The New York Restaurant Where George Washington Celebrated His Revolutionary Victory

Nestled on a corner in lower Manhattan's high-powered Financial District is a three-story brick building that's home to the oldest restaurant in New York. Established in 1762, Fraunces Tavern is not only older than the United States, it played a role in the new nation winning the Revolutionary War. George Washington celebrated the victory at the tavern after the war ended and said farewell there before returning home to Virginia.

The building (now a national landmark) was built in 1719 and had been, among other things, a private home and a boarding house before Samuel Fraunces bought it in 1762 and opened what soon became known as the Queen's Head Tavern. It became a prominent location in the revolutionary period, a place where many of the Founding Fathers gathered and the Sons of Liberty met as they planned their anti-British activities. It also served as a headquarters for Washington, who first visited the tavern in April 1776 and likely enjoyed wine there, considering he drank so much of it.

A celebration with Washington present was held at the tavern on November 25, 1783, Evacuation Day, when the last British soldiers in the country left from New York. Days later, on December 4, Washington thanked his officers and said goodbye to them in an emotional gathering, the most famous event in the tavern's long history. Today, a museum that opened after a 1907 building restoration is on the two top floors, and the Fraunces Tavern restaurant is on the ground floor.

Samuel Fraunces was a good cook, and he made some of the dishes at his tavern himself, the desserts in particular. Some of the food he served included beef steaks, mutton, pork chops, veal cutlets, soup, and pickled or fried oysters.

Washington is said to have liked Fraunces' food and called him "an excellent cook" in a letter he wrote to Tobias Lear (via National Archives). Fraunces Tavern noted that Washington liked to eat the chicken pot pie there. The 1975 book, "The Thirteen Colonies Cookbook," published a carrot cake recipe it said the tavern served at the Evacuation Day party, so Washington likely sampled the dessert. After he became president, Washington hired Fraunces as his household's chief steward, which included supervising the cooking, like the preparation of the Colonial Era dessert served at Washington's family celebrations.

Fraunces Tavern isn't one of the NYC restaurants with a Michelin star, but they do have a great chicken pot pie. The recipe has been fine-tuned by the chef and is the best-selling dish. Oysters are still on the menu as well, but served raw on the half shell. Patrons can order a cocktail called presidential punch, made with rye whiskey, orange liqueur, rum, bitters, lemon juice, and peach iced tea. The drink also nods to the tavern's history, since the Founding Fathers were big fans of boozy punches.