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Number 7 of 20 in Madrid

Chocolatería San Ginés

In the narrow passage behind the church of San Ginés, the queue for chocolate and churros begins in the morning and goes on long after midnight. On New Year's morning it is where Madrid comes for its first cup of the year.

What it is
Chocolate shop
Opened
1894
Area
Puerta del Sol
Nearest museum
Plaza Mayor, 150 m

Madrid this week

    What Chocolatería San Ginés is known for

    1. Chocolate con churros

      Thick hot chocolate for dipping, with churros or the thicker porras, fried in the house in the old manner.

    2. The rooms

      Two floors in the style of the cafés of the end of the nineteenth century, with white marble tables and a counter faced with tiles.

    3. After the theatre

      It stands beside the Teatro Eslava, and its fame began with the audiences who came out of the theatre and stopped for chocolate.

    What to know

    • The building was put up in 1890 as an inn, and became a churrería in 1894
    • Its front is a stop on the night walk of Max Estrella in Valle-Inclán's play Luces de Bohemia
    • It stays open late into the night

    Where Chocolatería San Ginés is

    Address

    Pasadizo de San Ginés 5
    28013 Madrid, Spain

    Nearest station

    Sol, on lines 1, 2 and 3, or Ópera, on lines 2 and 5, each about three minutes away

    Museums and sights nearby

    Distances are in a straight line from the restaurant.

    An inn that became a churrería

    The house in the Pasadizo de San Ginés was opened in 1890 as a mesón and lodging house. In 1894 it turned to making churros, by the method still used.

    Under the Second Republic it was known as La Escondida, the hidden one. Night owls have always come here, and later the crowds from the Joy Eslava discothèque next door.

    Chocolatería San Ginés: common questions

    Where is Chocolatería San Ginés?
    At Pasadizo de San Ginés 5, in the Centro district of Madrid. The nearest station is Sol, on lines 1, 2 and 3, or Ópera, on lines 2 and 5, each about three minutes away.
    Which museums and sights are near Chocolatería San Ginés?
    Plaza Mayor is 150 m away, Royal Palace of Madrid is 650 m away, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is 1.0 km away. Distances are in a straight line from the restaurant.
    What is Chocolatería San Ginés known for?
    Chocolate con churros, The rooms, After the theatre. The chocolate shop in a passage off the Calle del Arenal where Madrid has gone for chocolate and churros since 1894, open late into the night.
    When did Chocolatería San Ginés open?
    In 1894. The building was put up in 1890 as an inn, and became a churrería in 1894.

    What visitors say about Chocolatería San Ginés

    Rating from Google

    4.3

    73,551 ratings on Google

    Google's figures as read on 17 October 2026.

    Read every review on Google

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