The restaurant's name was changed from Casa Botín to Sobrino de Botín ("nephew of Botín") when Mrs. Botín died and her nephew took over. It is now owned by the González family.
Botín has four floors and the air of a traditional Spanish tavern. There are three dining rooms: the bodega ("cellar"), the Castilla room, and the Felipe IV room.
The most famous dishes here are the cochinillo asado ("roast suckling pig") and the cordero asado ("roast lamb").
The restaurant receives suckling pigs from Segovia and lambs from Sepúlveda three to four times per week.
Both the lambs and pigs are roasted in the nearly 300-year-old original wood-fired oven made of cast iron.
Crispy skin on the outside, tender meat on the inside, the suckling pig is served with a side of roast potatoes.
Hemingway was a glutton for Botín's sucking pig, so much so that he immortalized it in "The Sun Also Rises." From the book: "We lunched upstairs at Botín's. It is one of the best restaurants in the world. We had roast young suckling pig and drank rioja alta."
Clams Botín, another popular dish, features a house sauce of onion, hot chili pepper, garlic, dry white wine, paprika, tomato purée, and laurel leaf.
Here's a look at the full menu.
Luscious Ibérico ham is cut to order.
In Spain, egg dishes are common at dinner, which is typically eaten between 9 and 11 p.m. Here, Botìn's scrambled eggs with black sausage and potatoes.
If you're lucky, your meal will come with a side of live Spanish music.
