Taberna El Rincon de Jose is part of The Adios Puerto Rico, Hola España Trip Report. Read TPOL in Madrid: Why A Second Residency?
Try this place. Hardcore madrileños only. No tourists. I challenge you to find better callos anywhere. The place has been there for like 100 years.
That’s the sort of recommendation that made me leave my Chamberí neighborhood and head to Huerta, another barrio of Madrid (see Saturday Night in Huerta). It is the authentic local endorsement for which I have been searching. So, how did it measure up?
Tourists
The issue when a place has been around for 100 years is the inevitable arrival of tourists. So long as the proprietor maintains the quality and tradition that made it great in the first place, it is not a red flag to see non-locals. When the menu is on a placard with flags from different countries, that is a good warning that it is time to move on.
During my visit, there was a good mix of Spaniards and people from around the world. 
Vino
In Madrid, it is not worth ordering a bottle (see Best Tapas Madrid: No Budget Cuts Here). The house wine is good enough.
After finishing the small bottle, I asked for something with more power – ‘mas duro’, to compliment my steak order. C. Valduero 1 Cepa, also served by the glass, was one of the best wines from Ribera del Duero I’ve had (see Guns & Butter: Ribera Del Duero, Madrid Travel Guide (Vino Edition)).
Callos
My friend challenged me to find better callos. The problem is that I had no idea what callos were. A Google translate revealed that it was tripe. TPOL and tripe do not get along. I do not care for it in any form, even in a bowl of pho. This was different. The callos were served in a zesty stew, typical of an Arabic dish. None was left. 
Pan
A note on bread. In my tapas post, I wrote how generous bars and restaurants are in providing free food. This is not true when it comes to bread. They charged me for it at Ten Con Ten (see Ten Con Ten Madrid vs. City Hall Scottsdale), and they charged for it here. That’s an interesting difference between Spanish and American restaurants.
Carne Roja a la Parrilla
Take all the Spanish courses you want, but most will not teach you the words on the menu (see TPOL The Polyglot: A Better Way to Learn Multiple Languages). Arrogance in assuming you know what a dish is will also backfire. To make sure that I was receiving cuts of beef, I Googled ‘lomo de ternera’ and checked the restaurant’s English website for the picture.
Being honest and modest in your language aptitude is better than being bold and presumptuous and ending up with fried chicken feet. This time I won and won big. This was the best beef cuts, rivaling City Hall Scottsdale (see Ten Con Ten Madrid vs. City Hall Scottsdale) at a fraction of the price. 
Overall
Go here and hope there is a table. 
TPOL’s Tip: Taberna El Rincon Madrid is located at Calle del Duque de Medinaceli, 12
Madrid 28014
Just spent the weekend in Barcelona and the food/drink was incredible and silly cheap. Tempting to live there but I would be (more of) an alcoholic and obese.
If you read some of the european centric travel blogs you see lots of commentary about how they are seriously putting off travel to the states because of the (now) outrageous food/drink prices here. Thanks Uncle Joe for the inflation.
It’s absurd how cheap it is. Milk is $.80! I’m at the gym everyday but I’m behind the curve. Barcelona is on the residency list but that list goes out to 2047.