The World's Oldest Restaurants
We've all experienced the pain and heartbreak of losing our favorite restaurant. You know, the one you stumbled upon by chance and fell in love with only to find it shuttered a few months later. Especially in bigger cities, resturants and bars close and open frequently, and the few establishments that pass the 50-mark of years stayed in business are cetainly considered "old." But if taking a closer look at restaurants here in America and around the world, you will find that there are some restaurants that continue to stand the test of time.
Click here to see The World's Oldest Restaurants (Slideshow)
We're talking about an ancient, centuries-old mainstay that opened under the reign of Louis the Great, and fed creative geniuses like Anton Chekhov and Ernest Hemingway; a world-renowned venue that started out as a small bacon oyster house that fed nobles like former President John F. Kennedy and Daniel Webster, and is now deemed an official National Historic Landmark; and a 1,200-year-old Austrian haunt that shares its walls with a monastery. There are many more of these indelible spots still up and running, which continue to cater to locals and tourists alike. Most restaurants, such as La Tour d'Argent in Paris, France, and Sobrino de Botín in Madrid, Spain, offer to the most part unchanged menus with traditional dishes from their local region. The Union Oyster House in Boston proudly announces that their seafood selections "have always been prepared and served with the same commitment to freshness and quality" since the restaurant opened in 1826. Maybe part of the secret to the long lasting success of these restaurants is exactly that: not to change, but to stick to the classic dishes and cooking-style that made the restaurants famous in the first place.
We at The Daily Meal decided to take a closer look at some of the oldest restaurants around the world, to see where they are located and how they have changed (or not changed) since fist opened. From the oldest vegetarian eatery in Zurich to the early-19th-century seafood haven in Beantown, USA, these historical gastronomic destinations will leave adventurous food lovers itching to book a table — and reaching for their frequent flyer miles. To see some of the world's oldest restaurants, and what specialty dishes they serve, click through our slideshow.