The Goat


You know you're in Chicago when you have lunch at the Billy Goat Tavern. That's the place immortalized by Belushi and friends in the "cheezborger cheezborger" sketches on "Saturday Night Live." Even before that, it was a local institution -- because of its proximity to the Tribune, the Sun-Times, and the other newspapers that existed in this town, The Goat became a hangout for the columnists and beat reporters whose pictures and old columns still grace the walls.

When I walked in yesterday, the counter man took one look at me and said, with that famous accent, "My friend, don't even look at the menu. You're having a triple. Triple cheezborger. You want chips?" I told him that worked for me and, just to play along, I asked for a Pepsi. The reply came back immediately, "No Pepsi, Coke! Next!"

By the way, the cheezborger was damned good.