The Village Tavern

The house

The Village Tavern has been pouring since 1847 — older than most of the state that surrounds it, and the oldest restaurant in Illinois still serving. German settlers built a wagon shop and watering hole at this crossroads; the Ulrich family still runs it. The mahogany bar survived the 1967 McCormick Place fire. A grandfather clock from the 1890s keeps the end of the room. Long Grove’s Historical Society still walks the dead through these streets each October. The haunt is the village more than a named ghost on a stool, which is how the honest old rooms usually work. You do not need a ticket. You need a table. Elk Grove is a straight shot south.

Order something that would have made sense when the horses were still outside. Sit by the clock. If you came from Elk Grove for one suburban room that predates the expressway, this is it.

The Ghostly Gourmet