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Remember Zombie Bars? In a nutshell these are classic sevillano bars that close for any number of reasons. In some cases they are pushed out by greedy landlords, in others because the owner retires or dies, and then they are snapped up by vulture corporate groups who do a reno job to spiff the place up and reopen using the same name and even pretend they opened when the original bar did… basically pretending to be the same bar, appropriating its history and profiting from a legacy that doesn’t belong to them. I call them Zombie Bars because it looks like the same bar is still alive, but no, it’s an empty shell, dead inside without the heart and soul of the original people who created it.
Anyhoodle… just when you thought THIS COULDN’T GET ANY WORSE… let me introduce you to Zombie Bars 2.0. Recently two brand new tapas bars that were opened by two different corporate groups here (yes two of the same usual suspects) came to my attention because for some reason they had chosen to use the names of long-closed establishments here, ones that clearly have a history and are fondly remembered by people old enough to remember them. The two bars in question had both been long gone by the time I arrived in Sevilla in 1993.
I can’t decide which is worse. But worse still is they are even being lauded by our city council and even our regional government with awards for how they have “saved” our gastronomic heritage. How exactly? By appropriating family histories for their own profit? By turning a once-beloved tapas bar into a tourist attraction? Because their target market is not locals… it’s all about duping tourists into thinking they are having an “authentic” sevillano experience. Spoiler alert… no they aren’t.
Why not? Because you can maybe try to duplicate an ambiance, and even try to use the old recipes… but you have to wonder. WHY are they doing this? Because if you actually go to these places, the “old recipes” don’t have the same spark, the ambiance feels fake and forced, and the service is mostly young kids getting their first job in hospitality who don’t know anything about the bar or the food, or even how to be waiters. Not their fault. They weren’t given proper training.
I’m not about to name and shame here (don’t want a lawsuit on my hands) but if you’d like to see a selection of non-corporate tapas bars and restaurants in Sevilla, have a look here.
casa azahar 
One of my pet peeves is corporate (it’s usually corporate, but where I am even one-off businesses) who can’t be arsed to train their workers. Hospitality or anything else. Table/counter service or even answering the phone is a nuanced skill, it has to be learned through shadowing someone who knows their stuff even if only for a few days. instead there’s this dreary cycle of young people in starter jobs getting fired because they fucked up even if they were doing the best they knew how, and businesses closing or getting off to a meh start and struggling because no one appreciates bad service. It’s like every little corner has to be cut. Maybe tangential to the subject, but all part of the “squeeze out the last cent” mentality.
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