It’s no secret that the restaurant business has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Restaurants thrive on social interaction and dining room capacity limits and the on-again-off-again bans on indoor service have shrunk their customer base, and forced an increasing number of them to make the difficult decision to close for good. Here, for example, are the saddest restaurant closings of 2020.
Particularly lamentable is the demise of institutions that have served their communities for generations, often under the same family ownership — places like the 84-year-old Louis’ in San Francisco, the 87-year-old El Chapultepec in Denver, the 91-year-old “21” Club in Manhattan, and downtown L.A.’s century-old Pacific Dining Car.
On the other hand, some old restaurants have thus far managed to survive, and — remarkably — at least seven of them around the country are more than 150 years old.
Click here to see 6 American restaurants that have been around for more than 150 years
Coming up with a definitive list of such places is tricky. Some have closed and reopened more than once. Some have changed locations. The contemporary incarnation of Fraunces Tavern in downtown New York City, for instance, opened in 1762 and once frequented by George Washington, has no discernible connection to the original beyond occupying the same building.
And is it fair to count bars and taverns that may or may not have served something to eat over the years, like the 1776-vintage Tap Room at the Griswold Inn in Essex, Connecticut? Maybe, but they’re not included here. (These are the oldest bars in every state.)
Historians and local advocates might propose other places that should be on this list, but according to research done by 24/7 Tempo, these are America’s oldest restaurants.
Source: Old Homestead Steakhouse / Facebook
Old Homestead Steakhouse
> Location: New York, New York
> Year opened: 1868
Considered the oldest steakhouse in America, this establishment was opened under the name Tidewater Trading Post by a German family. In the 1940s, a dishwasher at the restaurant, Harry Sherry, took it over and passed it along to his descendants.
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Source: Courtesy of Schloz Garten
Schloz Garten
> Location: Austin, Texas
> Year opened: 1866
August Schloz, a German immigrant who had served in the Confederate Army, opened this place as a beer garden. It became a favorite with the area’s considerable Bavarian and Prussian population, and today is a noted gathering place for University of Texas students.
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The Old Clam House
> Location: San Francisco, California
> Year opened: 1861
Originally called the Oakdale Bar & Clam House, this Bay Area institution opened the year Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated. The bar portion of the building dates from the establishment’s founding, allowing the place to call itself the oldest San Francisco restaurant still in its original location.
Source: Courtesy of Hays House Restaurant via Facebook
Hays House
> Location: Council Grove, Kansas
> Year opened: 1857
Today a National Historic Landmark, Hays House dates its beginnings back to the time that Seth Hays, Daniel Boone’s great-grandson, built a log cabin on the site as a trading post that also served food.
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Breitbach’s Country Dining
> Location: Balltown, Iowa
> Year opened: 1852
Iowa’s oldest continuously operating bar and restaurant, this place was originally a trading post. The Breitbach family, which bought it in 1891, has run it ever since. Its continuity was interrupted twice when fire destroyed the building in 2007 and again the following year, but it continues to thrive in its third incarnation.
Tadich Grill
> Location: San Francisco, California
> Year opened: 1849
First opened as a coffee stand, this place grew into a sit-down restaurant. John Tadich, a Croatian immigrant, bought it in 1887 and named it for himself. The Buich family, also Croatian, took it over in 1928 and their descendents still operate it. The establishment moved to a new location in 1967.
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