The Original Pilsen Cafe of the 1800's

"After the Chicago Fire, the Czechs began to build on the open prairies near Eighteenth Street and Racine Avenue. One of the first buildings to be erected in the neighborhood was a Czech restaurant and saloon owned by an immigrant from from the West Czechoslovakian city of Plzen. He named his establishment the Pilsen Cafe, and gradually the name was adopted by the immigrants who inhabited Blue Island Avenue from Sixteenth to Twenty-Second Streets."

Locals, no doubt, made Pilsen Cafe their home away from home, consuming locally brewed beers, like the Shonenhoffen or Atlas brands. Drinking beer and socializing in cafes was a way of life for many in the immigrant working class. Without the purification processes we have today, drinking water or milk in the late 1800's may make one really sick.

Homes of many immigrant often housed extended families and entertaining guests at one's home was a real challenge. Pilsen Cafe, and other neighborhood cafes, were the perfect place for friends and family members to talk. Beer was inexpensive, readily available and socially accepted during this era. Cafes also offered tables, chairs and plenty of room to discuss the latest news and gossip of the day.

excerpt from Ethnic Chicago - A Complete Guide to the Many Faces & Cultures of Chicago, second edition by Richard Lindberg, copyright 1997, 1993 by Passport Books (p. 110)