Dear Tourists: Do NOT fall for this place's reputation. Resting on its bygone laurels, Café Gijón offers the most over-priced, inattentive and low quality service that Madrid has to offer. This establishment used to be one of the most fashionable places back in the 1950's and up to the late 70's. What remains of that literati flair is only to be seen in the portraits and photos of the 20th century Spanish intelligentsia (who at some point or an other payed the Café passing visit) hanging on the walls.

The place itself is now but a shadow of what it used to be; waiters are rude, there is no menu from which to choose, and an 'Irish coffee' with a meagre vanilla ice-cream scoop in it (no whipped cream on top) will set you back 10 euros (!). You will, usually, find tables not having been wiped clean of unidentified stickiness, and a general feeling of gloom and rancidness to the whole place.

As a native Madrileño myself, I wholeheartedly discourage foreign visitors to go (although someone along the line will almost undoubtedly recommend you to under the ploy of it being 'typical' or 'traditional'). It is neither typical nor traditional, it is overpriced, has bad service, bad quality products (be it food or coffee) and far from being traditional, it is quite simply run down.

Being an avid traveller, I can say without much bias that Madrid has some fo the best restaurants and cafés of any European capital (with some of the greatest prices to match). When you go passed Café Gijón, walk on, you'll never be far from somewhere much better that will make your stay in Madrid all the more memorable.