Miller's Pub
Bill Veeck's Corner at Millers Pub. (Photo by Gus Boyer)
134 S. Wabash Street
Chicago, IL 60603
Nestled in the heart
of the Chicago Loop,
Miller’s Pub has served meals
and beer since 1935.
Visitors leave autographed pictures
above the tables full of beef, salads,
seafood, pies, and sausage.
Patti Page gazes wistfully at diners
from a gilt-edged frame
while Fred Waring smiles benignly nearby.
But most of the photos capture
little-known actors or singers,
brave local legends
who lost the high-stakes game
in New York or Hollywood.
As they strut in spangled costumes,
the starlets appeal
to hungry business groups,
tourists, and shoppers
for a moment of homage.
Janet Ruth Heller’s “At Miller’s Pub”
Fifteen years after it was founded, Pete, Nick, and Jimmy Gallios purchased Miller’s Pub, crafting it into the iconic Chicago tavern that it is today. The restaurant is a hot spot of Chicago history, host to an array of star-studded guests, from Marilyn Monroe to Mayor Richard J. Daley. Chicago native and baseball trailblazer Bill Veeck was such a fixture that the east end of the bar, “Bill Veeck’s Corner,” is dedicated to him. According to co-owner Vannie Gallios in a 2012 article for Eater, Veeck frequented Kroch’s and Brentano's bookstore. Along with providing Veeck with what Gallios calls his “reading for the week,” Kroch’s and Brentano’s touted itself the “World’s Largest Bookstore” and was, according to a 1995 Chicago Tribune article, the oldest independent bookstore chain in Chicago.
Many entertainers from the Empire Room made their way over to Miller’s Pub, in part because of its proximity and in part because it stayed open until 4 a.m. (It now closes at 2 a.m.). Professional and candid photos, many signed, decorate the pub’s walls and beams.
Chicago Poet Janet Ruth Heller conjures these images, especially the way the venue animates the figures of past patrons, both famed and unknown, in her poem “At Miller’s Pub.”
Miller’s Pub’s signature drink is called the “Tom and Jerry”--a warm holiday cocktail consisting of a spiced egg batter spiked with brandy and rum. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Miller’s has served this "boozy liquid Christmas cookie" nearly three-quarters of a century, beginning in the 1950s when the Gallios family first purchased the establishment. The drink is served specifically during the winter holiday season, with the pub selling between 4,000 and 5,000 mugs annually. At the height of the season, the pub goes through 12 gallons of batter a day to keep up with demand from shoppers and tourists.
