JFK's Favorite Restaurant Is Also The Oldest In Boston

There's long been a fascination with the private lives of U.S. presidents, whether it's knowing the restaurants they loved to patronize or the foods they loved to eat. The public's fixation on the eating habits of our Commanders-In-Chief spans centuries. President John F. Kennedy's favorite restaurant, for instance, is also the oldest one still operating in Boston.

Before becoming president, Kennedy ate at Union Oyster House so often (apparently, he loved the lobster stew) that a booth in the upstairs dining room, table 18, is dedicated to him with a plaque. It's said the late president would settle in with a newspaper during his solo Sunday lunchtime visits to the Boston landmark. President Kennedy's father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., also loved the food from Union Oyster House, often having the clam chowder sent to his office at nearby Fanueil Hall.

While that clam chowder is still on the menu, unfortunately, JFK's favorite stew is not. However, fans of the crustacean can still enjoy lobster rolls — a New England favorite — or a dish called lazy man's lobster, consisting of chunks of meat baked with sherry and cream. The city's favorite dessert has a place on the menu, too, because what would a meal in Boston be without a slice of the iconic cream pie?

Union Oyster House is Boston's oldest restaurant and the longest-continuously operating restaurant in the country; the structure where it operates today predates the Revolution. In 1742, the building operated as a high-end dress shop — a place to have your petticoats custom-made and have a dressmaker recreate the latest styles from Paris. However, in 1826, the dress shop closed and reopened as a restaurant called Atwood & Bacon, offering oysters, clams, scallops, and an assortment of pies for dessert. In 1926, the name was changed to Union Oyster House.

A-list celebrities such as Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, and Paul Newman are just some of the big film stars who have also dined at Union Oyster House. Additionally, Will Farrell and Ryan Reynolds had dinner there while shooting a movie in Boston.

President Kennedy wasn't the only president to grace the tables at Union Oyster House; Calvin Coolidge, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama were also patrons. Still, every year on the date when President Kennedy was assassinated, the restaurant reserves table 18 and places a single white rose in memory of Boston's favorite son.