Vintage Chicago Tribune: Hot dogs! Pizza! Popcorn! Lemonade! Chicken pot pie! Get your food history, here!
Be careful, Chicago, this newsletter could make you very hungry.
We’re taking a look back at how a variety of local foods came to be known as Chicago greats. You know, the bites, beverages and restaurants you crave, whether it’s a weeknight or a special occasion to be shared with out-of-town guests.
From snacks to full meals to desserts to drinks — each one was perfected here.
Through the decades, the Tribune has explored these culinary wonders and shared them with you.
But now we need your help to determine Chicagoland’s favorite food picks for this year. Voting has begun in the 2023 Readers’ Choice Food Awards and will continue through March 31.
There are five finalists in each category — and 10 for Best New Restaurant.
So, tell us which are your favorite foods. Who knows — they, too, could join these Chicago classics.
How you can support this newsletter
Become a Tribune subscriber: it’s just $12 for a 1-year digital subscription. Follow us on Instagram: @vintagetribune. And, catch me Monday mornings on WLS-AM’s “The Steve Cochran Show” for a look at “This week in Chicago history.”
Thanks for reading!
— Kori Rumore, visual reporter
Chicago history | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games | Today’s eNewspaper edition
The fascinating history of Chicago barbecue, told in Tribune coverage from 1850s to present day
Chicago has a robust barbecue tradition, particularly for a northern city, Tribune food critic Nick Kindelsperger discovered. Read more here.
Dave’s Red Hots, Chicago’s oldest hot dog stand, is even older than we thought
The full story has now been unearthed with help from the living descendants of not one, but two families, including an 88-year-old who once ate a hot dog five days a week and returned recently to the same booths he polished as a boy. Read more here.
Chicago’s love affair with popcorn goes back 150 years, from Cracker Jack to Garrett Mix
Since at least the 1870s, Chicago has been a hotbed of popcorn innovation. Part of that has to do with Chicago’s role as a transportation hub for grain in the Midwest. But the entrepreneurial spirit of its citizens certainly helped. Read more here.
A history of Roeser’s, Chicago’s oldest family-owned bakery
Since 1911, one family of bakers has survived through four generations by changing with the neighborhood and maintaining a strong connection to the community. Oh, and by making a heck of a butter loaf. Read more here.
‘Mrs. Hering’ found: More than Walnut Room’s historic pot pie behind the real Mrs. Haring in Chicago
Earlier this year, Tribune food critic Louisa Chu went in search of the real woman behind what may be the oldest known restaurant recipe in the city, dating to 1890. Despite help from researchers, genealogists and historians, Hering’s identity remained a mystery. Some wondered if she even existed. Read more here.
That ‘marvelous burger place’: 84 years of Tribune coverage of the Billy Goat Tavern
While located at 1855 W. Madison St., the Billy Goat Tavern didn’t have a grill. It was only after moving to 430 N. Michigan Ave. that it started serving food. Read more here.
Orange Garden, Chicago’s oldest Chinese restaurant, has a long history, with a gangster legend, an iconic neon sign and a family hoping to preserve it
The business, perhaps best known for Chinese American classics including egg foo young and Chicago-style peanut butter egg rolls, opened in the late 1920s. Read more here.
Keepers of the flame: Jewish restaurants in Chicagoland honoring tradition while forging new paths
As Hanukkah celebrations were underway last December, the Tribune visited eight Jewish restaurants across Chicagoland that are resilient as they are delicious. Read more here.
The founders of 5 iconic Black restaurants in Chicago, and how they helped form a culinary culture
The first families of Black food culture in Chicago not only dominate the South Side with lines out their doors, they also cross cultural boundaries, luring people hungry for their barbecue, fried chicken, mild sauce, apple fritters and sweet steak sandwiches. Read more here.
The story behind Mario’s Italian Lemonade
The menu of Italian ice has grown over 67 years, but you’ll still find the original flavor, which transforms liquid lemonade into its final, silky frozen form, with lemon rind and occasional seeds in your cup. Read more here.
After 30 years away, Malort came home to Chicago for production
Chicago-made Malort, for better or worse, maintains the essence of grapefruit meets gasoline. Read more here.
Deep dish pizza: Who invented it?
There is almost no documentation about who invented the dish, and without it, legend has taken over. Read more here.
Celebrating Atomic Cake, the iconic South Side creation that defies gravity
Who truly invented the Atomic Cake and why it stayed on the South Side remain a mystery, even to the Bakers Dozen, a local group from the oldest family bakeries who consider themselves friends and not competitors. Read more here.
Josephine’s Southern Cooking, aka Captain’s Hard Time, celebrates a lifetime of soul food in Chicago
Josephine’s has not only remained open, it has a history that dates back 60 years. Her business has far exceeded the life spans of closed iconic soul food restaurants Army & Lou’s, Izola’s, Edna’s, Soul Queen and Gladys’ Luncheonette. Read more here.
An oral history of Chicago’s biggest restaurant group for its 50 anniversary: From ‘one of the worst restaurant names of all time’ to a possibly cannabis-laced future
The Pump Room. Ed Debevic’s. Everest. Studio Paris. Lettuce Entertain You restaurants have found themselves woven into the history of Chicago and the fond memories of countless diners. Read more here.
Frankfurters bourguignonne or franks in sour cream sauce? Questionable Tribune hot dog recipes over the years
Though the Chicago-style hot dog is arguably the greatest hot dog in the country, for most of the 20th century, Tribune reporters and recipe writers mostly acted deeply embarrassed about the dish. Read more here.
Join our Chicagoland history Facebook group and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago’s past.
Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Ron Grossman and Marianne Mather at rgrossman@chicagotribune.com and mmather@chicagotribune.com.
