A Chicago Institution Turns 90 Today!
Welcome to Chicago, home of the Billy Goat Tavern! Today is a very special day, and I found out on Twitter Tuesday:
The original Billy Goat Tavern was founded in 1934 by Billy Sianis, a Greek immigrant. It is a Chicago icon for two reasons: for putting a long-standing “curse” on the Chicago Cubs baseball team, and the hilarious “Cheezborger” Olympia Cafe sketch on Saturday Night Live, starring John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Chicago Cubs fan Bill Murray!
This sketch turned “Cheezborger! Cheezborger!” into a catchphrase that lives on today! Here it is:
According to Wikipedia, here is the story of the Billy Goat Tavern:
“The first location was opened in 1934 when William “Billy Goat” Sianis bought the Lincoln Tavern, near Chicago Stadium, for $205 with a bounced check (he made good on it with the proceeds from the first weekend they were open). When the 1944 Republican National Convention came to town, he posted a sign saying “No Republicans allowed” causing the place to be packed with Republicans demanding to be served. Of course, a great deal of publicity followed and Sianis took advantage of that fact.”
THE CURSE OF THE BILLY GOAT! THE “CUBS CURSE!”
Here is the story of the legendary “Billy Goat” curse…
Owner Sianis brought a pet goat, a tavern mascot, to Game 4 of the 1945 World Series, a home game at Wrigley Field against the Detroit Tigers.
Despite paid-for box seat tickets, Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley allegedly ejected Sianis and goat – apparently he thought the goat smelled! At that point, Sianis placed a curse on the team that they would not win another pennant or play in a World Series again!
I love that sketch…one of the most interesting things about the tavern is where its located:
It’s “Underneath” Michigan Avenue!
Yes, that’s the very popular Michigan Avenue above, but there is a road that goes underneath it, and that’s where you will find the tavern!
Now, here is a little bit about the legendary “Cheezborger! Cheezborger! Cheezborger!” skit:
As you enter, a sign reads: “Cheezborger, Cheezborger, Cheezborger. No Pepsi. Coke,” These words, with Pepsi and Coke in reverse order, were originally spoken and immortalized by John Belushi in, “Olympia Cafe,” an early Saturday Night Live sketch that was inspired by the tavern. Anytime anyone orders food, Belushi yelled out “CHEEZBORGER! CHEEZBORGER!” If they order fries, it was “NO FRIES. CHIPS!”
It was Bill Murray and sketch writer Don Novello who were the regulars at the Billy Goat, and came up with the sketch idea for Saturday Night Live.
SO WHAT ABOUT THE CHEEZBORGER?
Oh yeah, that’s right – you want to know how the cheeseburger tasted! Well, let’s get to my experience!
BILLY GOAT’S TINY GRILL!
Once you walk down the steps into the tavern, you wait in line and place your order with a Cashier – and yes, the Cashier yells “Cheezborger! Cheezborger!” dramatically with every order. Also in fact, they do NOT have fries OR Pepsi, but they have a small number of other sandwiches – that said, the vast majority of those in line were ordering the double cheeseburger, and so I did the same…
The very small grill is covered with hamburger patties, plus slices of the occasional steak, thinly sliced for a steak sandwich – finally, you can see the buns on the grill as well…that’s really all there is, as you will see…
The grill is always full of meat, so your order only takes a minute to come up, and here is what you get: two meat patties with a slice of cheese between them – on a bun. Their job is now done, and your is just beginning…
SELF-SERVICE CONDIMENTS!
That’s right: it’s up to you. This small condiment bar has all they have to offer you for your burger: sliced and chopped onions, pickles, mustard and ketchup. That’s it, knock yourself out!
I love mayonaise, so I missed not having that available. However, the pickles were big, meaty, and nicely crisp dill slices that I piled on, and then I gave the burger a sprinkling of diced onions and a dash of mustard – and finally a colorful swirl of ketchup. That’s it, dinner is served!
As you can see, the pickles really help provide some bulk to the burger, as the two patties and cheese are fairly thin…but since I love pickles, I loaded it up and got some height going…
SURVEYING THE ROOM
When it’s busy, it can be hard to find an empty table, as you can see – but I found a seat at the bar and settled in to try my cheeseburger…
I would actually recommend sitting at the bar, as you get a good sense of the energy of the place, especially with the Bartender hitting the old-fashioned cash register over and over for every drink he makes…and even though it was only noon, he was making a lot of them…
A stuffed Billy Goats head is above the register, announcing a special drink with Rum for $6 – I passed and settled for a Schlitz draft…
As you eat, you can gaze upon decades of newspaper articles, photos, and signs – you could spend hours looking at all of it – and the entire time you hear the constant shouts of “CHEEZBORGER! CHEEZBORGER!” ringing out behind you – and the Bartender hits the bell on the register with every single sale, and there is the consistent sound of “no fries, chips!” and “no Pepsi! Coke!” from the workers as well…and you realize the Billy Goats is as much performance art as it is a meal…
After all is said and done, the double cheeseburger goes for about $8, and the glass of Schlitz beer was $3.50…it’s always great fun to eat in an iconic place with fun stories, tons of attitude, and a vibrant atmosphere…Happy birthday Billy Goat Tavern, here’s to 90 more!
And since you are there, go up to street level to see this iconic building!
The iconic Tribune building is embedded with history! You can see iconic remnants from around the world – click here to see them up close!
And since you are in Chicago, you must stop in for a bite of deep dish pizza:
Lou Malnati’s is terrific, and they celebrated an anniversary a few years back as well…click here to see this pie up close!
Chicago has so many incredible things to see – like the waves crashing against Lake Michigan:
Oh, and did you know you can see the most notorious man-eating Lions in history?
Click here to see the Tsavo Killers!
If you like these stories, why not sign up to receive emails whenever I post? It’s easy to do, I do NOT collect any information about you at all, there are absolutely NO ads of any kind, just stories about movies, music, books, food, travel and pop culture…
You can sign up by clicking on my blog here and see the note on the right!
Sign up for a daily hit of social media, and if you like this story, feel free to share on social media!
Categories: chicago, Exotic Travel, Food, food blog, Food Review, Hamburgers, Memoirs, Pop Culture, Restaurants, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, Wacky Food
johnrieber 
Iconic behavior all around! I need to take a day-trip to Chicago immediately to try this place out. Thanks for sharing!
LikeLike
It’s really cool and packed with history! And the burgers are pretty good as well! Thanks for the comment!
LikeLike
That was a great backstory. Love the SNL sketch.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks! It sure was!
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀
LikeLike
This was an education as I knew nothing about the Billy Goat Tavern … but it’s history (and the SNL sketch) sound really interesting. I must admit that “cheezborger” made me chuckle!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s a funny story and lots of people felt the “Cubs curse” was real! Burger are fun, the atmosphere great and the history is rich – thanks for the comment, always great to hear from you!
LikeLike
You are the king of the cheeseburger. Wear that moniker proudly, John. Certainly, the SNL skit is one of the more memorable ones from back in the day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the comment, the place has a ton of history – and it’s all up on the walls to see!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved the skit, the origin story, and of course ,eating at the real place. funny about the tribune building, in all my visits to Chicago, it was only on my most recent visited that I noticed the details in the tribune wall.
LikeLiked by 2 people
They don’t really make a big deal of it, do they? I just noticed it once and found out all that is there! Kinda wild!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly
LikeLike
I like such quirky places with a long history and full of character. I had never seen the SNL sketch, so that was a bonus.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person