Daily Times

“A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy’s shoulders to let him know that the world hadn’t ended.” – this beautiful quote from ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ may echo in your ears when you hear the story of Spain’s Robin Hood Restaurant.

Surprising as it may sound, the food eatery charges the rich to feed the poor.

Located on a side-street in the heart of Madrid, Robin Hood Restaurant is a typical bar by the day. With hot coffee and delectable desserts, it is a great place to be. It is also, one of the most sought-after lunch drive-ins, where the staff has been elected from five-star restaurants. Even celebrity chefs look for an opportunity to cook at the joint at least once a week.

Robin Hood makes its profit from the proceeds of the meals during breakfast and lunch. As soon as the clock strikes six, the wealthy are not allowed to stay.

On cold, wintry nights, commoners walk into the brightly-lit inn for dinner. Dressed in shabby overcoats, the customers make themselves comfortable in the grandeur. Believe it or not, most of the visitors, who visit the place after the sun sets, are homeless. Staff greets them with the same warmth and treat them with the same regard as the well-to-do. Not out of pity, it is out of love that the restaurant satiates the hunger pangs of the poor.

The newly-opened restaurant is run by an 80-year-old Catholic priest Ángel García Rodriguez. Lovingly known as “Padre Ángel”, he wishes the homeless to eat with the same dignity and quality as any other customer – “in glasses made of crystal, not plastic, and in an atmosphere of friendship and conversation,” in his own words.

Not just food, but they enjoy other privileges too! There’s a signboard outside the hideaway that says that clients can sing if they wish to, as long as it doesn’t disturb other customers. The needy can also ask for a phone to make a call or use the WiFi. A good deed, that too when the country is racked with recession is what makes it more special. The Robin Hood Restaurant feeds more than 100 people each night, in two shifts. Bravo!