Sam Sianis, Greek immigrant owner of Billy Goat Tavern and keeper of the Cubs’ Curse of the Billy Goat, died at 91 after gall bladder surgery.
Key Takeaways
Sianis arrived in Chicago in 1960 with no high school diploma, mopped floors at his uncle Billy’s tavern, and took over after Billy’s death in 1970.
The Billy Goat’s location under Michigan Avenue near four major newspaper printing presses gave it a built-in media clientele that fueled its decades-long prominence.
The 1978 SNL “Cheezborger” sketch, created by Don Novello from his Billy Goat lunches, was at the time the most expensive set in SNL history and permanently embedded the tavern in pop culture.
Sianis kept the brand family-controlled, expanding only to airports and Navy Pier and licensing frozen burgers and beer rather than franchising.
Mike Royko, Pulitzer-winning columnist, called Sianis one of his closest friends and cited his consistent treatment of all customers equally as a defining quality.
