The Oldest Restaurant In America Is A True Historic Landmark
Relative to most of the world, America feels like a pretty new country. It's easy to think that there are not many centuries-old buildings here and certainly no old restaurants. But, while the first modern restaurant is in Europe, the U.S. does have one on the list of the oldest restaurants in the world that was established long ago in the late 1600s – The White Horse Tavern in Newport, Rhode Island.
Originally constructed as a home in 1652 for the judge and book collector Francis Brinley, it was converted to a tavern in 1673 by William Mayes, Sr., who purchased it from Brinley. The building was used as a meeting hall for the Colony's governing bodies. Mayes' son — a retired pirate — William Mayes, Jr., settled down and took over the tavern in 1702, where he acquired a license to sell alcohol. For the next two centuries (apart from 3 years when the British took over and the Mayes did not wish to be under the same roof as the British), the tavern remained in the family.
What it's like to dine at the White Horse Tavern today
A lot of work has gone into keeping up the White Horse Tavern. The building fell into disrepair until The Preservation Society of Newport County took over in 1953. The Society ran it as a restaurant in order to pay for renovations. It wasn't until Rhode Island passed the Historic Tavern Act in 1969 that it could return to serving alcohol, making it the oldest bar in the state of Rhode Island.
With historic buildings, repairs must be made with historical materials, so renovations mean that when you dine there, you are dining in the past. You can sit and drink in the same room where Benjamin Franklin and George Washington drank. Now owned by a local Newport-based group, today's menu differs from that of the 1700s, with elevated tavern food such as duck Scotch Egg, beef Wellington, and lobster ravioli. But, while the food may look different, the inside does not. Legend has it the flooring was originally made from colonial ships, and you can still smell the smoke from 350 years of fires in the giant central hearth.