madrid.

If you are heading down to Puerta del Sol,  keep your valuables locked up (pick pockets are out in force) and have a fantastic time ringing in the new year with the Madrilenos. And don’t forget to eat your twelve grapes on the 12 chimes of the clock at midnight for good luck in 2012!

We wish you Feliz Navidad and Feliz Año Nuevo,

The Guiri Guide team

A View from Above

December 22nd, 2011 | Posted by Courtney in Entertainment | Guiri Guest | What's Happening Madrid - (0 Comments)

When I first got to Madrid two years ago, I spent time wandering the more touristy areas with my roommate and we discovered within a couple of days an attraction that still holds my interest for the views it gives and the simplicity of its design: Teleférico.

The premise is simple: it is a ride on cables from right next to the rose gardens of Parque del Oeste across the rest of the park, the rio Manzanares, and a large swath of Casa de Campo, with a breathtaking view of the city itself from many stories up in the air. The ride claims to be ecologically friendly, and it also is nice to get out and above the crowded city streets into the open air. The ride, round-trip, will set you back 5.35 euros. Cheesy music is piped in and a narration in excited Spanish tells you about some of the things you can see, but if you can tune that out, you are getting one of the most serene and expansive views of Madrid that I’ve experienced. I haven’t tried it on a cloudy day, but I can definitely recommend it for those days where the sky here is impossibly blue and the sun almost blinding; I would bet that it gives you a few extra kilometers of visibility.

The ride itself is under 15 minutes, but it works: not exactly a wild roller coaster, but it isn’t long enough for you to be antsy to get off. The Teleférico itself has a café on a terrace when you arrive, and there is also a very close-by playground for small children. Also consider hiking around in Casa de Campo for a while, or heading down to the Parque de Atracciones, an amusement park that is just a short walk downhill. A slightly longer walk will take you to the Zoo. The last time I went, though, it was just a break in a busy day and all we did was eat a snack on a bench before heading back to take our “vuelta” journey. This second trip, there was no narration, and the picture-taking and views were reversed so that we were approaching the city from the west instead of heading into the wilderness.

Each car can hold 6 people, so it’s ideal for anyone from a couple up to a larger group of friends who can easily divide into multiple cars. During the winter the ride has limited hours – most of the weekends in January and February they are open, but only the weekdays that are near holidays, such as the first week in January. The website talks about their hours, which grow slowly as winter continues, 12h to 18h in December, 12h to 18.30h in January, and so on.

I have seen these rides in other cities, but this is the first one I’ve actually ridden and I find that it was a thrill for a person who had just landed in a big city for the first time, and then, years later, a nice time-out from a busy day of showing a house guest around the popular attractions of Madrid. If you want to get away from it all just for an hour or two, this trip won’t disappoint.

Teleférico
www.teleferico.com
nearest metro: Arguelles

close to la Rosaleda (in Parque del Oeste)

 

Guiri Guest Laura is a recently-arrived English Language and Culture Assistant. She graduated from university in the Spring and is exploring the options that Madrid has to offer for her varying interests in fiction writing, Spanish, teaching, and Journalism. She is from the United States and is still figuring out all the little things that Guiris have to master to become true expatriates in this city.

Tapas Weekend in Logrono

December 20th, 2011 | Posted by JLynch in Jamie | Traveling outside Madrid - (4 Comments)
Last week I posted about the spectacular wineries I visited during my trip to La Rioja earlier this month. I wanted to expand on that post this week and dedicate some well-deserved space to one of the other highlights of our trip – the 24 hours we spent in Logroño, the capital of La Rioja.

The scene on Calle Laurel early Friday afternoon

 
We arrived at this small but lively city of 150,000 early on a Friday afternoon. My last minute Google research in the car indicated that the city had a street famous for tapas (Calle Laurel), so we decided to head there for lunch. To our surprise, it was absolutely crammed with people spilling out of the more than 40 bars that are on this tiny, pedestrian street. We strolled down the length of the calle (it only takes about a minute, to be honest) and quickly deduced how it worked – each bar has its own specialty tapa, which is advertised on the outside of the bar. Since trying the local specialty everywhere I go is one of my favorite pastimes, Raul and I went from bar to bar trying the advertised “especialidad de la casa” accompanied by a small copa de vino (Rioja of course).
 
The specialties in this tapas paradise included such things as patatas bravas, roasted garlic mushrooms on bread (this was the highlight for me), matrimonios (small sandwiches with anchovies and grilled peppers), zapatillas (a hunk of bread with olive oil, tomato and jamón serrano), and sepia. They ranged in price from about €1-3, making for some cheap meals. In fact, we had such a great time and enjoyed the food at lunch so much that we went there for dinner the same day. The wine was also easy on the wallet, making for arguably some of the best and most enjoyable eating and drinking I have ever done in Spain (which says a lot).

The glorious "champis" at Bar Soriano

Our time in Logroño was such a pleasant surprise. While we were there tapeando our hearts out, we were already planning our next trip. The combination of the architecture of the wineries, the wine itself and the tapas of Logroño made this a weekend I will never forget!

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The lights in Madrid are Twinkling

December 17th, 2011 | Posted by Courtney in Entertainment | Guiri Guest | Traveling outside Madrid | What's Happening Madrid - (0 Comments)

My fellow Guiris, as I’m sure you’ve all noticed, the holidays are upon us. If you haven’t yet noticed, a quick paseo through the center or barrio Salamanca will certainly show you. Numerous Spanish designers such as Agatha Ruiz de la Prada have created arrangements using over 3 million LED lights that have flooded the streets of Madrid, from the skylines above Gran Vía to the gift boxes floating over Calle Goya.

As the sun sets and the cold air creeps in every night, the best way to see the lights is to hop on the bus–but not just any bus! The Navibús is an open-top double-decker bus that follows along the most illuminated streets in the city while playing the sounds of the season through the bus speaker system. The Navibús runs every night from 6-10pm and costs €1.50 to ride. The approximately 45-minute ride leaves fairly often from the corner of Calle Serrano and Calle Jorge Juan (metro: Serrano; exit C/Goya pares), just next to the Jardines de Descubrimento. The Navibús will run daily until the 6th of January, except for the 18th, 24th, and 31st of December, as well as the 5th of January.

After you ride the Navibús, head to Plaza de Cibeles this Sunday around 8pm to experience a show of coordinated music and lights projected on the beautiful Palacio de Comunicaciones. In addition to the children’s story preceding the light show, there will also be numerous holiday events for children all around city until the end of the Christmas season. Check the official Madrid Christmas events website for more detailed information.  Be sure to come back to Plaza de Cibeles on the 5th of January to catch the Cabalgata de los Reyes as well as the sweet treats that the Three Wise Men will throw into the crowd!

Christmas would not be Christmas in Spain without an abundance of belenes. A belén, sometimes referred to as pesebre, is a representation of the scene of the birth of Jesus. Setting up a belén is a tradition dating back to the 1200s, and even today it would be difficult to find a Spanish household celebrating Christmas without one set up somewhere in the house. During this time of year, Spaniards flock to see the belenes on display all over the country. This year in Madrid there are belenes set up in the Palacio de Comunicaciones (metro: Plaza de España), Museo de la Ciudad (metro: Cruz del Rayo), Casa del Reloj (metro: Legazpi), and the Royal Palace (metro: Ópera), to name a few. Click here to see a full list of belén locations in the city.

As for all of your last-minute shopping, don’t miss the mercadillos navideños scattered throughout Madrid. The one in Plaza Mayor has a bit of everything, including a carousel for the kids to ride, but be sure to stop by the mercadillos on the sidestreets of Gran Vía, and as always, be sure to visit El Rastro as more and more gift-worthy items begin popping up this time of year.

Whether you’re spending your holidays in Madrid or heading back to the guiri motherland, the decorations and holiday activities here in town definitely merecen la pena. Felices fiestas!

 

Shana came to Madrid in 2009 for a brief summer study program and couldn’t stay away for long. Immediately after finishing university, she came back in September 2010 and has since been spending her time navigating the English language with primary school children and constantly rediscovering all of the charms that captured her for the first time.