My wife bought tickets for a matinee showing of Wicked today. We decided to take the train down a few hours early and check off another item on my list of 30 Things to do in Chicagoland — Eat a cheezborger (but not fries!) at the Billy Goat Tavern. This place is famous for two things: 1) a curse the owner put on the Chicago Cubs in 1945 when they wouldn’t allow his goat into Wrigley Field for a World Series game — which curse is supposedly responsible for the Cubs lousy history since; and 2) a skit by John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray that made famous the owner’s banter:
“Cheezborger! Cheezborger! You want doublecheez?!? Don’t look at the menu, look at ME! I order for you already – DOUBLECHEEZ is best! No fries – CHEEPS! No Pepsi – COKE!”
The place looks like a hole in a wall, mostly because it is a hole in a wall. It’s tucked underneath Michigan Avenue in a dark tunnel. And even then you have to walk down several steps to get to the eating area.
That doesn’t seem to affect business any. There was a steady stream of customers the entire time we were there. We walked up to the counter and the guy gave us the famous spiel and, of course, we both got doublecheez, cheeps, and Cokes. There were huge tins of fresh onions and pickles, the buns were fantastic and the atmosphere — if you like dank basement bars — was fun.
Wait, that bag of chips look larger than what I’m accustomed to seeing. Hmm, probably just my imagination.
Looks fun, (though I’m not sure if I’d want to go to a “dank basement bar” or not.)
I’d like to eat there sometime before the Cubs win the WS. So, I guess there’s no rush.