Chicago publishes its business licences as a live dataset and the state posts every liquor licence, so all five of these rooms were proved active against the city's own records this week. What the records will not do is flatter the stories: the famous licence is the house's own claim, the famous booth has no paper trail at all, and the famous founding year on the last stop is wrong twice over. The truth turned out better every time.
- 1 · The Cold Open
The Berghoff
Herman Berghoff came to town to sell his Dortmunder style beer and stayed to feed the Loop, from 1898 at the corner of State and Adams, and in these 1872 post fire buildings for over a century. The relic hangs framed by the bar: what the house says is Chicago liquor licence number one, granted at repeal in 1933. Nobody has ever disproved it, and nobody outside the family has proved it either. Order the wiener schnitzel and a Dortmunder from Adams Street Brewery, which brews on the premises now. In 1969 seven women from NOW stood at the men only bar and demanded a glass, and the bar gave in for good. The family shut the doors in February 2006, reconsidered inside ten weeks, and the fourth generation reopened them with the oak, the waiters and the beer intact.
the business 1898, these 1872 buildings since about 1913; the licence number one is the house's own claim · daily 11.30am till 8pm, and the house marks its hours subject to change · verified Aug 2026
- 2 · The Detour
Billy Goat Tavern
William Sianis bought the Lincoln Tavern near the old Chicago Stadium in 1934, adopted the goat that fell off a truck outside, and renamed the bar in its honour. When man and goat were turned away from the 1945 World Series, the Cubs collected their curse; when the tavern moved beneath Michigan Avenue in 1964, the newspapermen collected their hideout, and Mike Royko held court here for thirty years. Belushi made the counter chant famous on SNL in 1978. Order a double cheezborger and chips, because there are no fries, and the grill still barks it back. Sam Sianis, the nephew who worked that grill for half a century, died in May 2026 at ninety one, and his sons carried straight on. The bar pours from seven in the morning, which the night shift always appreciated.
est. 1934 on Madison Street, under Michigan Avenue since 1964; Sam Sianis died May 2026 and his sons carry on · bar from 7am till 1am, later at weekends; kitchen from 6am on weekdays · verified Aug 2026
- 3 · The Anchor
Gene & Georgetti
Gene Michelotti and Alfredo Federighi, called Georgetti after a champion Italian cyclist, opened under the L tracks in 1941, and no steakhouse in Chicago is older. The story goes that Sinatra took the back dining room whenever he played town, and the career waiters will tell it to you with opinions attached, free of charge. Order the bone-in strip and a martini and put yourself entirely in their hands. The garbage salad has its own following if you want an alibi of vegetables. A grease fire shut the corner in October 2019 and the pandemic sat on the reopening for most of a year, but the room came back whole. The L still rattles the glassware overhead, on schedule, as it has since opening night.
est. 1941; dark from an October 2019 fire into pandemic 2020, back whole · Sun to Thu 11am till 9pm, Fri and Sat till 10pm · verified Aug 2026
- 4 · The Wildcard
Old Town Ale House
Pouring since 1958, and in this exact room since a February 1971 fire sent the regulars across North Avenue carrying the bar top with them. Roger Ebert called it the best bar in the world that he knew about, and Bourdain drank here for The Layover in 2012. The nude politicians on the walls began with Sarah Palin in 2008, the work of the house's resident painter, and the 1971 mural of regulars still holds the back wall like a jury. There is a lending library, a jukebox worth every quarter, and a till that takes cash only, with an ATM for the optimists. Order an Old Style and a well shot and read the room, which reads back. It stays open to four in the morning, five on Saturdays, which is when the place makes the most sense.
est. 1958 across the street; this room since the February 1971 fire · daily 3pm till 4am, Saturdays till 5am; cash only · verified Aug 2026
- 5 · The Last Call
Green Mill Cocktail Lounge
A saloon has anchored this corner block since 1898 and the Green Mill name has hung over it since 1914, though the room you drink in only became the bar in 1935, after a fire; through the dry years it was a drugstore and then a jeweller's. The Capone booth and the liquor tunnels are stories the bartenders tell beautifully, and the paper record stays silent on every word. What the record holds is better. Jazz has run nightly since Dave Jemilo relit the place in 1986, Marc Smith's Uptown Poetry Slam still holds its Sunday slot, and Sabertooth still takes the weekend late bills. In June 2026 Jemilo sold to two of his own managers, whose first act was pushing the music back to 4am Fridays and 5am Saturdays. Cash only, no food, no reservations. Order a Manhattan in a booth and stay for the last set; the continuance is granted.