After 100 years of history, the traditional restaurant The anchor He lowered the blinds in the corner of Maipú and San Juan. Due to “personal problems and the economic situation of the country,” its current owners are offering the business turnkey to anyone who wants to continue with the historic tavern. It is a long-standing café and restaurant, founded in 1924 as a warehouse and which from then until now has passed through several hands. Those with good memories say that even the owner himself Carlos Gardel had dinner at the restaurant when he was staying at the old Hotel Italy (today the headquarters of the UNR) -located a few meters away- during a visit he made to Rosario.
20 years ago, Graciela and Eduardo Marín took the reins of the business but after taking the decision for a long time, this Tuesday, June 25, El Ancla served its generous dishes for the last time. “My parents have gotten older and are tired of dealing with a business that requires a lot of time and energy. For this reason, and taking into account the crisis we are experiencing today, it seemed logical to us to put an end to the restaurant,” she told Point biz Esteban Marinson of the couple who managed the legendary establishment.
Final point for a Rosario still life with 100 years of history
Now, the family, which has 40 years of experience in gastronomy running different bars in the city, offers the goodwill (which includes furniture, kitchen and more) to whoever wants to continue with the restaurant. Meanwhile, the owner of the establishment will analyze the fate of the corner in the coming weeks and does not take a dim view of the continuity of a gastronomic proposal with a new long-term contract. The sale of the property and that everything ends in a real estate development is not ruled out either.
“The ideal situation would be for someone to show up to buy the business because the area is good, and the restaurant is very well known in the city. The problem is that I cannot take care of it alone because it is a job that requires a lot of time,” admitted Esteban Marin, who has been in charge of the restaurant in recent years. The son of the couple who started operating El Ancla in June 2004, acknowledged that the consumer crisis had a strong impact on the clientele, which was reduced due to the spending cuts of the middle class.
A bar among the notables
El Ancla, located at 1001 Maipú Street, was recently included in the catalogue of notable bars and taverns in the city of Rosario. The presentation took place a month ago at the traditional Bar El Cairo, and highlights gastronomic establishments with a long history and their own imprint in the city.
The initiative “is inspired by the historic bars of Buenos Aires. In Rosario we did not have that catalogue of taverns and I thought it would be interesting to do work in that direction,” said Anahí Schibelbein, the radical councillor who authored the project approved unanimously by the Municipal Council last Monday.
The catalog consists of 29 gastronomic establishments that meet the following criteria: a minimum of 30 years of existence in the city, having an identity and recognition for the neighborhoods where they are anchored, and having cultural figures who have passed through their facilities. Now we will have to see if any gastronomic comes to the rescue of El Ancla to continue his legacy or if that list will have one less line.
