The Union Oyster House Has Been Serving Since 1826
A future king of France lived upstairs, Daniel Webster ate oysters by the plate, and the toothpick may have caught on here.
The Union Oyster House on Union Street opened as a restaurant on October 7, 1826, under the name Atwood & Bacon Oyster House. It’s often called the oldest restaurant in the country that has been open continuously. The building itself is older, finished around 1716.
Who’s been through
- Louis-Philippe, later king of France, lived on the second floor in 1796 while in exile, teaching French to pay the bills.
- Daniel Webster, the senator, was known to put away at least six plates of oysters at a sitting.
- The Kennedys were regulars.
There’s also a story that the toothpick caught on in America here. Around 1890, Charles Forster, who was trying to sell them, supposedly paid Harvard students to eat at the restaurant and ask for toothpicks, and it started handing them out.
It became a National Historic Landmark in 2003. It sits in the Blackstone Block by Faneuil Hall, where a new patisserie is opening down the street. For a show nearby, the White Bull runs comedy on Fridays.
Sources: Wikipedia: Union Oyster House.
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