An American girl lands in Spain’s capital and transforms local dining habits with this simple but engaging process

If you’ve ever been to the Spanish capital of Madrid – or have heard stories from a friend who has – you’re more than likely aware of the city’s association with food along with the buzz in the streets with so much going on, through the day, and well into the night.

But when you’re out and about, or even at home making plans to meet, sometimes you’re not sure about trying a new eatery. If only you had someone who’d been there before and was enthusiastically pushing you towards it with confidence. Step forward Maddy.

The 20-something American behind the account @maddyinmadrid has turned her TikTok reviews of neighborhood food joints into a habit-changing resource for some locals. Her followers include tourists and expats (for obvious reasons) but there are also some madrileños who’ve begun using her videos like an edible treasure map.

Stars on a map make eating decisions easier

Maddy doesn’t overthink it. Her process is simple: find a place, eat, film, post, and rate – usually with an emoji and easily relatable words like “sooo good.” Sometimes it’s chorizo tortilla at a classic taberna. Other times it’s Chinese crepes in Usera or a €3.80 cookie she describes as “10/10.” She flags prices, drops addresses, and casually tells her followers if the ceviche’s worth skipping.

What happens next is where things shift.

Instead of liking and forgetting, many viewers are saving her picks directly to their digital maps. Her videos, often captioned in a breezy Spanglish, have become a small part of the city’s informal planning routine – “What should we eat?” has quietly turned into “What has Maddy posted recently?”

A 17.1K-view clip on a smash burger spot might mean you won’t get a table on Friday. A wine bar she calls her “new favorite” can expect a spike in reservations. One key lime pie video racked up 41.6K views – and more than a few Americans-in-exile likely showed up the next day, looking homesick and hungry. At least upon arrival!

She’s not a critic, but she is shaping taste

There’s no attempt at food snobbery here. If it’s good, it’s good. If not, she’ll tell you. Her tortilla reviews are a running saga, moving spots up and down the list based on “egginess,” “moisture,” and general vibe. But even these videos – some with just 7,000 views – spark mini-debates in her comments and create real-world foot traffic.

Maddy’s casual tone hides a real fluency in Madrid’s rhythms. She uses local slang. She respects late dinners. She highlights low-key places that offer solid portions under €30 ($32.40). She even flirts with discussions about English and Spanish language, which seems to be part of her appeal too.

What Maddy has accidentally built is a food memory system for the city. Instead of aimless wandering or defaulting to tourist traps, people now open their maps, spot a star, and go. The effect isn’t flashy but it’s profound for many of her followers: Madrid’s eating habits are subtly more adventurous, more global, and more spontaneous – all with just a few seconds of scroll and a tap on “Save.”

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