Café Central

Came for a live jazz performance. You pay for the entrance fee, then order food and drinks. Excellent quartet playing. Great service and atmosphere. Respectful audience that was there to listen to the music. Would come again!

Amazing Jazz, fantastic food (go for the special menu, it's great value for money) and the staff were brilliant, all professional and looked after us completely. I can't recommend Cafe Central enough. A must when visiting Madrid!

Good food, good service, great atmosphere. Buba was playing is first set of the night. With that, service expectedly took a seat to allow the performance to thrive. But, once the set was done, they have you 15min to get out to get the place ready for the next set. That was disappointing.

We entered this place for a nightcap only to remain for 2 hours due to the sensational voice of this lady and the amazing tunes from the jazz band. Incredible and memorable experience and I hope I get to watch them again in the future

Lovely place to see live jazz! We bought bar tickets but were upgraded to a table. The service was great, friendly, and attentive, but not overbearing. The staff seemed like they were having as much fun as we were. Most seats in the venue have a good view of the band

Went there for a live jazz performance. Awesome evening. The show performed by Jose Luis Gutierrez trio was magical!

This is an emblematic jazz establishment in Madrid, very good bands and music for the past few decades. This was my second time there, first one more than 10 years ago. 5 stars for music and atmosphere, 4 stars for service (they forgot about our order and quite difficult to get their attention even if the place is not huge). But I guess one can’t have it all. Cover charge for that Saturday was 30 Eur per person. Bonus: one of the waiters is a saxophone player and went on stage for a few songs.

Update 2025: Still one of the nicest terraces to sit out on and have a sunny lunch. The weekday set lunch menu has gone up a euro but it´s still good value for the quality and originality of the food. Update 2024: We sat out on the first day of spring on their terrace in the lovely Plaza del Ángel and had lunch here for the first time. At 16.90€ the Monday to Friday set lunch was excellent value, The highlights were the chicken & avocado salad; the salmorejo soup with chopped serrano ham and hard boiled egg, and the tatin dessert, but it was all good as well as the service. 2015: There's jazz every night. We went for the 3rd time in the last month, to the O Sister concert of 1930s American swing. This group of 6 talented musicians and singers from Seville sound really 1930s American. And the Café Central club sandwich and a glass or two of Ribera del Duero are a great accompaniment. A superb place to relax and hear live music....

Great location ! Great cofee.stop.after roaming around madrid !

It's a great cafe to listen to local musicians and have a drink or two with your tapas. Venue is cozy enough and service is ok. Food is reasonable. This is not your place if you want to talk while listening to the music. They will shhhhh you. There were six of us visiting Spain and the other people did not appreciate people talking loud

We were impressed by how affordable and delicious our meal was - especially since this cafe has a beautiful location and is within walking distance from Sol. We got the menu del dia and it was only 13 euros for an appetizer (more like a main meal), an entree, and a dessert. We opted for the Salmon Wrap, which would have easily cost $13 back in the states, I got the fish (don't recommend it, it was a bit bland) while my friend got the Veal with veggies (so delicious!) and I ended the meal with tiramisu. Overall, I will definitely be back and will be taking all my friends who come visit me here.

Great live music! We walked in and only caught the tail end of the show, but it was wonderful. Grabbed some drinks and just chatted for 1.5 hours. Great bar to just hang. Tinto de verano (summer wine) came to about 5€ each, slightly more than other places.

Best Jazz in town. Came here to see Chano Domínguez - piano and Hadar Noiberg - flute perform live and they blew everyone away. It is the most cutest bar with in old cathedral like feel on the inside...I ordered their Lebanese mezza plate which came with the best falafel, couscous, and hummus on this side of Europe for sure. Their staff is amazing and customer service is superb. You can buy tickets in advance as it gets filled up really fast. I absolutely loved every moment of the atmosphere!

Amazing place for live music. Check out the line up on their website and pick a type of jazz you like. We went for the Afro cuban band and they did NOT disappoint. You can buy tickets advance (as we did) and it was worth the money. Minus 1 star because you couldn't talk or dance, management came up to us for being "too loud" and there was no dance floor... as a cubana, i found this odd.

This place was fantastic!!! They have live music most every night, the service and food were wonderful. A special shout out to our amazing bartender, Tony. He poured great drinks and spent some time in the US, we enjoyed talking with him. We ordered the curry chicken and cheese board. Would highly recommend both!! To top it off, the jazz music for the night was phenomenal! We enjoyed ourselves so much that we blew off the flamenco show we had pre-purchased tickets for. I know, I know, we are in Madrid and chose jazz over flamenco. Some may say we are stupid, but we had a lovely evening and enjoyed ALL of it!

Exceptional Jazz, good food, a little cramped but adds to the atmosphere. I would recommend this place to any person looking for good music and good food. We had gin and tonic, calamari fried, and cheese plate. Enjoyed it like crazy. Jazz was really fun to listen to. Had a 2100 and 2300 show. Stop here, it's worth it. Get reservations ahead to grab a seat near the stage, or come early for a spot at the bar.

This review is for coffee service around 1645 to 1730. The harried staff was completely overwhelmed. The poor rating is for the non-existent management. You know something is wrong when even locals give up and walk out. Also something is amiss when customers approach the register with no bill in an attempt to pay and leave. The place had exactly two waiters and one bartender. They never slowed down, though it was obvious one was a trainee. So it was actually just two qualified staff on hand as the evening rush poured in. We stayed and seated ourselves, got our own menu and flagged down a wait to order. We saw our order made, but not delivered for twenty minutes. It was obviously cold by the time we got it. I hate give a review like this, but if you go in at this time slot be aware of the staff size and crowd and make up your own mind.

This is a review mostly about THE MUSIC and not the food. After reading up their program my husband and I were very excited to see the gospel factory perform on a Monday night. The entry fee was about €14 euro per person, which isn't too bad for a full 2 hour show. We only had two beers which totaled €6.60 which we weren't too happy about... But still I guess it's part of the business so I understand. Perhaps because it was a Monday night the crowd was pretty chill and a mix of people from all ages and backgrounds. We were visiting Madrid at the time and we did not see any other tourists there. The music was extremely good and for such a small place the acoustics was pretty decent, a group of six people filled the entire place and more with their voices. We loved it. Not too packed and a good feel. Definitely a great place for someone looking for something different to do on a Monday night. Also a couple walked in with their dog! I am always a little more prone to support and love dog friendly establishments so I might be a little biased... Can't say anything about the food though. We looked at the menu and it looked somewhat unimpressive so we opted to eat afterwards. There are a bunch of really neat tapa places and restaurants open late into the night after the show so that is always an option! Shows runs from 9-11 every night. I think they charge €14 for Monday and Tuesdays. And €15 for the rest of the week

Super great music spot. Take into account the food is not the spotlight and dance with your girl and enjoy the tunes !

Seems messy and frantic. The woman working the bar is harried and not terribly friendly. I waited 15 minutes for at least a menu, then just left. Seems poorly staffed.

Good music but terrible overpriced food. Everything we ordered tasted off and was very expensive. My party ordered a salad, chicken, and the croquettes. I would recommend coming for drinks and to watch the show but don't order any food.

Nice, chill, cozy place to relax, have a glass of wine, and listen to live music. Admission price for the Hot Band of Norway was €13. Best to make a reservation if you want good seats.

Excellent food and wonderful wait staff. Seriously one of the best meals I had in all of Spain.

Three American guys were awesome. They even showed the songs they composed. Really fabulous. Me encantó mucho

Buena música, y buen ambiente. La consumición que entra con la entrada de los conciertos sólo incluye cerveza o vino, no copa. De hecho, si pides una ni si quiera te ahorran la diferencia. La has de pagar a tocateja. Mala política. De ahí que no le pueda puntuar más alto.