Englander's is one of the more unusual stops in downtown Oakland.

It is part breakfast and lunch counter, part antique store, and part surviving piece of the town's older commercial history.

You can sit down for pancakes or buckwheat cakes, then spend some time looking through furniture, jewelry, glassware, collectibles, old signs, and whatever else the vendors happen to have in at the moment.

That combination is what makes it worth knowing about.

It started as a drugstore

Englander's traces its history in Garrett County to 1946.

The building was once Englander's Drugstore, from a time when pharmacies and lunch counters commonly shared the same space.

The pharmacy is gone, but the old fountain and lunch counter survived as the building changed into an antiques business.

Today, the old counter still operates as the grill, also known as Dottie's Fountain & Grill, alongside the antique vendors.

Oakland's Arts & Entertainment District points to the fountain as one of the surviving pieces of the town's mid-century character.

That history is part of what makes Englander's different from a restaurant that simply happens to have vintage decor.

The building has changed, but it has not completely lost what it used to be.

Breakfast among the antiques

The restaurant and antiques share the same building, so the experience is not divided neatly into eating first and shopping second.

You may walk past vendor displays before reaching the grill, and it is easy to spend some time looking around before or after breakfast.

The current Garrett County tourism listing describes Englander's as serving breakfast and lunch alongside antiques, jewelry and collectibles.

The antique inventory changes, which is part of the reason it can be worth looking around even if you have been there before.

Try the buckwheat cakes

If you are interested in food connected to this part of Appalachia, look for the buckwheat cakes.

Buckwheat pancakes have a long association with Garrett County and neighboring Preston County, West Virginia.

Englander's serves them alongside more familiar diner breakfasts.

It is a small regional detail, but one worth noticing if you are visiting from somewhere else.

Look around after you eat

The antiques are not just decoration.

Englander's has multiple vendors selling changing collections of furniture, jewelry, glassware, signs, collectibles, and other older pieces.

There is no way to know exactly what will be there on a particular visit.

That is part of the appeal.

You may spend ten minutes looking around, or much longer if antiques are your thing.

Why it fits Oakland

Englander's is not a major attraction, and it does not need to be.

Oakland is best experienced through a collection of smaller places like this: businesses, museums, old buildings, shops, and bits of local history that are close enough to combine into an afternoon.

Englander's works because it brings several of those things together in one stop.

It also feels like the kind of place that is easy to overlook if you only drive between Deep Creek Lake and the county's bigger attractions.

Make it part of an Oakland afternoon

If you are already coming into Oakland, it makes sense to combine Englander's with a walk through downtown.

The B&O station and museums are nearby, along with books, records, local art, antiques, and other small shops.

You can easily make Englander's one part of a slower morning or afternoon rather than treating it as a destination by itself.

Read our full guide:

A Slow Afternoon in Oakland, Maryland

Know before you go

Englander's is a small independent business, so hours can change.

The restaurant and antique-vendor portions may also operate on slightly different schedules.

If Englander's is the main reason for your trip into Oakland, check current information before leaving.

Antique inventory changes constantly as well, so something shown in an older photo or community post may no longer be there.

Is it worth stopping?

Yes, if you enjoy small-town diners, antiques, regional food, old buildings, or places where some of the town's history is still visible.

If you are looking for a polished destination restaurant or a major attraction, that is not really what Englander's is.

But as part of a morning or afternoon in Oakland, it is a distinctive local stop.