Chicago’s first liquor license, a nickel beer, and 127 years of Loop history
After spending several hours wandering through the galleries of the Art Institute of Chicago, we were ready for something entirely different. Rather than another contemporary restaurant or chef-driven menu, we walked a few blocks to The Berghoff, where more than a century of Chicago history awaited us. It turned out to be the perfect transition from an afternoon of art to a leisurely lunch steeped in tradition.
Walking into The Berghoff felt a little like walking into one of the museum galleries we had just left. Both places tell Chicago’s story- one through paintings, the other through generations gathered around the same tables.
From a World’s Fair Beer Stand to a Loop Landmark
The story starts at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, where Herman Joseph Berghoff, a recent German immigrant, sold his own Dortmunder-style beer from a stand on the Midway Plaisance. The response was strong enough that he opened a permanent saloon in 1898, selling beer for a nickel with a free sandwich on the side. When Prohibition arrived in 1920, rather than closing, Berghoff pivoted to brewing “near beer” and sodas — one of which survives today as Berghoff’s Root Beer — and leaned further into food service to keep the doors open. When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, The Berghoff was issued Chicago’s very first liquor license, a distinction the restaurant still proudly displays.
A History Worth Knowing Before You Sit Down
Part of what makes The Berghoff such a rich stop is the layered history sitting just beneath the surface of a simple lunch. The restaurant maintained a men’s-only bar long after the practice had faded elsewhere in the city, a policy that only ended in 1969 after Gloria Steinem and members of the National Organization for Women stood at the bar and demanded service. The building itself, at 45,000 square feet, is filled with original murals, stained glass, and decades of Berghoff family photographs lining the walls — the kind of patina that simply can’t be recreated.
The restaurant did close briefly in 2006 as ownership passed from the third generation to the fourth, reopening fully by 2007 as the three-part Berghoff Bar, Restaurant, and Café it remains today. In 1999, it earned a James Beard Foundation America’s Classics award, the honor reserved for beloved, family-run restaurants with timeless appeal.
What to Order
The menu stays close to its German roots, and that’s exactly the point. We went straight for the classics: a Bavarian pretzel to start, a sausage trio combining grilled, steamed, and smoked links, and a Wiener schnitzel served alongside the restaurant’s own potato chips. The Reuben, built with house sauerkraut, corned beef, and Thousand Island, is a longtime favorite for good reasonas as are the potato pancakes. Nearly everything on the menu is made in-house, and the kitchen has updated just enough — lighter, German-inspired dishes and gluten-free options among them — to keep the place feeling current rather than frozen in time.
Why It Belongs on the List
The Berghoff isn’t trying to be the trendiest table in Chicago, and that’s precisely its appeal. It’s a restaurant that has watched the entire modern dining scene rise up around it — the gastropubs, the tasting menus, the West Loop renaissance — and simply kept doing what it has always done well. A stop here felt like the perfect, grounding counterpoint to a week full of newer ambitions.
Lisa’s Take
Would I Recommend It? ★★★★★ Absolutely.
Best For: History lovers, first-time visitors, families, and anyone who enjoys restaurants with a genuine sense of place.
Allow: About 90 minutes.
Don’t Miss: Order one of the classic German dishes and take a few minutes to wander through the dining rooms admiring the photographs, stained glass, and historic details before you leave.
Worth the Time?
Without question.
Chicago has no shortage of exciting new restaurants, but The Berghoff offers something they can’t: continuity. After more than a century, it remains a place where generations of Chicagoans have gathered to celebrate, socialize, and share a meal. We loved experiencing the city’s innovative dining scene, but lunch at The Berghoff reminded us that sometimes the most memorable meals are the ones that connect you to a destination’s history.
“Some restaurants impress you with creativity. Others welcome you into a city’s story.”
Why We Chose It
After spending the afternoon at the Art Institute, we wanted lunch somewhere that felt unmistakably Chicago. The Berghoff, just a short walk away, offered exactly that – a restaurant where history is served alongside every meal.
For the rest of where we stayed, ate, and explored on this trip, look for the complete Chicago guide coming soon to The Insider’s Guide. In the meantime, stay tuned for the next post in my Chicago blog series.
