Celebrate America 250 With the Oldest Restaurant in Each State
Take a delicious trip back in time.
By Kristy Alpert
American cuisine has changed a lot over the country’s history, where ketchups were once made with mushrooms or wild blueberries and foraging was a way of life, not a trend. This year, as the country celebrates its 250th birthday, few will likely be commemorating with bowls of turtle soup or pickled oysters or even johnnycakes as the founding fathers might have done after declaring the colonies a free and independent nation in Philadelphia back in 1776.
Instead, we’ll be sharing tapas with friends. We’ll be occupying entire picnic tables with red baskets filled with smoked meats. And, sure, maybe even heading to the tavern to debate politics over a pint. And that’s because, even though the menus may have changed, the long-standing American tradition of going out to share a meal together remains the same.
Dining out in America has always been something to celebrate, and few restaurants embrace that better than the ones that have been here the longest. In nearly every state, from Revolutionary War-period taverns in New England to Gold Rush holdovers in the West, America’s oldest restaurants offer us a direct line to our country’s roots.
Some have been around longer than the Declaration of Independence and were quite literally the “room where it happened,” while others are continuing to make headlines for their innovative spins on American fare. From Texas to Washington to Maine, the landscape of nostalgia-fueled restaurants holds so many surprises. As a 250th birthday surprise to you (and yours), we’ve tracked down the oldest restaurant in every state, organized alphabetically by state here.
Huzzah!