Chocolatería San Ginés — Restaurant in Madrid

Located in a passageway close to San Ginés church, west of the Puerta del Sol. It has served principally chocolate con churros (hot chocolate and churros) since 1894. The place is reminiscent of the typical cafés of the late 19th century, with its original decor and has several rooms where we can see pictures of some of their most famous customers.

After exploring the city, it's a must for any visitor to stop for a delicious hot chocolate and churros. It's open 24 hours a day, so there's no excuse not to make time to go. It is very near Gran Via street, so it is a perfect stop after doing shopping as well, a communication link between the Royal Palace and Puerta del Sol.

The churros are really filling. Four of us went and we each ordered 6 churros and chocolate however three portions between the four of us would have been more than enough.

It is the most famous churros in all Madrid are the ones they make in Chocolatería San Ginés, in the alley of the same name that leads down to Calle Arenal, just a hop, skip and a jump away from Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor. The premises it occupies were originally built as an inn and guesthouse in 1890, although only four years later it became what it is today. A marvellous place to enjoy this special sweet, which in those days was made using the so-called “shoulder” technique, because that’s where the churro maker would balance the baking dish with all the dough. The owners are members of the fourth generation of a dynasty of churro makers who began selling churros and porras (churros’ big brother!) on the streets of Madrid with a home-made cooker that used wood and coal to heat the oil. Personally, I think it's the silkiest, delicate warm chocolate sauce to dip your churros into.

Surprisingly, thier Hot Chocolate (Calle Santa María, 30) is also made totally by hand. Every morning they prepare it with delicacy and care, attaching the utmost importance to its purity and thickness. To make sure everyone can enjoy it, they also offer lactose-free, gluten-free and sugar-free options.

I was told location serves as many as 2,000 cups of hot chocolate and more than 10,000 churros in a single day at Chocolatería San Ginés, and it does the place smell good! Stepping inside it is like travelling back in time.

Although people in Madrid normally eat churros in the shape of a bow, the ones they make here are straight because, due to the volume of work, they’re made on large wheels. Each wheel produces about twelve portions of six churros. As the years went by, it became a favourite haunt for anyone wanting to stretch the night out after a visit to the theatre. Thanks to its location, in the historical period known as the Second Republic (before the Civil War), it was nicknamed “La Escondida” (The Hidden Place) and throughout its long history it has always been a meeting place, especially at night

Everything absolutely delicious, but customer service was...

Unfortunately, I think San Gines has become a tourist trap from what it maybe once was. We went a little before 10AM, and it was moderately busy with lots of people already dining outdoors and inside, but we only waited about 5 minutes for a table inside as there were only 6 people in front of us and only one couple behind us. The staff seemed overworked and overwhelmed by the number of customers. This was one of the only places in Madrid where I felt that the staff were unfriendly.

The menu behind the counter was all Spanish, so we needed a few seconds to figure out what drinks to order with our churros. The lady taking our order was very impatient, so we sort of just picked the first drinks we could read (mistake!). You pay right after ordering (make sure to keep hold of your receipts!!), but no one told us clearly where to sit. The couple in front of us spoke Spanish but also didn't know where to go, so we all waited by a sign that said "wait to be seated". It was several minutes later before a waiter told us not to wait there and motioned all of us to go downstairs by ourselves to what we thought was just the toilet area (due to the sign), but also had more seating. There were about 8 empty tables in the downstairs area so they weren't filled to capacity or anything.

The waiters were running back and forth constantly, and the only way they know what to bring you is with your receipt so make sure you don't lose that.

We ordered churros con chocolate and 2 porras. The churros and porras were extremely greasy, with oil dripping off them -- maybe not drained after being fried? Also one of the porras was cold -- it was cooked through, just cold when it was brought to us. Definitely not as good as the other churros we had elsewhere. The chocolate was about the same as we've had in other places, though I think quantity wise was a little less. The drinks (like I said, mistake due to being hurried) looked great but we both regretted them immensely as they were Irish coffees. They were pretty much 90% whiskey and barely any coffee flavor. Neither of us are too big on such strong alcohol especially this early in the morning. (In my next life, I'd like to be less apologetic about needing to take a little extra time to spare myself an experience like this.)

I think if this is the only place in Madrid you try churros con chocolate, you might think it tastes pretty good. However if you've been to some really good ones, this place will be disappointing. I think the biggest issue is that the sheer number of customers have cost them some quality checks that were in place before they...

I didn’t want to come here really but all of the churros were closed in the afternoon and I was hungry and really was craving for some good churros on my last day in Madrid .

To those that gave this place an overwhelming positive reviews I am pretty sure they are ignorant tourists who have never even tried churros in their life

You know the story.. when a restauraunt or eatery has gained enough reputation they don't even care about the quality anymore they can still mess up and serve you frozen churros and clueless tourists will still line up thinking they are in for the best tasting churros all over Madrid or Spain. San Gines is famous not because of the churros ( I have tasted enough all over Spain to know that these churros are really a 1/10 quality). San Gines is famous because it has been long established and uses Celebrities and famous people to market their churros place . If you don't believe me try this and then go to another more local churros place and you can write to me to see which one you prefer.

These churros are so over fried that they are dry , they are drenched with an excessive amount of oil that ur really eating oil dough dipped with chocolate .

For a place that has been in business for so long u would think they would be able to improve the quality of the churros .. I really think when this place was first opened hundreds of years ago that it didn’t taste this bad . The ancestors who opened this place are probably crying now .

I saw two women eating the churros and they didn’t even finish it at the end. the same amount of churros was left with the same cup of chocolate only a nibble of it was taken off one. They walked away looking upset . Others that were eating the churros looked sad and miserable realizing they spent 10 euros more on eating a few overly fried oil sticks .

Luckily I can still purchase much better (fresher and less drenched oiled porras) in Alicante . Nothing beats the flakiness and soft chewy texture than these overrated over...