By Charlene Medders
Traveling to a metropolis like Madrid and looking for the best cuisine can be overwhelming. In Madrid, you’ll find narrow streets that house restaurants, bars and cafes on every corner. You can see every type of cuisine possible just passing through one small neighborhood.
Some of Madrid’s best chefs may be tucked away from the buzz of the city and found in popular markets, where travelers are met with food of every kind. The sight of fresh empanadas and aroma of specialty coffee creates a sense of happiness for all who visit.
While walking even a short distance through the city, you may start to wonder how you’ll find the best place to eat when faced with so many options. If you’re looking for typical American food, you can easily find Burger King, Taco Bell and Five Guys.
But, if you truly want to immerse yourself in Spain’s rich history while eating delicious food, you’ll be happy to learn that Madrid houses the oldest restaurant in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Start with Dinner at The Oldest Restaurant in the World: Restaurante Botín
The 1987 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records named Botín as the oldest restaurant in the world.
Madrid is nothing short of having a rich history. To start your evening off right, Restaurante Botín is the place to go for dinner.
Restaurante Botín, which was founded in 1725, is not only a benchmark of Madrid’s best traditional cuisine, but it’s also third place on the Forbes magazine top ten most classic restaurants.
The restaurant’s two dinner specialties are its roast suckling pig and its roasted lamb in the Castilian style. One commodity of this restaurant, and definitely something that makes it unique, is its continued use of the original oak wood oven the restaurant had when it opened in 1725.
The specialty lambs and suckling pigs are roasted in this original wood-fired oven.
A few times a week, the restaurant receives shipments of suckling pigs from Segovia.
Christian Eansado, a waiter at Restaurante Botín for over five years, said that the oven really gives the restaurant an edge that others don’t have.
“The original oven makes us different. It’s a different mode of making the dishes and cooking them,” he said.
Eansado believes that everyone who comes to Madrid should come to Restaurante Botín not only for the delicious food, but the overall atmosphere and experience. While the restaurant has multiple floors that are all extravagant in their own ways, Eansado said his favorite room in the house is the cave below ground that resembles a wine cellar.
The first evidence of Restaurante Botín comes all the way from 1590 with this cave, which look like a wine cellar.
“There’s something so special about that part of the house... I don’t know how to explain it, you just have to feel it. You can’t just talk about it, but you have to go downstairs and experience it,” Eansado said.
The cave was built in the 1590s, over a hundred years before the restaurant even opened! And it’s all still completely original looking exactly the same over 400 years later.
Experience Madrid with Every Bite
Restaurante Botín’s mission is for Madrid’s customs and history to be felt by visitors with each bite of food they take. If you’re lucky enough to visit, you’ll understand the hype around this place.
The food is absolutely amazing, showcasing Spanish cuisine in the most delicious way possible. Along with the phenomenal food, the service is like no other.
Eansado said with over 80 workers and many departments, the restaurant gives visitors a great dining experience because of its outstanding professional service. He emphasized how he’s just a worker, but he feels so grateful to all of the staff for the hard work they put into the restaurant every day.
This chef is preparing more of the restaurant’s world-famous suckling pig.
After Dinner, Try Delicious Churros at Chocolateria 1902
If you’re not quite ready to end the night after dinner at Restaurante Botín, take a short walk to the oldest family-owned churro restaurant in Spain: Chocolateria 1902. Experience heaven as you step into a world full of chocolates, churros, pastries and more.
Chocolateria 1902 is in a central location of Madrid, about a 5-minute walk from Restaurante Botín.
Over a Century of Selling Churros and Chocolate
Stepping into this restaurant for the first time, you can immediately recognize the importance of family. From the pictures on the walls to the television playing a loop of family and restaurant history, this family’s immense love for each other and for churros is felt throughout the restaurant.
David Urgos, a member of the family who works at Chocolateria 1902, said this restaurant comes from a long line of people who truly cherish the culture of Madrid. He said Chocolateria 1902 is currently run by its fifth generation.
It started with a man named Don Florencio, who began selling churros in the streets of Madrid in 1902. From there, he taught his grandson Don Galo the family churro recipe, who then taught his son Don Gabi.
Don Gabi opened up what you know today as Chocolateria 1902, and people are able to enjoy churros from the same family for over 100 years!
The family is happy to celebrate 120 years of making churros for the people of Madrid!
This year, the restaurant is celebrating its 120th Anniversary. Urgos said the family members always remember to showcase how important it is to uphold tradition. For Chocolateria 1902, that tradition involves handcrafting a famous Madrid product, like churros with chocolate, from father to son for five generations.
Sweeten your Night with Chocolateria 1902
Chocolateria 1902 is the perfect place to eat churros, one of Spain’s most popular desserts, and enjoy them with a variety of chocolate flavors. These flavors include classics like milk chocolate and dark chocolate. If you’re wanting something sweeter and creamier, try the French or Swiss chocolate.
The steaming hot freshly-made churros in the kitchen turned into this plate piled high with goodness.
Urgos said a huge aspect of Spanish culture is churros and chocolate. He said his favorite item on the menu is churros dipped in milk chocolate.
“It’s such a classic, and it’s the best chocolate because it's made from 3 types of cocoa that come from Mexico, Peru and Brazil,” he said.
All of the chocolates served are gluten-free and vegan. The restaurant also provides sugar-free and lactose-free options.
You’ll have an extraordinary time in Madrid if you choose to have dinner at Restaurante Botín and dessert at Chocolateria 1902. How cool is it to say that you ate at the world’s oldest restaurant? And indulged yourself in a world of sweets with delicious churros and chocolate?
It’s the perfect way to sweeten your time in Madrid while also taking a trip down memory lane and immersing yourself in years of history.
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