Oldest Restaurants in Town

[Joe H]

On a lighter note I remember standing in line on 15th street for hours waiting for Keith's to open in 1962. Several hundred of us had camped out for the opening of From Russia With Love. Sean Connery's Doctor No had really awakened this city to long lines he year before at the same theatre.

The Warner, then, was still the theatre of choice with Ben Hur having played there. The Capital on F street was D. C.'s largest theatre with over 5,000 seats!

[ledervin]

Killer scoop Donrocks!

So Old Angler's Inn takes the cake.... since old Ebbitt was down for a while...

A few add on discussions:

1. Has the test of time proven these to be among the most tasty restaurants in town. Or simply, since they've been there so long, they don't owe rent, and are more easy to sustain?

2. What's to say of new swank restaurants, the Palena's, Nectar, Citronelle's of DC. Cater to what's hot right now and will be out of business in 10 years guaranteed? Or, have captured the trend and a few of the strong will proliferate?

2. What restaurant has the longest same family legacy in DC?

[DonRocks]

2.  What's to say of new swank restaurants, the Palena's, Nectar, Citronelle's of DC.  Cater to what's hot right now and will be out of business in 10 years guaranteed?  Or, have captured the trend and a few of the strong will proliferate?

The cream will rise to the top my friend ... and, if you study the above list, you'll see that it often curdles once it gets there!

[Suzanne F]

There is going to be a devastating announcement in the Post on Saturday that will make this topic strangely opportunistic.

I'm waiting with bated breath.

[Mark Sommelier]

Killer scoop Donrocks!

So Old Angler's Inn takes the cake.... since old Ebbitt was down for a while...

A few add on discussions:

1. Has the test of time proven these to be among the most tasty restaurants in town. Or simply, since they've been there so long, they don't owe rent, and are more easy to sustain?

2. What's to say of new swank restaurants, the Palena's, Nectar, Citronelle's of DC. Cater to what's hot right now and will be out of business in 10 years guaranteed? Or, have captured the trend and a few of the strong will proliferate?

2. What restaurant has the longest same family legacy in DC?

I helped open Citronelle 11 1/2 years ago. Palena and Nectar are young compared.

[Joe H]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004Aug20.html is the announcement I referred to in my earlier post.

[Mark Sommelier]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004Aug20.html is the announcement I referred to in my earlier post.

This is old news.

[ledervin]

Killer scoop Donrocks!

So Old Angler's Inn takes the cake.... since old Ebbitt was down for a while...

A few add on discussions:

1.  Has the test of time proven these to be among the most tasty restaurants in town.  Or simply, since they've been there so long, they don't owe rent, and are more easy to sustain?

2.  What's to say of new swank restaurants, the Palena's, Nectar, Citronelle's of DC.  Cater to what's hot right now and will be out of business in 10 years guaranteed?  Or, have captured the trend and a few of the strong will proliferate?

2.  What restaurant has the longest same family legacy in DC?

I helped open Citronelle 11 1/2 years ago. Palena and Nectar are young compared.

Just naming a few examples of high end nouveau style resto's....no offense there Mark S.

But while where on the topic, how about who's the oldest high end nouveau cuisine restaurant in town?

[Joe H]

To the original topic:

The Wayside Inn in Middletown started in 1797. This is a link to some info about them: http://www.alongthewayside.com/history.asp

Reeves Bakery started in 1886. Their website: http://www.reevesbakery.com/

Jerry's Subs started in 1946 on Kennedy Street, N. W. later moving to Wheaton in the year Rocks listed. A couple of doors down from it on Kennedy was Weihle's who moved to Langley Park about the same time. Jerry's was named after their son. The couple who originally owned it (his name was Sol) have their own history, very similar to Seinfeld's "Soup Nazi." There was one way of making a sub and only one-their's. It wasn't until they sold to another couple (Max and ?) in the '70's that the place really acquired a reputation. Yet the food was exactly the same. Later, a couple of guys who worked there while going to MD bought it and built it into what it is today. There are major differences, though, from even the '70's. Hot peppers then were mixed with pickle juice!

I suppose Nora is the longest running nouveau cuisine better restaurant.

The Pizza Pantry on Walter Reed Drive in Arlington, The Pizza Ovens in East Pines and Rockville all date to the '50's. Freddie's Variety Stand on Eastern Avenue in Silver Spring has been serving half smokes at least since the early '50's; I believe it predates Ben's Chili Bowl. Hodges has been selling roast beef sandwiches on New York Avenue since at least the time of JFK.

Remarkably a number of fast food restaurants have lasted a long time. The first McDonald's was/is on Richmond Highway in Hybla Valley, opening in the late '50's, the first Wendy's wasn't too far away also on Richmond Highway (early '70's) and the Krispy Kreme in Groveton predates both back to the late '40's/early '50's. Driving through Charlottesville last night I noticed that a Krispy Kreme there, which only opened within the last six or seven years, has already gone out of business.

[Mark Sommelier]

Just for the sake of pedantry, the style of "new cooking" that arose in France and then America in the early 80's was called Nouvelle Cuisine. I do not know of a single chef cooking today who refers to his/her food as Nouvelle Cuisine anymore.

Edited August 22, 2004 by Mark Sommelier (log)

[Joe H]

I think there are also other emotions that enter into these discussions sometimes. On the L'auberge thread we are basically discussing one of the very few-VERY FEW-restaurants that have successfully survived for as long as they have. To put this in perspective I drove through Silver Spring a week ago for the first time in several years. I grew up there in the '50's and '60's and moved to Reston in 1988 after living in both D. C. and Montgomery County in the '70's and '80's.

There were only three places that I saw in business that I remembered from the '60's: Crisfield, Mrs. K's and Eddie's Variety Stand on Eastern Avenue. Every other place that I remember from 40 years ago was gone. Most were gone from twenty years ago when I last lived there. I would say the same about Bethesda and downtown D. C. having lived in both places. The percentage of restaurants that survive 20 years, let alone 40 years (let alone 5 years!) is tiny.

For someone who invests in a restaurant, who works in a restaurant, who spends their whole life in one of the most labor intensive, time consuming, exhausting businesses there is it must be especially frustrating trying to find the formula for the kind of success that the "dinosaurs" have found. The Alpine on Lee Highway in Arlington is certainly not a world class Italian restaurant. Yet it is successful and has been around seemingly forever. As has L'auberge. I think for those in the industry that look at restaurants like these (and Mrs, K's and the nondescript Crisfield's) and try to understand why they have lasted so long it can be particularly frustrating. Especially when one's own money and time and labor are involved in making a commitment that their restaurant has THE formula to also survive as the others. I believe that it is here, in trying to understand the success that the differences occur. L'auberge is the case in point.

One more thought: having lived in both suburban Maryland and suburban Virginia as well as downtown there are very real differences in the perspectives of those who live in these respective areas. Many who live downtown tend look down on those who live in the suburbs. Many in the suburbs refuse to go downtown for their own (for me) misperceptions. Sometimes these personal valuations tend to crop up on these boards, sometimes they may tend to influence opinions.

I am reintroducing this post because I thought it might be interesting, especially for those who are in the industry and post on these boards. Also, because from time to time I detect an "attitude" of those who live in the city while at other times KNOW there is an attitude from my neighbors who live in the suburbs. To further compound this when I first moved from Montgomery County to Fairfax County my friends in Silver Spring and Bethesda thought that I was moving to a second class state: "Reston? Aren't there cows still being milked there?" is a direct quote from one of my best friends then. Later, living in Reston and still feeling long standing loyalty to Montgomery County I bristled when my neighbors in Reston disdainfully shrugged Ocean City as too "blue collar" favoring the Outer Banks (almost twice as far away!) for their vacation. "Maryland? You go to MD football games? My God, that's across the river! I would have though you would go to Tech if you were going anywhere!" Another actual quote from another neighbor. Note that the Univrsity of Maryland (which I graduated from) is about 30 miles around the beltway and VA Tech is 260 down I81! When I lived near McLean Gardens, later Dupont Circle I found people didn't even know which states Bailey's Cross Roads or Kensington where in! I did suspect that they thought there were cows still being milked in BOTH Reston and Silver Spring!

Anyway, I offer these for discussion as two possible specific influences on one's opinions and how they may be influenced. Over time I've noticed what I thought were specific influences on opinions on these boards that may have been influenced by one or the other of these.

[Tweaked]

I for one rarely eat outside of the District, just too much of a pain in the butt to drive out to most places in the burbs. Plus none of my friends live in VA or MD, making it very rare that I'm even outside of the District. However, I do have a short list of places to try....Restaurant Eve, Ray's the Steaks, plus I need to explore the Asia restaurant scene. Like I said it is a short list

[cjsadler]

I am reintroducing this post because I thought it might be interesting, especially for those who are in the industry and post on these boards.  Also, because from time to time I detect an "attitude" of those who live in the city while at other times KNOW there is an attitude from my neighbors who live in the suburbs.  To further compound this when I first moved from Montgomery County to Fairfax County my friends in Silver Spring and Bethesda thought that I was moving to a second class state:  "Reston?  Aren't there cows still being milked there?" is a direct quote from one of my best friends then.  Later, living in Reston and still feeling long standing loyalty to Montgomery County I bristled when my neighbors in Reston disdainfully shrugged Ocean City as too "blue collar" favoring the Outer Banks (almost twice as far away!) for their vacation.  "Maryland?  You go to MD football games? My God, that's across the river!  I would  have though you would go to Tech if you were going anywhere!"  Another actual quote from another neighbor.  Note that the Univrsity of Maryland (which I graduated from) is about 30 miles around the beltway and VA Tech is 260 down I81!  When I lived near McLean Gardens, later Dupont Circle I found people didn't even know which states Bailey's Cross Roads or Kensington where in!  I did suspect that they thought there were cows still being milked in BOTH Reston and Silver Spring!

Having grown up in Virginia, but later moving to Maryland it's been interesting to see people's perspectives from one state on the 'other' state. When I was living in VA, places like 'Gaithersburg' (only heard about during school closings on the radio) seemed like the dark side of the moon to me. After I moved to Maryland, I could only laugh when I heard similar comments about Virginia: "You're going to Annandale? Dear god, that's all the way around the beltway!" Now I live in DC, where I meet alot of people who simply think of VA and MD as a vast uncharted area known as the 'burbs'.

[Steve Klc]

But Chris, has the mere fact that you now live in DC changed how you view some of the older haunts out in the MD or VA burbs? Not so much a willingness to make the drive but your perspective of those places once you are there? Or is good food good food on its merits regardless of locale and deserve to be assessed as such? That's what Joe's getting at. Tweaked--will your Ray's or Eve sensory experiences be affected at all going in by the location of the restaurants? I think that's one of the underlying questions Joe raises--another is has the quality of these older places changed, gotten that mailed in feeling about them for some of us but not others based on geography and residence, does our perspective of these nostalgic dinosaurs also change as we move around, get older ourselves, get exposed to more things, etc?

Now when Joe says "I think for those in the industry that look at restaurants like these (and Mrs, K's and the nondescript Crisfield's) and try to understand why they have lasted so long it can be particularly frustrating" I think he's on thinner ice--because I think we eGulleteers in the industry and savvy diners alike know precisely why these places last--nostalgia sells, comfort sells, since 9/11 retro cooking has been in and still is. I'm not sure that's a burb thing, either, but it may be a factor. There'll always be a place for these genres and rightfully so. But these "successful" older places mentioned, places that are still popular and still in business, aren't necessarily serving great or even very good food--it most likely means they have 1) a nice location or 2) tapped into a segment of the marketplace and made that segment comfortable and loyal for whatever reasons. Safety, timelessness, convenience and nostalgia can be as big a draw for some as a cell-phone toting celebrity chef can be for others. More power to them--but credit them for that achievement not the other way around--don't say that achievement means the cooking is really good because there a lot of packed chain restaurants in strip malls (and downtown!) who have also tapped into a comfortable loyal clientele--so much so that when they travel to other cities they seek out the same familiar and safe chain or franchise there as well. That doesn't make the culinary offerings any better either. The food is what it is. And there's plenty of room for many to succeed.

And far from being frustrating, the more inside experience you get in restaurants and in cooking--rather than dining out--the more you realize how many different ways there are to manage, create, inspire, achieve, serve--how many different and seemingly antithetical ways there are to create a positive restaurant experience--you also become a little more confident in yourself to know when you're in a place that doesn't value those things or falls down in some areas. If one thing comes through in terms of the difference between pros and insiders versus foodies it is this--foodies are more often still trying to figure out what they can expect and should expect, what's appropriate and what isn't, what's reasonable and what isn't and most pros are already a little more appreciative and a little more tolerant, tolerant of everything but poor customer service, which there is no excuse for. Like a basketball team not prepared to play hustling defense--you may not have the scorers or the athletes but you better damn well D up. (That's actually something that I think helps drive eG--we're helping to break down these barriers and draw both camps closer--and we're even involving the professional critics, who have their own formulas and competition amongst themselves going, into our circle here as well. We may not agree but we see each side a little more clearly--and we may help overcome any bias or predisposition based on perception.)

There's no sure-fire way to succeed, Joe, no "THE" formula, because success means many different things to many different chef-owners and restaurateurs--and our notions of success change over time. Staying power is undeniably one measure of success as the many successful restaurants listed on this thread indicate--but it ain't necessarily about the food. Paying your staff and vendors on time might be another measure, never repeating a dish on a tasting menu might be another, always repeating a dish the same way might be another, staying open late or being in Georgetown another, getting profiled in Gourmet magazine might be another, drawing a smile out of that 5 year old who has just licked the last drop of your ice cream of her plate can be another. It's up to each place to set their own bar of achievement--and up to diners to address how well they do this in the larger context and how well the diner expectation has been met. And as diners, we have to be able to look past attitudes and perceptions and just taste things for what they are first--new, old, whatever--regardless of geography and then allow the setting, context, attitude and expectation to filter in later. As professionals, I think we have to learn that there is no one formula and that taste is subjective.

[Joe H]

Steveklc, please don't interpret what I say. Let it speak for itself. Thank you.

[lscanlon]

Gadsby's Tavern, which I have never visited, seems to be a real oldy-moldy kinda place.

I've been there. Pretty decent food, but not memorable. Anyhow, their website says they were established in 1770.

[Al_Dente]

Gadsby's Tavern, which I have never visited, seems to be a real oldy-moldy kinda place.

I've been there. Pretty decent food, but not memorable. Anyhow, their website says they were established in 1770.

Supposedly, the original G Dubya dined there on his birthday way back when. I went there for a wedding once and had the food. Definitely not memorable.

[Joe H]

Kansas City, Chicago, New York, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas and a host of others have the excellence you mention in street food but not D. C. unless you consider which Bilrus suggested, ethnic. With this I believe there are only a handful of North American cities which are strong and diverse including NY, SF, DC, LA, Chi and Toronto. Key word for this, for me, is diverse. Washington scores well on this, NOLA, the TX cities, KC do not.

Reminiscing About DC Long Ago:

But DC once did have exactly the kind of food you note that Philly is strong in. But this was a long time ago. In my very first post on this thread I mentioned Benny's on the Maine Avenue wharf in the '40's and '50's with fried perch sandwiches stacked four or five inches high on Wonder bread (you could smell the bread being baked while sitting in the bleachers at Griffith stadium) with homemade mayonnaisey cole slaw and Evangeline hot sauce served with thick cut french fries cooked in pure lard-almost identical to what Bryant's serves on Brooklyn ave in KC! Benny's wasn't the only place. There was also the Shrimp Boat on Benning road and, if I really start thinking about it, maybe 8 or 10 more that were legitimately good.

None of this remains today. Certainly not Horace and Dickey's which some claim is Boyd's/Benny's second or third coming. Despite all of the press in the Post and the major feature in Potomac several years ago I seriously doubt that anyone who works for the Post ACTUALLY HAD A FISH SANDWICH AT BENNY'S OR REMEMBERS THE ORIGINAL BOYD'S on H street before they moved to Horace and Dickey's location. Boyd's was outstanding as recently as the late '70's. I remember talking to him once and was shocked at how good his fish sandwich was, which I knew nothing about until stumbling by his carryout. I told him that it reminded me exactly of what my parents used to take me to eat on Maine Avenue in the '50's. He laughed and said that he MANAGED Benny's in the '50's!

DC had legitimately good steak and cheese subs, too. No, not a cheesesteak, really quite different from Jim's, Pat's or even the White House in AC. But a "steak and cheese" such as what Hungry Herman's sold on Knox road in College Park in the '60's and '70's or could be found at the Cadillac on Rhode Island Avenue. At some point Washington succombed to Philly's promotion of its cheesesteak and the "steak and cheese" fell out of favor or, at the least, was no longer promoted or "admitted" to by anyone as legitimately good on its own. Besides, with lettuce, tomatoes, mayonnaise and pickles how could the steak and cheese itself even be tasted let alone grilled onions? But the overall glop was seriously satisfying.

DC's third best sandwich ever was served on University Blvd. in Wheaton at Jerry's Sub Shop. The ORIGINAL Jerry's which moved from Kennedy street NW (a block from Weihle's, down from the Alpine where Link Wray became notorious for Jack the Ripper) had a moaningly good roast beef sub made on a mediocre Ottenberg roll, sliced roast beef (roasted in house), "secret sauce" (ketchup, mayonnaise and garlic powder) and cheap minced hot peppers which were mixed with pickle juice. Yes, pickle juice. I remember taking bike hikes with friends from Piney Branch and Flower to Wheaton when I was 11 and 12 years old just to eat this sandwich. At some point Abe and his wife sold to Max and his wife and it was only then that Jerry's was "discovered" by the press in the mid '70's. In the late '70's Jerry's was sold to two employees who had worked there while going to MD and they changed almost everything with one of the first things to go being the in house roast beef and the second, the hot peppers mixed in pickle juice.

Prior to this DC had also become known for good roast beef sandwiches at Hodges on New York Avenue and a place out in Laurel, Hinckley's, which was locally famous for its "through the garden."

A lot of places-newsstands, carry outs, diners sold Briggs half smokes which John B. (from the other board) won a contest in the Post for nominating as DC's unique fast food. Half smokes were good and they were ever popular and ever present; still, Polock Johnny's on East Baltimore street blew away any DC half smoke but Polock Johnny's is a whole different topic as is "The Block" which then was five blocks and today is, well, a block.

I think that ALL of these suffered with the proliferation of McDonald's, Burger Chef, Golden Point, Merrill's, Red Barn, Auto Burger, Geno's, (Ameche's in Baltimore) and ten or twenty other fast food places that sprung up. Some, by the way, were legitimately good, especially McDonald's which advertised "forty five cents for a three course meal" and had fries sliced in house with the skin left on, blanched and fried in 70% animal fat. (Dick's in Spokane, WA is the ONLY place on earth that still has McD original fries. The McD down the street from it struggles while USA Today has noted that Dick's in Spokane is America's second largest independent fast food restaurant behind Atlanta's Varsity-serving McDonald's original food! Note that there is NO relation between the Spokane Dick's and the Seattle Dick's).

I'm eliminating the Mighty Mo from this post. That's a whole separate thread since the single best thing that I have ever tasted in my life was my first bite of a Mo with extra sauce around 1954. Although Hot Shoppes started here at 14th and Park road (which my mother worked at in the '30's through the '50's) it spread regionally competing with Howard Johnson's. Locally it competed with Top's Drive Inn's Sir Loiner and Baltimore's Harold's Fat Boy as well as Ameche's Power House and the Varsity out on 40 West. All of these either ripped off or improved on Toluca Lake's original Big Boy. When McDonald's got into the act with their Big Mac, my first bite prompted a laugh at how bad it was. McDonald's by then had progressed to frozen patties while the others had not-yet. McDonald's had a national advertising campaign in 1967 about the time of Charles Whitman climbing the Texas tower to spray forty or fifty students with his high powered rifles. I remember a news bulletin actually interrupting a McDonald's commercial then touting their "improved," uniformly consistent potatoes. Charles Whitman didn't advertise he was going to climb the tower, McDonald's didn't advertise they had abandoned fresh potatoes for frozen! (Forgive my immodesty dear reader-this last sentence is one of my most creative ever in a style long known for excessive hyperbole!)

DC also had great fried seafood most prominently at O'Donnell's on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Warner. Just as the previously mentioned Benny's and the Shrimpboat there were countless other carryout fried seafood places with almost all of them in the '50's and '60's using fresh fish, shrimp and so forth. Baltimore still has some of these, DC too, but the fresh seafood is difficult to find these days. The only place that I know of that is similar is Faidley's in the Lexington market which people on here and the other board both constantly rave about.

Fifty years ago Faidley's was just one of a score of places just as good that have all but disappeared.

Anyway, sometime I'm going to sit down and type an essay and submit it to the Post or somebody for publication because most people either never knew DC like this or have forgotten it if they are old enough to remember it. (It is also therapeutic for me to escape like this!) Washington WAS strong on fried chicken (Peter Pan), fried fish, sub sandwiches, frozen custard (Reindeer in Silver Spring and Polar Bear on GA Ave. at Butternut), ice cream (Gifford's was NOT DC's best-that title was the original Martin's Dairy in Olney in the '50's where cows grazed while you ate ice cream parked in your car sniffing the "fresh" country farm air. Avignon Freres, Wagshal's, University Pastry Shop, Calvert Pastry Shop and others had real homemade ice cream), chocolate chip cookies (YWCA), ribs (yes, ribs at Emory's in Langley Park), Mario's (but the Mario's of THEN not the Mario's of today), cheap pizza (i.e. Pizza Kitchen, Pizza Oven, Pizza Square, Pizza Loven, etc.) and others that have survived and supported other citys' food cultures while all but disappearing from here. Here we apologized for them because they were all we had. Ethnic was chicken chow mein and Mexican was Tippy's Taco House.

I think DC lost a lot when we started to grow up. For all the pride I have in our best restaurants I really miss that fish sandwich on the Maine avenue wharf.

Joe Heflin

Edited December 20, 2004 by Joe H (log)

[sdelgato]

Joe, I thoroughly enjoy your posts. Have you ever thought about writing a book on your dining exploits? I must admit to agreeing with most of your experiences dining out in the area. Some of them are mirror images of my own experiences, like CityZen for instance. Keep up the fine work!

[Joe H]

Thanks for the really nice words! I'm spending far too much time on some of these posts since for the first time in four years I feel that as long as I stay reasonably on topic I won't be deleted as on the other board!

I have actually published quite a few times but it's all been connected with my business. Shitch is a superb writer; he has the talent to compete with any reviewer. I'm guessing that because it is part of his personality and part of his career that it is easy for him. Sometimes, I'm like this, just not often enough. Did you know Burke and Wells from a couple of years ago. I thought some of their stuff was on par with Calvin Trilling. Serious.

Thanks again.

[FunJohnny]

Joe: What about "upscale" dining establishments in DC circa 1960-1970? (There weren't that many -- the Senate Dining room was one.) I remember my Dad taking me to Harvey's on one of my early visits to the city, where I consumed my first whole lobster when I was about 5. My old man bragged on that for a long time afterwards.

[Joe H]

La Salle du Bois at Wisconsin & M comes to mind. Later San Souci. I remember first discovering Little Italy in the early '70's and thinking hot it blew away any Italian I had anywhere in D. C. O'Donnell's was the best seafood with some sububan places like Bish Thompson's in Bethesda or Busch's in Annapolis. Crisfield didn't have credibility then, having yet to be "discovered" by Calvin Trilling ("great fish house") and Julia Child. Back then, though, a big deal for me might have been Trader Vic's in the Statler Hilton. The Occidental comes to mind. I first made paella in the early '70's and went to Tio Pepe in Georgetown to compare mine. A girl friend for two years lived in Baltimore and used to rave about the Prime Rib (didn't open here until '76 or '77), The Pimlico Hotel and the two best of all then, Tio Pepe and Danny's. Danny's may have been better than anything in D. C. For the most part DC was really a wasteland for upscale dining in the '50's, '60's and part of the '70's.

[DonRocks]

(this is a work-in-progress and very incomplete; dates not guaranteed accurate; restaurants with more than one location will have only the oldest location listed; present-day names are used (i.e., I doubt Luigi's was "Famous" back in 1943!))

1856 - Old Ebbitt Grill (present location since 1983)

1860 - Old Angler's Inn

1904 - Royal Restaurant (present location since 1964)

1906 - Occidental Grill (closed 1972-1986)

1930 - Mrs. K's Toll House (Mrs. K is Mrs. Kreuzburg)

1933 - Billy Martin's Tavern (Opened the day after prohibition was repealed)

1937 - Red Fox Inn

1941 - O'Donnell's Seafood (present location since 2001)

1943 - Famous Luigi's

1945 - Crisfield Seafood

1946 - Tastee Diner (Silver Spring)

1947 - 29 Diner

1947 - Woodside Deli

1948 - Old Europe

1949 - AV Ristorante Italiano (AV is Augusto Vasaio)

1949 - Blackie's

1954 - L'Auberge Chez Francois (present location since 1976)

1954 - Jerry's Subs and Pizza (Wheaton)

1955 - Ledo Pizza (Adelphi)

1955 - Tune Inn

1955 - Yenching Palace

1957 - The Brickskeller

1958 - Ben's Chili Bowl

1959 - Market Inn

1961 - Loeb's Perfect New York Deli (present location since 1979)

1962 - 1789

1963 - Clyde's (Georgetown)

1965 - Bay 'n Surf

1966 - The Guards

1966 - Japan Inn (present location since 1971)

1967 - Childe Harold

1969 - Bob & Edith's Diner

1970 - Roy's Place

1973 - Anita's (Vienna)

1973 - Stained Glass Pub

1973 - Vietnam Georgetown

1974 - Cafe La Ruche

1975 - Armand's Chicago Pizzeria (Tenley Circle)

1975 - Bistro Francais

1975 - Celebrity Delly (Falls Church(?))

1975 - The Cracked Claw at Peter Pan (present location since 1989)

1976 - La Chaumiere

1976 - Gadsby's Tavern

1976 - The Prime Rib

1976 - Sushi-Ko

1977 - Geranio

1978 - Peking Gourmet Inn

1978 - Pistone's Italian Inn

1979 - 219

1979 - Nora

I know of a bunch of others, but don't have specific dates.

P.S. Surely this compendium has been done before, no? 

P.P.S.  Mr. K's was 1983 - related to Mrs. K?   Hmm...

←

I officially appoint Joe H DC & DelMarVa Culinary Historian and curator of this list. Joe, it's all yours - I can't touch your historical knowledge.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[Kanishka]

I think Tunni's has also been open for quite some time. In fact, according to HillZoo (don't know if this claim is correct) the place has been open since the Jefferson administration. I kind of doubt that... but it has been open for a long time.

K

[Sthitch]

Joe,

How was Busch's? My parent's used to go there when I was young, but since "I did not like seafood" (actually I did not like overcooked seafood, and still don't) they never took me. By the time I could actually find a reason to make the trip it had closed to make way for a gas station/convience store. Also, any thoughts on the '70's chain the Family Fish House? My only memory were really good hush puppies.