Café Central Ateneo

Since it opened its doors in 1982, this venue has been committed to a love of good jazz, with more than 13,500 live shows under its belt. In 1988 the owners took a further step into the genre and started bringing over true jazz legends such as George Adams and Lou Bennett. In 2005, the Music Academy presented this venue with its Award for the Dissemination of Music. On 16 April 2026, it moved to its current location in the Ateneo de Madrid, after having to leave its legendary premises in Plaza del Ángel.  

At this new location in the Ateneo, they still put on two concerts (at 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm), every night of the year, in two spaces: Café Central - Ateneo, which has been renovated to recreate the previous premises as closely as possible, serving up live music alongside food and drink; and La Cátedra del Ateneo, at No. 21, Calle del Prado, where you can enjoy concerts in an incomparable setting with exceptional acoustics, combining jazz tradition with the city's cultural history.

Along with concert tickets you can also pre-pay for your set menu, and there is a bar that serves cocktails.

Using their usual top-quality criteria, in 2002 the prestigious American jazz magazine Down Beat named Café Central as one of the best places in the world to listen to jazz, the only Spanish venue to make the list. In 2016, the British newspaper The Guardian included it in its list of the 10 best jazz clubs in Europe. In 2023, the Association of Jazz and Modern Music Musicians presented Central with its Live Music Promotion Award, the first time this award had been received by a venue outside of Catalonia.