Landmark restaurant on the block.

WESTBORO - After decades of serving patrons and celebrating milestones with local residents, the owners of a landmark eatery have decided to close.

For weeks, a for sale or lease banner has draped the 1790 Restaurant and Tavern sign on Route 9.

Yesterday, Kurt Pearson, whose family established the noted restaurant, said in an email he has decided to move on from his lifetime career in the restaurant business and hopes to turn operation of the 1790 Restaurant and Tavern over to another entity.

"The 1790 property - a beacon on Route 9 for over 220 years - is now available for lease or sale," Mr. Pearson wrote. "It is my hope that this national landmark be cherished and well-maintained as a restaurant, or in yet another new form in the years to come."

Mr. Pearson said the historic home was built as a "gentleman's mansion" in the era of horse-drawn carriages and...