In 1967, three years after opening on Hubbard Street, Billy expands into an adjoining space to the west that had been a parking ramp. He hires workmen to put up wood paneling on the walls, and for one day at least, as Sun-Times columnist Tom Fitzpatrick describes it, the place “looked like your classic suburban recreation room.”
In this new room, with a champagne and caviar party, Billy unveils the Wall of Fame, dominated at its center by a hand-drawn portrait of Billy that dwarfs the photos on either side. These are the faces of 37 men and one woman who were once top-ranking newspaper editors, reporters and columnists; a couple of television personalities and one newspaper publisher; one mayor and a man who was the chauffeur for a Tribune editor.
There is probably not a person alive who can identify all of these faces.
This was an excerpt from Rick Kogan’s book “A Chicago Tavern”. Read stories about Billy Goat and Chicago History – available in our online store or at the tavern: https://www.billygoattavern.com/product/book-a-chicago-tavern/