The Berghoff

The History

The Berghoff traces its origins to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where a young German immigrant named Herman Berghoff from Dortmund set up a stand selling his own Berghoff brand beer. The beer proved so popular that Herman decided to stay in Chicago, and in 1898 he opened a saloon at 17 W Adams Street in the heart of the Loop. His formula was simple and irresistible: a nickel bought a glass of Berghoff beer, and a free sandwich came with it. Workers, businessmen, and politicians flooded through the doors, and the saloon quickly became one of the most popular gathering places in downtown Chicago.

When Prohibition shut down the liquor trade in 1920, The Berghoff survived by serving near-beer and expanding its food menu, transforming from a saloon into a full-service restaurant. The real milestone came on April 7, 1933, when Prohibition was repealed. The Berghoff was first in line at City Hall, and Herman Berghoff received Chicago Liquor License #1 — the very first liquor license issued in the city after the repeal of the 18th Amendment. That license has been displayed proudly inside the restaurant ever since, becoming one of the most famous artifacts in Chicago's culinary history.

For decades, The Berghoff served traditional German fare — Wiener schnitzel, sauerbraten, creamed herring, bratwurst — alongside their own house-brewed beer. The restaurant's long wooden standing bar became an institution within an institution, though it carried a controversial distinction: women were not allowed to stand at the bar. That policy held until 1969, when a group of members from the National Organization for Women (NOW) staged a protest, walking into The Berghoff and demanding service at the bar. The restaurant relented, the men-only policy ended, and the story made national news. The Berghoff briefly closed in 2006, sending waves of mourning across the city, before the fourth generation of the Berghoff family reopened the restaurant and restored it to its former glory.

What Made It Famous

Liquor License #1 is the legendary detail that defines The Berghoff in Chicago lore. When the long nightmare of Prohibition finally ended, Herman Berghoff made sure his restaurant was the first establishment in the city to legally serve alcohol again. That license — framed and displayed on the wall — became a symbol of Chicago's resilience and its deep, complicated relationship with drinking culture. No other restaurant in the city can claim that distinction, and it made The Berghoff a permanent fixture in every history of Chicago.

Beyond the license, The Berghoff represents the German immigrant heritage that shaped entire neighborhoods and industries across Chicago. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, German immigrants were among the largest ethnic groups in the city, and they built breweries, beer gardens, and restaurants that defined Chicago's social landscape. The Berghoff is the last surviving monument of that era in the Loop — a living connection to a time when German was spoken as commonly as English on many Chicago streets.

The atmosphere itself became legendary: dark wood paneling, painted murals of German countryside scenes, waiters in formal attire carrying trays loaded with steins of beer and plates of schnitzel. The standing bar, where generations of Loop workers stopped for a quick beer after work, became one of the most recognizable scenes in downtown Chicago. When The Berghoff briefly closed in 2006, the outpouring of grief was citywide. Chicagoans lined up for one last meal, newspapers ran front-page tributes, and the closing felt like a death in the family. The reopening by the fourth generation of Berghoffs was greeted with the kind of relief usually reserved for championship victories.

Key Facts

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