Oldest Restaurant West of the Mississippi is in Mid-Missouri

The restaurant business isn’t easy. Many open up each year and many close for good every year too. Keeping a restaurant going is a skill, profit margins are small and there are stories each week of restaurants closing for good. Yet, an establishment in Arrow Rock, Missouri has been serving food and beverages since 1834.

The J. Huston Tavern closed briefly last spring, but the J. Huston Tavern Society paired up with the Missouri State Parks to re-open the restaurant within a few months to keep serving the public.

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Being in the heart of Arrow Rock, Mo. gives the J. Huston Tavern the opportunity to be a place where you can imagine yourself in the past, and it delivers.

The State of Missouri has owned the building the tavern is in since 1923 after it was the first building to be set aside for historic preservation in the state.

The building was originally built as a family home by Judge Joseph Huston, but it wasn’t long before Huston turned it into an inn, restaurant and mercantile store. Leslie Huston, wife of the great- great -great grandson of Judge joseph Huston is president of the JHTS board, so it’s still in the family.

Since the reopening, the restaurant has focused on being a convenient stop for those attending the Lyceum theater performances. Providing buffet food so that time management is easier for those with tickets to shows.