Forest Park has poured drinks for the entire region since temperance grabbed neighboring towns in its grip back in the 1870s. And while that has meant a whole host of bars, taverns, lounges and watering holes, it’s also meant the village has been a center of finer dining too.
Names like La Strada, Homer’s, Richard’s Tavern, Christina’s, Jerome’s, Gianotti’s, Olde Town West, Cesar’s and the Pines Lobster and Steak House linger in sepia-toned memories.
Elizabeth Taylor dined here too.
But long before her arrival, Otto’s Restaurant, which used to be at 7212 W. Washington Avenue – between Harlem and Elgin Avenues (townhouses today), was serving up German fare to discerning diners.
One Facebook poster recalled that her grandmother lived around the corner from the location, but women weren’t allowed in the restaurant until evening dinner service.
Otto’s was a popular spot for post funeral luncheons as mourners traveled back from cemeteries in western suburbs. In the days of horse and buggy, it was a long haul out to the burial grounds and Otto’s was a very convenient and appropriate place to “pour one out” for the dearly departed.
In 2013, the Forest Park Historical Society hosted a progressive dinner and tour of Madison Street, sipping, dining and learning about its place in the regional dining scene. Restaurant names have changed, but Forest Park’s reputation for more free flowing drink made the village an attractive place for restaurateurs.
To tip back in time, Oak Park and River Forest didn’t allow alcoholic beverages to be served, even when ordering dinner, until the 1970s. Oak Park didn’t allow drinks without a meal until 2011.
Getting back to Elizabeth Taylor: her third husband, Mike Todd, is buried within Jewish Waldheim cemetery. After his interment there (he died in a plane crash,) Taylor was a frequent visitor to his grave. She was known to stop in at the Golden Steer Restaurant. It’s said that her drink of choice was Jack Daniel’s, neat.
Golden Steer, at 7635 Roosevelt Road, still carries those glory days of dining history forward. A steak from there, replete with their justifiably famous baked French onion soup, along with a few cocktails will send you down nostalgia lane, even if you aren’t old enough to actually remember those swankier times.
On a personal note: I met my future in-laws there only a few weeks into dating my now husband of 25 years. It was a full-throated Sunday brunch where the old fashioneds flowed. By the end of the meal one of the group took me by the arm and said, “Welcome to the family.” His warmth and welcome still color my rosy view of dining in Forest Park!