The Berghoff (restaurant)

About

The Berghoff restaurant, at 17 West Adams Street, near the center of the Chicago Loop, was opened in 1898 by Herman Joseph Berghoff and has become a Chicago landmark. In 1999, The Berghoff won a James Beard Foundation Award in the "America's Classics" category, which honors legendary family-owned restaurants across the country.

The restaurant opened in 1898 as a saloon, but during Prohibition, when serving alcohol was illegal, it became known for its characteristic German food, such as sauerbraten, wiener schnitzel, creamed spinach, and apple strudel. The Berghoff was also known for its waiters, who were professionals, with formal cloth aprons, and remembered orders with no need to write them down. The restaurant followed a European system under which waiters purchased food from the kitchen via a token system and resold it to the customer. For much of its history, the Berghoff maintained a separate men's only bar. The segregation ended in 1969, when seven members of the National Organization for Women, followed a little later by the organization's head, Gloria Steinem, stood at the bar and demanded service.