Dilip Kuner
FOR years Madrid’s legendary Sobrino de Botin has proudly held the Guinness World Record for being the planet’s oldest restaurant – but now it is being challenged.
Founded in 1725, this culinary icon – a favourite of literary giants like Ernest Hemingway – celebrated 300 years of serving up classic Spanish fare earlier this year.
Its famous wood-fire oven and prime spot near Plaza Mayor have long cemented its place in history.
But now, another Madrid eatery, Casa Pedro, is making a daring claim: “We’re even older!”
The restaurant’s owners are convinced their establishment survived the brutal War of Spanish Succession in the early 1700s, which would put its opening date firmly before Botin’s.
“It’s really frustrating when you say, ‘Yes, we’ve been around since 1702’, but… you can’t prove it,” admits Irene Guiñales, the eighth-generation owner and manager, whose family has run the place for centuries.
“If you look at the restaurant’s logo, it says ‘Casa Pedro, since 1702,’ so we said, ‘Damn it, let’s try to prove it!’,” she told Euronews.
The Guiñales family has now hired a historian, who has unearthed documents proving Casa Pedro was cooking as far back as 1750. But the hunt is on for that crucial evidence pushing the date back to 1702.
But just when you thought this Spanish showdown couldn’t get spicier, a sneaky Italian rival has entered the ring. La Campana, a trattoria in Rome’s historic centre, boasts ‘more than 500 years of operation’, citing ancient documents and its own self-published history.
Its owners are now reportedly compiling all the necessary paperwork to challenge both Spanish contenders for the world’s oldest title.
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