This Is The Best Food Tour In Madrid If You Want Authentic, Local Eats While Avoiding Tourist Traps

Looking for the best food tour in Madrid so you make sure you eat the best food without wasting money, time, or calories? Look no further!

Caleb and I always do a food tour when we visit a new European city, and Madrid is no different. We went on the Devour Tours Tapas, Taverns, and History tour during one of our visits to Madrid and then loved it so much that we did it again the next time we went back! 

In this quick review, we’ll share everything you need to know about Madrid’s food tour with Devour so you can get all the info you need to book and fill your belly with delicious tapas and wine. Hello!

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Get your stretchy pants on, and let’s dig in, starting with a video of one of our tours!

YouTube video

Food Tour Quick Facts/Know Before You Go:

⭐️ RATING: 5/5 Stars | ✅ Book it!

WHY BOOK NOW: There are so many reasons that we think that the Tapas, Taverns, and History food tour is a must-do when you’re in Madrid! Here are our top 8 reasons we think you should book, like yesterday: 

  1. You won’t have to stress about having to make reservations in a different language. While some areas do speak English, it can be really TRICKY. Trust us, we’ve done it.
  2. You also won’t have to risk not getting in anywhere for a night because you didn’t know you should make reservations (and Madrid’s restaurants get BUSY!) That means you won’t have to go hungry one evening or risk going somewhere lackluster and wasting your calories. No bueno!
  3. You’ll get exclusive, front-of-the-line access to many popular tapas bars that are usually so packed with locals that you might feel too overwhelmed to go in! That means you get the best, most authentic eats!
A fresh tuna salad with vibrant tomatoes, green olives, and microgreens served in a glass bowl on a textured tablecloth, accompanied by bread and a bowl of olives, ready for dining

4. You’ll get to explore hidden-gem, locally-owned spots instead of accidentally going to a tourist trap and wasting your money on not-so-good, overpriced eats for an evening.

5. Having a tour completely organized for you means one WHOLE evening where you don’t have to worry about planning things to do or getting to places at specific times – it’s all done for you! You simply just have to show up and have fun!

6. Save yourself the headache of getting lost when getting around the city because you’ll have a guide showing you around. They will also give you the lay of the land, which will benefit you as you travel around during the rest of the days you spend in Madrid.

A vibrant Spanish tapas bar with traditional tiles and a large illustrated poster, showcasing a variety of local spirits and decorative red accents.

7. You’ll get more restaurant recommendations from the local guide so you can keep making sure you’re eating the best food and save all the stress of Googling where to eat and just *hoping* that it’s good.

8. You’ll end up saving money because it would cost you much more to get the amount of food and booze that you get on the tour yourself. VALUE BABY!

DURATION: 4 hours

INCLUDED:

  • 8+ DELICIOUS tapas and 5+ drinks at 4 family-run restaurants.
  • A guided walking tour through historic Madrid (just under 2 miles of walking with stops)
  • An English-speaking, local guide who was SO nice both times we did the tour. Also, very knowledgeable about the food and history of Madrid!
a hand holding a glass of vermouth in a tapas bar in Madrid

INSIDER TIPS TO KNOW BEFORE YOUR GO:

  • There is a lot of food and booze…in a GREAT WAY. Just go hungry because you will want to eat it all. It’s just so dang good.
  • At each spot along this Madrid food tour, you get to choose between different alcohol (or non-alcoholic) options, which we love. It’s nice to be able to choose something you like instead of being forced to drink something you don’t.
  • They can cater the tour to vegetarians, pescatarians, gluten-free (not celiac), dairy-free, and pregnant women. 

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Inside a cozy Spanish mesón, patrons engage with a bartender beneath a wooden sign dating the establishment to 1964, surrounded by ornate tilework and various hanging meats and tapas.

OTHER REVIEWS:

⭐️ Viator: 5/5 Stars with 1000+ reviews.

>> Click here to check prices, reviews and availability on Viator <<

⭐️ Get your Guide: 4.7/5 Stars

>> Click here to check prices, reviews and availability on Get Your Guide <<

Lovely experience for our last night in Madrid. Rosita was a great tour guide and provided a lot of information on history as well as modern traditions and customs. She took us to tapas bars we would have never found or tried on our own.

-Viator User

Loved this tour! Our guide was wonderful (I think her name was Caroline)! She took us to excellent tapa bars, showed us how to make sure we were eating at the best places and avoiding tourist traps and took great care to ensure we all had a great time. The food was fantastic (ox tail, garlic shrimp, cod, broken eggs over potatoes, ham, fried dogfish, and dessert). And the drinks were plentiful. A great introduction to tapas culture and food in Madrid! Highly recommend!

-Viator User

Read Other Reviews HERE

Quick Overview Of Our Experience

The food tour was so freaking good that we did it twice!! And the best part was that almost all the restaurants were different both times because Devour Madrid knows endless amazing, non-touristy places to eat! We also did their tapas tour in San Sebastian, and it was the same, delicious story!

We met in the old town of Madrid and had a short walk to start our tour with our favorite: vermouth! You can NOT go to Madrid without drinking vermouth, and this is a great place to try some of the best in Madrid!

A close-up of a plate with two pieces of crispy battered fish on an outdoor metal table, symbolizing a casual street food experience

From there, we took a leisurely stroll through various downtown neighborhoods and stopped at 2 other tapas bars along the way for some of the best food in Madrid that we’ve ever had. Caleb and I researched the crap out of food, and we had never been to these tapas bars during the almost 10 times we’ve been to the Spanish Capital! They *truly* take you to local hidden gems that you would likely miss!

Each tour ended at more of a “sit down” Spanish restaurant and ate family style, where we passed various dishes around the table and enjoyed not one but two delicious Spanish alcoholic beverages! If you’re a more introverted couple, don’t worry – the wine/vermouth has been flowing by this time, so everyone is just best friends! 😏

Top 5 Foods Sampled

We’ve had a TON of different food during the two times we’ve done our food tour, but here are our top 5 that you might get to look forward to:

  1. Chorizo stuffed mushrooms – honestly, these were so good I could cry. I don’t even usually like mushrooms, but they are so flavorful and juicy that you’ll dream of them forever.
  2. Stewed Bull Tail in Puff Pastry – think of a cozy, grandma-made beef stew, but then wrap it in buttery puff pastry and put a sweet pepper on top with a squeeze of tangy sauce. YES, it’s as good as it sounds.
  3. Sizzling Garlic Shrimp – from the place that INVENTED the Spanish classic! These shrimp are so tender, juicy, and garlicky, and you won’t be mad about washing them down with house-made, slightly sweet red wine.
  4. Impossibly Crispy Fried Cod – I’m not a “fried food person,” but Caleb and I have never had a better piece of fried fish. They’re perfectly seasoned and INCREDIBLY juicy, and they will ruin you for any other fried fish you ever eat.
  5. Spanish French Toast That Tastes Like Christmas In Your Mouth – We made room in our itinerary to go back again on our last night just to eat this because it’s like no dessert you’ll ever have.

Of course, I am not going to tell you where to find these things! I don’t want to ruin the surprise. 😏

You’ll have to book your food tour for that!

Let’s Wrap This Up: Madrid’s Best Food Tour

Caleb and I always go on a food tour the first evening in a new city – it’s the best way to get to know the local eats and history! Devour’s food tour in Madrid, “Tapas, Taverns, and History,” has been one of our favorite tours across Europe, and we absolutely think it’s a must-do for other food-loving couples like us!

>> Click here to check prices, reviews, and availability! <<

So, are you going to book this tour ASAP? What questions do you have before booking? Feel free to leave a comment!

Other Foodie Posts in Madrid

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A couple stands embracing while looking at the Almudena Cathedral during sunset in Madrid, with the grand architecture and clear skies in the background

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