Opera and zarzuela dinner · Madrid
Trained singers serve your table at La Castafiore in Madrid and perform opera and zarzuela between the tapas courses.
At the end of the night every diner is invited to raise a glass to La Traviata.
The dinner in four facts
Why dinner with singers
La Castafiore opened in 1996 with a plan to join cooking, painting and opera under one roof and to give young lyric artists a place to sing. The waiters are the singers, so the music comes to your table instead of waiting on a stage.
Zarzuela alternates spoken and sung scenes and grew up around Madrid's court and theatres. A dinner here mixes its songs with opera arias, which makes it a friendly first taste of both.
The singers talk to the room, and travellers describe an audience that grows more animated as the courses go by, until guests are singing along.
The dinner, act by act
The evening follows the shape of an opera, with the meal divided into acts.
Courses, dishes and the singers change from night to night. Treat it as an outline of the night, not a menu.
An overture begins the evening, and the first tapa arrives with it.
More tapas follow while the singing moves around the room.
The second act is the main course, and you choose it from the options offered on the night.
Dessert is billed as the plaudit, the round of applause that closes the meal.
At the end of the night every diner is invited to raise a glass to La Traviata.
The house
A restaurant, a stage and a gallery of paintings under one roof, now at Calle de Martín de los Heros 21.
The restaurant was founded to bring together cooking, painting and opera. Oil paintings hang on its walls, the singers work the room, and the kitchen cooks Spanish food.
The staff who bring your food are the performers. The restaurant describes them as bel canto singers who give arias, quartets and zarzuela under a musical director.
The restaurant's site explains that the building it used to occupy was sold, so it moved its piano, paintings, tables, singers, waiters and cooks to its present address.
Besides the regular evening, the restaurant hosts birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and company dinners, and its singers also perform at events elsewhere. Private events are arranged with the restaurant itself.
On stage and in the street
Photographs of zarzuela productions and Madrid by independent photographers. None was taken at the restaurant.
Ways to book
| Option | What you get | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Opera and zarzuela dinner | About three hours of tapas courses served by singing waiters, with wine, beer, soft drinks and coffee included on the GetYourGuide ticket. Bookings made through GetYourGuide can be cancelled for a full refund until 24 hours ahead, with the option to pay later. | Anyone who wants the standard evening, booked online in their own language and currency. |
| Booking the restaurant directly | The restaurant takes reservations through its own site and by phone, with menus and terms of its own. | Travellers who want to arrange a special request with the restaurant itself. |
| Private party or celebration | The restaurant hosts birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and company dinners, and its singers also perform at events elsewhere. | Groups planning a private event, arranged with the restaurant. |
Your table at La Castafiore
Press the card to see open evenings and fares on the booking site. The rail under it lists other things to do in Madrid.
About three hours of tapas courses served by singing waiters, with wine, beer, soft drinks and coffee included on the GetYourGuide ticket. Bookings made through GetYourGuide can be cancelled for a full refund until 24 hours ahead, with the option to pay later.
More to do in Madrid
Before you go
Calle de Martín de los Heros 21, in Madrid's Moncloa-Aravaca district. Your confirmation carries the details for your booking.
Parts of the restaurant's website still show Calle del Marqués de Monasterio 5. The restaurant has moved, so use the Martín de los Heros address in your maps app.
Your confirmation lists the start time for your date. Plan on about three hours.
On the GetYourGuide ticket, wine, beer, soft drinks and coffee come with the dinner and liquors are extra. Menus booked directly with the restaurant may not include drinks, so check what your booking covers.
Tell the restaurant about dietary restrictions when you book, not at the table. It decides what it can accommodate.
The booking details show the evening as wheelchair accessible. Mention any access need when you book.
Notes on zarzuela and the evening
How the La Castafiore dinner ticket works: what the three hours hold, what is included, how to pick a date and how it differs from a theatre seat.
Read on → The art form, explainedZarzuela is Spain's own musical theatre, with sung and spoken scenes. Where it began, how it differs from opera and where to hear it in Madrid today.
Read on →FAQ
About three hours. Each date in the calendar has its own start time, so build the rest of the evening around it.
The waiters are the singers. The restaurant describes them as bel canto voices who perform arias, ensembles and zarzuela, moving around the room instead of staying on a stage.
A Spanish form of musical theatre that alternates spoken and sung scenes and grew up around Madrid. The guide on this site explains it for visitors.
On the GetYourGuide ticket, wine, beer, soft drinks and coffee are included and liquors are not, so ask before you order a spirit. Menus booked directly with the restaurant may not include drinks.
You choose your main course on the night from the options offered. The meal is served as tapas courses, and menus change, so the restaurant sets what is on offer.
Tell the restaurant about dietary restrictions when you book. The restaurant decides what it can accommodate, so ask early.
A booking made through GetYourGuide is refunded in full if you cancel a day or more ahead. You can also reserve the table first and pay afterwards, which helps if your plans may change.
The restaurant says it hosts birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and company dinners. For a private event, contact the restaurant directly; the ticket here is for the regular evening.
Every fare is per person, and the total appears in your own currency at checkout.