The Piccadilly (restaurant)

Culled from: Drury, John. Dining in Chicago, New York: The John Day Company, 1931, pp. 156-157.

Note: The Newberry Library holds the personal papers of author John Drury.

THE PICCADILLY, 410 South Michigan Avenue

Located on the fourth floor of the Fine Arts Building and consisting of four "period" dining rooms, the Piccadilly serves many of the town's outstanding artists, musicians, writers, and art patrons, as well as innumerable illustrators, etchers, silversmiths, decorators, teachers of drama and elocution, booksellers, and dealers in antiques and curios. Most of these people occupy studios, shops and salons in the Fine Arts Building, an historic Chicago landmark dedicated to the arts and built by the Studebakers of South Bend, Indiana. The dining rooms are quietly and tastefully decorated in various period styles. The Empire Room is done in the green favored by Napoleon and Josephine in their home, Malmaison; the Early American Room is notable for its striking "Scenic America" wallpaper; the Venetian Court, where you may lunch or dine al fresco under gay umbrellas, is delightfully Continental; and the Men's Grill is like the refectory of an old Spanish monastery, with its (alleged) worm-eaten beams and dark oak furniture. Luncheon and dinner are served in all rooms (both table d'hote and a la carte), and tea is served between 2:30 P.M. and 5 P.M. in the Empire and Early American Rooms, which offer splendid views of Chicago's waterfront plaza. Prices are reasonable and the service is perfection.

Maitre d'hotel: Mr. Chapin