One of the things that people miss more than anything else during the pandemic is going out to a restaurant. In many areas, restaurants are open again but there is always at least a little concern when you pull up a chair and sit down.
If restaurants have been on your mind, you will be interested in this map that shows the oldest restaurant in every country around the world. When things do get back to normal again, whatever “normal” happens to be, we will have the opportunity to eat at those old eateries, enjoying the fact that we are sitting where others have sat for centuries.
The oldest restaurant in the world, according to a NetCredit survey is St. Peter Stiftskulinarium in Salzburg, Austria. It has been around since it was founded in 803, so 12 centuries of history! The second on the list is Wurtskuchl, which means “sausage kitchen” in Regensburg, Germany. That restaurant got its start in 1146.
Europe is home to eight out of the top 10 oldest restaurants in the world, including Scotland’s Sheep Heid Inn, France’s La Couronne, and Wales’ aptly named The Old House. In fourth place is Ma Yu Ching’s Bucket Chicken House in Kaifeng, China, which got its start in 1153. Honke Owariya is a restaurant in Japan that opened in 1465 as a confectionery but later was known for serving soba.
If you compare the ages of those restaurants with the oldest restaurants in North America, there really is not much of a comparison. The oldest restaurant in the United States was founded in 1673. It is the White Horse Tavern in Newport, Rhode Island. Interestingly, it was founded by William Mayes, who just so happened to be a pirate. It wasn’t long before the local government was holding meetings at the restaurant and the Mayes family held onto the eatery for 200 years or so.
About 150 years after the White Horse Tavern was established, a tamale shop opened in Bogotá, Colombia, and was known as “La Puerta Falsa” (the false door) by locals. It was situated in the wall of a cathedral that was nearby. The little restaurant is now the oldest in South America.
The data is not necessarily hard and fast for this study that was conducted. It happened online, but researchers did look for evidence of the oldest restaurant in the country. If they couldn’t find evidence, the area was grayed out.
In Africa, the oldest restaurant is Tunisia’s El M’Rabet, even though there may be older restaurants in nearby Sudan or Libya. Those other restaurants just don’t have a presence on social media or their own website.