Lenard's Restaurant

Culled from: Drury, John. Dining in Chicago, New York: The John Day Company, 1931, p. 178.

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

LENARD'S RESTAURANT, 1182 Milwaukee Avenue

As for Polish viands, you will find these done to perfection in Mr. Ignace Lenard's establishment on Milwaukee Avenue, around the corner from the Russian eating place. A quick glance over the menu shows that the Polish people are great lovers of mushrooms and use them as a garniture for many of their important dishes. We recommend the Zrazki po Nelsonsku or, in other words, the beef filet a la Nelson, which comes to you arrayed in sour cream gravy, mushrooms and potatoes, served en casserole. Or you might like another of Mr. Lenard's specialties — meat balls with mushrooms. Cheese pancakes, the way they are prepared here, make a delectable accompanying dish. And Mr. Lenard's three expert pastry cooks from Krakow provide you with as bewildering an assortment of frothy, toothsome, and delicious things to eat with your coffee as you may find in all Chicago. Lenard's is the headquarters of prominent Polish-American gourmets of the city — County Judge Edmund K. Jarecki, City Treasurer M. S. Szymczak; the two bankers, August J. Kowalski and Julius Smetanka, and John Romaszkiewicz, president of the Polish National Alliance. Polish newspapermen and business men, and their families, eat here too.

Maitre d'hotel: Mr. Lenard