Transcription
This is an old school McDonald's, built in 1953. This restaurant has been around for over 300 years, and that right there is the oldest restaurant in the entire world. But times are changing; restaurants go out of business every day. Fast food chains are closing their doors on more than 400 restaurants by the end of the year. So what makes these places so special? I'll be exploring each of these restaurants to find out how they've survived hundreds of years, starting with the world's oldest McDonald's.
Wait, hold on. I should step to the side so you guys can actually see it. Boom! Look at this place! It literally makes me feel like I'm in the 50s right now. This McDonald's was built in the year 1953, making it over 70 years old now. I have one mission: find out what's so special about the world's oldest McDonald's. And the secret is behind these doors. Yo, it's a museum back here! This place is sick! So this small museum had everything ever recorded in McDonald's history. I found photos of the found beanie baby toys from the 90s, which, by the way, are worth a lot of money now. What? That's so cool! And I even found this creepy Ronald McDonald statue that's terrifying. Now I know everything about McDonald's history. I'm pretty hungry though, so I'm going to go order.
Hi, uh, can I get a cheeseburger combo? Thank you so much, appreciate it. So I just got my food from the world's oldest McDonald's. First up, we got fries. I dropped one. I also got a classic McDonald's cheeseburger. Time to taste a cheeseburger from the world's oldest McDonald's. Okay, not bad. This tastes exactly like a McDonald's cheeseburger, but that's a problem. Right before coming here, I went to another McDonald's in Fort Worth, Texas, run entirely by robots. Bro, bro, what? Okay, so there's my food, and then it pushes it out to me. The burger made by robots tasted exactly the same as the one I'm eating now, and that scares me. Because, according to an article I read, in a few years robot restaurants are going to replace all human workers. This will change the entire food industry, force thousands of people out of a job, and it's already happening right in front of us. Is there any way to stop it, or are we too late? I'm going to look for an answer at a restaurant that's been around for over 300 years.
So I flew to a small town called Newport. This restaurant is the White Horse Tavern, and it was established in 1673. It's the oldest restaurant in the United States and the 10th oldest in the entire world. And in order to find out what made a restaurant like this so special, I had to meet with Brian.
Hey, nice to meet you, man. You, how you doing? I am doing fantastic. How are you? Excellent. This is Brian; he's a local. He kind of looks like Santa Claus. He's also been eating at White Horse Tavern ever since he was a little boy. Brian gave me a few fun facts about this place, so here we go. It used to be a house for this guy named Francis Brinley. I have no idea who he is, to be honest, but he looks old. It became a restaurant in 1673, and then it got occupied by Britain during the Revolutionary War. Brian, this place is so cool. Oh, it's incredible. I'm looking at the menu right now; it's a little intimidating. I had no clue what to get, to be honest, but Brian's the man and ordered everything for us. The restaurant's famous for their seafood, so we got lobster bisque, Rhode Island clam chowder, and this huge seafood platter. Cheers! Cheers! All right, my first Rhode Island oyster! For the entrée, we got the lobster ravioli served in a sherry cream sauce with fresh, juicy tomatoes and scallops. That would be Gordon Ramsay approved. It's so good. While we were eating, Brian told me about his first time at White Horse Tavern. "12 was my first time. I brought us here for my 12th birthday, and then I brought my wife here on our first date, cuz I wanted to introduce her to it." It became pretty clear that one of the reasons this restaurant was able to survive for so long is because a ton of people, just like Brian, have made so many memories here. I wish I had a SWOT like that. Now that dinner's over, it's time to say goodbye to Brian. Do I have permission to hug you? Absolutely. A thank you so much. Thank you. Glad you had a chance to dine with me at the restaurant. It was fantastic. Now I go to Austria. We're going the same direction? Yes, we are.
Alright, this is Salzburg, Austria, a city famous for many things. It's where Mozart was born. It's where the famous movie, *The Sound of Music*, was filmed. But most importantly, it's the home of the world's oldest restaurant. I made it! My hotel is right behind me. I'm going to go check in. [Music] Now I got to Salzburg a day early and was so excited to explore a city that was older than Jesus Christ himself. What? Okay, I made that last part up, but the city still is really old. Oh my gosh, I found a little market! This is so cute! I bought a bell. I spent the rest of the day looking at old buildings, but one thing I noticed was that everyone I saw stayed off their phones. They all just appreciated their surroundings. Then I went back to my hotel and went to sleep.
Guten Morgen! I don't know if I said that right. I think that's German for good morning. I looked it up. I'm in Vienna now. I took a train here from Salzburg this morning because the place I wanted to check out is right behind me. This is Cafe Central, the fourth oldest coffee shop in the entire world, and it's early, so I need coffee. There's also like a really, really long line to get inside, so this place is bumped. So this coffee shop is 146 years old. It was established in 1876 and supposedly located on the Viennese latitude at the meridian of loneliness. That sounds scary. Nobody in here looks lonely though. People were laughing with their friends, families. Oh, I'm the lonely one. Anyways, I had my coffee, watched the man play piano, and then I got back on a train to Salzburg.
So guys, this is Flo. We went to high school together, which is pretty cool, and he's actually joining me for dinner at the world's oldest restaurant later. And also, you speak German? That's really helpful since I don't speak a win of German at all. Since we had a few hours before our dinner reservation, Flo actually wanted to show me some of the other things Salzburg is known for, which is this giant castle fortress thingy. Yep, that was a great description, dude. That thing's crazy. Are we going to go up there? That looks really tall though. So yeah, we're in for a hike. Hi! It's okay. I'm ready. Honestly, the hike up the mountain wasn't that bad. Walk like… okay, I may have lied. It was very bad. This castle is so huge! I also found out it's one of the largest existing castles in Europe from the 11th century. We couldn't go inside though because it was Austrian Labor Day and the line was really long. So here's some more b-roll of the outside. Wow, it's so big! Majestic! Wow, so cool! There was a ride up. I'm back in the hotel room. It's about time for the dinner reservation, and I won't lie, I am a little nervous. This place is so old that I don't know what to expect. Anyways, time to eat.
Welcome to St. Peter Stiftskulinarium! This is the oldest restaurant in the world, and it's over 12,200 years old. It dates back to 803-806 AD. Mozart, the Roman Emperor Charlemagne, and even Christopher Columbus dined here. Inside are 11 rooms, and they don't look like anything you'd expect. Part of the restaurant was completely redesigned to look trendy, while the other rooms bring you right back to the 800s, especially this room. So right now, guys, Flo and I are walking to the Mozart dinner. There's a whole show, a three-course meal at the world's oldest restaurant. So the room we're in is absolutely beautiful. There's a giant chandelier in the middle. There's a giant picture of The Last Supper, uh, right on the roof, and everything here just makes you feel like you're in the 800s. I don't know what the 800s were like, but I think it's something like this. It just got darker. I think it's about to start. Okay, everybody pause! Everyone watching right now better appreciate this next part because it's beautiful. [Music] So the dinner and show also included a three-course meal. The first course was a lemon chicken soup with curd cheese and a savory rosemary dumpling. All right, let's try this. This is a lemon chicken soup. Oh, that's so good! The second course was crispy chicken with a red wine glaze, carrots, and creamy polenta. It smells very yummy. Oh yeah, I also forgot to mention it; things got crazy during the show. Somehow, Flo ended up on stage performing. They took Flo up there! [Music] [Applause] [Music] The entire dinner was eye-opening, since I never expected how much effort went into making the world's oldest restaurant such a crazy experience. From the food to the talented performers, all of the little details, and even this nice man in a suit that led me to my table, he made me feel… feel special. I'm usually a pretty fast-paced person, so being able to sit here and just kind of watch history is definitely not something I'm used to. I didn't think I would enjoy it, but it's nice. I would highly recommend everyone do this. To finish off the dinner, Flo and I got desserts. Dinner's done, and I'm full.