Tickets, courses and the evening
La Castafiore Madrid: how to book
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.
Reserve your table for the evening ↗Quick answer
Book the standard dinner and show ticket if you want about three hours of tapas courses served by singing waiters, with drinks included, in the middle of Madrid. Choose a date from the calendar, where each day lists its own start time. A booking made through GetYourGuide can be cancelled for a full refund until the day before, and you may reserve now and pay later. If you would rather watch a full staged zarzuela from a theatre seat, that is a different evening, covered below.
Three ways to spend a lyric evening in Madrid
| Dinner ticket | Restaurant direct | Theatre seat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where | La Castafiore | La Castafiore | Teatro de la Zarzuela |
| You get | Dinner, drinks, songs | Its own menus | A staged production |
| Singers | Waiters, in the room | Waiters, in the room | A cast on stage |
| Cancellation | Free to 24 hours | Restaurant's own terms | Theatre's own terms |
| Best for | A first taste, booked online | Arranging details directly | A full zarzuela |
What the ticket covers
The ticket is a place at the table for the opera and zarzuela dinner at La Castafiore, a restaurant in central Madrid at Calle de Martín de los Heros 21. It runs for about three hours. You get dinner served as tapas courses, live singing between the courses and, on the GetYourGuide ticket, wine, beer, soft drinks or coffee with the meal (liquors extra). Each date in the calendar lists its own start time, so choose the date first and plan the rest of your evening around it.
- About three hours, with the start time in the calendar
- Dinner served as tapas courses by singing waiters
- GetYourGuide ticket: wine, beer, soft drinks and coffee included; liquors extra
- Shown as wheelchair accessible in the booking details
How the evening unfolds
The meal is organised like an opera. It opens with an overture and a first tapa, moves through a first act, and reaches a second act that is the main course, where you choose from the options offered on the night. Dessert is billed as the plaudit, the round of applause, and every diner is invited to raise a glass to La Traviata before leaving. The waiters sing between courses, so the music is part of the service rather than a separate show that begins after the plates are cleared.
Who sings
The waiters are the performers. The restaurant describes them as bel canto singers who give arias, quartets and duets, and who add zarzuela, the Spanish form of musical theatre that grew up around Madrid. The place opened in 1996 with the aim of giving young lyric artists a stage, and it was planned as a mix of cooking, painting and opera, so oil paintings hang on the walls and a piano stands in the room. You cannot choose which singers work on your night, so book for the room and the repertoire, not for a name.
Opera or zarzuela?
Expect both. Opera arias belong to the international repertoire, while zarzuela songs are Spanish. If the second word is new to you, the short version is that zarzuela mixes spoken scenes, songs and dances, and it has been popular in Madrid theatres since the nineteenth century. You do not need to know any of it to enjoy the dinner, and the zarzuela guide on this site explains the genre for visitors in about ten minutes. The restaurant chooses its own repertoire, so which pieces you hear is not something this page can promise.
Read next: What is zarzuela? A visitor's guide
Choosing a date
Open the booking page, set the number of guests and look at several dates, because the calendar shows exactly what is open, the start time and the fare per person. A booking made through GetYourGuide can be cancelled for a full refund until 24 hours ahead, and you may reserve first and pay afterwards, which suits a trip whose plans may still move. Booking everyone together keeps the party on one reservation and one confirmation, which makes it easier to tell the restaurant about any dietary needs once. Pay attention to the language and currency settings at the top of the booking page, because they decide how the fare is shown to you before you pay.
Booking through the restaurant instead
The restaurant also takes reservations through its own website and by phone, with menus and terms of its own. That route suits people who want to arrange a celebration or a special request with the restaurant itself. The GetYourGuide ticket is the simpler route for a standard evening: you book online in your language and currency, and the free cancellation up to 24 hours applies to bookings made through GetYourGuide. If you pay the restaurant directly, ask what its own cancellation terms are before you do.
Dishes and dietary needs
Menus change, so this page does not list dishes. The meal is a run of Spanish tapas courses, and you choose your main course on the night. The booking details ask you to tell the restaurant about dietary restrictions when you book, so put it in writing at that stage instead of mentioning it at the table. The restaurant decides what it can accommodate, and nothing on this page promises a vegetarian, vegan or allergy-free menu.
What the night is like
Travellers describe a lively, interactive evening. The singers talk to the room, the audience becomes more animated as the courses go by, and guests end up singing along. The restaurant's own words for its parties are similar: its singers draw everyone in until the room is singing, toasting and even dancing. It is a dinner with a performance woven through it, not a recital where you sit in silence between arias, and it suits people who enjoy being part of a room. If a performance of this kind makes you shy, remember that the toast at the end is for the whole room and nobody is singled out to perform.
Seeing a full zarzuela instead
A dinner gives you highlights. A full zarzuela, with a spoken plot, a chorus and an orchestra, is staged at Madrid's Teatro de la Zarzuela, a theatre that opened in 1856 and is still devoted to the genre. Its programme changes with the season, and it sells its own tickets. Many visitors do one of each: the theatre for the complete work and the restaurant for the sociable version. The theatre guide on this site explains what to expect there.
Read next: Teatro de la Zarzuela for visitors
Groups and celebrations
For a regular evening booked here, add everyone to one booking. For a private party, a birthday or a company dinner, the restaurant says it organises celebrations itself and can send its singers to events elsewhere, so contact the restaurant directly instead of buying tickets on this site. When you write, give the date, the number of guests and the kind of event, so the restaurant can say plainly whether it can do what you want and on what terms.
Who this isn't for
If you picture a hushed dinner for two, the singing and the audience taking part will get in the way. If you want a complete staged zarzuela or opera, choose a theatre. If you need a menu guaranteed for a strict diet, contact the restaurant before you book. And if you want to set your table, your singers or your start time in advance, note that the calendar sets the time and the room decides the cast.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the La Castafiore dinner?
About three hours. Every date in the calendar lists its own start time, so plan the rest of your evening, and your way back to the hotel, around it.
Is it opera or zarzuela?
Both. The waiters sing opera arias and Spanish zarzuela songs between the courses, so you hear the two traditions in one evening. Which pieces are sung is the restaurant's choice.
Are drinks included?
On the GetYourGuide ticket, wine, beer, soft drinks and coffee are included with the dinner. Liquors are not, so ask before you order a spirit or a cocktail.
Can I cancel the booking?
Yes. A booking made through GetYourGuide is refunded in full if you cancel at least a day ahead. You can also hold the table now and pay later, so uncertain plans stay open.
Can I choose my main course?
You choose it on the night from the options offered. Menus change, so the restaurant decides what is on offer, and this page lists no dishes.
Is the dinner wheelchair accessible?
The booking details show it as wheelchair accessible. Mention any access need when you book so the restaurant knows in advance and can answer your questions.
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