Svea Restaurant, an institution in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood for generations, was one of this year's recipients of a $50,000 grant from the Backing Historic Small Restaurants program.

The program, a joint effort by American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, issues the grants to 50 small or independently owned restaurants around the country every year.

The funding is intended to help the restaurants — all of which the program says "contribute to their neighborhood's unique history and identity" — improve their businesses and benefit their communities.

Svea and the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce announced the grant on Thursday.

Svea restaurant dates back to 1932, the social media pages for the restaurant note. It has been around in its current form since the early 1970s when it was purchased by Kurt Mathiasson — who also founded the Swedish American Museum, according to the museum.

The late Matthiason was known for entertaining guests at Svea with Swedish songs, and dedicated a wall at Svea to the history of Chicago's Swedish community, according to the Edgewater Historical Society.

Svea, 5236 N. Clark St., is now owned by Scott Martin, who also owns the historic Simon's Tavern down the street at 5210 N. Clark St.

Svea is a longstanding destination for breakfast and brunch in the area, and is known especially for its popular Viking Breakfasts.

The Backing Historic Small Restaurants program is in its fifth year, and has awarded $8 million in grants to 180 historic small restaurants in all 50 states; Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In Chicago, Old Fashioned Donuts in Roseland and Jeff's Red Hots in Portage Park were recipients in 2024 and 2023, respectively.