Joe Milano said one of the saddest days of his life was when he put his Lynnfield home on the market. This was 8 years ago, after Milano had lived in Lynnfield for 45 years. He mentioned how well-run the town is, how great the school system is and said he made “a lot of beautiful memories” in Lynnfield.
Now a Boston resident, Milano has been the proud owner of Boston’s Union Oyster House, which was established in 1826 and is America’s oldest restaurant, for 55 years.
Union Oyster House is one of Massachusetts’ National Historic Landmarks, which are historic properties that illustrate the heritage of the United States. The United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, wrote on June 4, 2003 that the designation for the Union Oyster House as a National Historic Landmark was twofold since “the Union Oyster House is the oldest continually-operating restaurant and oyster bar in the United States and the oldest standing brick building in Boston’s Georgian architecture.”
Prior to the restaurant’s opening 200 years ago, the building was home to some of the early rumblings of the American Revolution. In fact, the first stirrings of the revolution came from the building’s upper floor when printer Isaiah Thomas published his newspaper “The Massachusetts Spy” in 1771, and later, in 1775, Capen’s Silk and Dry Goods Store became headquarters for Ebenezer Hancock: the first paymaster of the Continental Army.
“I often refer to myself as a caretaker, one that is a steward of such a historic landmark,” Milano said. “Yes, we do run a restaurant, and therefore there certainly has to be a sense of knowledge and background in the industry. We’re very traditional, basic New England seafood, extremely popular.”
Beyond being a historic landmark, the restaurant has also won 14 awards. The most recent award the restaurant received was in 2024 for North America Best Landmark Restaurant from World Culinary Awards, but it started earning awards in 2001 with a Restaurant of the Year award from the National Restaurant Association.
When asked what inspired Milano to take ownership of Union Oyster House, he said he often begins this conversation by simply stating: “I like leadership.”
“I had a pretty good structure and discipline at St. John’s Prep. I was president of my class. I was really an inner-city kid who really didn’t know much, just street-wise — and I say, if I wasn’t street-wise, I wouldn’t have survived that school,” Milano said.
And why does Milano naturally take on leadership roles? Well, it’s because he loves people.
“I’m involved in too many things that cause me to feel that the restaurant is like a theater in the sense that I can meet and greet people, and I still like doing that,” Milano said. He also described himself as a people-person and added that his experience as a franchise owner for Pewter Pot encouraged him to remain in the food industry.
Further, he said that he works “extremely close” with restaurant staff.
“The respect that you give your worker will reflect, hopefully, back as they do to the boss,” Milano said. “I find that chemistry has been a major success of the restaurant.”
As is implied with the restaurant’s name, Union Oyster House is known for its oysters and fresh seafood dishes. Located at 41 Union St., the restaurant is also on Boston’s Freedom Trail and is one block away from Faneuil Hall. It is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. For anyone planning a trip down to enjoy a meal at Union Oyster House, the restaurant validates parking for the Parcel 7 Garage at 136 Blackstone St.
