Green Door Tavern
.jpg) The interior, in February 2012 | |
| Formerly | Huron-Orleans Restaurant |
|---|---|
| Company type | Tavern |
| Founded | 1921 |
| Founder | Vito Giacomoni |
| Headquarters | , |
| Website | greendoorchicago |
The Green Door Tavern is reputedly Chicago's oldest surviving drinking establishment.[1] It opened in 1921, but the building dates from 1872.[1][2]
History
The building, at 678 N. Orleans St. (700N, 300W), Chicago, Illinois, United States, was erected in 1872 by James McCole, just one year after the Great Chicago Fire.[1][2] It has a wooden frame, a building technique outlawed in the Central Business District by an ordinance passed by Chicago City Council shortly afterwards.[1] The original tenant was Lawrence P. Elk, who used the ground floor as a grocery store and lived upstairs.[1] It was converted to a dining establishment, the Huron-Orleans Restaurant, run by Vito Giacomoni, in 1921. His sons Jack and Nello ran it as a speakeasy during the prohibition.[1]
In the 1930s, the bar acquired the nickname "The Green Door", and this was eventually adopted formally.[1]
George Parenti purchased the bar from the Giacomoni brothers in August 1985.[1]
The structure developed a lean from plumb in its early years, due to the construction techniques used at the time, and this is still noticeable.[1]