Mount Vernon Food & Spirits

Open daily

Savor the flavors of early America at the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant, located just footsteps from George Washington’s historic estate.

Admission to the estate is not required to dine.

The restaurant serves lunch, dinner, and happy hour. Brunch is served on weekends. Reservations are recommended.

May & October

Try unlimited sample wines from Virginia wineries after hours at our Spring Wine Festival and Fall Wine Festival.

At our reconstructed distillery, we produce whiskey and other small batch distilled spirits using 18th-century distilling methods and techniques.

Sample our distilled spirits at the Mount Vernon Inn. They are also available for purchase at the Distillery or at the Shops at Mount Vernon. Learn more about purchasing our distilled spirits.

Grits, cornmeal, and other grain products produced at the Gristmill are available for purchase at both shops.

• Yellow Cornmeal
• White Cornmeal
• Pancake Flour
• White Grits

One of four gardens at Mount Vernon, the lower garden produced fruits and vegetables for the Washingtons' table and was overseen by Martha Washington.

Walk through the lower garden to learn about the foods that were grown there.

As the focal point of the upper garden, George Washington built a greenhouse where he cultivated delicate tropical plants that could not withstand cold Virginia winters.

In addition to providing lemons, limes, and oranges for Mrs. Washington’s table, the greenhouse served as a gallery for exhibiting rare and unusual plants imported from around the globe, including an aloe vera from North Africa and sago palm from the East Indies.

The kitchen was used to prepare all meals served to George and Martha Washington and their many guests.

The kitchen is located next to, not inside of, the Mansion to protect the Mansion from potential fires and to avoid cooking heat and smells from entering the residence. 

Inside the smokehouse, vast quantities of pork—mainly bacon and ham—were smoked to feed the family and Mount Vernon’s guests.

Fish, fowl, and the meat of larger animals were eaten fresh as well as cured to last longer.

According to George Washington, Virginia ladies took pride in the quality of the ham and bacon produced on their plantations. He and his wife sent these meats as gifts to friends in Europe.

Learn More

Restoration

Edwards Virginia Smokehouse sponsored the recent restoration efforts of the Mount Vernon Smokehouse.

Open weekends from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., April through October

Did you know that George Washington made whiskey? In 1799, his distillery was one of the largest whiskey distilleries in America. 

Tour a fully-functioning reconstruction of Washington's whiskey distillery, and a reconstructed gristmill where flour and cornmeal are made.

Both buildings are located 2.7 miles from the estate’s main entrance.

Admission to the Distillery and Gristmill is included with admission to Mount Vernon, or can be purchased separately for those only visiting the Distillery and Gristmill.

Open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

In The General in the Garden, learn how George Washington developed Mount Vernon's landscape and gardens, and hear about the groundbreaking archaeological methods that facilitated the discovery of Washington-era garden beds and borders of flowers, shrubs, and vegetables in his upper garden. 

Mount Vernon's definitive entertaining and recipe book, Dining with the Washingtons, sheds light on the daily lives of George and Martha Washington, on their ceaseless stream of household guests and those who served them, and on the ways food and drink reflected the culture of 18th-century America.