Aug 10, 2017 | Mike Royko, Uncategorized
Billy Goat Tavern has always been a hangout for Chicago’s reporters. Every bar stool has a story. The original Billy Goat on Madison Street attracted reporters who covered events at the Chicago Stadium across the street.
When Billy Goat moved his tavern to its current location under Michigan Avenue, reports flocked to the new subterranean Goat because of its close proximity to the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times headquarters. If you’re not bellying up to the bar, have a seat at one of the red & white checkered tables near the bar or on the other side of the grill in the “Wall of Fame” section. This area features photographs of local celebrities and yellowed articles written by famous Chicago newspaper columnists from the nearby Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times like Dave Condon, Bill Granger, John Kass, Rick Kogan, Richard Roeper, Rick Telender and Irv Kupcinet. One of the largest “displays” is dedicated to the legendary Pulitzer Prize-winning Trib columnist, Mike Royko, and is comprised of photos, columns, and a memorial written by Royko following the passing of Billy Goat Sianis himself. In it, Royko declares Sianis the “Greatest Innkeeper in Chicago.”
Royko was often found each day after work, holding court down at the Billy Goat. He would entertain crowds by espousing local politics as the “voice of the little guy.” Most of his reader and colleagues would say that he was “Mr. Chicago.” His columns would consist of stories that described the different events and characters that brought out the true Chicago. Sam and Billy Goat Sianis acknowledged Mike Royko as a part of their family and he treated the Billy Goat as his home. Royko wrote many articles about events that happened at the Billy Goat or about Sam and his adventures.
May 4, 2017 | Michigan Avenue, Mike Royko
In 1964, the original Billy Goat Tavern on Madison St. closed. By this time, the new place has been open for seven months in what was a quick-to-fail Chinese restaurant on Hubbard Street in the basement of the year-old Apollo Savings % Loan building. This gives the new Billy Goat Tavern a classy formal address, 430 N. Michigan Avenue, though the tavern is in the process of becoming a cave within a cave as construction begins on an upper level off Michigan Avenue, creating what is called the Plaza of the Americas. It will contain 25 flags, a patch of greenery, a huge statue of Benito Juarez, and will forever hide the Billy Goat from sunlight.
Nevertheless, this location delights the employees of the four newspapers who find themselves within crawling distance of the tavern: The Tribune and American, housed in a Gothic tower and its stocky sidekick on Michigan Avenue and to the west, in a seven-story modern building on the banks of the river at Wabash Avenue and meant to resemble a boat, the Sun-Times and Daily News.
Jan 19, 2017 | Michigan Avenue, Mike Royko
This story is from the book “A Chicago Tavern” and was told by Tim Weigel:
“One night after a loss, we headed to the tavern to lick our wounds and gargle a few beers. After a while Sam brought a goat in for a drink. The goat smelled pretty bad and Mike kept feeding the goat $1 bills. Then some one hands Mike a $10 bill and the goat eats it. Just a couple of minutes later the goat lets loose with a fusilade of pellets on Mike’s shoes. Seeing this, Sam yells from behind the bar, ‘Hey Mike. He gave you change.”
Nov 8, 2016 | Mike Royko
We’re sure you and Billy Goat are loving this from above!
May 27, 2016 | Cheezborger, Mike Royko
Mike Royko wrote about Donald Trump several times, and thanks to Google News we can find them in their archives. Check out what Mike had to say about The Donald 25 years ago:
“The Trump stumped for once” http://bit.ly/1XWn2X0
“Trump may be cad or scoundrel, but certainly not a cheapskate” http://bit.ly/1XCw9vz
“2 Trumps are worse than both” http://bit.ly/1sfBzRJ
“Is that Trump’s girlfriend? No, his laundress” http://bit.ly/1WQFvVx
May 24, 2016 | Michigan Avenue, Mike Royko
“I miss Mike very much,” Sam says in May 2000. “I see Mike three, four times. Matter of fact, I see him three days ago. Mike come by here. It was when he was dead. I ask him if he remembers when I said, ‘Mike, if anything ever happen to me, I want you to keep the Billy Goat name alive.’ And he nods his head and I tell him, ‘Now that you are gone I am going to keep your name alive. I’m going to make sure your name will live forever.'”
