Rules, London’s Oldest Restaurant, Has a New Landlord: The National Trust
Rules has a new landlord. The historic Covent Garden building that houses London’s oldest restaurant has been gifted to the National Trust, securing the future of an address where dinner has been served since 1798.
The distinction matters: the Trust is taking care of 34–35 Maiden Lane and its historic collections. The restaurant remains an independently operated business, with owner Ricky McMenemy becoming a commercial tenant. For diners, this is a story about preserving a familiar London institution.
What has the National Trust taken into its care at Rules?
J-P Mayhew’s gift includes the building and objects that record the restaurant’s long history, among them menus, visitor books, photographs, caricatures and stained glass. Rental income from the restaurant will support the charity’s work.
It is an unusual addition to a conservation organisation’s care: a place whose original purpose remains central to the experience. The dining rooms still have a job to do, and keeping them in use is part of what makes the gift significant.
From an oyster house to a London institution
Thomas Rule began serving oysters on Maiden Lane in 1798. The restaurant’s own history records its survival through the Second World War, when it continued serving rationed meals, and its long association with writers and performers.
Charles Dickens, H.G. Wells, Laurence Olivier and Charlie Chaplin are among the names connected with its past. The drawings and paintings covering the walls make that history visible, rather than leaving it tucked away in an archive.
The kitchen’s identity is similarly rooted in British dining, with game, oysters, pies and puddings among its specialities. Rules offers a particular kind of London evening: a dining room with a long memory, and a menu that has no need to reinvent itself around the latest food trend.
Preserving the atmosphere as well as the address
The National Trust’s account recalls John Betjeman’s defence of Rules when redevelopment threatened it in 1971. His argument recognised the character of the rooms as well as their physical contents. The new arrangement carries that concern forward, protecting both the setting and the collections associated with it.
For a city that can be quick to replace the old with the new, there is something reassuring about an announcement centred on continuity. The most interesting detail is that this history will remain part of an ordinary restaurant service: tables laid, drinks ordered and another evening added to the story.
Can you still book a table?
Yes. Rules continues to operate as a restaurant, and reservations remain available through its own website. The address is 35 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden. Its cocktail bar, Winter Garden and private dining rooms are also detailed on the restaurant’s site.
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