Restaurants & Tapas Bars

Casa Ricardo

Highlights include sweetbreads and other traditional Madrid dishes that have become universally harder to find: callos a la madrileña (tripe), mollejas de cordero lechal (suckling lamb sweetbreads), riñones de cordero (lamb livers), and carilleras de ternera (beef cheeks).

Another of Madrid´s most typical and beloved winter dishes is cocido madrileño, a stew made with vegetables, chick peas and different meats, served separately with soup to start. The only catch is that you must order this classic favorite ahead of time, as it’s not on the daily menu.

Casa Ricardo’s vegetable dishes are equally as popular, with traditional favorites like acelgas (chard boiled and sautéed with garlic), alcachofas a la plancha (fresh grilled artichokes), habitas fritas con jamón (fried butter beans with ham), to name a few. There’s also a wide range of traditional Spanish favorites like croquetas de jamón (ham croquettes) and morcilla (blood sausage). Fish like merluza (hake) can be enjoyed lightly battered and fried, while you might find a special of a lovely whole sea bass (lubina) baked in the oven and served with crispy homemade potatoes, sautéed shallots and baked tomatoes.

Meat is another specialty (frankly everything seems to be a specialty), and in addition to the usual grilled filet mignon (solomillo), sirloin steaks (entrecot) and lamb chops (chuletas de cordero); you can pre-order roasted suckling lamb or pig ahead of time.

The wine list has a particularly good nod to Madrid wines, but the carafe of house wine from Navarra is also very satisfying.

The restaurant’s interior is cozy, all old-fashioned wood and checked tablecloths. The decor is an array of bullfighting paintings, a massive mounted bull’s head over the door, and walls dotted with aging snapshots of Spanish royalty and celebrities dining throughout the years.