Today in Chicago History: Billy Goat Tavern opens on Michigan Avenue​on March 4, 2025 at 10:00 am

Billy the goat takes a last look at William Sianis, as he is ready to go to pasture in Three Rivers, Michigan, with a broken leg on June 25, 1960. (Leonard Bartholomew/Chicago Tribune)

The double cheeseburger and potato chips at Billy Goat Tavern, 430 Lower Michigan Ave., is seen on Sept. 6, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

William Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern at 1855 W. Madison St., walks along Madison Street with his goat with a broken leg after the animal was rescued by a fireman from the smoke-filled tavern on Dec. 18, 1959. A fire started next door at an abandoned hotel. (George Quinn/Chicago Tribune)

William Sianis at his restaurant Billy Goat Tavern at Lower Michigan Avenue in Chicago, circa 1968. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

William “Billy Goat” Sianis arrives at the convention hall in a hearse with his goat on July 7, 1952. Sianis, surrounded by Andy Frain ushers, was running for the third party ticket for president. (Eugene Powers/Chicago Tribune)

William “Billy Goat” Sianis has worn this style of beard for 24 years. The nickname and beard help business at his Billy Goat Tavern in West Madison Street, circa 1958. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

William “Billy Goat” Sianis is seen at the unveiling of his Wall of Fame in the remodeled Billy Goat Tavern on Lower Michigan Avenue at Hubbard Street in Chicago on Oct. 22, 1967. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

NBC

“Saturday Night Live” Episode 20 shows Gilda Radner, left, as a patron, John Belushi as George, center, Dan Aykroyd as Pete, right, during the “The Olympia Cafe” skit on May 26, 1979. The skit, a parody of the real-life rantings of Billy Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis and employee Bill Charuchas, immortalized the restaurant. (NBC)

Chicago Tribune historical photo

WLS-TV’s Pat Collins, left, and chef Julia Child, center, receive a lesson on the “virtues of a cheeseburger” at the Billy Goat by owner Sam Sianis. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

The Billy Goat Tavern celebrates its 50th anniversary on March 6, 1984, at 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. in Chicago. (Phil Greer/Chicago Tribune)

Charles Cherney/Chicago Tribune

The Wall of Fame inside the Billy Goat Tavern features some of the notables in Chicago journalism. A portrait of late owner William Sianis hangs in the center on Feb. 29, 1984. (Charles Cherney/Chicago Tribune)

Owner Sam Sianis serves up beers as the Billy Goat Tavern celebrates its 50th anniversary on March 6, 1984, at 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. in Chicago. (Phil Greer/Chicago Tribune)

John the Bartender with his fans Toni Lefkow, left, and Patti Foerster at the Billy Goat Tavern on Aug. 1, 1984. (Bill Hogan/Chicago Tribune)

The Billy Goat Tavern celebrates its 50th anniversary on March 6, 1984, at 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. in Chicago. (Phil Greer/Chicago Tribune)

Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune

Billy Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis, right, made his way to Wrigley Field with a goat prior to the start of playoff Game 3 between the Cubs and the Atlanta Braves in 1998. (José M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)

John Lee/Chicago Tribune

Vice President Al Gore makes his rounds with patrons of the Billy Goat Tavern during a stop in Chicago in 1999.

George Thompson / Chicago Tribune

Billy Goat Grill owner Sam Sianis, at grill, and chef Nick Kondiles, right, fix a batch of cheeseburgers at their concession stand in Terminal 1 at O’Hare International Airport in 1999.

Wes Pope/Chicago Tribune

Actor and writer Don Novello poses at the Billy Goat Tavern in 1999. He wrote the “Saturday Night Live” skit that made the bar famous.

Charles Cherney / Chicago Tribune

Actor George Wendt stops by the Billy Goat Tavern for an interview with the Chicago Tribune in 2000.

David Klobucar/Chicago Tribune

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, left, jokes with customers while at the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago in 2001. At the grill are employees Spiros Sarivicile, center, and Ramon Gobinic.

John Lee/Chicago Tribune

Billy Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis displays his goat as he walks around the front of Wrigley Field before the start of a game against the Marlins in 2003.

Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune

Jeremy Piven, left, and Alicia Goranson star in the two-person play “The Guys,” about a journalist helping a fire captain write eulogies for colleagues who perished on Sept. 11, 2001. They were at the Billy Goat Tavern for an interview with the Tribune in 2003.

Sam Sianis, center, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, listens as Marc J. Gordon, president of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, speaks at the tavern on Jan. 11, 2005. County Commissioner Mike Quigley called the news conference to push County Board President John Stroger to withdraw his request for new hotel and restaurant taxes for 2005. (Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune)

Heather Charles / Chicago Tribune

Billy Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis stands in his booth at the Taste of Chicago in 2011.

Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune

The Billy Goat Tavern is located in the bottom of the Realtor Building, 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. in Chicago on Nov. 12, 2013.

Anthony Souffle / McClatchy-Tribune

Owner Sam Sianis works the grill at Chicago’s Billy Goat Tavern on Nov. 12, 2013.

Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune

The Billy Goat Tavern is located in the bottom of the Realtor Building, 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. in Chicago, Nov. 12, 2013.

Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune

Illinois Democrats gather in 2014 at the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago for a post-election unity breakfast.

Billy Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis takes in the scenery on Nov. 12, 2013, at the Billy Goat’s location on Lower Michigan Avenue in Chicago. (Anthony Souffle/Chicago Tribune)

Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, from left, Gov. Pat Quinn and Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios talk in the VIP room at the Billy Goat Tavern in 2014.

Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune

A couple peeks into the window of the Billy Goat Tavern on Lower Michigan Avenue on Aug. 17, 2015.

E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, right, a GOP presidential candidate, chats with Billy Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis during a campaign stop in 2015.

Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune

The Billy Goat Tavern at 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. on Aug. 17, 2015.

Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune

Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, right, chats with the Johnson family from Ventura, California, at the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago on March 15, 2016.

Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune

A woman walks past the Billy Goat Tavern at Lower Michigan Avenue on Aug. 17, 2015.

Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune

Bartender Jeff Magill talks to patrons at the Billy Goat Tavern on Dec. 22, 2015. Magill retired after 35 years on the job.

Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune

Bartender Jeff Magill talks to patrons at the Billy Goat Tavern on Dec. 22, 2015. Magill retired after 35 years on the job.

Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune

A photograph of bartender Jeff Magill, circa 1992, hangs in the Billy Goat Tavern in 2015. Magill retired after 35 years on the job.

Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune

Drink orders are taken at the Billy Goat Tavern on Aug. 17, 2015.

Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune

The Wise Guys Corner sign, at the Billy Goat Tavern, at 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. on Aug. 17, 2015.

Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune

Cottrell Payne, left, who has worked for the Billy Goat for more than 30 years, delivers two Billy Goat Darks to Sarah Leibinger and her friend Leah Espinoza, who were visiting from Saginaw, Michigan, at the Billy Goat Tavern on Aug. 17, 2015.

Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune

Cleveland Indians fans are seen with homemade billy goat signs in Game 1 of the World Series at Progressive Field in Cleveland in 2016.

Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune

Billy Goat IPA draft beer by Baderbrau Brewing is poured at the legendary Billy Goat bar and restaurant in Chicago on Nov. 7, 2017.

Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune

A six-pack of Billy Goat Pilsner is held up in front of Baderbrau Brewing founder and President Rob Sama and Billy Goat Tavern co-owners Bill, Sam, Tom and Paul Sianis at the Billy Goat Tavern on Nov. 7, 2017.

Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune

Billy Goat IPA draft beer by Baderbrau Brewing is poured at the legendary Billy Goat bar and restaurant in Chicago in 2017.

E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune

Billy Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis is behind the counter on Oct. 30, 2018, in Chicago.

Billy Goat owner Sam Sianis and son, Bill Sianis, in the new private party space in the Billy Goat tavern on Oct. 30, 2018, in Chicago. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Sam Sianis poses for a photograph at Billy Goat Tavern, 430 Lower Michigan Ave., on Sept. 6, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune

Three generations of the Sianis family, including Sam Sianis, right, his son, Tom, and grandchildren Sam, 9, left, and George, 6, read the Sunday newspaper at Billy Goat Tavern on Sept. 6, 2020, during the pandemic.

Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune

Billy Sianis, co-owner of Billy Goat, stands outside the tavern on Lower Michigan Avenue on Aug. 12, 2020. Sianis and his brother are among the hundreds of businesses across the country that have sued their insurance carriers for rejecting their claims for business interruption coverage for income losses sustained because of COVID-19.

E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune

The interior of the bustling Billy Goat Tavern at 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. on Nov. 4, 2022.

Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune

Former Ald. Robert “Bob” Fioretti, 2nd,
announces his candidacy for Cook County Board president as he greets guests at the Billy Goat Tavern on Sept. 7, 2022.

E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune

Billy Goat Tavern third-generation owner Bill Sianis makes double cheeseburgers with the restaurants new, softer kaiser roll bun on Nov. 4, 2022.

Sam Sianis poses for a photograph at Billy Goat Tavern, 430 Lower Michigan Ave., on Sept. 6, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune

A new, softer kaiser roll bun debuted on a double cheeseburger at the Billy Goat Tavern on Nov. 4, 2022.