Billy Goat Tavern (The Original)

The Billy Goat Tavern is recognizable by its subterranean entrance located directly beneath Michigan Avenue, where visitors descend a concrete staircase to reach a windowless space tucked away from the street level. Originally founded in nineteen thirty-four by Greek immigrant William Sianis, the tavern began across from the old Chicago Stadium on Madison Street. Sianis bought the predecessor, the Lincoln Tavern, with a two hundred and five dollar check that initially bounced, only to be covered by the bar’s first weekend of sales.