Shortly before one in the afternoon, about 20 people are already lining up to enter the legendary Botín restaurant. Unaware of the incessant rain falling in the capital, they hope to secure a table despite not having a reservation. This scene occurs daily on Cuchilleros Street, 17, both for lunch and dinner, according to the person in charge of welcoming customers at the door. A little further away, a group of tourists raise their umbrellas to take a look at the dark brick building from 1590 that houses the establishment.
This iconic corner of the capital, located a few steps from Plaza Mayor and celebrating its three centuries this year, attracts a large number of visitors daily not only for being a reference in traditional Madrid cuisine (and one of the top 10 classic dining rooms in the world, according to Forbes magazine), but also because it is an essential stop on tourist routes through old Madrid. Guides mention that Hemingway enjoyed eating there so much that he included it in several of his novels. The final scene of The Sun Also Rises concludes in one of its dining rooms, generating great interest in the Anglo-Saxon literary world and attracting other writers such as Truman Capote, Scott Fitzgerald, or John Dos Passos. Before them, other great Spanish writers like Pérez Galdós, Alberti, had already visited.
Another aspect that makes it a point of great tourist interest is its appearance in the Guinness Book of Records since 1987 as the oldest restaurant in the world. "It was thanks to the tenacity of an English customer who insisted that we be included instead of another French restaurant that did not meet one of the conditions for it. In the end, we achieved it because we met the three requirements: maintaining the same name, the same physical location, and never having closed, except for legal imperatives during the pandemic," says Antonio González, co-owner of the place.
The restaurant's history dates back to 1725 when Cándido Remis opened a small inn, which later became a dining house and was named Botín in honor of his aunt's husband, Jean Botin, a French chef who worked for a nobleman at the Court of the Habsburgs. In 1920, the dining room passed into the hands of Emilio and Amparo González, a couple who gradually turned this family business - now run by the third and fourth generations - into a national and international emblem. Through its three dining rooms spread over four floors, which, despite renovations, still retain the charm and atmosphere of a centuries-old inn, with wooden beams, steep stairs, and nooks, it has welcomed all kinds of illustrious customers, from royalty members to actors, writers, and singers from around the world.
For its 300th anniversary, Casa Botín will carry out a series of commemorative actions that include events for customers, the creation of a special 300th-anniversary menu (available on demand with the most exclusive and iconic dishes of the dining room next month), and a new brand image. A celebration for a business that is currently at the peak of its history. "After the pandemic, the growth has been incredible, and now we are booming," admits José González, restaurant co-owner and cousin of Antonio. The dining room currently has more customers than ever, an average of 650 daily, 50% more than in 2020. "Madrid is trendy, and many visitors are coming," says Antonio. "But I want to make a distinction between a tourist restaurant and a massive one. We are not the latter because we have not succumbed to the temptation of receiving group after group of people, which is what overcrowds a restaurant and takes away its ambiance." This influx has also increased the number of employees, currently around 100, which, according to the entrepreneur, is "one of our great assets."
The main gastronomic attraction has been for a century the roast suckling pig in the Castilian style (also lamb, but to a lesser extent), still prepared with the special recipe of Emilio's grandfather: roasted with a tarragon marinade. Weighing about four to five kilos each, the animals come from various distributors in Ávila and Segovia, and between 60 and 80 are roasted daily. "It's our traditional specialty and represents 40% of the orders. It is made in the original oak wood oven from 1725 that has never been extinguished, at least since my family has been running the business," confesses Antonio. "During the Civil War, my grandfather kept the restaurant open and the oven lit, and during the pandemic, although we had to close for a month by legal imperative, someone came every day to keep it lit to prevent temperature fluctuations."
On the menu, in addition to the roasts, dishes like Madrid-style tripe, Castilian soup, baked or fried hake, Burgos black pudding, and ham and chicken croquettes are popular. Over all these years, Casa Botín's cuisine has hardly changed, not fundamentally, as Antonio assures. "Well, there have been updates in terms of comfort, technology, and other elements that we have had to modernize, logically, but regarding the spirit of the place and the cuisine, there have been few variations. It remains my grandfather's cuisine, with time-honored recipes."
Emilio was also a master of sauces, another section that triumphs in the restaurant. "His clam sauce a la marinera with tomato, a small version of the traditional one, makes it a successful dish, as well as the sirloin with mushroom sauce." These recipes have been passed down over time orally to the head chefs who have replaced the family patriarch. "They may have undergone some variations, but the main essence is all there," says the co-owner.
Any new dishes? "Well, fresh salads are currently in vogue, and we have introduced some new ones, but nothing that alters the essence of our traditional offering."
What has not endured is the expansion of the menu, which has been reduced by almost half. "In my father's time, it was extensive, with a lot of seafood and fish that we decided to remove." One of the grandfather's iconic dishes that they have not served for eight years is squid in its ink with rice. "We stopped making it because the ink stains did not come out of the white tablecloths. We tried with special products, but they damaged the tablecloths, and some tore. We also thought about switching to synthetic tablecloths, but in the end, we decided it was better to remove the dish," says the entrepreneur.
In addition to the menu, Botín offers a seasonal set menu; in summer, it includes Andalusian gazpacho, suckling pig, and dessert, and in winter, the gazpacho is replaced by Castilian soup or garlic soup. The average bill is 47 euros, and according to Antonio, "it's not as expensive as people think. It is true that we have had to adapt to very tough times due to the rise in raw materials, and that's why the price has increased slightly. Still, it remains a restaurant that people with different purchasing power can come to."
From left to right, Antonio, Eduardo, and José González, owners of Botín.
According to the online reservation calendar, there is no availability for lunch or dinner until mid-April, although, according to the entrepreneur, there is a trick. "The online slots fill up quickly, but that's because we only allocate 20% of the capacity for this type of reservation. We want to keep open the possibility for people to come and eat spontaneously. We provide special attention to those customers who take the trouble to come." Antonio González assures that, in most cases, one hundred percent of those waiting in line get a table, sometimes after a long wait, "but it is very rare for us to give them a definite no."
What is the key to having lasted so long, not only staying open but filling up daily? "The emotional relationship of the restaurant owners with the restaurant. It is a loved one that we love one day and hate the next, but we cannot live without it. We have understood the restaurant as a place of hospitality, a place where experiences are lived and where we make people collect memories."
From Goya to Sinatra, 'unproven' anecdotes
From Christopher Reeve to Bruce Springsteen, from Ava Gardner to Jackie Kennedy, Catherine Deneuve or Marcello Mastroianni. There are many personalities who have dined at the legendary Botín, as are the anecdotes and legends surrounding the restaurant over the years. One of them is the possibility that Goya worked as a dishwasher in its kitchens, as mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records. "I don't want to put it on our menu because, as a History graduate, I am very serious and I don't want to assume something that I can't prove documentarily," says Antonio González. However, he assures that it is likely true, "because the artist lived very close to the restaurant when he was still an aspiring Court painter and had to survive somehow. I am sure that, being Botín one of the prosperous places in the area, he would have worked washing dishes or in some other way."
Another rumor is that singer Frank Sinatra, after dining at Botín during one of his visits to Madrid, offered eight million pesetas in the mid-20th century to buy the dining room. "We found out through the press when it was published, but it is completely false. Maybe he thought about it or said it somewhere, but nobody offered us anything, besides we wouldn't have been interested," concludes José González.