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No Frills

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The prettiest little no-frills bar in Tetuán

Where I'm from, little buildings like this that look very different from those around them tell us where a bomb fell during WW2. Many pubs were destroyed during the war but new pubs were quickly erected (priorities) and they look a lot like Casa 42.
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Anarchy in Madrid’s 11 most no-frills vegan restaurants

Madrid's no-frills vegan and vegetarian restaurants are built on radical foundations. None of the restaurants I've listed below shy away from expressing their opinions on feminism, anti-speciesism, communism or even all-out anarchism, and nor should they. What makes Madrid such an exciting place to live is the people's unrelenting will to fight for what they believe in – a hangover from decades of oppression combined with real concern for the future we're hurtling towards. 
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Bodega Maribel: donde los parroquianos son el bar

Allí está Maribel y los demás, sobre todo entre semana es raro el día que no ves a alguien con quien ya te habías topado en el mismo lugar. Mismo lugar, la bodega, y mismo lugar, el espacio que ese conocido ocupa en ella. Los habituales de los bares, tabernas y bodegas funcionan así, ya sabes.
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Find your local no-frills bar and make it your local

"I'm on the corner of Street of the Miraculous, and Bitterness Street", laughs Mariano Casado Francisco. Rather than name his bar after the streets on which it resides, as so many no-frills bars do, he has named his bar after himself – the way his customers would inevitably have called it anyway.
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Faro Vallecano: a beautiful, no-frills diner in Vallecas

The sun pours through the smokey windows of this upstairs diner and is intercepted by half a dozen coconut palms, casting exotic shadows on the terrazzo floor. Everything – and I mean everything – is a shade of brown, as it has been since its last refurb a few decades ago.
Aleppo baklava
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Around the world in 10 Embajadores eateries

Emerge from Lavapiés’ metro into the Mediterranean Maghreb. Meander through its narrow, winding streets lined with candy-coloured facades and Juliette balconies, and catch a glimpse of the Middle East and Africa, but also Asia, Latin America and of course, Madrid.
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100 of Madrid’s no-frills bars

I've forever found no-frills bars inspiring spaces. They're gateways to Madrid's working-class soul, and are unpretentiously beautiful, just like the city. They're also where Madrid No Frills was born, propping up the bar with a caña and a tapa and listening to the owner's story.
A view out onto Plaza Nelson Mandela
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Mandela 100: emblematic Senegalese diner opens on Plaza Nelson Mandela

Hearty, home-cooked Senegalese food rolls out of the kitchen fast at Mandela 100, which is owned by Mamadou from Senegal. His Africa-themed diner has hit the ground running, much to the delight – and relief – of Lavapiés locals, because it's not just quality that can be found here; it's also equality.
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No-frills bars in peculiar places (Vol. II)

Edward Lawrence continues his offbeat adventures to the most surprisingly located no-frills bars in Madrid. This time, he explores two bus stations, a family-run service station and a shrine to Franco, and climbs a hill – passing a decaying bunker – to find serenity in the most peculiar place.