The Philadelphia Tavern Where The Founding Fathers Celebrated The First 4th Of July

Up until 1776, July 4 was just another date on the calendar. On that day, however, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, laying the groundwork for the original 13 colonies to transform into the United States of America. A year later, with the Revolutionary War entering its third year of fighting, a Philadelphia tavern hosted the very first Independence Day celebration. We're not sure what was on the menu at City Tavern in 1777, but it was undoubtedly a far cry from the backyard-charred hot dogs and hamburgers cooked for today's Fourth of July festivities. The libations likely didn't run to blue cocktails, either, although they may have included Philadelphia fish house punch. This colonial-era mixture of rum, brandy, lemon juice, sugar, and tea can still be found on the menu of another historic Pennsylvania tavern, Gettysburg's Dobbin House.

City Tavern was a fairly new establishment when it hosted the first-ever Fourth of July festivities, having opened just three and a half years earlier. The tavern's first incarnation lasted about 60 years. During this time, it notched up a number of other historic events, including a visit from Paul Revere and several from George Washington. A month after the inaugural Fourth of July party, it served as the Continental Army's headquarters for a few days. A decade later, the signers of the Constitution gathered there for dinner shortly after appending their names to the document. Unfortunately, an 1834 fire did serious damage to the tavern, and the remains were razed two decades later. The building that now bears the name was built in 1975 as a replica.

In 1976, as the United States was celebrating its Bicentennial, the reconstructed City Tavern opened for business. It stayed true to its colonial theme with costumed servers, and certain menu items like pepperpot stew and turkey pot pie were at least colonial-inspired if not cooked exactly as they'd have been back in the day. The menu did make concessions to modern diners with dishes like fried tofu, but even there, it appended an anecdote about Benjamin Franklin instructing a friend on how to make Chinese-style "cheese" out of something that historians have determined was likely soybeans. (It was some type of legume, at any rate.)

Despite its efforts to blend both old and new, the tavern drew mixed reviews, with Yelpers awarding it just 3.8 stars. Many were charmed by the ambiance, but not everyone was impressed with the food, and there were complaints about high prices and slow service. City Tavern closed its doors in November 2020, most likely due to pandemic-related struggles. As of 2022, the National Park Service, which administers the site, was looking for a new operator to run the tavern. However, to date, there don't seem to have been any takers. Too bad, since it would make for some nice historical symmetry if City Tavern 3.0 could open in time for the Semiquincentennial in 2026.