"richard charltons coffeehouse" news and stories

While visitors to Richard Charlton's Coffeehouse, the first major reconstruction on Colonial Williamsburg's Main Street in nearly half a century, will be treated to 3-ounce servings of coffee, tea or hot chocolate, spokesman Jim Bradley says it's unlikely the restaurant's first patrons would have been satisfied with such dainty samples.

"Outside one of the rooms, which was probably a private dining room, we found just piles and piles and piles of broken wine bottles," says Bradley.

As it turns out, taverns weren't the only places where sociable Colonists could enjoy stiff drinks and politically charged conversations. Contrary to standard American histories, taverns functioned more like highway rest stops, complete with government-controlled prices, lackluster food and a sketchy clientele. Locals typically preferred to do their drinking in coffeehouses, which were all the rage in England when King George III was in charge.