Union Oyster House

The country's oldest restaurant in continuous service lures touristy crowds with its fresh seafood and award-winning chowder.

(617) 227-2750

41 Union St (North Street)
Boston, MA 02108 42.36122 -71.05703

Get Map & Directions »

Neighborhoods: Central, Downtown

unionoysterhouse.com

Hours:

Sun-Thu 11am-9:30pm

Fri-Sat 11am-10pm

Price:

$$$

Last updated 5.12.11

Category:

Banquet Rooms, Restaurants, Clambakes

Payment Methods:

American Express, Visa, Discover, Diners Club, MasterCard, Travelers Check

Restaurant Special Features:

Local Favorite, Special Occasion Dining, Celeb Hangout, Private Rooms, Historic Setting, People Watching, Business Dining, Group Dining, Dine At The Bar

Cuisine:

Chowder, Traditional American, Seafood

Smoking Permitted:

No

Editor's Tips

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What People Are Saying About Union Oyster House

The Owner

Union Oyster House

Owner

The Union Oyster House, located on the Freedom Trail near Faneuil Hall, enjoys the unique distinction of being America's oldest restaurant. This Boston fixture is housed in a building dating back to pre-revolutionary days and started serving food in 1826. The stalls and oyster bar where Daniel Webster was a regular customer are in their original positions. Today's politicians, celebrities and tourists still come in to enjoy the food. We are the third family in nearly two centuries to own the Union Oyster House.

Provided by CityGrid

Featured Review

Eric Grossman

Contributor

In Short – Dating back to 1826, the Union Oyster House maintains a suitably old-fashioned tavern decor, with lots of weathered wood and a casual atmosphere. Tourists and locals rub shoulders to slurp down oysters and tuck into thick chowders and substantial pieces of grilled or baked fish. Bivalve lovers gather around the old-school raw bar to sample fresh cherrystones, littlenecks and steamers. Desserts include hot Indian pudding, homemade gingerbread and warm apple cobbler.

Editor's Tips

Know Before You Go:
Tables fill up on the oddest nights, and patrons aren't rushed once they're seated, so claim your seats in advance.
When to Go:
You can get a bite at the bar (including raw bar treats) until midnight on weekends.
ambiance
66.66999816894531% positive
  1. “Service & ambience great.”
  2. “can understand the long wait but there is no excuse for poor customer service, especially when your location is on a high density tourist area, and your know as "country's oldest restaurant.”
  3. “Nice location, cozy bar and good food”
dessert
100.0% positive
  1. “The combo plate of crab, fish and lobster cakes was good served over nice mixed baby greens.”
drinks
75.0% positive
  1. “The drinks were bad, but still better than the food and you have to wait longer than 30 minutes to get to their tiny dining room upstair when they stacked people into isolated corner and you waited forever for the waiters to notice you are there, since th”
  2. “Note, the cornbread is downright horrible, so just stick to the basics of beer and chowda and you'll understand why this place is still around.”
  3. “Our waitress recommended a great local beer for hubby.”
  4. “Nice location, cozy bar and good food”
  5. “The beer was warm and the glass greasy.”
  6. “The waitress didn't bother bringing us bread or hot sauce or ask us how things are or if we wanted another drink.”
food quality
79.84000205993652% positive
  1. “Overpriced terrible seafood, dry oysters not even served on ice, they basically add a bucket of salt to everything.”
  2. “The combo plate of crab, fish and lobster cakes was good served over nice mixed baby greens.”
  3. “food was cold when served, steamed clams are not cooked enough this far south of maine,”
  4. “Oysters on the other hand, according to my boyfriend, are very fresh and contain little after-taste.”
  5. “didn't have their fresh oysters & clams, although was little tempted.”
  6. “The drinks were bad, but still better than the food and you have to wait longer than 30 minutes to get to their tiny dining room upstair when they stacked people into isolated corner and you waited forever for the waiters to notice you are there, since th”
  7. “back then the food was great.”
  8. “The clams have always been fresh.”
  9. “It serves pretty damn good seafood and just think about the fact that JFK, Sam Adam and other famous people used to dine here, I could say I have been here too!”
  10. “nice "coarse" corn bread.”
  11. “It's not a fancy place for new takes on classic dishes, but it's great flavors and comforting.”
  12. “their seafood linguine was SO good.”
  13. “Despite the age, the food remains great.”
  14. “The history behind the Union Oyster Bar and the artwork that covers the walls are reason enough to go but you'll return because of the GREAT seafood and excellent service.”
  15. “The boiled seafood platter is amazing too.”
  16. “FRESH FRESH FRESH yummy half shell, the clam chowder is creamy and chuck of clam, the sauteed seafood medley was full of tasty seafood big portion (tasty leftover for lunch tmw), and I want the recipe for the corn bread.”
  17. “Overall, the food was not good and the waitress was the RUDEST I have ever had in my entire life.”
  18. “love lobster and know how much lobster meat there is in a 1 pound lobster - this fell VERY short of 1 pound, I would say 2 ounces was more like it and they charged us $40 for it.”
  19. “The side dishes are pretty awful.”
  20. “Decent food but unacceptable service”
  21. “With the sauce or without, the rice pilaf was fantastic complement to the”
  22. “Old but still has great food!”
  23. “This is a great place to go for simple, good New England seafood.”
  24. “Our food was okay but nothing special, chowder was good, oysters average, entrees salty.”
  25. “The food was very good.”
  26. “The food was nothing special, price was high, and service was the worst.”
  27. “it is so exciting to eat oysters at a place where daniel webster parked himself to taste those delightful shell fish.”
  28. “Lobsters are fresh and served hot; chowder is delicious; wait staff is great, nice bars with lots of room.”
  29. “Locals already know to avoid it because of poor service and high prices for below average seafood.”
  30. “But the clam chowder and lobster are unbelievably delicious!”
  31. “The best seafood I have had in a long time”
  32. “They gave you a generous portion of seafood and the creamy sauce is just perfect.”
  33. “Good food, bad service!”
  34. “Oysters and clams were fresh and plump.”
  35. “The food itself was good, but nothing to write home about.”
  36. “The waitress didn't bother bringing us bread or hot sauce or ask us how things are or if we wanted another drink.”
  37. “Why is it on the menu if there is nothing good about the dish?”
  38. “fresh seafood?”
  39. “Nice location, cozy bar and good food”
  40. “The food was good, but the service was unpleasant.”
  41. “The clam chowder was so fresh and the perfect thickness--not too creamy.”
  42. “nice historic, unattentive seervice, BUT mostly poor food.”
  43. “didn't even use tartor sauce on the fish it was sooooo good.”
menu variety
100.0% positive
  1. “Why is it on the menu if there is nothing good about the dish?”
overall
100.0% positive
  1. “great historic restaurant”
  2. “This is a great place to go for simple, good New England seafood.”
return potential
100.0% positive
  1. “The history behind the Union Oyster Bar and the artwork that covers the walls are reason enough to go but you'll return because of the GREAT seafood and excellent service.”
service
51.78999900817871% positive
  1. “Lobsters are fresh and served hot; chowder is delicious; wait staff is great, nice bars with lots of room.”
  2. “9The service was friendly and efficient.”
  3. “then waitress didn't seem too happy upon hearing that we're restaurant week customers.”
  4. “Locals already know to avoid it because of poor service and high prices for below average seafood.”
  5. “can deal with that but the attitude of our server was unacceptable.”
  6. “would like to note that my family and I are incredibly polite people.”
  7. “The waitress didn't bother bringing us bread or hot sauce or ask us how things are or if we wanted another drink.”
  8. “Good food, bad service!”
  9. “He repeatedly asked me if our waitress was just busy and if that was the reason for her poor attitude.”
  10. “It serves pretty damn good seafood and just think about the fact that JFK, Sam Adam and other famous people used to dine here, I could say I have been here too!”
  11. “The drinks were bad, but still better than the food and you have to wait longer than 30 minutes to get to their tiny dining room upstair when they stacked people into isolated corner and you waited forever for the waiters to notice you are there, since th”
  12. “The wait was extremely long even though we had reservations, the service was not good and the prices were high.”
  13. “Overall, the food was not good and the waitress was the RUDEST I have ever had in my entire life.”
  14. “The service is extremely poor.”
  15. “will go out of my way to steer people away from this restaurant and am sorry I wasted my time and money for such a terrible experience.”
  16. “great service?”
  17. “The history behind the Union Oyster Bar and the artwork that covers the walls are reason enough to go but you'll return because of the GREAT seafood and excellent service.”
  18. “Decent food but unacceptable service”
  19. “Our waitress recommended a great local beer for hubby.”
  20. “The waitress brought out the appetizers and I must say the chowder was great, the free lobster ravioli also tasted great.”
  21. “stated several times that it did not matter if she was busy, there is no excuse for rude behavior.”
  22. “The service was good as well.”
  23. “The food was nothing special, price was high, and service was the worst.”
  24. “After an hour or so wait, we finally got seated and our waiter was super friendly and nice.”
  25. “The service was awful, from the hostess to the waitress.”
  26. “can understand the long wait but there is no excuse for poor customer service, especially when your location is on a high density tourist area, and your know as "country's oldest restaurant.”
  27. “The service was very rude !”
  28. “The food was good, but the service was unpleasant.”
value
25.0% positive
  1. “They gave you a generous portion of seafood and the creamy sauce is just perfect.”
  2. “Locals already know to avoid it because of poor service and high prices for below average seafood.”
  3. “will go out of my way to steer people away from this restaurant and am sorry I wasted my time and money for such a terrible experience.”
  4. “The oyster were huge!”
  5. “The food was nothing special, price was high, and service was the worst.”
  6. “Their fried clams are another overpriced disaster.”
  7. “The wait was extremely long even though we had reservations, the service was not good and the prices were high.”
  8. “The foods were awful and expensive.”
wait time
50.0% positive
  1. “The drinks were bad, but still better than the food and you have to wait longer than 30 minutes to get to their tiny dining room upstair when they stacked people into isolated corner and you waited forever for the waiters to notice you are there, since th”
  2. “The wait was extremely long even though we had reservations, the service was not good and the prices were high.”
  3. “can understand the long wait but there is no excuse for poor customer service, especially when your location is on a high density tourist area, and your know as "country's oldest restaurant.”
  4. “The best seafood I have had in a long time”
  5. “My experience with the Union Oyster House got progressively worse each minute I was there and do NOT recommend it to anyone.”
5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

12/11/11

Union Oyster House

by corpi at Citysearch

THE BEST CLAM CHOWDER EVER!!!!

1 Star Rating: Poor

08/15/11

Not impressed

by lucky 13 at Citysearch

I found the restaurant extremely dirty. The servers do not clean the tables well. The food was not prepared well, and came to us cold. I did not eat the oysters because they were warm. The atmosphere didn't impress me either.

1 Star Rating: Poor

08/01/11

Union Oyster - overpriced tourist trap - don't waste your $$

by AndreaBB at Citysearch

We brought my sister and her family here on Sat 7/30/11, as they were visiting from out of town. The food was TERRIBLE and OVERPRICED. We were HIGHLY disappointed in the restaurant taking full advantage of their 'oldest restaurant' status. So sad that this has turned into another TOURIST TRAP RIP OFF......It could be so much better as the character of the building should match the quality of the food. The calamari and seafood entrees were greasy, and nothing special, and the oysters were overpriced and presented terribly (not over ice - with only plastic container of cocktail sauce, no horseradish, mignonette or anything..) Very disappointed...I wouldn't waste your money here...it's too bad...

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

09/30/10

Great food is worth the long wait

by pabreu21 at Citysearch

The food was great. I went with some friends and we all had different seafood dishes and I was able to taste a bunch of them, they all were great. The prices are fair, the only downside is that there is a long wait if you go on weekends.

4 Star Rating: Recommended

06/22/10

Mmmmmmm

by Alicia32 at Citysearch

This place is delicious. i went out here with my boyfriend a few nights ago and we had the best oysters ive had in a looong time. If you go get the, duh, oysters. or at least the platter with the oysters. Its also really cool how old the place is, like 1800 or something. The area is really fun to go out afterwards too, especially if your visiting Boston on vacation go check out the area, very Boston.

  • Pros: I love oysters
  • Cons: needs a better wine selection lol

The Details on Union Oyster House

Place Categories:

  • good food
  • poor customer service
  • famous clam chowder
  • great 9the service
  • love place
  • tasteless lobster
  • great new england seafood
  • very fresh raw oysters
  • fresh clams
  • most interesting restaurants
  • nice bar
  • great history
  • polite people
  • big portion
  • great local beer
  • unacceptable attitude
  • super friendly waiter
  • worst experience
  • not fresh oysters
  • delightful shell fish
  • bad drinks
  • overpriced terrible seafood
  • dirty building
  • not bother waitress
  • not like cornbread

As Seen In…

Best of Citysearch

Boston

Message from Union Oyster House

  • Nearby historic attractions
  • Meetings and functions
  • Celebrity sightings

The Union Oyster House, located on the Freedom Trail near Faneuil Hall, enjoys the unique distinction of being America's oldest restaurant.

This Boston fixture is housed in a building dating back to pre-revolutionary days and started serving food in 1826. The stalls and oyster bar where Daniel Webster was a regular customer are in their original positions. Today's politicians, celebrities and tourists still come in to enjoy the food.

We are the third family in nearly two centuries to own the Union Oyster House.

Union Oyster House
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