Sobrino de Botín – Madrid, Spain
Keeping a restaurant going for more than a year or two is a hard enough challenge: when you have been open for 300 years, you might be permitted a quiet smile of satisfaction. Sobrino de Botín celebrated its tricentenary in 2025 and is recognised by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest continuously operated restaurant. Founded by French cook Jean Botín and his Asturian wife, it is now run by the third generation of the González family, Antonio and José. The original wood-fired stove is still in use today, and it is the beating heart of Botín’s classic cocina madrileña. Start with jamón ibérico de bellota, the world’s finest ham, or callos a la madrileña, slow-cooked tripe and sausage, then order cochinillo (suckling pig) or cordero (lamb) roasted over holm oak in the ancient oven; there are prawns and langoustines from the plancha, too, and arroz con leche (rice pudding) to finish. And the setting is unimpeachably historic: four floors of vaulted brick arches and ceilings, blue-and-white tiles and gilt-framed canvases. Ernest Hemingway was a regular: in The Sun Also Rises, his protagonist Jake Barnes tells how: “we lunched upstairs at Botíns. It is one of the best restaurants in the world. We had roast young suckling pig … I ate a very big meal and drank three bottles of rioja alta.” It is a place to be steeped in history, as well as in rioja.
Le Train Bleu – Paris, France
The gourmet restaurant of the Gare de Lyon opened its doors in 1901, and its lavishly ornate Belle Époque decor remains, as do its eight-metre-high ceilings and grand double-revolution staircase. The sense of theatre is not just confined to the fixtures and fittings: much use is made of trolleys, and service is performed with a flourish: try the gigot d’agneau, sliced at the table and paired with consultant chef Michel Rostang’s superb gratin dauphinois. The chariot is pressed into service again for the crêpes suzette, flambéed in Grand Marnier.
Keens Steakhouse – New York, USA
Albert Keen opened his eponymous restaurant, then called Keen’s English Chop House, in Midtown’s Herald Square theatre district in 1885: just 50 years later, it sold its millionth mutton chop. It is still Keens’ signature dish: the theatres are long gone, but Keens, and its remarkable collection of 50,000 clay pipes, survives. As well as the “legendary mutton chop”, the menu offers huge Maine lobsters, oysters (raw or Rockefeller) and porterhouse steaks for two or three, dry-aged on the premises. A meal at Keens is a splurge, but it’s a slice of New York history worth tasting.
St. Peter Stiftskulinarium – Salzburg, Austria
This establishment has been serving diners since 803, making the other restaurants here seem almost arrivistes. Set in the heart of Salzburg’s historic centre, it’s quite possibly the oldest restaurant in the world, although it cannot claim, like Madrid’s Botín, to have been open continuously. The menu has plenty of Austrian heft – schnitzel, tafelspitz, apple strudel – but there are lighter touches (oysters, shrimp carpaccio), and bespoke menus can be arranged for parties in the clutch of atmospheric private rooms.
Rules – London, UK
A young, impoverished Charles Dickens would have seen this restaurant on his daily walk to the blacking factory; he was later a regular guest. Founded in 1798, it is reputed to be London’s oldest restaurant and still specialises in game, both furred and feathered. Pheasant and ham-hock terrine, potted shrimps, roast grouse (in season) with all the trimmings, with jam roly-poly or Cropwell Bishop Stilton to finish. Rules’ charmingly antiquated decor is the perfect setting to experience British food at its nostalgic best.
The White Horse Tavern – Newport, Rhode Island, USA
The White Horse Tavern dates back to 1673: more than a century later, it housed British troops during the American War of Independence. By the mid-20th century, it had become a shabby boarding house, but was rescued and restored to its original purpose in 1954. Oysters, clams and chowder feature strongly on the menu, as do comforting classics like confit duck with cassoulet beans; beef Wellington smothered in foie gras mousse and wrapped in puff pastry; and rigatoni with bolognese. Colonial charm oozes from its ancient walls.
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