Ben B.
Yelp
Old. School. Madrid.
I have heard that Penelope Cruz and the King of Spain have dined here. I don't doubt it. Walking into Casa Lucio, you step back in time, when restaurants are a series of communal brick-lined caves and the waiters wear white jackets. The ancient Lucio himself greeted us. (Born in 1933, still kickin' it.)
All the tables were full when we arrived, so we were invited to stand at the bar. We ordered drinks. My fiancee had the best sangria we've ever tasted. They make each glass fresh, right in front of you.
In accordance with a dying custom, we were given a free tapa with our drink orders. I believe our first was a plate of cold anchovies. I HATE fish. And I really hate raw fish. And I really hate raw fish that has scales on it. And I really hate seeing the outline where the fish's spine used to be. But this is Spain and we were given this cold plate of fish for free and Lucio and the bartender were looking at me so I plastered on a smile and bit down on this salty, oily thing. I took one for the team. I would normally never order this, but I'm not going to be all American about it and turn my nose up, even though seeing that nasty thing triggered my esophageal fight-or-flight reflex.
Thankfully, our next drink order came with manchego cheese and bread. We gladly scarfed that down. Soon, our table was ready. (Luckily, the waiter brought our disgusting plate of cold fish so we could continue not eating that at our table.)
The prices are very high at Casa Lucio, but I enjoyed the food. I had the solomillo plancha (grilled sirloin steak). Not a ton of steak for 25 €, but it was cooked perfectly medium rare.
The crowd is interesting. We sat next to one table that looked like the cast of the Spanish version of "The Sopranos," while the other table had three pretty young Asian women fawning over a long-haired Caucasian guy with terrible BO, a man bun and a tank top. Please, dress a little classy when you come. Lucio is old and he deserves respect.
They do have English menus available and our waiter was patient as we stumbled in Spanish and English.
Our final bill came to 69 €, which should have been higher, but my fiancee only ordered two small dishes. Why is the asparagus 14 €? (It also doesn't look like asparagus. It's huge and the skin was taken off and I'm going to shut up because there's probably a very good old school Spanish reason and I don't want to be an ugly American.)
I recommend traveling back in time to Casa Lucio. It appears to be a national treasure.
Note: According to their website, Casa Lucio closes down for the entire month of August. Weird.