The Great Escape Restaurant

The house

The Great Escape still uses part of an 1889 building that began as a store and saloon on Irving Park Road. Owner Brian Great has said he would rather coexist than collect ghosts, which is how you know the staff are not selling a show. Team members have watched a man in a black suit, clipboard in hand, walk into a closet and fail to come out. There are cold spots in a dark hallway, 1920s music from the basement after close, and an antique radio that plays with no wires and burned-out tubes. A bartender who had his own sighting brought in a paranormal team. The restaurant is still a restaurant. Schiller Park is a near-northwest suburb — a straight shot from Elk Grove if you want a table that is not downtown.

Eat in the old saloon rooms, not only the newer dining space. If a radio starts, check whether it is plugged in. The kitchen is the reason to stay. The closet is the reason you might not sit with your back to it.

The Ghostly Gourmet