CHICAGO — Sam Sianis, the longtime owner and patriarch of the legendary Billy Goat Tavern, has died. He was 91.
Sianis died peacefully Friday morning in his sleep while surrounded by family, according to a statement from the Billy Goat Tavern.
“It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Sam Sianis — the legendary, longtime owner of Billy Goat Tavern and a true Chicago original,” the family said in a statement. “Sam was more than a restaurateur; he was a Chicago legend.”
For decades, Sianis was the face and voice of the Billy Goat, the burger joint and famed journalists’ hangout beneath Michigan Avenue that went from beloved tavern to one of the city’s most enduring cultural institutions.
At the Billy Goat, Sianis carried forward the legacy started by his uncle, William “Billy Goat” Sianis, helming the famous restaurant as it found its place in Chicago mythology through its ties to sports curses, newspaper lore and “Saturday Night Live.”
According to the Billy Goat website, William Sianis was the legendary creator of the “Billy Goat curse,” on the Chicago Cubs in 1945, after Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley wouldn’t let him bring his pet goat into a game. The curse was apparently lifted with the Cubs World Series championship in 2016, so that the website now reads: “The Curse Is Broken!”
Sam Sianis was born Dec. 12, 1934, in Palaiopyrgos, Greece, and grew up tending sheep and goats before immigrating to the United States in the 1950s. He first lived in San Francisco, where he worked in a relative’s coffee shop and for the Southern Pacific Railroad, before moving to Chicago in 1960 at the request of his uncle, according to an interview he gave with the Tribune in March.
After his uncle’s death in 1970, Sianis inherited the tavern and spent the next five decades preserving its traditions while expanding the Billy Goat brand across Chicago.
The original Billy Goat Tavern, 430 N. Michigan Ave at Lower Level, in the Mag Mile on Jan. 17, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Under Sianis’ leadership, the Billy Goat became a gathering place for generations of journalists working nearby at the Tribune, Sun-Times and City News Bureau. The tavern’s “Wall of Fame,” lined with reporters’ bylines and photographs, turned the Billy Goat into what many veteran reporters described as neutral territory where rivals swapped tips, arguments and stories over beers and burgers after deadline.
Columnist Mike Royko became one of the tavern’s most famous regulars, often holding court at the “Wise Guy’s Corner” barstool that still bears his name. Sianis frequently described Royko as “like a brother.”
The Billy Goat’s legend was put on the national map in 1978, when John Belushi, Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd spoofed the tavern in a famous “Saturday Night Live” sketch featuring thick-accented cooks barking, “Cheezborger! Cheezborger! No fries — chips!” The sketch turned the neighborhood tavern into a pop culture landmark.
Still, Sianis insisted the Billy Goat’s success came from changing very little.
“We haven’t changed anything here but fixed the plumbing,” Bill Sianis, Sam’s son, previously told Block Club Chicago.
Sianis remained a regular presence at the Billy Goat in his later years, often arriving in the mornings to greet customers, yell orders from the grill and pose for photos with tourists on the stairwell of the restaurant off Michigan Avenue.
This is a developing story.
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