The history of New York City is unthinkable without a story about the city’s culinary traditions and its historic restaurants.
Fraunces Tavern (1762).
According to city historians, this is the oldest operating restaurant in New York City. True, there is still controversy about the year of construction of the building in which it is located. The brick house appeared in 1719 or 1722 and was later rebuilt several times, so some skeptics question its authenticity. We have told about the history of this building in a separate article.
Ear Inn (1817)
Tourists strolling among the boutiques of SoHo don’t wander here. It’s a cozy little cafe nestled at the very end of Spring Street, near the Hudson River waterfront.
The Ear Bar building was built in 1770 to honor James Brown, an African-American soldier who fought on George Washington’s side and was known for his many heroic deeds. His image, some historians claim, is even immortalized in a painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware River.
In those days, the banks of the Hudson had not yet been embanked; the water splashed just a few feet from Soldier James Brown’s home, and the first place the sailors went ashore was the inn, now known as the Ear Inn.
Neir’s Tavern (1829)
Originally called the Blue Pompa Tavern in Woodhaven, Queens, it was notorious for being frequented by fans of the nearby Union Course. They drank cheap rum, made a lot of noise, and behaved inappropriately. Soon this haven of rowdy fans changed its name to the Old Abbey, but that, alas, didn’t change.
The reputation of the place improved only in 1898, when the tavern was bought by Louis Nair.
Delmonico’s (1837)
The first luxury restaurant in America was opened by the Delmonico brothers on Beaver Street in Manhattan’s financial district. Betting on gourmets who could afford a luxurious meal paid off almost immediately. Delmonico’s boasted not only luxurious private offices and the largest wine cellar in the city, but also such exclusive dishes as Baked Alaska salmon, Lobster Newburg, chicken a la Keene and eggs Benedict.
Killmeyer’s Old Bavaria Inn (1855)
“Old Bavaria, the oldest restaurant on Staten Island, is located directly across from Manhattan on Arthur Kill Road. No one knows exactly what year this house was built. According to local writer Patricia Salmon, part of the building was built in 1845 and before the tavern there were residential apartments and a store. Ten years later the house was bought by Baltasar Kreischer, a local brick magnate, who a couple of years later resold it to Nicholas Killmeyer, whose family had owned the building for nearly a century.