Sobrino de Botin – the oldest restaurant in the world
Restaurant Sobrino de Botin (Sobrino de Botin) in Madrid – the oldest catering establishment in the world, opened in 1725 and listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
The history of the Botin restaurant began with a small restaurant that was opened by Botin’s spouses along with a hotel. This can be found in the memorable inscription at the entrance to the building. It is surprising that the oven, which is still used here, was built at the same time as the restaurant!
Interesting facts about the restaurant Botin
According to Spanish law, in those days it was strictly forbidden to sell wine, meat and many other products in such establishments, as this could interfere with the sellers of products. Therefore, the restaurant cooks cooked only what each visitor brought. Botin is also known for the fact that in 1765, the future famous artist Francisco Goya worked here. He took the place of the dishwasher, while waiting for the decision of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts about his acceptance.
Name change
In the 19th century, Botin became the owner of the restaurant, a nephew of the last owners of the place Candido Remis. This was the change in the name of the institution, now the word “nephew” – Sobrino de Botin was added to the name of its founders. It is worth noting that in those days Botin was a tavern, since the term “restaurant” could be given to only those institutions that tried to imitate Parisian restaurants in everything.
Weaving stories
In the early 20th century, the González family became owners of Sobrino de Botín. Today, the third generation is its masters. At that time, the restaurant occupied only one lower floor, and the two upper floors served as housing for the family of owners. Then the institution served only eight people, including three children and spouses Gonzalez. During the civil war, Mistress Gonzalez with the children left the city and went to the village, and her husband Emilio Gonzalez was forced to stay to look after the house and restaurant. At this difficult time in Spain, Sobrino de Botin became a canteen for soldiers.
At the end of the war, Gonzalez’s sons began to manage the family restaurant, making it the way we can see it today.
Today’s Sobrino de Botín restaurant is 4 floors of history, where each floor has managed to preserve and convey the unique atmosphere of the times of the founders. Nowadays, as when the restaurant was just beginning its activity, Botin is famous for its delicious Castilian dishes.
In the vicinity of the restaurant Botin there are a variety of hotels, which are always filled with tourists who want to visit such a famous institution. For those who decide to spend more than one day in the city, we advise you to take care of choosing a hotel in Madrid in advance, even despite the fairly large number of complexes, there are often no vacancies.
