Billy Goat Tavern Cheezborger Legend Dies

Sam Sianis, the longtime owner and public face of Chicago’s Billy Goat Tavern, died Friday at 91, according to the restaurant and multiple Chicago news outlets. The tavern said Sianis died peacefully in his sleep on May 15 while surrounded by family. His death closes the public chapter of a family business that had become one of Chicago’s most recognizable food institutions, tied to newspaper lore, Cubs mythology and the “Cheezborger” catchphrase popularized on “Saturday Night Live.” ### Who was Sam Sianis at the Billy Goat? Sam Sianis took over the Billy Goat Tavern from his uncle William “Billy Goat” Sianis, the Greek immigrant who founded the business after buying the Lincoln Tavern in 1934, according to CBS Chicago and the tavern’s own history pages. Under Sam Sianis, the lower Michigan Avenue location remained the best-known outpost of a business that later expanded to several Chicago-area locations. (cbsnews.com) Bill Sianis, Sam’s son, told the Chicago Sun-Times that his father had largely stepped back about a decade ago while Bill and his brother Paul helped operate the family tavern. The Sun-Times and Daily Herald both reported that Sam Sianis died of natural causes. ### Why did Chicagoans know the Billy Goat long before social media? (cbsnews.com) The Billy Goat Tavern built its reputation in the shadow of Chicago’s newspaper district, where reporters, editors and pressroom workers made the bar a regular stop after deadline, local coverage said. Block Club Chicago described the tavern as a place defined by burgers, newspaper lore and Cubs history, while the Chicago Tribune called Sianis a popular figure in the city’s sports and media worlds. (chicago.suntimes.com) Chicago media outlets said the original subterranean location under Michigan Avenue became part of the city’s civic shorthand — a place tourists sought out and locals treated as a fixture. WGN said walking into the original tavern on lower Michigan felt like stepping back in time, and NBC Chicago described it as the place Sianis made famous. (blockclubchicago.org) ### How did “Cheezborger” become attached to the tavern? NBC’s account of the “Olympia Café” sketch says the recurring “Saturday Night Live” bit became one of the show’s best-known early sketches, centered on a fast, limited-order diner routine. The Billy Goat Tavern says on its website that ordering there may sound like the sketch’s shouted cadence of “Cheezborger” and “No fries, chips,” and local reports on Sianis’s death said the tavern embraced the association for decades. (wgntv.com) The exact inspiration for the sketch has been disputed over the years. NBC reported that cast members and writers have offered different accounts, but the Billy Goat has long claimed the sketch drew from the atmosphere of the Michigan Avenue tavern. ### What was the Cubs connection people kept bringing up? William Sianis, Sam’s uncle, was linked to the so-called “Curse of the Billy Goat,” a story rooted in the 1945 World Series after he and his goat were asked to leave Wrigley Field, according to local reports. (nbc.com) The legend held that the Cubs would not win a World Series after the incident. The Chicago Sun-Times said Sam Sianis lived long enough to see that story lose its grip when the Cubs won the World Series in 2016. That detail appeared prominently in obituaries because the curse had become inseparable from the tavern’s identity. ### What happens to the tavern now? (cbsnews.com) Billy Goat Tavern’s business continues beyond Sam Sianis’s death. The company’s locations page lists multiple Chicago sites, including the original Michigan Avenue tavern as well as locations at Navy Pier, the Merchandise Mart, Midway Airport and O’Hare Airport. The family’s statement described Sianis as “the legendary, longtime owner of Billy Goat Tavern and a true Chicago original,” and said he would be deeply missed. (chicago.suntimes.com) As of May 16, 2026, the tavern’s website continued to list its operating locations, pointing customers to the same network of city and airport outposts that kept the business running after Sam Sianis’s retirement from day-to-day work. (blockclubchicago.org) (billygoattavern.com)