TV Restaurants

What Happened to City Tavern After Best Thing I Ever Ate?

Closed verified

As of September 2026, City Tavern has closed — confirmed via inquirer.com, November 2, 2020.

Primary source
inquirer.com ·

Last verified

What the source shows: The Philadelphia Inquirer confirmed City Tavern's Old City location shut down after chef Walter Staib exited his National Park Service lease, and Google Places plus the reused citytavern.com domain corroborate that Philadelphia's City Tavern is no longer operating.

Interactive map — loads when you ask for it.

Everything on this map is also in the list below.

© OpenStreetMap contributors © CARTO

What happened after Best Thing I Ever Ate?

On "Old School" (btiea-s5e7), City Tavern served colonial-era fare inside a reconstruction of Philadelphia's 1773 tavern building, with staff in period dress presenting 18th-century American recipes such as game and root-vegetable dishes typical of chef Walter Staib's menu. The restaurant opened on the site in 1994 in the Old City neighborhood, operating as a concessionaire on National Park Service land near Independence Hall. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, City Tavern closed permanently on 2020-11-02, after Staib chose not to renew his NPS lease amid a pandemic-driven drop in the overseas tourism that had supplied roughly 40% of business. PhillyVoice also reported the closure. Google Places lists City Tavern Restaurant in Philadelphia as permanently closed, and a 2026-09-08 domain check found citytavern.com no longer belongs to the Philadelphia business — it now hosts an unrelated bar in Fort Myers, Florida.

Featured on Best Thing I Ever Ate

Season / episode
Season 5, Episode 7
Original air date
Not confirmed
Episode title
Old School
What was featured
Colonial-era 18th-century recipes at a historic recreated Old City tavern
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
City Tavern

Frequently asked questions

Is City Tavern still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, City Tavern has closed — confirmed via inquirer.com, November 2, 2020.

What happened to City Tavern after Best Thing I Ever Ate?

On "Old School" (btiea-s5e7), City Tavern served colonial-era fare inside a reconstruction of Philadelphia's 1773 tavern building, with staff in period dress presenting 18th-century American recipes such as game and root-vegetable dishes typical of chef Walter Staib's menu. As of September 2026, City Tavern has closed — confirmed via inquirer.com, November 2, 2020.

Is City Tavern permanently closed?

As of September 2026, City Tavern has closed — confirmed via inquirer.com, November 2, 2020. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is City Tavern located?

138 S 2nd St, Philadelphia, PA 19106. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Best Thing I Ever Ate featured City Tavern?

Season 5, Episode 7 of Best Thing I Ever Ate. The episode is titled “Old School”.

Is City Tavern still using the Best Thing I Ever Ate menu or branding?

On "Old School" (btiea-s5e7), City Tavern served colonial-era fare inside a reconstruction of Philadelphia's 1773 tavern building, with staff in period dress presenting 18th-century American recipes such as game and root-vegetable dishes typical of chef Walter Staib's menu. Anything newer than our last check on September 7, 2026 may not be reflected here.

Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.

More from Best Thing I Ever Ate

Every Best Thing I Ever Ate restaurant we track

Other TV restaurants in Pennsylvania

All Pennsylvania locations

Nearest tracked restaurants

  • Zahav

    Philadelphia, PA · 0.1 mi away

    Best Thing I Ever Ate

    Open reported Checked

  • Amada

    Philadelphia, PA · 0.1 mi away

    Best Thing I Ever Ate

    Open reported Checked

  • Buddakan

    Philadelphia, PA · 0.2 mi away

    Best Thing I Ever Ate

    Open verified Checked

  • The Franklin Fountain Ice Cream

    Philadelphia, PA · 0.2 mi away

    Best Thing I Ever Ate · Man v. Food

    Open reported Checked

  • Swanky Bubbles

    Philadelphia, PA · 0.2 mi away

    Bar Rescue

    Closed verified Checked

  • Gigi Restaurant & Lounge

    Philadelphia, PA · 0.2 mi away

    Mystery Diners

    Closed verified Checked

Visit info

Address
138 S 2nd St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Venue type
restaurant
Official website
citytavern.com

Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources

  • inquirer.com — https://www.inquirer.com/food/city-tavern-revolutionary-war-restaurant-philadelphia-walter-staib-chef-old-city-20201102.html
  • phillyvoice.com — https://www.phillyvoice.com/city-tavern-closes-philadelphia-old-city-covid-19-pandemic/

See something wrong?

We work hard to keep every status accurate and dated, but restaurants change fast and our sources aren't perfect. If something here is wrong — a status, a name, an address, anything — tell us what you're seeing and where you saw it, and we'll check it.

See something wrong? Tell us →

Share this page

Record btiea-0452 · last verified .