Chocolatería de San Ginés

In El Pasadizo de San Gines, right next to the Puerta del Sol, you’ll find the city's most famous café specialising in chocolate con churros. Since 1894, it has been serving up thick hot chocolate with delicious sticks of crispy dough to locals and tourists alike. You can enjoy anything on the menu – which also includes soft drinks, coffee and other pastries – either indoors or on their outdoor terrace which is on a small pedestrian street. They also offer home delivery.

Its traditional white marble tables and tiled counter are featured in numerous literary works including Los Episodios Nacionales, by Benito Pérez Galdós, and Luces de Bohemia, by Valle Inclán.

From the day it opened, it became a favourite haunt of theatre goers who would stop by for hot chocolate and churros after a performance. It has been honoured with an award by the now defunct Circulo de Lectores (Circle of Readers) club and has been named an Historic Tourist Site by Madrid City Council. .

San Ginés also has other branches at No. 81 Calle Lopez de Hoyos (in the Mercado de Prosperidad), at No. 24 Calle Doctor Fleming (close to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium) and in Marbella (Málaga).

In 2010, a San Ginés Chocolatería was opened in Japan (Tokyo), in the bustling neighbourhood of Shibuya. They are also located in China (Shanghai), and in 2013 they opened two branches in the Colombian capital of Bogotá. In 2019, they launched their expansion in Mexico, with premises in Mexico City in the neighbourhoods of Condesa and Parque España; in Argentina in the Mercado de los Carruajes in Buenos Aires and in the United States (Miami Beach).