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3. Casa Botín - 1725
Where is it? Madrid, the capital of Spain
Founded by Cándido Remis, nephew of the wife of the French chef, Jean Botín (whose business was also located in the vicinity of the Plaza Mayor), this restaurant is among the oldest not only in Spain, but in the world.
It appears in literary works such as Fortunata y Jacinta by Benito Pérez Galdós, Fiesta by Ernest Hemingway, Monseñor Quijote by Graham Greene, Greguerías by Gómez de la Serna and El tiempo entre costuras by María Dueñas.
Additionally, legend has it that in 1765, the Spanish artist Franciso de Goya worked as a dishwasher here!
It is a spacious four-storey building that has been able to preserve its traditional inn atmosphere. It boats an outdoor terrace too, with a wood-fired oven which is still used to prepare suckling pig and other roast meats in the typical Castilian style.