Chicago - Billy Goats Tavern

I think I built up Billy Goat's Tavern a little too much.  I was the one who wanted to go there, having been a big Saturday Night Live fan in my youth.  I showed Big Boy the video of the skit with Akkaroid and Belushi.  It was a little bit of a letdown after my big build up.  Don't get me wrong, I am glad we went - crossed it off my bucket list and all. 

We walked from the park to the address that I had as the location of Billy Goat's Tavern but when we got there, we say nothing but a big shiny skyscraper.  I know the tavern was under the skyscraper but for some reason, I pictured a basement entrance on the edge of the building.  Thank goodness someone had thought to clearly mark the entrance for us tourists.  It was a staircase on the sidewalk much like a subway entrance.

Did I mention that Chicago is not stroller friendly?  We hauled the stroller down a long dark flight of stairs.  Chicago basically has two (maybe three)levels.  There is what I call the street level with sunshine and real sidewalks.  There are street signs and such.  Then, there is the basement (I came up with this, I don't know what the locals call it)  This is like a city below the city.  There are roads and businesses down there.  Now, just to give  a picture of how long this stairway is, imagine that trucks and buses have to fit in the roadways in the basement.  And they have to have plenty of clearance on top of that.  So, the stairways are about two stories high (or at least seemed to be when carrying all our junk).

We got to the bottom of the steps and navigated past the homeless guy who insisted on calling out to us.  And there was the infamous Billy Goats Tavern.

We had to navigate the cumbersome stroller down a half flight of stairs which also too a bend in the middle.  And then, once we got into the place, we were immediately pegged as tourists.  I approached the counter and ordered three cheezeburgers and I was immediately told that I wanted double cheezeborgers.  Yeah, they got me with the upsell.  I ended up paying something like $6 per burger, knowing that Lil' Bit wouldn't finish hers.  The tourist behind me asked for "fries" and was told in a peevish tone "chips, no fries".

Lil' Bit was handed her sprite which she then immediately dropped garnering us angry glares from the guy sent to clean it up.

The burger was actually very tasty.  The patties were about the size of a Five Guys burger if you are familiar with the chain.  There was a fixings bar at the end of the counter where you could top your burger with onions, pickles, ketchup and mustard.

If I were a local and BGT was close, I would stop in for a burger every so often.  Would I fly all the way to Chicago to eat there again...no, probably not.  But, I am glad we did it just to say we have.