Ring Out The Old, Part Two. (Or, Losing A Tasty Part Of History.)

From The Chicago Tribune.

Tucked deep into the fine print of a Chicago Daily Tribune end-of-year business report on Dec. 31, 1898, was the announcement that Herman Berghoff's brewing company of Ft. Wayne, Ind., would pay $175,000 to rent a building at the corner of State and Adams Streets for five years. Herman Joseph Berghoff figured Chicagoans might have a taste for his heartier Dortmunder-style beer.That turned out to be a pretty good deal for Herman Berghoff Brewing and Chicago, which have been synonymous for more than a century. But nothing lasts forever, not even an icon that serves up more than ample quantities of beer, brats and wiener schnitzel to the masses. Thus, there was no hiding Wednesday's news that the Berghoff Restaurant, now in the building next door to that first location, will close in February.Some Chicagoans are taking the news hard. But maybe they can take solace in this. The restaurant's closing is not the result of some corporate takeover like the one that will obliterate the name of Berghoff's equally famous Loop neighbor, Marshall Field's, next year. Nor is it the result of some real estate transaction that will destroy the 1872 gemutlich charmer that houses Berghoff's so skyscraper condos can be erected.No, this is Herman Berghoff's 70-year-old grandson and his wife deciding to retire and turn the business and building over to their daughter's catering company. It's all in the family. While the Berghoff Restaurant will disappear as a public space and become home to private, catered parties, the famous bar will not.The bar that was the first Chicago establishment to get a liquor license when Prohibition ended in 1933, and that made history in 1969 when seven women protested its men-only policy by demanding service, will remain a part of city lore. So, Berghoff fans mourning its loss, buck up. At least Berghoff's beer will still be frosty cold and on tap at 17 W. Adams St.