American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation are dishing out $50,000 grants to 50 historic restaurants nationwide through their fifth annual Backing Historic Small Restaurants program.
These aren’t just any eateries. They’re neighborhood treasures with stories as rich as their menus.
“Food brings people together and builds community. We aim to offer restaurants the support they need to expand, innovate, update their spaces, and improve operations, so they continue to grow and bring vitality to neighborhoods across the U.S and around the world,” Madge Thomas, Head of Corporate Sustainability and President, American Express Foundation, said in a prepared statement.
Is your favorite historic spot struggling to keep the lights on? Community support matters. Nominate them for a grant before May 30. Your endorsement could help tip the scales, though restaurants must still complete their own applications.
Past winners include the New York Cafe in Ketchikan, Alaska, built by adventurer Tony Ohashi more than 120 years ago. It remains Alaska’s longest operating restaurant. Stephen Reeve, who won a grant for the restaurant in 2024, used the money to restore signage and the building façade.
Since launching, the Backing Historic Small Restaurants program has pumped $5.7 million into 130 culinary landmarks across America, throwing financial lifelines to eateries struggling against economic hurricanes and helping preserve delicious history on a plate. The program began during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The restaurant rescue mission works with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which seeks to keep alive the old places in America that serve as our collective memory banks and story vaults. The National Trust has been helping to draw attention to buildings and places that need preservation for more than 75 years, rescuing historic gems that tell our full story as a nation. They are aided by supporters who believe that saving yesterday’s landmarks creates tstronger communities for tomorrow.
