As some of you know I am going to Casa Patas in June to see a flamenco show, something we have been currently discussing in a thread. My main concern now is dinner. Will eating in Casa Patas get a better table placement? My kids and I would prefer to have tapas before the show. However we do want to get a close table. Should I have dinner there? Thanks as always for your help.

We ate at Casa Patas and were given good seats up front for the show after dinner. On the other hand, the space is small and intimate, and nobody is terribly far from the stage. For what it is worth, we found the food to be very good.

The answer is yes, dinner = better seat.
But if you don't dine there the seats should still be ok, it's not as if it were an enormous theater, it is an intimate setting and should offer good views from most seats.
Dinner there allowed us to be escorted & whisked past those in waiting line and we got a great seat. But there is no guarantee of this either.

Is this the only night you would be able to have tapas with your kids? If so, forget the dinnner and by all means have the tapas. That experience is also very unique.
And as mentioned on your other thread, it is indeed close to tapas places. I especially LOVED those at Plaza Santa Ana, especially Casa del Abuelo for shrimp. It is funny how they yell out the orders too..The tapas crawl & bar hopping experience is alot of fun, but one can have tapas and the larger raciones at many restaurants, including Casa Patas by the way. CP is just a larger restaurant as opposed to the tiny tapas places..

Casa Patas has a separate show room, it has seats arranged facing the stage, and some tiny coctail tables. At the very front there are a few larger tables, but honestly sometimes in those you face sideways and it is akward to turn and see the stage. I always suggest that you and your family listen to flamenco cds or online or you tube to get a taste of it..

Just be sure to allow plenty of time if you do the tapas thing because there is a line to get in to the show room before the show.

nikki and amsdon - thanks for advise. Think I will eat dinner there to get good table. We can do tapas on another night, but let me tell you fitting in what we want to do has been a challange.

We chose not to have dinner there. We arrived early and had to wait for quite a bit before they opened the doors to the small room where they performed the flamenco. However, since we were the first ones lined up to get in, we had very good seats. Some of the diners were still eating and I am not sure whether they had as good seats as we did. They may have been reserved for them though, I don't know. But as others have said, it is a small space and you are never far from the stage. Enjoy.

Flame & Nikki did you go to the early or midnight show?

I thought I posted this. perhaps on another thread.

We reserved the midnight show ( on a Friday night) online a couple weeks before our trip. We were 10 minutes late getting there. The show had not started yet but a front row table was waiting for us when we arrived with my name on it. I asked the waiter later "why the wonderful seating" and he said our reservation was the first one on the list.

I noticed that all seating looked fine to me.. even the furthest away tables are not THAT far as It is not a huge space.

I went to the midnight show the first time. The second time it was during the week and there was only one show. They were both terrific.

We chose the early show because we just did not think we would make it awake for the midnight show. Those "in the know" on this board and others, had written that the midnight show is more "hard core" and can get really really exciting and more intense, since more Spaniards apparently go to those shows rather than us tourists. I was not disappointed in the early show, although I have no basis for comparison to the midnight show.

When we left the midnight show the streets of Madrid were surprisingly deserted and creepy. Since we couldn't find a cab we had to walk back to our hotel where we found the outside gates locked. Make sure you know where the buzzer is if you're going to be coming back late even by Madrid standards...

As always thanks for giving me your advise. For now I do have a dinner reservation. Still not sure what to do.

Marija - we are going to the show at nine. A midnight show is late for me. I know I will find it hard to adapt to the hours kept in Spain. Also I was concerned about being on the streets so late. Glad you got back safe.

Casa Patas is 50m off the busy C/Atotcha and a stone throw away from lively Plaza Santa Ana with lots of outdoor cafés and tapas bars. La Trucha, just off the plaza and behind Teatro Español, is a sure bet:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...ha-Madrid.html

Amsdons favourite, La Casa del Abuelo, is just 100m away from Plaza Santa Ana. Around La Casa del Abuelo in C/Victoria (not the other branch close by) you'll also find nice places such as Casa Toni, La Oreja de Oro, Alhambra and Cerveceria La Abuela.