Taberna Antonio Sánchez opens with vermouth before anything else. The house pours it on tap over a zinc-topped wooden counter that has served drinkers on Calle del Mesón de Paredes since the 18th century, and the menu behind it reads like a register of old Madrid cooking.
The paperwork makes the claim concrete. A notice in the Diario Curioso, Erudito, Económico y Comercial recorded the transfer of the wine business in February 1787, which is why esMadrid, the city's official tourism office, lists this as the oldest tavern in Madrid. The city's centenarian restaurants association counts it among its member houses for the same reason.
The name arrived later. Antonio Sánchez, the bullfighter son of an early 20th century owner, took the business over and hung the room with the relics of his first career. The dark wood panelling, the paintings and the bull memorabilia still set the tone of the dining room today.
Start at the counter with the vermouth on tap, the drink this corner of the city does best. A glass runs cheap, arrives cold with an olive, and pairs with whatever fried thing the kitchen sends out first. Wine from the barrel and bottled Spanish reds carry the rest of the list; nobody comes here for cocktails.
The food is the second reason to linger. The kitchen works the old Madrid repertoire, with oxtail, callos a la madrileña and the full cocido madrileño among the signatures esMadrid highlights. Order the torreznos with the first vermouth and decide on the stew after.
Who is it for. Drinkers who want Madrid's tavern culture at its source, travelers working through Lavapiés on foot, and anyone who measures a bar by its counter rather than its menu design. Skip it if you want late hours, since the house closes by midnight, or if you want quiet on a Sunday, when the Rastro flea market crowd fills every table from noon.
Timing matters more than booking. Tuesday through Saturday the tavern runs from 1pm to 11:45pm, and the early evening slot before 8pm gives you the counter almost to yourself. Sunday opens at noon and closes at 5pm, and Monday the door stays shut. Tirso de Molina on Metro line 1 sits three minutes up the street.
The neighborhood rewards a longer crawl. Our Madrid pubs and tavern guide maps the centenarian houses around La Latina and Lavapiés, the Madrid wine bar guide covers the sherry and barrel-wine rooms nearby, and the full Madrid bar guide sets the city's drinking districts in order. Sherry drinkers should walk nine minutes north to La Venencia in Madrid, a fino bar unchanged since 1929.
Sources: esMadrid official tourism listing; Restaurantes y Tabernas Centenarios de Madrid; Tripadvisor Taberna Antonio Sánchez reviews; Yelp (27 reviews, Feb 2026); Spotted by Locals Madrid; TheFork listing.
