The main dining street of the Salamanca district, Calle de Jorge Juan concentrates some of the best-regarded restaurants in Madrid — not the most expensive or formally ambitious, but consistently high-quality cooking with the Salamanca clientele's preferences: excellent raw materials, Basque influences, strong wine lists.
The street is best at dinner, from around 9 pm when the Madrid eating schedule gets going. Reservations are necessary at the better places; walk-ins are possible at the tapas bars and informal spots. The parallel streets — Calle de Claudio Coello, Calle de Lagasca — have more of the same. This is the neighbourhood where Madrilenian professionals eat when they are not cooking at home. Metro Velázquez or Serrano.