Madrid September Trip Planning

Regional Dining Discussions Italy, Spain, Portugal
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All I can say is that the “sobremesa” has a great significance and importance in Spanish culture–food and animated conversations with friends and family over the dinner table are intertwined in their way of life. Spanish restauranteurs understand and accept this deeply rooted custom.

In restaurants in Spain, the waiters will leave you to yourselves after a meal and never bring the bill after your meal without being asked to do so. The exception to this—when a particular restaurant has adopted the new “two seatings for each meal service”, as I mentioned above at Castelados in the bar area and on the terrace.
In this case, the waiter will gently remind you that your time is up and that your table is reserved for the next diners.

Here’s another newspaper article about this unique custom-

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Just to add this quotation from Dani Carnero, the chef of Malaga’s wonderful La Cosmopolita:

"“As a chef, when I see people spending time at the table after lunch, I feel that it’s a sign that everything has gone well, but oftentimes people enjoy themselves even more than during the meal itself. The sobremesa can be magical.”

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I always loved the sombremesa in Spain, yet never knew it had a name. Ages ago at the late Asador Fronton on Tirso Molina we sat there for 2-3 hours after we finished eating. That said for our desert we ordered another bottle of a Reserva Rioja, we just sat and enjoyed. That was when the dollar was very strong and the bottle was something like 20-25 euros.