The restaurant has a vast history. Between the moves and its history, the Old Ebbitt has amassed a priceless collection of antiques and memorabilia. Along the way, the restaurant acquired beer steins, animal heads, and wooden bears said to have been imported by Alexander Hamilton for his private bar. Unfortunately, many artifacts were beyond preserving and unable to weather the 1983 move around the corner. The restaurant has a beautiful ambiance. Just behind the Main Dining Room is Grant’s Bar with its ceiling mural by New Jersey artist Carol Loeb and an artistic rendering by Peter Egeli of the famous Matthew Brady photograph of General Grant. An oil painting behind the bar of a nude reclining near a lily pond was painted about 1900 by Jean-Paul Gervais. It offers an iconic tavern offering American meals, including popular oyster specials, in Victorian-style digs.