Billy Goat Tavern

Coordinates: 41°53′24″N 87°37′28″W / 41.889899°N 87.624335°W / 41.889899; -87.624335

The Billy Goat Tavern is a chain of taverns located in Chicago, Illinois. Its restaurants are based on the original Billy Goat Tavern founded in 1934 by Billy Sianis, a Greek immigrant. It achieved fame primarily through newspaper columns by Mike Royko, a supposed curse on the Chicago Cubs, and the Olympia Cafe sketch on Saturday Night Live.

It now has several locations in the Chicago area, including Navy Pier, the Merchandise Mart, O'Hare Airport, and the West Loop on Madison Street, just blocks from the United Center, and expanded to Washington, D.C. in 2005. The D.C. location is the first outside the Chicago area and is intended to appeal primarily to Chicago transplants, as well as students from the Georgetown University Law Center located across the street.

History

The first location, at 1855 W. Madison St., was opened in 1934 when William "Billy Goat" Sianis bought the Lincoln Tavern, near Chicago Stadium, for $205 with a bounced check (he made good on it with the proceeds from the first weekend they were open). When the 1944 Republican National Convention came to town, he posted a sign saying "No Republicans allowed," causing the place to be packed with Republicans demanding to be served. Of course, a great deal of publicity followed, which Sianis characteristically took advantage of.

Goat

The domestic goat (Capra aegagrus hircus) is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe.

The goat is a member of the family Bovidae and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over 300 distinct breeds of goat. Goats are one of the oldest domesticated species, and have been used for their milk, meat, hair, and skins over much of the world. In 2011, there were more than 924 million live goats around the globe, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Female goats are referred to as "does" or "nannies", intact males as "bucks", "billies", or "rams" and their offspring are "kids". Castrated males are "wethers". Goat meat from younger animals is called "kid" or cabrito (Spanish), and from older animals is simply known as "goat" or sometimes called chevon (French), or in some areas "mutton" (which more often refers to adult sheep meat).

Etymology

The Modern English word goat comes from Old English gāt "she-goat, goat in general", which in turn derives from Proto-Germanic *gaitaz (cf. Dutch/Icelandic geit, German Geiß, and Gothic gaits), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰaidos meaning "young goat" (cf. Latin haedus "kid"), itself perhaps from a root meaning "jump" (assuming that Old Church Slavonic zajęcǐ "hare", Sanskrit jihīte "he moves" are related). To refer to the male, Old English used bucca (giving modern buck) until ousted by hegote, hegoote in the late 12th century. Nanny goat (females) originated in the 18th century and billy goat (for males) in the 19th.

Billy Goat (band)

Billy Goat was a band playing rock, funk and Latin styles from 1989 to 1997. Originating in Denton, Texas, Billy Goat was popular in the Dallas and Austin scenes including Deep Ellum and became known for its wild stage antics. One published reason for disbanding was turmoil caused from a tour van crash. Putting music ahead of antics, the band reformed with a new line-up in Kansas City prior to the 1995 release, Black and White. The more recent project of Dillon, Go-Go Jungle, has ties to Billy Goat's second incarnation including band members Go-Go Ray and J.J. Richards.

Band members