"No Republicans Allowed." So read a sign posted outside of the Billy Goat Tavern by its proprietor during the 1944 Republican Convention in Chicago. The reaction – angry (and hungry) Republicans demanding service at the tavern – made the Billy Goat a household name overnight.

In 1934, Greek immigrant William "Billy Goat" Sianis purchased the Lincoln Tavern on the near West Side, beginning the long life of the Billy Goat Tavern. Sianis and the Billy Goat remained there through the 1944 Republican Convention and up to 1964, when Sianis moved the tavern to its current location on the lower level of Michigan Avenue.

The Billy Goat's fame has spread well beyond Chicago's borders. Bill Murray, Loraine Newman, Dan Aykroyd, and John Belushi's famous Saturday Night Live skit, "Olympia Cafe," pokes good-natured fun at the Billy Goat—a favorite watering hole of Murray and Belushi from their days at Second City.

Die-hard Cubs fans are undoubtedly familiar with "The Curse of the Billy Goat"—a curse placed on the Cubs in 1945 by Sianis and made famous by local columnist Mike Royko, a Billy Goat regular. Thinking his pet billy goat may bring good luck to the Cubs, Sianis purchased two tickets—one for himself and one for his goat—to attend game four of the 1945 World Series between the Cubs and the Tigers. When Cubs owner Philip Wrigley refused to allow the goat into the stadium, Sianis vowed that the Cubs would never again have a successful season. His words have rung true, despite several attempts to reverse the curse.

The Sianis family has since expanded the business to include several locations in Chicago, as well as one in Lombard, Illinois and another in Washington, D.C. The original still exists, popular as always despite—or perhaps partly because of—its hidden location on Michigan Avenue's lower deck. The tavern is accessible to pedestrians via a stairway outside of the Realtor Building on Michigan Avenue's upper deck or by walking east on East Hubbard Street from North Rush.

Billy Goat Tavern. “Our History.” Accessed July 2016. http://www.billygoattavern.com/legend/our-history

The Chicago Bar Project. “Billy Goat Tavern.” Accessed July 2016. http://www.chibarproject.com/Reviews/BillyGoat/BillyGoat.htm

Duis, Perry. “Saloons.” Encyclopedia of Chicago Online.Accessed July 2016. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1110.html

Historic photograph: “Billy Goat Tavern, Chicago sports fan's landmark, Chicago, Illinois,” c. 1980, courtesy Library of Congress

Written by Hope Shannon, Loyola University Chicago