At 35 Maiden Lane, in Covent Garden, London. The nearest station is Covent Garden (Piccadilly) or Charing Cross (Bakerloo, Northern).

Which museums and sights are near Rules?

The National Gallery is 400 m away, London Eye is 900 m away, The British Museum is 1.0 km away. Distances are in a straight line from the restaurant.

What is Rules known for?

Game, The rooms, The regulars. London's oldest restaurant, serving game, oysters and pies in Maiden Lane since 1798, in rooms of red velvet hung with two centuries of pictures. Five minutes from the Covent Garden piazza.

In 1798. Founded in 1798, and by its own account the oldest restaurant in London.

Number 6 of 20 in London

Rules

Thomas Rule opened an oyster bar in Covent Garden in 1798, the year Nelson won the Battle of the Nile. It has had three families of owners since, and has never moved.

What it is: Grand restaurant
Opened: 1798
Area: Covent Garden
Nearest museum: The National Gallery, 400 m

London this week

What Rules is known for

Game
The house is known for grouse, partridge, venison and hare in season, much of it from an estate of its own in the north of England, and for puddings and pies cooked in suet.
The rooms
Every wall is covered: cartoons, playbills, portraits, antlers. The seats are red plush, and the light comes through coloured glass.
The regulars
Dickens, Thackeray and H. G. Wells ate here. The future Edward VII dined in a private room upstairs with the actress Lillie Langtry, and a door was cut so that he could come and go unseen.

What to know

Founded in 1798, and by its own account the oldest restaurant in London
Three families have owned it in more than two hundred years
Graham Greene set scenes of his novels at its tables

Where Rules is

Address

35 Maiden Lane
London WC2E 7LB, United Kingdom

Nearest station

Covent Garden (Piccadilly) or Charing Cross (Bakerloo, Northern)

Museums and sights nearby

Distances are in a straight line from the restaurant.

Oysters, then everything

Rule sold oysters, porter and pies to the theatre crowd, and his descendants kept the house until the First World War, when one of them exchanged it with a restaurateur for a business in Paris.

The present owner bought it in 1984. The cocktail bar upstairs is in the room where the prince entertained.

Rules: common questions

Where is Rules?: At 35 Maiden Lane, in Covent Garden, London. The nearest station is Covent Garden (Piccadilly) or Charing Cross (Bakerloo, Northern).
Which museums and sights are near Rules?: The National Gallery is 400 m away, London Eye is 900 m away, The British Museum is 1.0 km away. Distances are in a straight line from the restaurant.
What is Rules known for?: Game, The rooms, The regulars. London's oldest restaurant, serving game, oysters and pies in Maiden Lane since 1798, in rooms of red velvet hung with two centuries of pictures. Five minutes from the Covent Garden piazza.
When did Rules open?: In 1798. Founded in 1798, and by its own account the oldest restaurant in London.

What visitors say about Rules

Rating from Google

4.6

3,811 ratings on Google

Google's figures as read on 8 October 2026.

Read every review on Google

Tickets and tours near Rules

Things to do near Rules

The nearest of this site's best things to do in the city. Distances are in a straight line.

All 20 things to do in London

Artists to see near Rules

The museums nearest to here, and the most famous artists on show in each.

All 31 artists in London

Hotels near Rules

The five-star hotels closest to it, of those this site lists in London. Distances are in a straight line.

All 20 hotels in London, ranked

Where to eat near Rules

The nearest of the famous tables this site lists in London. Distances are in a straight line.

All 20 restaurants in London, ranked

All 20 restaurants in London, ranked Museums and attractions in London