Cafe Hopping in Madrid

Bar hopping is such a popular activity with the youths these days. Although it has its merits, I embarked on a different type of hopping on my day off this week. Thanks to your wonderful Fulbright mentors (the two Fulbrighters who were granted a second year) I have a list of many popular cafes all over Madrid. After writing down all of the addresses, I decided to pay a few of them a visit and see what they have to offer. My adventure started at the cafe furtherest from my apartment. Therefore as the day goes on I will slowly but surely make my way back to my apartment. Trip planning at its finest. I’ll just go ahead and give myself a pat on the back. 

The Little Big Cafe

It did not take long to figure out why this is such popular spot to get your caffeine fix. For starters, it really is a little cafe and only seats 15-20 people. The seating is tight, but the atmosphere overall is very calm. The cafe is on a quieter street, so there isn’t a lot of noise from cars. The music they play is also very calming, so its a great place to kind of hide from the world. Although the physical location is small, menu is quite extensive for a cafe, hence the Little Big cafe. The breakfast menu has your Spanish usuals, nothing too crazy. However they also serve brunch from 11-14 on the weekends and the menu looks quite delectable. They’ve got your salmon eggs Benedict, your french toast, and your quinoa hamburger. I mean, no menu is complete without a quinoa burger, am I right? Additionally, if you’re not into the whole caffeine thing, they have smoothies  that really puts Jamba Juice to shame. Their system is simple. You pick 3 items and you can add yogurt, milk, or water. BAM. Quality smoothie. The item list isn’t the most extensive list on the planet, but they have the major players. I had a banana mango smoothie with spinach and yogurt. Yum! Finally, this cafe is supposed to have some of the best tarta de zanahoria (carrot cake) in all of Madrid. So believe me when I say that I will be back to try that! Overall, a great cozy cafe to escape to and do some light work or to simply enjoy a delicious coffee, meal, or smoothie. 

Thousand Cups

Thousand Cups has immediately different feel from the Little Big Cafe. First of all, by day Thousand Cups is a cafe, but by night its a bar. Although it is located at the intersection of many busy streets, it is surprisingly quiet inside the cafe. It is much quieter than the LBC and much more spacious. My favorite part is that it has comfy chairs so you can sit back, relax, and sip on some coffee while you take advantage of one of their many breakfast deals. The menu isn’t as extensive as LBC, but the atmosphere is more conducive to doing some reading or finishing up some work (aka Spanish homework and in the future, med school personal statement 😁). Unfortunately Thousand Cups and LBC are both a little far from my apartment for daily excursions, but certainly worth the weekend trip. Thus far I prefer LBC as it is a much more personalized experience. Since there really aren’t a lot of people in the cafe at one time, you have more opportunities to just chat with the staff and strike up a conversation. 

Toma Cafe

Now this cafe really is a hole in the wall. I walked right past it even with assistance of Google Maps. Unlike the the previous two cafes, there isn’t much here besides coffee. Don’t get me wrong, the coffee is quite good. But if you want something a little more substantial, then X does not mark Toma Cafe. There are a few places to sit and click clack on a laptop, but for the most part the setup is more conducive to have a coffee with a friend or two. Also, unlike the other places there are many many languages spoken here. There seemed to be a flurry of English, Spanish, German, and a language from Asia that I could not identify. It’s hard to say why there are so many languages spoken in this one spot, especially English. It could just be because there are a lot of young American language assistants in Madrid and Toma Cafe is in a very youthful hip neighborhood where a lot of the Americans live. Who knows. Either way, I probably won’t venture back here soon. Great coffee, however it lacks the "chill, read a book in a comfy chair" atmosphere I desire. Oh well. 

I think this is really something I will miss when I go back to the U.S. I will really have to explore the world of non college and non Starbucks cafes when I return. I love the atmosphere and the ability to do work and people watch in a place that isn’t a library or an office. But who knows maybe my mind will change again when I am in med school. Vamos a ver. 

I finished off the day by just poking my head into a couple more cafes. After having a couple of pastries and a couple of coffees, I was no longer in the mood for more cafe style food. The cafes I quickly toured included la Bicicleta and Lolina, both in Madrid’s hipster neighborhood, Malasaña. I will go back at some point to actually experience them, as they seemed incredibly popular, but for now its nap time. 😴