The Picture of London, for 1803 (1803)
Dolly’s Beef-Steak House, alternatively known as Dolly’s Chop House, was named for the cook Dolly who was said to have been the favorite cook of Queen Anne. Queen Anne made a gift of the place sometime in the early 18th century.
Throughout the 1700s, it would be a well-known place for the upper crust to dine on sumptuous fare, including the famous beef-steaks:
The New Monthly Magazine (1826)
Dolly’s was mostly a place for gentlemen to dine, often in solitary enjoyment of their steak and potatoes. By the Regency era, it was said to project an “olden air” but still promised a good ale, meal, and the chance to rub elbows with rarefied diners. Thomas Howell took over sometime in the 1830s (https://londonstreetviews.wordpress.com/2016/03/24/thomas-howell-dollys-beef-steak-house/) continuing the legacy of the Paternoster Row hot spot.
By the late Victorian period, Dolly’s would be no longer but it was still remembered in reminiscent tributes:
