List of the oldest restaurants in the United States

This list of the oldest restaurants in the United States includes currently-operating restaurants that were founded prior to the year 1900. Most of the establishments are located in the Northeastern United States, many of them predate the Civil War, and a handful predate the Revolutionary War.

Disputes[]

In 2017, credible evidence was uncovered that indicates New York's legendary Katz’s Delicatessen might have been founded in 1911, rather than the popular claim of 1888.^[1]

Closures[]

Samuel Cole opened the first tavern in America, Cole's Inn, on March 4, 1634. It was on Washington St. (now Downtown Crossing) in Boston MA. The building was destroyed by fire in 1711.^[2]

The Jacob Wirth Restaurant founded in 1868 operated for 150 years before permanently closing on June 9, 2018, after a fire damaged the building.^[3][4]

On January 12, 2019, another Boston landmark Durgin-Park closed its doors after operating for nearly 192 years, one of America’s oldest restaurants founded in 1827.^[5]

Jules Maes Saloon, which had been open since 1888 and was possibly the oldest restaurant in Seattle, closed permanently in July 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.^[6][7]

Buckman Tavern was built in about 1709–1710 by Benjamin Muzzey (1657–1735). With license granted in 1693, it was the first public house in Lexington, Massachusetts. At the time of the Battles of Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775) it was owned by his great-granddaughter and her husband John Buckman. Several dozen militiamen gathered at the tavern to await the arrival of the British troops. It is now a museum.

Oldest restaurants in the United States[]

Year of opening	Age (years)	Restaurant	Opened by	City	State	GPS	Claim to fame	Sources
1673	349	White Horse Tavern	William Mayes, Sr.	Newport	Rhode Island	41.491340, −71.313755	Oldest restaurant in America	[8][9][10][11]
1686	336	The Wayside Inn	David Howe as "Howe's Tavern"	Sudbury	Massachusetts	42°21′28″N 71°28′5″W / 42.35778°N 71.46806°W / 42.35778; -71.46806	Titular inn in Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn	The inn's archive has documents from 1686 onward, including the official inn license granted to the first innkeeper, David Howe, in 1716.[12]
1706	316	Ye Olde Centerton Inn	unknown	Pittsgrove	New Jersey	39.5254486,-75.167618	Widely known as one of the oldest restaurants in NJ	[13]
1716	306	Concord's Colonial Inn	unknown	Concord	Massachusetts	42°27′42″N 71°20′58″W / 42.46179°N 71.34954°W / 42.46179; -71.34954	One of the Inn’s original buildings was used as a storehouse for arms and provisions during the Battles of Lexington and Concord	[14]
1742	279	Black Horse Tavern & Pub	Ebenezer Byram	Mendham	New Jersey	40.7760096, -74.6013081	Started out as just an Inn	[15][13]
1743	278	The Clinton House	unknown	Clinton	New Jersey	40.6352389,-74.9145386		[15][13]
1745	276	Rocky Hill Inn	Harrison family	Rocky Hill	New Jersey	40.3997905,-74.636788		[15][16]
1754	268	The '76 House		Tappan	New York	41.019666588, -73.941996232	Oldest restaurant New York	"The '76 House". Fra. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
1762	260	Fraunces Tavern	Samuel Fraunces	New York	New York	40.703429, −74.011386	Oldest standing structure in Manhattan	[8][17][18][11]
1776	246	The Griswold Inn	Sala Griswold	Essex	Connecticut	41.351399, −72.386863	Oldest Inn in America	[8][19][20][11]
1780	241	The Cranbury Inn	unknown	Cranbury	New Jersey	40.30811321249676, -74.51682993345747	Built in 1750 and 1765 as a place to eat, drink, get horses and rest.	[21][15][22][13]
1785	237	Gadsby's Tavern	John Wise	Alexandria	Virginia	38.805556, −77.043889 (second tavern on site built 1785, enlarged in 1792, first tavern on site Mason's Ordinary opened in 1749)	Historic Confederation/Federalist Period tavern & ballroom	[23]
1795	237	Bell in Hand Tavern	Jimmy Wilson	Boston	Massachusetts	42.36166, −71.05712	Oldest continuously-operating tavern in US (except for Prohibition)	[1]
1803	219	The Golden Lamb	Jonas Seaman	Lebanon	Ohio	39.433611, -84.208333	Oldest continuously-operated inn and restaurant in Ohio	[24]
1826	196	Union Oyster House	Hawes Atwood	Boston	Massachusetts	42.361264, −71.056972	Oldest continuously-operated restaurant in America	[8][25][11]
1831	191		Unknown	New Hudson	Michigan	42.511601, −83.614844	Oldest business in Michigan	[26]
1834	188	J. Huston Tavern	Joseph Huston, Sr.	Arrow Rock	Missouri	39.0675, −92.945	Oldest continuously serving restaurant west of the Mississippi River	[27][28][29]
1838	184	Arnold's Bar and Grill	Susan Fawcett	Cincinnati	Ohio		Oldest continuously-operating bar in Ohio	[30][31]
1840	182	Antoine's	Antoine Alciatore	New Orleans	Louisiana	29.956685, −90.066437	Oldest family-run restaurant in America	[8][32][33][11]
1849	173	Tadich Grill	Nikola Budrovich Frano Kosta Antonio Gasparich	San Francisco	California	37.793401, −122.399463 (moved here in 1967)	Oldest continuously running restaurant in San Francisco	[8][34][11]
1852 (August 23)	170	Breitbach's Country Dining	founder unknown	Balltown	Iowa	42.639032, −90.869178	Oldest restaurant in Iowa	[8][35][11]
1854	168	McSorley's Old Ale House	John McSorley	New York City	New York	40.728860, −73.989610		[36]
1856	166	Old Ebbitt Grill	William Ebbitt	Washington	District of Columbia	38.897996, −77.033393 (moved here in 1983)	Oldest saloon in Washington	[37][11]
1857	165	Gluek's Restaurant & Bar	Gottlieb Gluek	Minneapolis	Minnesota	44.979311, −93.274256	Oldest continuously-operated business in Minneapolis	[38][11]
1860	162	McGillin's Olde Ale House	Catherine McGillin William McGillin	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	39.950271, −75.162615	Oldest bar in Philadelphia	[8][39][11]
1861	161	The Old Clam House	founder unknown	San Francisco	California	37.743160, −122.404898	Oldest restaurant in San Francisco continuously-operated in the original location	[40][41]
1864	158	Pete's Tavern	founder unknown	New York	New York	40.736475, −73.986755	Oldest continuously-operated bar in New York City	[42][11]
1866	156	Scholz Garten	August Scholz	Austin, Texas	Texas	Texas	Oldest restaurant in Texas	<It was 1866 when German immigrant and Civil War veteran August Scholz opened his public bar and café over an old boardinghouse. He had purchased the building and surrounding property for $2400. Scholz Garten soon became a favorite meeting place for the German population in and around Austin. />
1870	152	Claudio's	Manuel Claudio	Greenport	New York	41.101850, −72.358967	Oldest restaurant continuously-owned by the same family (until 2018)	[43][11]
1885	137	Tivoli Bar and Grill		San Diego	California		Oldest bar/restaurant in San Diego	[44][45]
1885	137	Keens Steakhouse	Albert Keen	New York	New York	40.750799, −73.986423	Only remaining business of what was the Herald Square Theater District	[46][11]
1886	136	Fior d'Italia	Angelo Del Monte	San Francisco	California	37.8062223, -122.40789	The current restaurant at the San Remo Hotel (2237 Mason St.) is the seventh location for the former bordello and eatery, including a tent operation for nearly a year after the 1906 earthquake and fire.	[47]
1887	135	Browne’s Irish Market & Deli	Ed and Mary Flavin	Kansas City	Missouri		Oldest Irish business in North America Oldest retail business in Kansas City	[48][49][50]
1887	135	Peter Luger Steak House	Peter Luger	Brooklyn	New York	40.709863, −73.962486	New York’s top-rated Zagat steakhouse	[51][11]
1888	134	Katz's Delicatessen	Morris Iceland Hyman Iceland	New York	New York	40.722324, −73.987324 (moved here in 1970)	New York’s oldest deli	[52][11]
1893 (November 17)	129	Buckhorn Exchange	Henry Zietz	Denver	Colorado	39.732268, −105.005193	First liquor license in Colorado	[8][53][11]
1893	129	Commander's Palace	Emile Commander	New Orleans	Louisiana	29.928764, −90.084240	Oldest continuously-operated restaurant in Uptown New Orleans	[54][55][11]
1898	124	Louis' Lunch	Louis Lassen	New Haven	Connecticut	41.306439, −72.930445	Inventing the hamburger	[8][56][11]
1895	127	The Berghoff	Herman Berghoff	Chicago, Illinois	Illinois	41.879252,-87.628406	German Restaurant	<Herman Berghoff opened the 100 percent family-owned German restaurant in 1898. Berghoff came to New York at 17 and took over a brewery, where he made a signature lager that became very popular. He failed to get a liquor license in the city, so instead opened The Berghoff as a café. He sold beer for a nickel and they came with a free sandwich on the side />

See also[]

• Tavern
• Inn

References[]