Old Ebbitt Grill

Founded in 1856
Washington

Originally a boarding house, the Old Ebbitt calls itself the capitol's oldest saloon. Representative—later President— William McKinley was said to have boarded here, while Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Johnson, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and Warren G. Harding were said to have enjoyed Ebbitt's stand-around bar. In 1970 the restaurant fell on hard times and was sold to Clyde's Restaurant Group at auction after it failed to satisfy a federal tax claim. The establishment has moved a number of times, most recently in 1983, when Ebbitt's relocated to 675 15th Street, N.W.