Stopped by last Saturday around. 10:30 P.M, The place was jammed with
40+ locals having a great time. Next door to Gran Melia Fenix.

http://www.spottedbylocals.com/madrid/platea-madrid/

Lots of great info on spotted by locals.Here's the actual link to it:
http://www.plateamadrid.com/es/about
I love this place! Not visible from the outside-you have to know it's there! Dreadful Hard Rock Cafe is next to it and that's very visible. I prefer the atmosphere here than that in the Mercado San Miguel next to the Plaza Mayor-too crowded,full of tourists and overpriced.
The Europeans are so clever at refurbishing old buildings instead of the States-pull down and build another Walgreens!

Well, Chapla please STAY in Spain, then.

We stopped by to check it out in July. It was under construction for nearly two years. An interesting concept, but we'll have to wait to see how it goes.

Dukey1???????????????????????????????????????????? ????

Dukey1,am I suppoed to be as nasty as you and suggest you stay in London!

chapla,
I love
Serrano/ Salamanca: great shopping, lovely streets, many eateries,
no tourists.
Unfortunately most 3 day visitors to Madrid never go north of Retiro and come back with a partial view of a great city.

The US has gotten much better about preserving older buildings. The turning point in NYC was when the old Penn Station war razed. The general design was founded on the Baths of Caracalla. Now old churches, old factories, and banks are turned into all sorts of establishments and not necessarily condos and art galleries.

One of the most elegant renovations of an old building in the US is Union Station in DC. A masterful job.

The food courts are fashionable in Madrid. Following the success of the Mercado de San Miguel, came the Mercado de San Antón, Platea Madrid and San Ildefonso Street Market. In addition, also renewed the Mercado de San Fernando, but did not want to turn it into an expensive gastro space, and this month has opened the Mercado Barceló.
http://www.mercadodesanildefonso.com/
http://www.mercadosananton.com/?q=zona-degustacion
http://www.mercadodesanfernando.es/lacocinadelmercado/
https://www.facebook.com/MercadoBarcelo/photos_stream

Although there is a small food store and a bakery in the building, I would not classified Platea as
Mercado.

Interesting!

Ironically the same is going on in Barcelona. From this week Travel section of the NY Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/tr...ef=travel&_r=0

Might just have to check this out next month!

Deb, if you are referring to Platea, go in the evening. Not much going on during the day.

The Europeans are so clever at refurbishing old buildings instead of the States-pull down and build another Walgreens!>>

yes, Europeans at large are just so superior to everyone else, aren't they. These kind of ill-informed, xenophobic remarks wouldn't be considered acceptable if they were said about other countries as a whole.

Danon, Thanks for that report, I'm always looking for new things in Madrid!