14 Best Nightlife in Chueca, Madrid

The age-old technique of maceration rules at Macera, where bartenders treat spirits like blank canvases, imbuing them with surprising flavor combinations. Gin is steeped with fresh cilantro, lime, and jalapeño until it achieves a zippy grassy piquancy. Whiskey might be infused with almonds, fresh cherries, mint, or vanilla bean.There's a second, clubbier outpost on Calle de Ventura de la Vega 7 in Barrio de Las Letras.

This classic—if hilariously named—bar (est. 1921) resembles a gentlemen's club with dark-wood interiors and cathedral-like ceilings. It serves a variety of cocktails to an older, business-y crowd.

The handful of tables at this rootsy bar are rarely empty on weekends, thanks to the cozy candlelit atmosphere and picture windows that open in summer. Expect a young, mixed crowd. Weeknights are more mellow.

Almost every classic Madrileño songwriter, musician, and poet has passed through this timeworn hangout, which opens at 3:30 pm (entertainment generally starts at 9). Acoustic guitar concerts priced at less than €10 a head are fantastic—and virtually devoid of tourists. Many shows are free (check the website for details).

Arguably Madrid's most renowned cocktail bar, this family-owned landmark is frequented by a varied, and sometimes celebrity, clientele. Indulge in a cosmo or white Russian served with an uncanny lack of nostalgia or irony.

There are no fripperies of modern mixology to be found at Del Diego, and that's just how the dyed-in-the-wool regulars like it. This legendary bar has been pouring flawless classic cocktails like dirty martinis and white Russians since the late 1990s, and amigos, you'd better believe they're all that and a bag of chips.

This unpretentious, unapologetically campy bar attracts a motley crew of LGBTQ+ (but primarily gay male) revelers of all ages and nationalities with its pop and reggaeton music. It's a Chueca standby. 

Chueca's favorite lesbian bar hosts popular concerts and dusk-to-3:30 am dance parties in an intimate, unpretentious space. The music varies night to night and mixes pop, oldies, reggaeton, and electro.

Easy to miss (it’s tucked inside a building just a block off Fuencarral), this is one of Chueca's best lounge bars, and it's open past 5 am nightly. There are live DJs and funk and jazz bands starting around 9; expect a mixed-age crowd.

If you feel like dancing but don't want to commit to all-out clubbing, pop into La Kama for a garishly garnished gin-tónic and endless pop and reggaeton sing-alongs.

This landmark cocktail bar–lounge is said to have been one of Hemingway's haunts. Much of the interior can be traced to the 1930s, but modern elements (like the in-house DJ and hordes of international visitors) keep this spot firmly in the present.

One of Chueca's buzziest gay bars, Postureo caters to well-dressed creatives, selfie-snapping influencers, and models on their nights off. The bartenders may not know what a Negroni is—even if they have all the requisite ingredients—but you come for the scene, not for the mixology.

This dressed-down wine bar is a great spot to sample classically styled Spanish wines at a terrific price. There's a particularly deep selection of grippy Monastrells, a dark high-alcohol grape ubiquitous in southern Spain.