Venta de Aires

From the 1891 inn to today

Venta de Aires opened in 1891 at a crossroads next to the Roman Circus and the Arms Factory, and boasts of being the only centenarian restaurant in Castilla-La Mancha. It was founded by Dionisio Aires Glariá, an Aragonese soldier posted in Toledo, and Modesta García-Ochoa, from Toledo, married in 1883. She began by feeding her husband's colleagues from the Arms Factory, at 35 céntimos for the cocido; demand led them to open their own inn, with a pelota court and games areas that he added, and with her migas, snails and stewed partridges.

Antonio Maura and Gregorio Marañón passed through, brought by Dean Polo Benito, and in the 1920s Luis Buñuel's Orden de Toledo held its lunches at the inn, with Lorca, Dalí and Alberti. After the war it was continued by their daughter Carmen and then by their grandson Antonio Montero Aires with his wife, Felisa Pérez, until 1988, when the present owners took over.

The house menus

The menu is La Mancha and Toledo cooking: soups, stews and roasts. The house offers several menus with their own names: the cocido de la Sagra, the cocido of the district north of Toledo; the typical Orden de Toledo menu, in memory of Buñuel's lunches; one of rice dishes; children's menus and a brunch. The website does not publish their content or price, so ask when you book. For the festive season it does publish the 2026 Christmas ones: an executive menu for €40 and three menus at €49, €55 and €58, for lunch or dinner.

The dining rooms have beams, visible wine racks and hanging strings of produce; there are also terraces, nooks and rooms for weddings, communions and company lunches, so at weekends you may well coincide with a celebration.

With a dog and no steps

The house presents itself as pet friendly: ask when you book in which area the dog can be. It is adapted for people with reduced mobility and has coeliac-friendly menus. The website does not publish opening hours: confirm when you book on its website, on 925 22 05 45 or at [email protected].

Outside the wall

It is at Paseo del Circo Romano 35, north of the Puerta de Bisagra, about fifteen minutes' walk. Being outside the old town, you can arrive by car without fighting the narrow streets: the free Roman Circus car park is next door. After lunch, go up through Bisagra to the centre or drive to the Valle viewpoint to see the city from the opposite side.