“Night” is the operative word. In a land where lunch may be served at 3 p.m., don’t expect dinner to begin before 10. Or your Madrileño companions may just eat tapas as they move from place to place — a good way to sample both the food and Madrid’s famous late-night scene. If you’re meeting locals for an evening, expect it to begin about 11 p.m.; don’t arrive at a nightclub before 1:30 or 2 a.m.

The choices can be as confusing as the hours. Bars and pubs both serve beer, wine and tall mixed drinks called copas (think gin and tonic); pubs offer comfortable seating and stay open later (bars are for “early” evening stops and may close around midnight). Discotecas are fussier, with dress codes (trendy and cool) and admission charges. Tablaos, where you go to hear flamenco, often have only a few tables; Corral de la Morería is a good option.

In warm weather, open-air terraces called terrazas are the new place of choice for the upscale crowd, serving cocktails along with wine and copas. The smartest of these reside on hotel rooftops, the trendsetter being The Roof at the ME Madrid Reina Victoria. For views with your cocktail, go to La Terraza del Urban at Hotel Urban or the new La Cocina de San Antón in the Chueca barrio.

Each of Madrid’s barrios (neighborhoods) has its own character, from the chic nightspots of Barrio de Salamanca (try Gordon Starck-designed Ramses on Plaza de la Independencia) and posh terrazas of Castellana to the tapas bars and pubs around Plaza de Santa Ana. Cava Baja, near Plaza Mayor, has good Castilian restaurants and popular wine bars, and Chueca has become one of Europe’s top gay districts — but with plenty of straight-friendly spots, too.

Madrid led the cocktail resurgence, and mixology reached an art form here before it was trendy elsewhere. Relax with clients over a dry cosmopolitan at the Gran Meliá Fénix, a perfect martini at Mercado de la Reina or a Manhattan with the outstanding tapas at the gastro-bar Seven & Six.

Mix music with good cocktails on the terrace at Otto Madrid, where the jazz is mellow and gin the favored beverage. From blues to flamenco to pop, there’s a nightspot for it: La Riviera for live pop and Café Jazz Populart or Café Central for live jazz and blues, both featuring well-known artists. Stylish Siroco features live bands — soul, hip-hop, funk, break — on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Take your choice of music on one of the seven floors at Teatro Kapital in Calle Atocha. For music you can still carry on a conversation to, follow the stars — Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra — to Museo Chicote on Gran Via, just as hot with the nuevo jet set as it was in the ’50s.