The emblematic restaurant El Molino de Arrecife has closed. The family business, started in 1986 by the Caraballo brothers, Miguel and José, together with their mother, has closed its doors after 37 years of service.
At the beginning, this restaurant was recognized as Marisquería El Molino. Even then it was visited by fishermen and residents of the island. Presidents of the Canary Islands government, councilors, politicians from Tenerife or Gran Canaria have passed through this traditional restaurant, Miguel Caraballo now recalls. In recent years it has also attracted tourists, moved by recommendations.
Agreements were closed between the walls of El Molino and the floors ended up "full of clams and limpets." They moved to this corner of Arrecife to enjoy its star dishes such as sancocho, kidneys, squid, octopus, pork loin or garlic prawns. Regarding the key to its success, Miguel Caraballo speaks of the quality of the wreckfish they offered, the Saharan squid, the octopus and the daily tapas that were not reused from one day to the next.
"We started here when the sardine fishermen and trawlers were here," says Miguel Caraballo in statements to this newspaper. When El Molino opened its doors, the characteristic warehouses of Arrecife, located in front of the port, did not exist. "The sea reached here," recalls one of its owners.
"At the beginning we worked night and day," says Miguel Caraballo. In recent years, his brother and he arrived at the bar at four in the morning, his brother "got into" the kitchen and he into the bar. Then, they closed at 4 p.m.
The future of this restaurant is on hold and it is not known at the moment whether it will be transferred or close its doors forever. "I didn't really want to rest, but the age," confesses Miguel.
