BLOG · LISTS · MADRID

7 bookshop cafés in Madrid for unhurried reading

4-MINUTE READ

There are few combinations we love more than this one: a bookshop, a good coffee and time to linger for a while.

Madrid has a number of places where you don't have to choose between hunting for your next read and settling down to start the first chapter. Bookshops with cafés, bars surrounded by books and cultural spaces where reading is part of the plan.

Here are seven bookshop cafés in Madrid that are well worth getting to know.

01 · BOOKSHOP CAFÉ

La Buena Vida - Café del Libro

Very close to the Teatro Real you'll find one of the veterans on this list.

La Buena Vida opened in 2007 and sits somewhere between an independent bookshop, a café and a cultural space. It has two floors and several corners where you can sit quietly with a book and a coffee, a glass of wine or a soft drink.

Its shelves hold fiction, poetry, essays, graphic novels and books for children and young adults, with a strong presence of independent publishers and contemporary authors.

It also hosts book launches, workshops, debates, and book and film clubs. In 2018 it won the Premio Librería Cultural (Cultural Bookshop Award) given by CEGAL.

Where? Calle de Vergara, 5.

Photo: esmadrid.com (Turismo Madrid).

02 · BOOKSHOP CAFÉ

Ocho y Medio Libros de Cine

Ocho y Medio specialises in film, and you notice it the moment you walk in.

It has been devoted to the seventh art since 1995 and stocks thousands of books on directors, actors, screenwriting, photography, television and other audiovisual disciplines. There are also posters, films, cinema memorabilia and a small selection of fiction and essays.

Among the shelves there's also a café, so you can walk in looking for a book on Hitchcock and end up having a drink surrounded by posters, vintage cameras and mementos of filmmakers who have passed through.

What's more, it's on Martín de los Heros, a few steps from some of Madrid's best-known original-language cinemas.

Where? Calle de Martín de los Heros, 11.

03 · BOOKSHOP CAFÉ

Olavide Bar de libros

Olavide combines a bookshop and a bar in one space.

Small tables and seats are dotted among the shelves, so you can stay on reading, chatting or having a drink without being in any great hurry.

Its stock mixes fiction, essays, poetry, graphic novels and children's books, and it usually has a busy programme of book clubs, workshops, launches and gatherings.

And while you choose a book, you can order coffee, tea, a slice of sponge or some cake.

It's in Chamberí, very close to Plaza de Olavide.

Where? Calle de Olid, 14.

Photo: Olavide Bar de Libros (via Time Out Madrid).

04 · BOOKSHOP CAFÉ

La Mistral

La Mistral opened in 2021 a few minutes from Sol and takes its name from the Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral.

The bookshop fills a spacious room, with shelves reaching up to the ceiling and a large wooden staircase. Downstairs they hold book launches and gatherings, and you can also sit down for a coffee.

The selection pays special attention to literature, poetry, essays and art books, as well as small publishers and beautifully produced editions.

It's one of those places where it's easy to pop in “just to browse” and walk out a while later with a book under your arm.

Where? Travesía del Arenal, 2.

Photo: La Mistral (via Time Out Madrid).

05 · BOOKSHOP CAFÉ

Mansilla Libros y Café

Mansilla blends bookshop and café quite naturally: you can go looking for something to read, but also for breakfast, brunch or to try one of its teas.

The space combines antique furniture and old-fashioned crockery with shelves full of books. On offer there's coffee, homemade pastries and a particularly well-chosen selection of teas, so much so that it serves its own afternoon tea.

It's in Embajadores, very close to Lavapiés and La Latina.

Where? Calle de Embajadores, 26.

Photo: Mansilla Libros y Café (via Time Out Madrid).

06 · BOOKSHOP CAFÉ

J&J's Books and Coffee

J&J has a slightly different story from the rest: it closed for a while and reopened in 2026 thanks to a group of former customers who decided to revive the project.

Here you'll find more than 10,000 second-hand books in English, alongside speciality coffee, bagels, homemade desserts, beer and wine.

They also organise activities, language exchanges and meet-ups, so it has quite an international feel.

If you love rummaging through second-hand books without quite knowing what you'll find, there's enough here to keep you busy for a good while.

Where? Calle del Espíritu Santo, 47.

Photo: J&J’s Books and Coffee (via Time Out Madrid).

07 · BOOKSHOP CAFÉ

Crazy Mary

Crazy Mary is right on Calle Echegaray, in the Barrio de las Letras, very close to the Ateneo and the Lope de Vega House Museum.

It's an owner-curated bookshop with a very personal selection, where new releases, small publishers, illustrated books, carefully reissued classics and second-hand copies sit side by side.

It also has sofas where you can sit and leaf through the books, coffee, and a regular programme of book launches and book clubs.

Where? Calle de Echegaray, 32.

Photo: Crazy Mary (via Time Out Madrid).

TO WRAP UP

Books, coffee and a while without looking at the clock

You can hunt for film books at Ocho y Medio, second-hand English-language books at J&J, sit down for tea at Mansilla or discover a small publisher you'd never heard of at La Mistral or Crazy Mary.

But they all have something in common: they're places where books aren't just there to be bought.

They're also there to be leafed through, talked about and, with a bit of luck, started before you head back out onto the street.

See all destinations

Explore literary routes