A Taste of the Colonies in Philadelphia

By George Medovoy, Editor

Imagine a colonial tavern that was the select gathering place of the fathers of the American Revolution.

Called the City Tavern and first opened in 1773, it was described in an advertisement at the time as "the most convenient and elegant structure of its kind in America."

It also seems to have inspired not only sumptuous meals, but the consumption of enormous quantities of Sherry, Port ands Madeira, the latter being the favorite drink of the day, with an alcohol content of 18 percent.

The colonists, so the records suggest, would conduct business at the Continental Congress from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. and the meet at City Tavern, where the drinking would begin.

Now, over 200 years later, the City Tavern is open for business again here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though not the original building – that one was demolished after a fire in 1834 – the present five-story structure is a careful model of the Federal-style original, constructed at a cost of $1.5 million in 1976 by the National Park Service.

The rooms have been painstakingly designed to look as they did in colonial times. The help that waits on you is dressed in 18th-century garb.

The City Tavern is open for lunch and dinner.

Address: 138 South 2nd Street at Walnut Street, Philadelphia.

For information about Philadelphia, visit the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau at www.pcvb.org. For information about the restaurant, visit www.citytavern.com.