Madrid’s Sobrino de Botín Restaurant

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, this restaurant is the world’s oldest continuously operating eating establishment. Tucked into the street of the Cuchilleros, i.e. the Knifemakers, just a stone’s throw off Plaza Mayor, Sobrino de Botín (the name means Botín’s Nephew) is a famous Madrileño restaurant that I’m very fond of. I try to eat there every time I’m in Madrid.

The building was built in 1590 and initially operated as an inn. So as not to compete with the butchers that sold meat in Plaza Mayor (Madrid’s original marketplace), the inn wasn’t allowed to have a full-fledged restaurant. Instead, travelers had to buy their meat from the butchers in the plaza and take it to the inn to be cooked in the oven.

As soon as that rule was lifted in the late 18th century, Botín changed from an inn to a restaurant. The inn was renamed to Casa Botín after Monsieur Botín took over, and then changed again to Café Botín.

Upon Monsieur Botín’s passing in 1753, the nephew of Botín’s Spanish wife took over the management and renamed it “Sobrino de Botín.” Currently, it’s run by three brothers, the fourth generation of the González family who are descendants of Botín’s wife.

The restaurant currently occupies all four floors of the building and tries to preserve the original atmosphere of the inn. The cellar is from 1590 and currently used as one of the dining rooms. The kitchen’s wood oven, where many of the signature dishes are cooked, also dates from that year, and the flame in the oven has supposedly been burning continuously for 300 years – since the Botíns took over – never extinguished.

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, the Spanish romantic painter, worked at Café Botín as a waiter or by other accounts as a dishwasher during his teenage years, and the eatery was one of Ernest Hemingway’s favorite haunts during his time in Madrid. In his book, The Sun Also Rises, Jake Barnes, the book’s hero, talks about the restaurant: “…we lunched upstairs at Botíns. It is one of the best restaurants in the world. We had roast young suckling pig and drank rioja alta.”  In his book, Death in the Afternoon, published in 1932 as a portrait of the Spanish bullfighting traditions, Hemingway also mentions Botín.

The staff is always quick to tell you that “Hemingway ate here” and show you his table in one of the upstairs rooms.

Graham Greene, who last visited Madrid in 1980 also mentions Botín in one of his last works, Monsignor Quixote (1982).

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, and Nancy Reagan have all dined in the world’s oldest restaurant, seduced by its striking interior and outstanding food.

Using imaginative recipes following centuries of tradition, Botín serves classic Spanish food accompanied by exceptional Spanish wines. It’s famous for its signature dish, roast suckling piglet – cochinillo asado – that is delicate with a natural flavor and a crunchy skin. Cordero asado – roast lamb – is the other roasted meat dish Botín is especially famous for.

A specialty to try is sopa de ajo, a local hangover remedy, made with an egg poached in chicken broth and laced with sherry and lots of garlic. Other very desirable dishes are baby eels in garlic sauce, “croquetas” that are crisp on the outside and melty on the inside, chicken fricassee in almond sauce, stewed partridge, and white asparagus with mayonnaise, among the many other delicacies on the menu.

Their hand-cut jamón de bellota is from Extremadura’s acorn-fed pigs and is also delicious!

A reservation is a very good idea but not really necessary. The best time to eat is at lunchtime, however. Lunch in Spain is served between 1:15-4:00 pm.

The waiters are friendly and attentive. They take real pride in working for such a historic institution. If you imbibe, they have some exceptional Rioja or Catalan wines, or if you are having tapas, their Fino sherry is exceptional.