Most days Billy “Goat” Sianis summons a favored few pals to his table in the V.I.P (Very Insecure People) Room. And, as old men do, he tells stories of the past, of his boyhood in Greece, and wild times on Madison Street.
These are stores those at the table know well. Most of then have told the stories in print: how one of Billy’s goats escapes into the city sewer system; how, when Billy is arrested for speeding, he so charms the cop that he isn’t given a ticket but rather a free lunch; how he is served with a draft notice when he is 70; about formally applying to NASA for the first liquor license on the moon; the time he gets hi shoes stolen while vacationing in Ireland; when he bails two midgets out of jail after the couple is charged with drunken driving after leaving the tavern.
Read about these stories and more in A Chicago Tavern a Goat, a Curse, and the American Dream by Rick Kogan. https://www.billygoattavern.com/product/book-a-chicago-tavern/