Formerly: The Farmer's Home (from 1846)
Oak Brook, Illinois · Founded 1846 · Building: 1843
A working Oak Brook bar and restaurant in Benjamin Fuller’s 1843 Fullersburg building, with a strong but unresolved claim to DuPage County’s oldest private tavern lineage.
York Tavern occupies a building constructed by Benjamin Fuller in 1843 in the former village of Fullersburg, now part of Oak Brook. Local history says the building was first licensed in 1846 as The Farmer’s Home, a grocery store and tavern. It remains an active bar and restaurant at 3702 York Road, widely described as DuPage County’s oldest continuously operating privately owned eating-and-drinking establishment.
Benjamin Fuller built the York Tavern structure in the pioneer settlement then known as Brush Hill and later known as Fullersburg.
Source: Village of Oak Brook, “York Tavern”; York Tavern, “History”
Local history says the building was first licensed by DuPage County as The Farmer's Home, serving as both a grocery store and tavern.
Source: Village of Oak Brook, “York Tavern”; York Tavern, “History”
Benjamin Fuller platted the village of Fullersburg, a settlement later absorbed into Oak Brook.
Source: Village of Oak Brook, “York Tavern”; York Tavern, “History”
A Chicago Tribune report says Else Bom and her husband established the tavern in 1954, a statement that requires further research to determine whether it marked a reopening, ownership change, rebrand, or later phase of an earlier tavern use.
Source: Chicago Tribune, “York Tavern owner sandwiched between old charm, modern rules,” Feb. 3, 2006
The Farmer's Home/York Tavern building underwent a historical rehabilitation, according to the tavern's own historical account.
Source: York Tavern, “History”
The official York Tavern site listed current dining and bar service, with pizza, burgers, pasta, pickup, delivery, and the York Road address.
Source: York Tavern official website, contact and menu pages
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Oak Brook's official visitor/history page and York Tavern's history page identify Benjamin Fuller as the builder of the structure in 1843. The building is a surviving remnant of the former village of Fullersburg.
Oak Brook's official visitor page and York Tavern's history state that The Farmer's Home was first licensed by DuPage County in 1846 and served as both a grocery and tavern. The original county-license record was not independently inspected during this review.
Oak Brook's official visitor site and York Tavern's own history page describe it as DuPage County's oldest continuously operating privately owned tavern or eating-and-drinking establishment. The 1843 building and 1846 tavern/grocery license make it a serious claimant, but this review did not reconstruct a complete operating and liquor-license record or compare all plausible county rivals. A 2006 Chicago Tribune article also says a later owner established the tavern in 1954, requiring further continuity research.
The sources reviewed support a DuPage County claim, not an Illinois statewide title. No statewide comparison of historic bar, tavern, inn, restaurant, or hotel contenders was conducted for this entry.
The official York Tavern contact and menu pages list 3702 York Rd., Oak Brook, IL 60523, telephone number (630) 323-5090, current pickup and delivery information, and regular bar-and-restaurant hours.
York Tavern began operating as a tavern when the building was constructed in 1843.
Benjamin Fuller built the structure in 1843, but the earliest cited tavern/grocery operating date is 1846, when local history says it was licensed as The Farmer’s Home. Building age and the first documented tavern-license date are separate facts.
Source: Village of Oak Brook, “York Tavern”; York Tavern, “History”
York Tavern is Illinois's oldest bar.
The reviewed sources support a narrower DuPage County claim: it is widely described as the county's oldest continuously operating privately owned eating-and-drinking establishment. No Illinois-wide oldest-bar comparison was completed for this entry.
Source: Village of Oak Brook, “York Tavern”; York Tavern, “History”
York Tavern's continuous operation since the 1840s is conclusively documented.
The 1843 building and reported 1846 Farmer’s Home license support a strong local continuity claim, but this review did not reconstruct every ownership, licensing, operational, and Prohibition-era interval. A 2006 Chicago Tribune article's statement that Else Bom and her husband established the tavern in 1954 creates an additional continuity question.
Source: Village of Oak Brook, “York Tavern”; York Tavern, “History”; Chicago Tribune, “York Tavern owner sandwiched between old charm, modern rules,” Feb. 3, 2006
York Tavern can be reached at a duplicated or malformed phone number.
The official York Tavern contact page lists (630) 323-5090 for the bar and restaurant at 3702 York Rd., Oak Brook, IL 60523.
Source: York Tavern official contact page
York Tavern survived by remaining useful through the changing life of a former rural settlement absorbed into suburban Oak Brook. The building’s early grocery-and-tavern role evolved into a modern neighborhood restaurant and bar, while its Fullersburg setting made history part of the appeal. A 2006 historical rehabilitation helped preserve the old building’s use, but the larger continuity story still needs liquor-license, ownership, and operating records before it can be stated as uninterrupted fact.
York Tavern occupies a building in Oak Brook’s former Fullersburg settlement that Benjamin Fuller built in 1843. Local history says the establishment was first licensed by DuPage County in 1846 as The Farmer’s Home, functioning as both a grocery store and tavern. Fullersburg was platted in 1851, the historic building was rehabilitated in 2006, and York Tavern remains an operating bar and restaurant on York Road.
York Tavern is not established in this review as Illinois’s oldest bar. Its documented local claim is narrower: Oak Brook and York Tavern sources call it DuPage County’s oldest continuously operating privately owned eating-and-drinking establishment. The 1843 building and 1846 Farmer’s Home tavern/grocery license make it a strong claimant, but a complete continuity record and countywide comparison are still needed before that local title can be treated as conclusively proven.
The historic predecessor was The Farmer’s Home. Oak Brook history says The Farmer’s Home received a DuPage County license in 1846 and served as both a grocery store and tavern in the former village of Fullersburg. The full sequence of later business names, owners, and any interruptions between The Farmer’s Home and the present York Tavern remains a research question.
Local Oak Brook history says the building was first licensed by DuPage County in 1846 as The Farmer’s Home, a combination grocery and tavern. The physical building had been constructed by Benjamin Fuller in 1843, so the 1846 license date—not the building date—is the earliest cited evidence for tavern and grocery operation. The original county license should still be reviewed for final confirmation.
3702 York Rd, Oak Brook, IL 60523
(630) 323-5090
York Tavern is at 3702 York Road near Salt Creek and the Fullersburg/Graue Mill historic area. Its official site lists pizza, burgers, pasta, pickup, delivery, and late lunch/dinner hours; confirm current hours before visiting.