Coffee Dan's

Culled from: Drury, John. Dining in Chicago, New York: The John Day Company, 1931, pp. 123-124.

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

COFFEE DAN'S, 114 North Dearborn Street

Here is your opportunity of finding out, however vicariously, all about this Coffee Dan business. That name is perhaps as familiar to you as Heinz's Fifty-seven Varieties; from time to time you may have seen some reference in the newspapers to the famed Coffee Dan's of San Francisco; or perhaps some friend has dined in the original and told you all about it. In any case, you know that Coffee Dan's originated in San Francisco's theatrical district, that they served such ham and eggs and coffee there as was never found anywhere else in the country, that they gave you little wooden hammers to pound on the table in time to the music, and that it was popular with those who gained their livelihood behind the footlights.

Well, Chicago's replica of this unique establishment may not have the same atmosphere of spontaneity and gay companionship, nor the clientele of the theatrical people who made its fame known abroad in the land, but it does provide you with something of the original place — namely, the ham and eggs and the wooden hammers.

Order the Coffee Dan's special ham and eggs and they will bring it to your table in the same pan in which it was cooked — sizzling in a most appetizing and tempting manner. Such was the procedure followed in the original establishment. French fried potatoes and a toasted roll accompany it, and the whole costs 75 cents. Another specialty of the house, as with the original, is Hamburger steak a la Coffee Dan. This lightens your purse a little more than the "ham and," costing $1.00.

In all other respects, this basement restaurant is just another dine-and-dance place in the theatre district. It does not open until 5 P.M.
Maitre d'hotel: Bob Sorenson