Have you ever noticed that building at the corner of Orleans and Huron Streets? It seems to lean a bit, an almost imperceptible tilt, but it’s there. That’s the Green Door Tavern, one of Chicago’s oldest surviving drinking establishments. Built in 1872, just a year after the Great Chicago Fire, its wooden frame is a testament to a bygone era. The city council outlawed wooden buildings so close to the Loop after the fire, making this a unique survivor.
The Green Door Tavern has a rich history, a story woven through the tapestry of Chicago. After serving as a grocery store for decades, it became the Heron-Orleans Restaurant in 1921. In the basement, the Giacomo brothers, Vito’s sons, created one of downtown Chicago’s first speakeasies. During Prohibition, the speakeasy was frequented by Chicago’s gangsters, with notorious figures like Dean O’Banion supplying its illegal alcohol.
The Green Door Tavern earned its name in the 1930s, a nickname that stuck. Many speakeasies in Chicago used a green door to mark their entrance, and this tavern’s south-side access was no different. It’s said that the tavern itself wasn’t the hottest spot in the city back then. It wasn’t the kind of place to bring your best lady. But in 1985, George Parenti purchased the Green Door Tavern, revitalizing it to its former glory.
Parenti found an old ledger from the Prohibition Era, listing milk for $12.50, cheese for $22.50, and root beer for $625.00. Parenti joked, “I had an idea that that wasn’t really root beer.” Today, you can still find remnants of the building’s past in the tavern’s décor. The Green Door Tavern, with its unique history, embodies the true spirit of Chicago. It’s an iconic landmark that has stood the test of time, a place where history, culture, and a good drink come together under a single green door.