Between nostalgia and indifference. This is the farewell to the first Vips that opened in Madrid -and that opened, strictly speaking- on December 9, 1969: the one on Julián Romea street, in the Chamberí district. There have been no big announcements about it (just some posters that seem to have been pasted in a hurry and that read “Sorry for the inconvenience of not serving pancakes in this place anymore”), nor big reactions (some comments in social networks).
Nothing to do with what it once was: a novel concept that combined cafeteria and restaurant with its mythical stores -now disappeared- and that in its origins came to stay open until three in the morning. Something that would change with the first big general strike in 1988, when the closing time became 00h, as journalist Borja Martínez explains in this very interesting report in El Independiente.
The reason for its disappearance, in the words of VIPS spokespersons to this media, has to do with “strategic reasons related to the location and conditions of the premises“.
Much more than a restaurant
In its best moments, VIPS was in line with the definition it gives of itself in the “About Us” section of its website: “We were always the place to try out the latest gastronomic trends, but also a place to socialize“.
This is how it is remembered, for example, by those who were university students at the time: “A classic in this neighborhood where we went almost every day during our student days”, writes José Ignacio Wert in X. “ The Vips on Julián Rome was the place to go. “The Vips on Julián Romea was the nerve center of the university students in the area back in 2000. Hangover Sunday, go to Vips, grab the press and English or American breakfast,” also recalls user @ManuNinten.
People like @Marajesu1963, who was caught as a child when it opened, also remember it, if only because of the stories they were told about it: “I read that it closed the first VIPS that opened in Julián Romea, where my father used to take us to breakfast on Sundays when we were little. My grandmother would walk us around Madrid telling us the story. What a shame.
Nostalgia aside, the truth is that these comments were intermingled, in recent times, with others in which the clientele criticized aspects of the restaurant such as the quality of the products or the service. A bad experience that, perhaps, has contributed to the fact that the farewell has gone more unnoticed.
Another VIPS closed in Chamberí
This is not the only VIPS that has closed in recent years in this district of Madrid: almost exactly three years ago, the VIPS on 26 Alberto Aguilera street closed. On that occasion, the closure was motivated by “operational factors of the brand, such as the termination of the lease of the premises,” sources from the Alsea group explained to Madrid Secreto at the time. Today the premises is a hot pot restaurant.
In recent years, VIPS at 101 Fuencarral, 136 Velázquez and, in 2021, the legendary establishment at López de Hoyos have also closed their doors.
The closing of the Masterchef restaurant in Madrid.
This summer also lowers the shutter the Masterchef restaurant in Madrid, but the reason is different: it is due to the retirement of Roberto Franci, the owner of the license.