100 Montaditos

There are a lot of 100 Montaditos in Madrid. It is a very popular bar among Spanish people, and it is really good. The prices are very low - 1, 50 EUR on a normal day, both for any drink and for the montaditos and 1 EUR on the special days which are Wednesdays and Sundays.

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Why is it called 100 Montaditos and what is a montadito anyway? Here comes the explanation. Montadito, or montado, is a kind of a really small sandwich and is very popular in Spain. So in 100 Montaditos you can choose from 100 montaditos that the bar offers, with every possible taste: there are even some montaditos filled with chocolate, which I have never had the courage to taste.

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It goes perfectly with the beer or the delicious sangria that they serve.

It is a very nice place to hang out with your friends, have a beer and something small to eat and chat with them a little. Even tough it is always crowded, I really think it's the best bar in Madrid!

You definitely have to try it out!

What Madrid is known for are parties and drinks. There are more clubs per Madrileño (a person living in this city) than anywhere else. In those places though, the drinks can get quite expensive and you enter when it is already very late. But where would you go for an afternoon drink? Or a morning one as it is nothing strange to have a morning beer instead of coffee.

You could try one of the restaurants where you normally get your drink with a small appetizer: chips, cheese, olives, nuts etc. But in the center, they can charge you a lot for one drink, even 4€ for one small glass. So something you figure out soon is that it is good to know some places you can get drinks for a small amount of money. And a great thing are 100 Montaditos - bars you will find scattered around all Madrid or La Sureña that is somehow connected to the previous one.

Logo. Source

Glass expressions

Just to clear up the expressions used with drinking glasses. ''Vaso'' is an ordinary glass. If you order ''botella'', that means you will get your drink in a small bottle. Order ''caña'' and you will be served with a small cup. People order it mostly when they do not wish to drink much or they are in a restaurant with high prices of drinks. Another, larger size is ''copa'', most frequently heard. You will get the drink in a glass with peduncle, wider at the bottom. Something similar to the glass you are used to drink wine out of, just made of a bit thicker glass. Another expression with the same amount of liquid is ''jarra'', a typical jar you get for drinking beer. And then there is also ''tubo'' which means a tall and narrow glass with a similar diameter at the bottom and at the top.

100 Montaditos

In 100 Montaditos there serve two basic drinks: ''cerveza'' (beer Cruzcampo) and ''tinto de verano'' (literally summer's red a. k. a. wine mixed with sweet bubbly drink with added ice). Normally people order jars or cups and you will pay 2€ for one drink. They have some special days and offers when you can get it for less or get a free small sandwich with your drink.

Botellas. Source

The number 100 in the name applies to 100 different sandwiches they have in their menu. They cost 1-1. 5€ and have different toppings. Remember, sandwiches are small so you will not get full after one. They also have a special part with sweet sandwiches where you get a brown-colored sandwich (with chocolate) and chosen topping. You normally get a small portion of chips with your order. They also sell other kinds of food, like olives, french fries, larger portion of chips, tortillas and others.

Sandwiches. Source

The way you pass your order is a bit different than normally: if you come only for the drinks you can wait in the line and get it at the bar table. But if you also order any kind of food, you write your order at the paper sheet (which you will find on every table), write your name on it (you can be Grażyna or something they will not be able to read), pay for it and wait till your name is called to get the ordered things. Remember: in some bars like the one on Calle Mayor, they only serve food downstairs and upstairs you can only get drinks.

One thing that makes those places so popular and special (besides the obvious two: the offer and prices) is the decoration inside. Most of those bars have walls painted in red (but not the screaming one) covered with many pictures of different places. The one room I really like is in Calle Postas - on the way from Sol to Plaza Mayor, located at the upper floor on the right side. It is normally not very crowded and has black and white pictures of Madrid, Sevilla and other spanish cities. The prices invite many people so it is usually quite crowded and loud, especially if it is a day of an important football match.

The first time I went out with my roommate at the time is when we were looking for a cheap place to grab beers in the center. We saw 100 Montaditos and thought that it looks cheap and cool as there were many young people. So we went there and we were not disappointed. Then we forgot the name of the place and went to another 100 Montaditos with a common friend. A few months later we decided to go to the same place as the first night and we realized then that it was the same franchise, only at a different location.

100 montaditos on Calle Mayor. Source

Many exchange students choose Madrid as their destination for the best six months of their lives (and, for the lucky ones, a whole year! ). Spanish cuisine is renowned across the globe, with good reason... it's incredible! I am going to talk to you about some dishes and places where I ate paella, enjoyed tapas and drank tinto de verano. These were places that I really liked and, above all, places that matched the budget that I had at that moment in time. So, if you come to Madrid on exchange, I am sure that you will love it!

100 Montaditos in Madrid

In Madrid, you are going to see hundreds of branches of 100 Montaditos (it sounded a little bit redundant in the end), and they will honestly save your skin more times than you'll care to admit, especially when you have spent several hours walking around the city and hunger strikes. This is one of the cheapest restaurants in Madrid, and although their portions are not as filling, they will certainly get rid of your hunger for a much lower price than other restaurants in the city, where a meal will cost you an average of 15€. It's customary in Spain to eat 'montaditos', which are small sandwiches eaten as a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack before a bigger meal. In theory, they are designed to alleviate hunger, although many people on exchange eat them as a regular meal given how cheap they are.

(Our two savoury montaditos, although I don't remember exactly what they were that we ordered. All the montaditos are accompanied by a generous helping of crisps. )

100 Montaditos is known for having many different types of small sandwiches: it's an approximately 10 centimetre sub filled with cheese, ham, spices, meat... basically anything you want! There are so many varieties to choose from at 100 Montaditos that they have decided to number them to make the ordering process easier. To be honest, you won't be full after just eating one. In reality, to feel really full, you would need to order four or five, but people usually order an average of two montaditos with a drink and other little side dishes offered on the menu.

If you fancy it, you can order a sweet montadito as a dessert, which consists of chocolate, cream or dulce de leche with crème pâtissière.

(An Oreo montadito with chocolate bread and crème pâtissière. In the photo, however, it looks to have melted already. )

They also sell French fries topped with bacon, popcorn chicken and wings to accompany your montaditos, which is the name usually used when referring to these small sandwiches.

(These French fries that we bought during the Euromanía offer only cost us 1€ and we shared them between four of us. The "bacon" topping comes as standard, but it's more like ham, in reality, as well as the Cheddar cheese. They also brought us several little plastic forks for us to use. )

There are also salads on the menu, so for those of you who are "watching your weight", you can reward yourself healthily after a day of being a tourist in the city.

(My friend's salad contained tomato, chicken, lettuce and ham, and was covered in an olive oil. )

Although the salad was not particularly big, it was tasty, and it came in a bowl that's similar to one that you would use for your cereal in the mornings. )

Don't miss out on Euromanía!

Wednesdays and Sundays will be the days where the restaurants are the busiest, as these are the days when promotions are available and the entire menu (except the wings) is reduced to just 1€ per item, which is aptly titled Euromanía· This offer will allow you to feel completely full for just the small price of 5-6€ (approximately $7-8). The drinks that they serve (which cost around 2€) are refreshing and of a decent size - they are served in a litre tankard, but sometimes they can even hold a litre and a half! It's impossible to leave there still feeling hungry when everything is so tasty, so quick to be served and so cheap. 100 Montaditos will be one of the cheapest options you'll find in Madrid, so it's pretty much an exchange student tradition that you come and try their food. Speaking of the drinks, I recommend that you order the famous 'tinto de verano', which is like diluted red wine with a touch of lemon. This drink is very popular with the citizens of Madrid, and is the best option for quenching the thirst that the hot summer weather in Madrid will give you, which, ultimately, ends up being quite suffocating.

In fact, there are franchises of this popular chain in Mexico and Brazil, which have their own song, performed by Lory Money. You can find this song on YouTube - I can assure that you that you'll really enjoy it... search for it now!