This is back to memory lane ,and foodie me just love Madrid!! As I was again going to memorable places we have been, we came back to usual places, memories oblige we came to a memoral restaurant in a great location of Madrid, This is with older pictures new to the blog on a post of their own, well deserve me think, Therefore, here is my take on the El Anciano Rey de los Vinos of Madrid !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The first time I ran into theEl Anciano Rey de los Vinos was back in 1972! I was a poor young teen then but was taken by an older gentlemen of a group of friends who was trying to impress us with his knowledge and purchasing power. He did! I was fascinated by it and promise one day to come back here. Well it took me a while until 1990 on a visit that came here for tapas and a glass of wine. Afterward and on my married life came here several times usually for a quick drink and tapas. Until this year , when came with my young men sons on a nostalgic trip this time without my dear late wife Martine. El Anciano Rey de los Vinos, is very close to the Almudena Cathedral and a few steps from the Royal Palace on Calle de Bailén. It is one of those bars full of grandparents and families from the neighborhood, and it has been there since 1909.
A bit of history from their site translated by yours truly. The El Anciano Rey de los Vinos is located in a building built in 1886, located on Calle Bailén no, 19. Towards the end of the 19C, in the premises occupied by the El Anciano,the Casa Pedro Martínez was located, an establishment where pout coffee, brandy and tea was served as in other taverns of the time. In 1909 its owner, Pedro Martínez, gave control of the establishment to Mr. Luis Morón. It was from then on that Luis Morón, giving a quality turn to the establishment providing his own wine brands such as the ‘Viejo’, ‘Los Viejos’ and the’ Elder King ‘, found the tavern El Anciano Rey de los Vinos’, as we know it in our day. It was not the only anciano on Calle Bailén Luis Muron managed 3 others by 1907, on Calle de la Paz , in 1909 on Calle de Fuencarral 105 ,and on Calle Leganitos. In 1931, Luis Morón was forced to eliminate the word king of the name and label and the tables of El Anciano for demands of the Spanish Republic. A few years later, during the hard period of the bloody Spanish Civil War, the tavern of El Anciano Rey de los Vinos, like so many other establishments, remained closed. It was in 1940, a year after the end of the contest, when Luis Morón decorated the interior of the El Anciano with the tiles that still decorate the Castiza tavern. For age reasons, until 1942 the responsibility of the management went to his nephew Abilio Manzanal Ortega, although of the four original taverns only two survived: that of Calle Bailén and that of the Calle de La Paz, although the latter already with another name, The ace of the wines or the lost toast was Abilio who changed the former walnut counter: in 1958, before the great influx of clientele that had the tavern, it became necessary to expand it. As Abilio did not find who enlarged it, he replaced it with a new one with a baquelite countertop and stainless steel tray. It was the funder’s nephew who opened the doors of the El Anciano Rey de los Vinos to the current owner family. It was the year 1948 when Constancio Cortés Hernández crossed for the first time the threshold of the tavern. At the tender age of fifteen years, as was customary then, Constancio began working hard after the establishment’s bar. Then, in the early 1970’s, when Constancio acquired the tavern continuing in it until its retirement in 2003. With Constancio retired, the management of the El Anciano Rey de los Vinos felled to his daughter Belén Cortés Borges, who supported by her husband, Alejandro Casado Manrique, continues to lead the Castiza taverna today.
The official El Anciano Rey de los Vinos: https://elancianoreydelosvinos.es/?lang=en
The Madrid tourist office on the El Anciano Rey de los Vinos: https://www.esmadrid.com/en/restaurants/el-anciano-rey-de-los-vinos
There you go folks, always a wonderful feeling been in my Madrid. The food is great, the ambiance is wonderful, and the prices softly just what the doctor ordered, Madridhas more restos/bars per sq km than any other city in Europe. Again, hope you enjoy this post on the El Anciano Rey de los Vinos of Madrid as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 