Chowning’s Tavern

• $$
• Accessible
• Family Friendly

Cheers to Tradition

Chownings Cider Stand Open weather permitting.
The cider stand will run daily 11 am-5 pm (weather permitting) and will have our favorite items available for our guests. Cookies, sandwiches, chips, cold drinks, Chownings Root Beer, Kings Arms Ginger Ale, cold drinks, and more.

Chownings Garden Snack Bar – Open 11AM-3:30PM |  Thursday – Saturday “weather permitting
Located behind Chownings Tavern, the Chownings Tavern Garden provides a casual atmosphere for open-air dining.

Chownings Tavern Temporarily Closed.
Gather ‘round, at Chowning’s Tavern for hearty, Colonial-inspired pub fare, all served up in an authentic alehouse atmosphere.

JOSIAH CHOWNING
Little is known about Josiah Chowning. When the tavern was reconstructed, Colonial Williamsburg believed it was located on this site, but we now know that a store and dwelling were here and that the tavern was somewhere nearby. Chowning’s business lasted less than two years, but its twentieth-century counterpart has accommodated travelers and locals for over fifty years. Chairs, benches, and tables represent the sturdy furniture found in colonial taverns catering to the middling sort. Excavated fragments show that the blue and yellow peacock on the dinnerware was one of several colorful bird motifs used by early Williamsburg residents. Utilitarian stoneware tableware, plain tin sconces, and simply framed maps and prints accentuate the informality of Chowning’s Tavern.

*ADA Accessible wheelchair lift is available.  Please check in at the front, and our host will escort guests to the lift at the rear of the building. Note this cannot be seen from the street. All profits from Chowning’s Tavern are used for the purposes of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, which operates the Historic Area and educational programs.