Elhecho Cocktail Bar

Printing errors and tragic facts resulted in the name Elhecho. It’s not that we’ve “eaten” a space, or that we don’t know how to write the word, but it was a series of curious coincidences that ended up giving this corner on Calle de las Huertas in Madrid its peculiar name.

This authentic corner has been serving mojitos, daiquiris and a good number of classic cocktails to locals and tourists since 1980. Three decades of history, in which the city has grown, and the children of the first customers, and the children of their children still populate the tables today, taking pictures with the legendary wooden horse and continue to come here in search of a good chat and a better drink.

Responsible for the art for some time are Felix, the current manager of the local, and Lola, one of the veteran shakers in the room, which is an eminence in the art of the mojito – the classic: with sugar and Cuban white rum, without abusing peppermint, without using ice and filled with water and air – or the daiquiri, similar to the mojito but with small differences, because it has a drop of milk to make it creamy, apart from the dark rum.

This large menu also adds temptations like the Cosmopolitan, the dry martini, the Bloody Mary – perfect for night owls – or the San Francisco, the table of salvation for those who do not want to renounce the cocktail bar, but want to do without alcohol. Although it is not the bartender’s extensive baggage that attracts the most faithful, who find their favorite spot in Elhecho.

Opening in the morning, during coffee and breakfast hours, Elhecho begins its day at seven in the morning to wake up with city, allowing the hustle and bustle in Madrid. When the sun starts to rise, the glasses and cups give way to another type of client, more than vermouth and aperitif, which are the preamble of the Elhecho summit: its evenings and the subtle tendency towards dawn is enjoyed in few places.

When the sun goes down, the music is turned up and the bars of Elhecho act as an improvised catwalk where the cocktails are the protagonists, well covered in the back by a very professional team that also has an important drink menu that will satisfy anyone. Some twenty gins, rums, whiskies and cognacs make up the arsenal with which Lola, Felix and their troops are writing the pages of history of Madrid with one of the more popular cocktail bars in the city, and by which we show to you so people continue going.

Incidentally, the tragic fact that gave the name to the local, half legend half reality, is that years ago, when it belonged to a butcher, the butcher ended the life of his wife, which led to the name that we all know today as this unique bar.