DON
Traveling Man
THOMPSON
There’s a little burger place under a freeway bridge in Chicago that bills itself as “The World Famous Billy Goat Tavern & Grill”. Odds are this name doesn’t ring a bell.
There are two reasons this little burger place is famous,so even if you haven’t heard of Billy Goat Tavern,you may be familiar with the reasons this place is famous. If you’re old enough to have watched Saturday Night Live in Season Three in 1978,there was an on-going skit about The Olympia Restaurant featuring John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Lorraine Newman, and Bill Murray. Belushi was the stained apron wearing counterman “Pete”, and no matter what a customer ordered – tuna sandwich, grilled cheese, eggs, whatever – Belushi would say in a thick accent “No tuna. No grilled cheese. No egg. Cheezborger. No fries,cheeps.No Coke,Pepsi.” If a customer ordered three cheeseburgers, fries, and Cokes, Belushi would look over his shoulder at the guys manning the grill, and yell out “Cheezborger, cheezborger, cheezborger, cheeps, Pepsi.” If a customer was slow making up his mind,Belushi would wave his hands impatiently and say “Come on,come on,we must have turnover. You want cheezborger?”
The Olympia Restaurant is based on a real place, the Billy Goat Tavern. And it really is a lot like the skit.They’re most famous for cheeseburgers of course, and you can order a single, a double,or triple burger,but the real menu has ribeye steaks,grilled chicken,roast beef,corned beef, Italian sandwiches,and a breakfast menu of steak and eggs,or ham and eggs.But they really do not have fries or Cokes.
And they really will rush you through the order line.I was forewarned about how to order before I went there the first time so I was prepared. There was a long line in front of me but it was moving quickly.Most people before me were ordering cheeseburgers, so I was enjoying the guy yelling “Cheezborger, chips, Coke”, just like the famous skit,but evidently no one warned the guy in front of me. When it was his turn, the waiter behind the counter said “Whut chu want?”. The guy hesitated, stood there stroking his chin, and said “Well, let me see now…” The waiter rolled his eyes and yelled “Step back, fat boy! Come back when you know what you want!” It was great! The waiter turned to me and said “Next!” I was ready,I promptly said “Double,with mayo, chips,Pepsi!”
The second reason Billy Goat Tavern is famous is involved in the history of the Chicago Cubs. If you’re a baseball fan,you know the story of the curse of the Cubs.
The Cubs started as the Chicago White Stockings in 1876. The team won the first National League Championship and became one of sports first dynasties by winning six of the first eleven championship titles.The modern day “Cubs”came into existence in 1903, and continued their success with record wins in 1906 with 116 games won. This would also be their first pennant win as the “Cubs.” The World Series title was lost to their cross-town rivals,the White Sox.
The following year, they went on to win their first World Series title in 1907.They returned the following year in 1908 to win their second World Series becoming the first team in baseball to win back-to-back World Series titles.
From 1876 to 1945,The Chicago Cubs were one of the most successful baseball teams in the country.They posted a .559 record,with 51 winning seasons, 16 first place finishes, and 16 pennants and World Series appearances. They won two World Series titles and six National League titles in that span.
This came a screeching halt in Game Four of the 1945 World Series.
The Cubs entered Game Four of the World Series leading the Detroit Tigers 2 games to 1, and needing to win only two of the next four games played at Wrigley Field. A local Greek, William “Billy Goat” Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern and a Cubs fan,bought two tickets to Game Four. Hoping to bring his team good luck, he took his pet goat, Murphy, with him to the game. At the entrance to Wrigley Field, the ushers stopped Billy Goat from entering, saying no animals are allowed in the park. Billy Goat, frustrated, appealed to the owner of the Cubs, P.K. Wrigley. Wrigley replied, “Let Billy in, but not the goat.” Billy asked, “Why not the goat?” Wrigley answered,“Because the goat stinks.”According to legend,Billy was upset,so he threw up his arms and exclaimed “The Cubs ain’t gonna win no more.The Cubs will never win a World Series so long as the goat is not allowed in Wrigley Field.”The Cubs were officially cursed.
The Cubs lost Game Four,and the remaining series. Billy promptly sent a telegram to Wrigley, stating, “Who stinks now?” In the following years, the Cubs finished each season at 5th place or lower. The World Series would become a dream,and “wait ’til next year”became the team’s motto.
Several times in the following 70 years from 1945 to 2015, Billy Goat Sianis and his heirs would say “The curse is lifted”, and the Cubs would look promising for part of the season but fall short again.
Finally, on November 2, 2016, the Cubs won their first World Series championship since 1908,beating the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in a rain delayed Game 7.
The win snapped the “Billy Goat Curse”, the longest streak for any major league team to go without winning a World Series.
I always look forward to going to Chicago, and have been to Billy Goat Tavern a dozen times. There are several locations now – I think there’s even one at O’Hare - but I like to go to the original location at Lower 430 North at Michigan Ave, and always order “Cheeseburger, chips, Pepsi.”I raise my cup of Pepsi in a toast to Belushi and SNL,and hope the curse stays away from the Cubs. If you’re in Chicago, and you’re a fan of SNL, or a baseball fan, or just want to go someplace different,I recommend Billy Goat Tavern and hope you enjoy it as much as I have!