Antigua Pastelería del Pozo

Café · Historic bakery$Sol (Barrio de las Letras), Madrid

Madrid's oldest bakery, open since 1830 on a small street near Puerta del Sol, known for puff pastry, cream bartolillos and roscón de Reyes.

At a glance

Type: Historic bakery
Area: Sol (Barrio de las Letras), Madrid, Spain
Price: $ · Budget

Good to know

Takeaway only
Seasonal specialities
Closed Mondays

Why we recommend it

The Antigua Pastelería del Pozo is generally considered the oldest bakery in Madrid. It has been baking on the short, narrow Calle del Pozo, between Puerta del Sol and the Barrio de las Letras, since 1830, and it has been run by the same family for generations. Although the shop has been refurbished several times, it keeps its old character, with original furniture, a marble and wood counter, an antique cash register and a traditional two-pan balance scale.

Everything is made in house following long-standing recipes. The puff pastry, or hojaldre, is particularly well known and appears in both sweet and savoury forms, including pastries and empanadas made with Galician-style dough. Bartolillos, small fried pastries filled with custard cream, are a Madrid speciality that is harder to find these days, and the shop also sells yemas, turrón and other traditional sweets. Its roscón de Reyes, the ring-shaped cake eaten around Epiphany on 6 January, is one of the most sought-after in the city and is made without candied fruit.

This is a shop rather than a café, so there is no seating. Buy a few pastries to eat on a bench in the Plaza de Santa Ana or to take back to your hotel. The counter is small and the space is tight, which adds to the charm. It suits anyone who enjoys traditional baking, history and small family businesses, and it is a good way to see a side of Madrid that has changed very little in nearly two centuries.

The shop is closed on Mondays. From Tuesday to Saturday it opens in the morning and again in the late afternoon and early evening, with a break in the middle of the day, and on Sundays it opens in the morning only. In the weeks around Christmas and Epiphany queues for roscón can be long, so go early or order ahead.

Calle del Pozo is a tiny street a few minutes' walk from Puerta del Sol. Sol metro and Cercanías station is about five minutes away on foot, and Sevilla on line 2 is also close. The Plaza de Santa Ana and the bars of the Barrio de las Letras are a couple of minutes south.