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 before 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.

List of the oldest restaurants in the United States

Year of opening	Age (years)	Restaurant	Opened by	City	State	GPS	Claim to fame	Sources
1672	353	The Milleridge Inn	Mary Willets	Jericho	New York	40.7916° N, 73.5378° W	Oldest restaurant in America; Quaker owners were forced to quarter Redcoats during the American Revolution; Haunted; the annual Christmas Village	[1][2][3]
1673	352	White Horse Tavern	William Mayes, Sr.	Newport	Rhode Island	41.491340°N 71.313755°W / 41.491340; -71.313755	Oldest restaurant in America (non-continuous)	[4][5][6][7]
1686	339	The Wayside Inn	David Howe as "Howe's Tavern"	Sudbury	Massachusetts	42°21′28″N 71°28′5″W	Titular inn in Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn; oldest restaurant in America (continuous)	The inn's archive has documents from 1686 onward, including the official inn license granted to the first innkeeper, David Howe, in 1716.[8]
1686	339	The Tavern at Rainbow Row		Charleston	South Carolina		Claims to be oldest continuous running tavern in SC-- Originally under the name "Seafarer's Tavern"
1706	319	Ye Olde Centerton Inn	unknown	Pittsgrove	New Jersey	39.5254486°N 75.167618°W / 39.5254486; -75.167618	One of the oldest restaurants in NJ	[9]
1714	311	William Penn Inn	Robert Evans	Lower Gwynedd	Pennsylvania	40.20247°N 75.25618°W	One of the oldest restaurants in Pennsylvania. It was frequented by William Penn and his daughter Letitia.	[10]
1716	309	Concord's Colonial Inn	unknown	Concord	Massachusetts	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	[11]
1719	306	Spring House Tavern	unknown	Spring House	Pennsylvania	40.18519°N 75.22749°W / 40.18519; -75.22749	American soldiers were stationed here during 1778	[12][13]
1728	297	The Red Fox Inn & Tavern	Joseph Chinn	Middleburg	Virginia	38.9681°N 77.7364°W / 38.9681; -77.7364	Oldest continuously operating inn and tavern in Virginia	[14]
1737	288	Stage House Tavern	John Sutton	Scotch Plains	New Jersey	40.65137°N 74.39857°W / 40.65137; -74.39857	Originally called the Stage House Inn. It's rumored that Gen. George Washington enjoyed a pint or two there.	[15]
1742	283	Black Horse Tavern & Pub	Ebenezer Byram	Mendham	New Jersey	40.7760096°N 74.6013081°W / 40.7760096; -74.6013081	Started out as just an Inn	[16][9][17]
1743	282	The Clinton House	unknown	Clinton	New Jersey	40.6352389°N 74.9145386°W / 40.6352389; -74.9145386		[16][9]
1743	282	The Blue Bell Inn	unknown	Blue Bell	Pennsylvania	40.15619°N 75.26693°W	Originally known as the White Horse Inn, George Washington and his troops are said to have frequented the inn during the Battle of Germantown.	[18]
1745	280	Rocky Hill Inn	Harrison family	Rocky Hill	New Jersey	40.3997905°N 74.636788°W / 40.3997905; -74.636788		[16][19]
1754	271	The '76 House	Casparus Mabie	Tappan	New York	41.019666588°N 73.941996232°W / 41.019666588; -73.941996232	Oldest restaurant New York state.	The '76 House, Retrieved August 8, 2021
1762	263	Fraunces Tavern	Samuel Fraunces	New York City	New York	40.703394°N 74.011335°W / 40.703394; -74.011335	Oldest standing structure in Manhattan	[4][20][21][7]
1775	250	The Horse You Came in On Saloon	unknown	Baltimore	Maryland	39.28151°N 76.59417°W / 39.28151; -76.59417	Oldest continuously operating saloon in the United States
1776	249	The Griswold Inn	Sala Griswold	Essex	Connecticut	41.3512692°N 72.3868961°W / 41.3512692; -72.3868961	Oldest Inn in America	[4][22][23][7]
1779	246	Old Talbott Tavern	George Talbott	Bardstown	Kentucky	37.80905°N 85.46750°W / 37.80905; -85.46750	Oldest western stagecoach stop still in operation
1780	245	The Cranbury Inn	unknown	Cranbury	New Jersey	40.3078249°N 74.5178106°W / 40.3078249; -74.5178106	Built in 1750 and 1765 as a place to eat, drink, get horses and rest.	[24][16][25][9]
1780	245	Warren Tavern	Eliphelet Newell	Charlestown	Massachusetts	42.3741169°N 71.0633136°W / 42.3741169; -71.0633136		[26][27]
1783	242	The Milleridge Inn	Mary Willets	Jericho	New York	40.791607669553045, −73.5377810359943	Started by Quakers; quartered soldiers during the American Revolution; house became inn in 1783	[28]
1785	240	Gadsby's Tavern	John Wise	Alexandria	Virginia	38.8056197°N 77.043648°W / 38.8056197; -77.043648 (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	[29]
1795	230	Bell in Hand Tavern	Jimmy Wilson	Boston	Massachusetts	42.3614873°N 71.0570777°W / 42.3614873; -71.0570777	Oldest continuously operating tavern in US (except for Prohibition)	[27]
1803	222	The Golden Lamb	Jonas Seaman	Lebanon	Ohio	39.433611°N 84.208333°W / 39.433611; -84.208333	Oldest continuously operated inn and restaurant in Ohio	[30]
1826	199	Union Oyster House	Hawes Atwood	Boston	Massachusetts	42.3612904°N 71.0569038°W / 42.3612904; -71.0569038	Oldest continuously operated restaurant in America	[4][31][7]
1831	194	New Hudson Inn	Unknown	New Hudson	Michigan	42.5116556°N 83.6148471°W / 42.5116556; -83.6148471	Oldest business in Michigan	[32]
1834	191	J. Huston Tavern	Joseph Huston, Sr.	Arrow Rock	Missouri	39.0699503°N 92.9450889°W / 39.0699503; -92.9450889	Oldest continuously serving restaurant west of the Mississippi River	[33][34][35]
1838	187	Arnold's Bar and Grill	Susan Fawcett	Cincinnati	Ohio	39°06′19″N 84°30′36″W	Oldest continuously operating bar in Ohio	[36][37]
1840	185	Antoine's	Antoine Alciatore	New Orleans	Louisiana	29.9567166°N 90.0664811°W / 29.9567166; -90.0664811	Oldest family-run restaurant in America	[4][38][39][7]
1848	177	La Mallorquina	Antonio Vidal Llinás	San Juan	Puerto Rico	18.46532°N 66.11524°W / 18.46532; -66.11524	Claims to be first restaurant in Puerto Rico
1849	176	Tadich Grill	Nikola Budrovich Frano Kosta Antonio Gasparich	San Francisco	California	37.7934198°N 122.399472°W / 37.7934198; -122.399472 (moved here in 1967)	Oldest continuously running restaurant in California	[4][40][7]
1852 (August 23)	173	Breitbach's Country Dining	founder unknown	Balltown	Iowa	42.627308°N 90.82037°W / 42.627308; -90.82037	Oldest restaurant in Iowa	[4][41][7]
1854	171	McSorley's Old Ale House	John McSorley	New York City	New York	40.7288135°N 73.9896631°W / 40.7288135; -73.9896631	Oldest Irish saloon in NYC and one of the last of the "Men Only" pubs, admitting women only after legally being forced to do so in 1970	[42]
1856	169	Old Ebbitt Grill	William Ebbitt	Washington	District of Columbia	38.898056°N 77.0333288°W / 38.898056; -77.0333288 (moved here in 1983)	Oldest saloon in Washington	[43][7]
1857	168	Gluek's Restaurant & Bar	Gottlieb Gluek	Minneapolis	Minnesota	44.9794701°N 93.2739892°W / 44.9794701; -93.2739892	Oldest continuously operated business in Minneapolis	[44][7]
1860	165	McGillin's Olde Ale House	Catherine McGillin William McGillin	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	39.9502014°N 75.1625754°W / 39.9502014; -75.1625754	Oldest bar in Philadelphia	[4][45][7]
1861	164	The Old Clam House	founder unknown	San Francisco	California	37.7430779°N 122.4048487°W / 37.7430779; -122.4048487	Began as a bar in 1891. Became a restaurant in 1940.	[46][47]
1864	161	Pete's Tavern	founder unknown	New York City	New York (state)	40.6478789°N 73.9626685°W / 40.6478789; -73.9626685	Oldest continuously operated bar in New York City	[48][7]
1866	159	Scholz Garten	August Scholz	Austin, Texas	Texas	30°16′40″N 97°44′11″W	Oldest restaurant in Texas	[49]
1867	158	Sam's Grill & Seafood Restaurant	Michael Bolan Moraghan	San Francisco	California	37.7909164°N 122.4034528°W / 37.7909164; -122.4034528	Opened during California gold rush	[50][51]
1870	155	Claudio's Tavern	Manuel Claudio	Greenport	New York (state)	41.1018204°N 72.3590323°W / 41.1018204; -72.3590323	Oldest restaurant continuously owned by the same family (until 2018)	[52][7]
1870	155	Original Oyster House	Hugh Lynn	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	40.440748°N 80.002375°W / 40.440748; -80.002375	Oldest bar and restaurant in Pittsburgh	[53]
1870	155	Weidmann's	Felix Weidmann	Meridian	Mississippi	32.363020°N 88.699006°W / 32.363020; -88.699006	Oldest restaurant in Mississippi	[54]
1879	146	Huber's	Huber	Portland	Oregon	45.5200272°N 122.6748297°W / 45.5200272; -122.6748297	Oldest restaurant in Oregon	[55]
1885	140	Tivoli Bar and Grill	Angelo and Giovanni "John" Della Maggiora	San Diego	California	32°42′38″N 117°9′32.3″W	Oldest bar/restaurant in San Diego	[56][57] [58][59]
1885	140	Keens Steakhouse	Albert Keen	New York City	New York (state)	40.750773°N 73.9864091°W / 40.750773; -73.9864091	Only remaining business of what was the Herald Square Theater District	[60][7]
1886	139	Fior d'Italia	Angelo Del Monte	San Francisco	California	37.8043304°N 122.413506°W / 37.8043304; -122.413506	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.	[61]
1887	138	Browne's Irish Market & Deli	Ed and Mary Flavin	Kansas City	Missouri	39.0676114°N 94.5928806°W / 39.0676114; -94.5928806	Oldest Irish business in North America Oldest retail business in Kansas City	[62][63][64]
1887	138	Peter Luger Steak House	Peter Luger	Brooklyn	New York (state)	40.7098661°N 73.9625564°W / 40.7098661; -73.9625564	New York's top-rated Zagat steakhouse	[65][7]
1888	137	Katz's Delicatessen	Morris Iceland Hyman Iceland	New York City	New York (state)	40.7223431°N 73.987353°W / 40.7223431; -73.987353 (moved here in 1970)	New York's oldest deli	[66][7]
1893 (November 17)	132	Buckhorn Exchange	Henry Zietz	Denver	Colorado	39.7322529°N 105.0051124°W / 39.7322529; -105.0051124	First liquor license in Colorado	[4][67][7]
1893	132	Commander's Palace	Emile Commander	New Orleans	Louisiana	29.928869°N 90.084213°W / 29.928869; -90.084213	Oldest continuously operated restaurant in Uptown New Orleans	[68][69][7]
1898	127	Louis' Lunch	Louis Lassen	New Haven	Connecticut	41.306370°N 72.930382°W / 41.306370; -72.930382	one of the oldest hamburger restaurants	[4][70][7]
1895	130	The Berghoff	Herman Berghoff	Chicago	Illinois	41°52′45.5″N 87°37′42.2″W	German restaurant	[71]
1896	129	Rao's	Raos	New York City	New York (state)	40°47′38.16″N 73°56′3.2″W	One of the country's oldest family-owned restaurants running in its original location.	[72]

Closures

Samuel Cole opened Cole's Inn 391 years ago on March 4, 1634, and was the first tavern in America. It was on Washington St., now Downtown Crossing, in Boston, Massachusetts. The building was destroyed by fire in 1711, 314 years ago.^[73]

Buckman Tavern was built 315 years ago in 1710 by Benjamin Muzzey (1657–1735). His license was granted 332 years ago in 1693. It was the first public house in Lexington, Massachusetts. His great-granddaughter and her husband John Buckman owned it at the time of the Battles of Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775). Several dozen militiamen gathered there to await the arrival of the British troops. It ceased restaurant operations in the 1910s and is now a museum.^[74]

Boston landmark Durgin-Park was founded 151 years ago in 1874, and closed its doors on January 12, 2019, after operating for approximately 145 years.

Jack's Restaurant was opened 162 years ago in 1863 by George Voges in downtown San Francisco, California.^[75] It became a brewery in 2002, and permanently closed in May 2009, 16 years ago. It has been a San Francisco landmark since 1981.^[76]

The Jacob Wirth Restaurant was founded 157 years ago in 1868, operated for 150 years in Boston before permanently closing 7 years ago on June 9, 2018, after a fire damaged the building.^[77][78]

Jules Maes Saloon had been open since 137 years ago in 1888 and was possibly the oldest restaurant in Seattle, but it closed permanently 5 years ago in July 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.^[79][80]

See also

• Tavern
• Inn