- Related Topics:
- alcoholic beverage
- public house
- Inn
- alehouse
tavern
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What is a tavern?
A tavern is a business that sells alcoholic drinks to be consumed on the premises. Throughout history, tavern keeping has mirrored the expansion of trade, travel, and industry worldwide.
Taverns have been known by many names, such as pubs, saloons, bars, barrooms, taprooms, or public houses. They have also functioned as restaurants and inns, offering meals and lodging to travelers. In colonial America, taverns were vital social and political hubs, strictly regulated by the government.
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What kinds of drinks are usually served in a tavern?
Taverns have been central to social life, offering alcoholic drinks and meals. In ancient Babylonia, the Code of Hammurabi mentions beer, while ancient Greece had lesche serving meals. Roman caupona offered cooked delicacies.
English taverns of the 16th century commonly served wine and ales, along with tobacco after its introduction in 1565.
In modern times, a tavern can be called a pub, saloon, bar, taproom, or watering hole.
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How is a tavern different from a bar or a pub?
Taverns, bars, and pubs are all establishments that sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, but they have different origins and connotations. A tavern historically offered overnight rooms and meals, evolving from ancient Roman establishments and medieval English inns that served travelers. In modern times, a tavern can be a neighborhood bar or a rural roadhouse.
A pub (short for "public house") is mainly British. Pubs may feature public, saloon, and private bars with food options ranging from sandwiches to pies. A bar is a more general term for a place that serves alcoholic drinks.
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What types of people visit taverns, historically and today?
Historically, taverns have been visited by a diverse clientele, ranging from traders and government officials to "the jaded and degraded" and even "criminal types". In ancient Greece, taverns served meals to both locals and strangers, while in Rome, they were frequented by those seeking discreet dining, drinking, or gambling opportunities.
Taverns in England were gathering places for wayfarers, thieves, and political malcontents. By the 16th century, dining out was common among all classes, with taverns offering food, drinks, and tobacco, evolving into social hubs and unofficial clubhouses.
In the United States, taverns emerged alongside early settlements, acting as community spaces regulated by the government. During the American Revolution, they became important sites for political planning. Today, taverns and bars remain social centers, serving as neighborhood bars in urban areas and roadhouses in rural areas.
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How have taverns been important in different cultures or communities?
Taverns have been significant social hubs across cultures, mirroring trade and travel trends. In ancient Babylonia, strict laws governed tavern owners, while in Greece, lesche served locals and travelers. Though Roman elites shunned taverns, these establishments thrived, offering meals and attracting diverse crowds.
English alehouses, run by women, evolved into inns that were gathering spots for varied groups. Taverns in Tudor England, like the Mermaid, became known as unofficial clubhouses frequented by notable figures such as Ben Jonson.
In the United States, early taverns, closely regulated by the government, were central to community life and political planning during the American Revolution. Taverns have continued to be important social gathering places.
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What roles did taverns play in history besides serving drinks?
Besides serving drinks, taverns throughout history have played various significant roles. In ancient Greece, lesche functioned as local clubs serving meals to members and strangers. Roman caupona and taberna meritoria offered cooked delicacies and full meals.
Medieval English inns acted as sanctuaries for travelers, political malcontents, and even thieves. Taverns, as predecessors to modern restaurants, initiated the custom of daily meals at fixed times. They also offered companionship, with some becoming regular meeting places and unofficial clubhouses.
In colonial America, taverns appeared almost as soon as the first settlers arrived and were under strict government control, which regulated prices. During the American Revolution, taverns became customary locations for political planning sessions. Some taverns also functioned as lodging and city halls.
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tavern, an establishment where alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the premises. Tavern keeping has paralleled the growth of trade, travel, and industry throughout history and virtually worldwide. The Code of Hammurabi of ancient Babylonia (c. 1750 bce) provided that the death penalty could be imposed upon a proprietor for diluting beer. In ancient Greece the lesche, which was primarily a local club, served meals to strangers as well as to its local members. By the 5th century bce there were sumptuous Greek establishments called phatnai that served a local and transient clientele of traders, envoys, and government officials.
In ancient Rome no man of any social standing could be seen in a tavern, although one type of establishment, the lupanar, flourished behind locked doors on the quietest of side streets, and men with veiled heads entered in the dark of night to dine, drink, or gamble. Nor was the reputation undeserved, for the deversoria, tabernae, cauponae, and bibulae of republican and imperial Rome were haunts of the jaded and degraded at best and of criminal types at worst. Yet cooked delicacies and full meals were traditionally served in the caupona (low-class inn) and taberna meritoria (better-class tavern). These were long chambers having vaulted ceilings, with serving boys standing at semi-attention and the proprietor sitting at a raised platform at one end.
The hostelries of Roman England were derived from the cauponae and the tabernae of Rome itself. These were followed by alehouses, which were run by women (alewives) and marked by a broom stuck out above the door. The English inns of the Middle Ages were sanctuaries of wayfaring strangers, cutthroats, thieves, and political malcontents. The tavern, the predecessor of the modern restaurant, originated the custom of providing a daily meal at a fixed time.
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By the middle of the 16th century the dining-out habit was well established among townsmen of all classes. Most taverns offered a good dinner for one shilling or less, with wine and ales as extras. Tobacco was also sold after its introduction into England in 1565. Taverns offered companionship as well as refreshment, and some of the better houses became regular meeting places and unofficial clubhouses. Among the more famous London taverns of Tudor times were the Mermaid, frequented by Ben Jonson and his friends; the Boarās Head, associated with Shakespeareās Sir John Falstaff; and the Falcon, where actors and theatre managers of the day gathered.
The identity of the first public drinking and dining establishment in the United States is obscure. It is certain, however, that it was known as an inn, tavern, or ordinary, names not always interchangeable. It is probable that taverns appeared in the United States almost as soon as the first Dutch settlers arrived. Bostonās first tavern, Coleās, opened its doors in 1634. New Yorkās first tavern was opened in Dutch colonial days by Governor Kieft, who stated that he was tired of entertaining strangers and travelers in his own home and thus opened a tavern to lodge and feed them. The building became New Amsterdamās (and later New Yorkās) city hall and was used for that purpose until about 1700, when a new city hall (later Federal Hall) was built. Colonial courts generally required that some kind of public house be established in each community. These early American taverns were under the strict guardianship of the government, which regulated prices. During the American Revolution the tavern was the customary locus of political planning sessions.
In the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries the tavern remained a centre of social activity primarily as the neighborhood bar of towns and cities and the roadhouse of more rural areas.