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A Tale of Two Restaurants
But Only One City
I am aware I have stolen the idea for my title from Charles Dickens and I may be pushing my luck with this story, but I was struggling to find something to write about and this straw floated into sight, so I clutched at it.
I recently read about two restaurants vying for the title of being the oldest restaurant in London. I am not going to go too deeply in the history of either of them, but I will give you a glimpse of their backgrounds.
The first one is Wiltons, founded by George William Wilton, who began selling oysters from a barrow in 1742. This method of selling oysters was continued by the Wilton family until 1840 when the demand for eating sitting down grew, since then the Wiltons restaurant has moved several times and is now situated in Jermyn Street, London.
The other establishment jousting for the title of London’s oldest restaurant is Rules.
Rules, like Wiltons, owes its existence to an oyster seller. Thomas Rule set up his barrow and began selling oysters on Maiden Lane in 1798. In 1848 his son took up a lease on number 36 Maiden Lane and has remained there ever since.
Whether the fact that Rules has remained at the same address for 177 years gives them the edge on who is London’s oldest restaurant I will let wiser people than me…
