Restaurant in Pozuelo De Alarcon, Spain
Serious grilled meat, no city-centre detour needed.
La Taberna de Élia is a well-regarded asador in Pozuelo de Alarcón, ranked #73 in Opinionated About Dining's Casual Europe list for 2024 and climbing to #161 in 2025 across a broader field. Under chef Catalin Lupu, the kitchen focuses on fire-driven cooking and quality sourcing that places it among the more consistent grill-format addresses in the Madrid suburbs. Open Tuesday through Sunday with extended evening hours midweek.
If you want a serious asador meal in the Madrid suburbs without driving into the city centre, La Taberna de Élia in Pozuelo de Alarcón is the right call. This is the place for a long weekend lunch with family, a celebration dinner that centres on grilled meat rather than tasting menus, or a business meal where the food does the talking without the formality of a Michelin room. It is not a destination for creative or progressive Spanish cooking — if that is what you need, DiverXO in Madrid or Quique Dacosta in Dénia belong on your list instead.
La Taberna de Élia, under chef Catalin Lupu, has built a track record that is hard to dismiss. Opinionated About Dining , one of Europe's most rigorous crowd-sourced restaurant ranking systems , ranked it #73 in Casual Europe in 2024, up from a Highly Recommended designation in 2023, and it held a #161 position in the 2025 list. That upward then sustained trajectory across three consecutive years signals a kitchen operating with consistency, not just a single strong season. For a suburban asador rather than a fine-dining flagship, making the OAD Casual Europe top 100 is a meaningful credential.
The format here is an asador: fire-driven cooking, meat as the centrepiece, the kind of meal where the quality of the raw ingredient and the control of heat matter more than sauce complexity. The atmosphere runs warm and convivial rather than hushed and reverent , expect energy in the room, particularly on weekend afternoons when the Spanish lunch tradition is in full effect. If you want a quiet, contemplative dinner, this is probably not your match; if you want a table that fills up with conversation and good wine, it fits well.
On the wine side, an asador format in this part of Spain typically anchors its list around Spanish reds , Ribera del Duero and Rioja are the natural companions to grilled meat, and a kitchen ranked this consistently by OAD tends to take its wine pairing seriously. No specific list details are available in our data, so confirm the current offer when you book, but the format strongly suggests depth in Castilian reds rather than a broad international selection. That is a feature, not a limitation, if you are there for the food-wine pairing the cuisine calls for.
Hours matter here: the restaurant is closed on Mondays, open only for lunch on Tuesdays and Sundays (12–5 pm), and runs through to 1:30 am Wednesday through Saturday. The extended evening hours midweek and on weekends give you flexibility, but Sunday and Tuesday visits are lunch-only by design. Plan accordingly.
Address: Vía de las Dos Castillas, 23, 28224 Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain
Hours: Mon closed · Tue–Sun lunch from 12 pm · Wed–Sat also dinner to 1:30 am · Sun closes 5 pm
Booking difficulty: Easy , no evidence of significant wait times, but an OAD-ranked kitchen in a residential suburb will fill on Saturday lunch; book a few days ahead to be safe
Price range: Not confirmed in our data , contact the venue directly
Chef: Catalin Lupu
Awards: OAD Casual Europe #73 (2024), #161 (2025), Highly Recommended (2023)
Google rating: 4.3 across 1,266 reviews
Leading for: Weekend lunch, celebration meals, groups who want fire-driven cooking over tasting menus
La Taberna de Élia belongs in a completely different category from Spain's headline creative restaurants. El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Arzak in San Sebastián, Azurmendi in Larrabetzu, and Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María are all multi-Michelin-starred operations running tasting menus at €€€€ price points. They are the right answer if you want Spain's avant-garde cooking at its peak. La Taberna de Élia is the right answer if you want an excellent asador without the tasting-menu format, the dress code pressure, or the months-out booking window those rooms require.
The closer comparison within the asador category is Julián de Tolosa in Madrid, which also specialises in grilled meat and carries strong editorial recognition. Julián de Tolosa is the more central option if you are staying in Madrid; La Taberna de Élia makes more sense if you are based in the western suburbs or want to avoid driving into the city. For broader dining context in the area, see our full Pozuelo de Alarcón restaurants guide. If you are planning a full trip around the area, our Pozuelo de Alarcón hotels guide and bars guide are worth checking alongside.
For Spanish cooking in the area, La Roca is the most direct local alternative. If you are willing to go into Madrid, Julián de Tolosa is the benchmark asador comparison. For creative Spanish cooking at a higher price point, the city offers DiverXO, though that is a different category entirely.
Specific menu items are not confirmed in our data. As an OAD-ranked asador, the focus will be on grilled meats , order whatever the kitchen flags as its current leading cut and lean into the format rather than looking for non-meat alternatives.
No dress code is specified. An asador in a suburban Madrid setting generally means smart-casual is more than sufficient , you do not need to dress for a tasting-menu room.
No capacity data is confirmed, but a 4.3 rating across 1,266 Google reviews and OAD recognition suggest an established operation likely used to group bookings. Call ahead or email to confirm table arrangements for parties of six or more.
Yes, for the right kind of occasion. If your celebration calls for a convivial, fire-driven meal with good Spanish wine rather than a formal tasting menu, this works well. For a Michelin-level special occasion format in Spain, Martin Berasategui in Lasarte-Oria or Azurmendi are the comparison points.
Lunch. The Spanish weekend lunch format , long, relaxed, centred on good meat and wine , is exactly what an asador like this is built for. Saturday or Sunday lunch (noting Sunday closes at 5 pm) is the ideal visit. Dinner on a weekday works if logistics require it, but lunch is the format the kitchen is designed around.
No specific information is available. An asador format is meat-focused by nature, so this is not the right venue if you are vegetarian or have significant dietary restrictions. Confirm directly before booking.
Booking is rated Easy. A few days ahead should be sufficient for midweek visits. For Saturday lunch , the peak window for a suburban OAD-ranked asador , book at least a week out to avoid missing out.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Taberna de Élia | Asador-Steak | Opinionated About Dining Casual in Europe Ranked #161 (2025); Opinionated About Dining Casual in Europe Ranked #73 (2024); Opinionated About Dining Casual in Europe Highly Recommended (2023) | Easy | — |
| Quique Dacosta | Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| El Celler de Can Roca | Progressive Spanish, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Arzak | Modern Basque, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Azurmendi | Progressive, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Aponiente | Progressive - Seafood, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
A quick look at how La Taberna de Élia measures up.
Within Pozuelo itself, strong asador alternatives are limited, which is part of why La Taberna de Élia has earned back-to-back OAD Casual Europe rankings (#73 in 2024, #161 in 2025). For comparable grilled-meat quality inside Madrid city limits, Casa Julián de Tolosa or El Capricho are the standard references. If you want to stay in the suburbs and avoid the drive into town, La Taberna de Élia is the clearest choice in its category.
Specific menu items are not confirmed in available data, but the venue operates as an asador, so the focus is on wood-fired or grilled meat — expect that to be the main event. OAD's Casual Europe panel has ranked this place three consecutive years, which suggests the core protein cooking is what earns repeat attention. Order around that format rather than treating it as a broad-menu restaurant.
OAD classifies La Taberna de Élia in its Casual category, which in a Madrid suburb asador context means clean, everyday dress is appropriate — no jacket required. Think the kind of thing you'd wear to a serious neighbourhood lunch, not a tasting-menu dinner.
Specific group-booking policies are not publicly documented for this venue. Given its asador format and suburban Pozuelo location (Vía de las Dos Castillas, 23), it is likely more flexible on space than a city-centre restaurant with high table turnover. Contact directly to confirm capacity before bringing a party of six or more.
For a low-key celebratory meal — a birthday lunch or anniversary dinner without the formality of a tasting menu — yes, this works well. Chef Catalin Lupu's kitchen has held OAD Casual Europe recognition since 2023, which gives it enough credential to feel considered without requiring black-tie energy. If the occasion demands a grand tasting-menu format, look at a Michelin-starred Madrid address instead.
Lunch is the safer bet for a first visit. Tuesday and Sunday service runs 12–5 pm only, with no evening option those days. Wednesday through Saturday the kitchen runs until 1:30 am, making it one of the few serious asador options in Pozuelo for a late dinner. The OAD ranking applies to the full operation, so quality is not time-dependent — choose based on your schedule.
No specific dietary accommodation policies are documented for this venue. Asador kitchens centre on grilled meat, so vegetarian or vegan guests will have limited options by format. If dietary restrictions are a factor, confirm with the restaurant directly before booking.
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