We find original vintage menu illustrations and turn them into fine art prints. We track down old menus from restaurants, bars and saloons, cafes, diners, drive-ins, nightclubs and hotels, mostly in the US, but also from other parts of the world. Many are just grubby from being handled, but others are creased or torn or marked by food or coffee stains.

We scan these little items of dining history and get rid of the imperfections and the wear and tear. We do most of this work ourselves, but we’ve had to send some to professional art restorers. It’s all worth it because, once they’ve been cleaned up, these charming and whimsical menu illustrations come back to life.

Our favorite period is from the years 1930–1960. This was a boom time when proprietors hired celebrated artists and talented illustrators to create stunning imagery to market their restaurants and bars. It was a time when fish smoked pipes and cigars. Prawns and cockroaches wore top hats and spats. Voluptuous brunettes sat astride lobsters and devil -like women drained their cocktail glasses in bars ... all pictured on the front of menus.
We do all our own printing on archival paper, and we research each establishment. Each print comes with its own information sheet.

As well as building our own archive, we work with a select group of private collectors who share our passion for vintage menu art and who have generously opened their collections to us. We also work with public institutions such as libraries and the Culinary Institute of America. Our collection of menus from all over the world dates from 1813 through to the 2000s.

Enjoy looking through this marvelous collection of vintage menu art images, restored and ready to hang on your walls.