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The Oldest Pubs in Central London, and the W1 Shops Beside Them

The oldest pubs in central London are easy to get wrong. Most lists of the oldest pubs in central London include at least one place that closed years ago, and at least one whose claimed date belongs to a building rather than a business. This one is limited to the W1 postcode, and to places you can still walk into. Where a pub was rebuilt on an older site, that is stated, because the gap between "licensed since" and "standing since" is where the myths live.

Shops

Fortnum and Mason, 181 Piccadilly (1707)

Established in 1707 by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason, and still at 181 Piccadilly. Three hundred and nineteen years on the same street is the longest continuous retail presence in the postcode, and the food hall on the ground floor is still free to wander.

Sotheran's, 2 Sackville Street (in London since 1815)

Henry Sotheran founded the business in York in 1761, which makes it a strong claimant to the oldest continuously operating bookshop in the United Kingdom and the oldest antiquarian bookshop in Europe. The London shop dates from 1815, and the Sackville Street premises are a rare survival: a proper antiquarian bookseller a minute from Piccadilly Circus.

Hatchards, 187 Piccadilly (1797)

London's oldest bookshop, founded in 1797 and on Piccadilly next to Fortnum and Mason since 1801. Five floors, and still the place with the best chance of an in-stock hardback in central London.

Henry Poole and Co, 15 Savile Row (1806)

Established in 1806 and known as the founders of Savile Row, which is a bolder claim than most tailors make and a defensible one. The shop is the reason the street means what it means.

Algerian Coffee Stores, 52 Old Compton Street (1887)

Opened in 1887 and standing on its original site ever since, under an ownership chain that ran from an Algerian founder remembered only as Mr Hassan, to a Belgian in the 1920s, to an Englishman in the 1940s, and by marriage to the Crocetta family who run it now. Around 80 coffees and 120 teas in a single narrow room, and an espresso served at the counter for less than anywhere else in W1.

Lina Stores, 18 Brewer Street (1944)

The green-striped delicatessen opened at 18 Brewer Street in 1944, set up by Lina to supply Italian produce to Londoners and homesick Italians. The restaurant group that grew out of it is now international; the original deli counter is still there, and still makes the pasta.

Paul Rothe and Son, 35 Marylebone Lane (1900)

A family delicatessen and sandwich counter trading since 1900, and the most stubbornly unchanged thing in Marylebone. Formica tables, a written menu, soup, and a queue at one o'clock.

Pubs

The Coach and Horses, 5 Hill Street, Mayfair (about 1744)

Dating from around 1744 and the oldest surviving pub in Mayfair. Small, wood-panelled, on a residential corner away from the shopping streets, which is why it still feels like a local.

Ye Grapes, 16 Shepherd Market (licensed 1742, rebuilt 1882)

Here the two dates matter. The site was licensed in 1742 as the Market Coffee House, renamed some forty years later, and the pub was rebuilt in 1882. So the licence is older than the Coach and Horses; the building is not. It is the best free house in Shepherd Market either way. Our guide to the best pubs in W1 covers the wider field.

The Dog and Duck, 18 Bateman Street, Soho (on site since 1734)

There has been a Dog and Duck here since at least 1734. The eighteenth-century pub was demolished in 1897 and replaced by the present building, which is the one with the tiles and mirrors everybody photographs. Site: 1734. Fabric: 1897.

The French House, 49 Dean Street, Soho (1891)

Opened in 1891 as the York Minster, designed by Alfred W. Blomfield for the German publican Christian Schmitt, and renamed The French House in 1981 in honour of the French associations it had accumulated in between. Still serves beer in halves by house rule.

Cafes and restaurants

Maison Bertaux, 28 Greek Street (1871)

The oldest patisserie in London, begun in 1871 by a Monsieur Bertaux who had arrived from Paris. Two small floors, an almost aggressively indifferent attitude to interior trends, and croissants that justify the queue.

L'Escargot, 48 Greek Street (1927)

Soho's oldest French restaurant, trading as a restaurant since 1927 in a Georgian townhouse a few doors from Maison Bertaux. The snail on the sign is not a recent joke.

Bar Italia, 22 Frith Street (1949)

Opened in its present form as a cafe in 1949 by the Polledri family and still owned by Veronica and Anthony Polledri. Late-night espresso, a television showing football, and the last piece of postwar Italian Soho operating exactly as it did.

What did not make the list, and why

Several famous "oldest" London businesses sit just outside the postcode. Berry Bros and Rudd, Paxton and Whitfield and Floris are all St James's or Jermyn Street, which is SW1. James Smith and Sons, the umbrella shop, is New Oxford Street in WC1. They are worth the ten-minute walk; they are not W1.

The other exclusion is anything that has changed hands into a different business at the same address. A shopfront preserved for a chain is architectural history, not a surviving trade, and this list is about the trade.

For more of the long view, read the hidden history of Soho, which covers the places where things happened rather than the places still selling things, and the blue plaques of Mayfair and Fitzrovia. If you want to build a walk out of this, a perfect day in Soho and things to do in W1 will thread them together.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the oldest pub in Mayfair?

The Coach and Horses on Hill Street, which dates from around 1744 and is the oldest surviving pub in the neighbourhood. Ye Grapes in Shepherd Market has a longer licensing story, going back to 1742 as the Market Coffee House, but the building you drink in was rebuilt in 1882.

What is the oldest shop in W1?

Fortnum and Mason at 181 Piccadilly, established in 1707 by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason and still trading on the same street. For a single-room independent, Algerian Coffee Stores on Old Compton Street has been on its original site since 1887.

Where is London's oldest patisserie?

Maison Bertaux at 28 Greek Street in Soho, which began in 1871 and is generally recognised as the oldest patisserie in London. It was founded by a Frenchman named Bertaux who had come to London from Paris.

Is Hatchards the oldest bookshop in London?

Yes. Hatchards was founded in 1797 and has stood on Piccadilly, next to Fortnum and Mason, since 1801. Sotheran's on Sackville Street is older as a business, founded in York in 1761, but it only came to London in 1815.

Which Soho cafe is the famous Italian one?

Bar Italia at 22 Frith Street, opened in its present form as a cafe in 1949 by the Polledri family and still owned by the family. It is the survivor of the postwar Italian Soho that also produced Lina Stores, the Brewer Street delicatessen that opened in 1944.

Are all of these places still open?

Every entry on this list was trading at the time of writing, which is the whole point of it. Opening hours in W1 change often, and a few of these are small family businesses, so check before making a special journey.

Sources: Fortnum and Mason, Hatchards, Sotheran's, the Dog and Duck, The French House, Maison Bertaux and Bar Italia; Algerian Coffee Stores and Lina Stores on their own histories.