Some of Americas Best Restaurants Are its Oldest: A New List Recognizes Historic Small Eateries

Michelin stars get attention. But what if you’re drawn to a place with history instead of buzz?

Whatever your dining preference, you’ll find appealing options among the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2025 winners of its Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant program, which range from dive bars to tablecloth dining rooms.

The NTHP program, in partnership with American Express, awards $50,000 to each grant winner—a total of 50—for improvements that may involve a new roof or other building repairs. Criteria for selection include independently owned places that feature cultural and culinary traditions, are essential to the identity of their community, and have been impacted by disasters or other challenges. These grants can mean the difference between continuing or closing.

Some of these restaurants lack a website (like Svea, a Swedish café in Chicago, or Lorene’s Fish House in St. Petersburg, Florida). But there’s a reason they’ve endured: Locals love them. And you can enjoy them, too. Here are some standouts that may inspire a visit or detour on an upcoming trip.

South Side Soda Shop, Goshen, Indiana

This family-run retro diner started as a soda fountain in the 1940s and expanded. The menu includes coffee and buttermilk, snapping turtle soup, nine flavors of phosphates, eight cheesecakes, and plenty of house-made pies (including strawberry rhubarb, ginger peach, and shoofly). It’s no wonder that Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives: Triple D Nation on the Food Network has covered it.

Photo by Logan Bush/Shutterstock

Mee Heng Low Noodle House, San Luis Obispo, California

This spot has been in business since 1927. As its name indicates, the focus is on noodles: six entrées feature various types, with add-on options of proteins (such as tofu, lap cheong, and shrimp) and sauces (plum, black bean, peanut chili). The limited menu also has unusual teas, wine, and several local ciders and beers. You’ll find it close to the city’s historic mission downtown.

Dupuy’s Seafood & Steak, Abbeville, Louisiana

Open since 1869 in Abbeville, this restaurant’s emphasis is on seafood. In addition to various takes on crawfish, oysters, shrimp, crab, and alligator (including a fried alligator po’boy), hush puppies and fried okra are menu staples. This Vermilion Parish town is in the heart of Cajun Country.

Photo by Kelsey Bumsted

The Wandering Goose, Tokeland, Washington

Part of a hotel built in 1885, this restaurant has an espresso menu and touches of the South: collard greens, biscuits, sorghum, and grits are on the menu (an owner is from North Carolina); those ingredients are combined with a focus on what local farmers and fishers supply. It’s likely the only winner whose menu quotes Wendell Berry: “A significant part of the pleasure of eating is in one’s accurate consciousness of the lives and the world from which food comes.” The restaurant and hotel are on the coast, north of the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge.

Florence’s Restaurant, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

This soul food stalwart highlights chicken and ribs, though “nice little salad” is also on the menu. Florence Kemp opened it in 1952; it’s now owned and operated by her daughter, but Florence, at age 94, still works there. It’s also a winner of a James Beard America’s Classics Award.

One Shot Charlies, Harrison, Idaho

Many of these places are in modest small towns. Harrison is about 225 people alongside Lake Coeur d’Alene. But you’ll want to stop there to visit One Shot Charlies; originally the Oasis Tavern, it’s been around more than 75 years. The name refers to the generous pours by longtime owner Charlie Jenicek, who emigrated from Czechoslovakia as a boy, and the menu offers bar classics from wings to tater tots.

Courtesy of Toy Box Studios

Vault & Cellar, Middletown, Virginia

The “Historic” in NTHP does not mean all these restaurants are old, although many are in repurposed buildings. Vault & Cellar in Middletown, Virginia, opened in 2021. Highlighting flavors of Appalachia, its menu includes peanut soup, black walnut pesto, watermelon salad, and pickle ice cream. It’s right on Main Street in a 120-year-old former bank, a welcome addition when visiting Shenandoah National Park or Luray Caverns.

The Trolley Stop, Ellicott City, Maryland

Yes, this spot is an old trolley stop and former tavern. Menu highlights are local seafood and the catch of the day. Ellicott City, a suburb of Baltimore, is also home to the nation’s oldest passenger station, now a museum—a perfect stop for railroad fans.

In A Walk on the Wild Side, novelist Nelson Algren notably advised, “Never eat at a place called Mom’s.” On the plus side, a place with the owner’s name is often a good sign. At least a dozen of the grantees follow that format: Ike’s Chili (Tulsa, Oklahoma), Zadie’s Market in North Carolina (conveniently downstairs from the Old Marshall Jail Hotel & Bar), and Manory’s Restaurant (a diner in Troy, New York, with $6 milkshakes in two dozen flavors). Haring’s Noank, seaside in Connecticut, even made the latest New York Times’ list of America’s 50 Best Restaurants.