Daley's Restaurant has served Chicago's Woodlawn community since 1892
Daley's Restaurant, known as Chicago's oldest, has served Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood for more than 130 years.
Today, it remains a destination for generations of community members.
Daley's, at 6257 S. Cottage Grove Ave., is located about a little over a mile west of the Obama Presidential Center — and right at the terminal of the Chicago Transit Authority Green Line, which runs overhead.
Irish ironworker John Daley — who was part of a different Daley family from the one that includes Mayors Richard J. and Richard M. Daley, U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley, and Cook County Commissioner John Daley — opened Daley's Lunch Room in 1892. This was a year before the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 took over Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance nearby.
When Daley's opened, the elevated train line now known as the Green Line was under construction, and the entrepreneurial ironworker saw a need for a food facility.
Daley's was a success, and in 1918, original owner Daley sold the restaurant to a pair of Greek immigrants who worked in his restaurant — waiter Tom Kyros and cook Paul Emmanuel. Kyros was a waiter at Daley's at the time, Emmanuel a cook.
Since then, the only setback was during the Great Depression, when Kyros and Emmanuel decided to have a new building constructed only for the bank financing the construction to fail. The men had to go work in other foodservice jobs, but by 1937, they had acquired the funds to rebuild Daley's.
Daley's been a community staple ever since, and remains in Kyros' family. Tom Kyros was the great-great uncle of current Daley's owner Mike Zar.
"It was just booming around here — jazz clubs, nightlife, restaurants, bars," said Zar. "Muhammad Ali used to train down the street at Johnny Coulon's gym at 63rd and University."
Woodlawn later fell on hard times, with disinvestment and population loss. Nevertheless, Daley's' soldiered on, and remains a beloved community destination.
"We've got good service and a fair price," Zar said. "A lot of places don't have service. You walk up to a counter, you order, you sit down, someone brings you your food — the last you ever see of them."
In 2019, Daley's moved into its current building — a new building in a community where new buildings weren't being constructed very often until recently.
Daley's is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. The restaurant serves dinner as early as 10 a.m., with workers like overnight staffers at the nearby University of Chicago Medical Center in mind, Zar said.
The restaurant is known for its dinners with baked chicken, mac and cheese, and collard greens, as well as for offering four different steaks. The biscuits served at Daley's are made with a recipe that dates back 40 years.
"I guess people just gravitate towards this restaurant. It's a family-oriented atmosphere. You know, we're perfect for Sunday lunch and dinner after church," Zar said. "We're basically like that get-it-done diner, you know, fair prices, good service."
