Lincoln Park Refectory

Culled from: Drury, John. Dining in Chicago, New York: The John Day Company, 1931, pp. 96-98.

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

LINCOLN PARK REFECTORY
Pot Roast Among the Trees

After a hot, feverish, August day in the Loop, when the skyscrapers and the street-cars and the dust have sapped your energy, there is no greater relief than to take your wife, or your children, or your lady friend, to dinner in the Lincoln Park Refectory, an open-air eating place among the trees of Lincoln Park, overlooking the pleasant sunset-tinted waters of the park lagoon.

Here, you may have your delicious pot roast, with noodles and cheese, amid the cooling breezes of the summer evening; the planked Lake Superior whitefish tastes twice as good under the summer stars; and the Lincoln Park special minute steak is something to remember when you eat it against a background of dewy evening trees, boats on a lagoon and a faraway horizon of lighted apartment hotels. All is poetry and romance at the Lincoln Park Refectory.

For thirty years, Chicagoans of high and low degree have been dining on the open terraces of this establishment. It is a favorite place for women's clubs; "Kaffee Klatches" are common here during July and August afternoons; Gold Coast women come here for tea; at dinner you'll find many of Chicago's substantial businessmen and civic leaders among the diners. George Schneider, the well-known lawyer and bibliophile, says that it is the most European-like restaurant in Chicago — and he ought to know, being a veteran globe-trotter.

Caspar Brauer, proprietor of the Lincoln Park Refectory, is one of the old-time restaurateurs of Chicago and is ever solicitous of the gastronomic whims of his patrons.

Many of them are old friends of the Brauer brothers, whose Cafe Brauer on State Street, near Van Buren, was a leading restaurant of the Gay Nineties. Paul died a few years ago and Caspar is carrying on the family catering traditions most successfully in this dining place among the trees.

The menu is comprehensive, featuring sea foods, steaks and chops, cold dishes, roasts, poultry, sandwiches and cold soft drinks; the waitresses are attentive; the cooking is expert; and the surroundings, as we told you before but which can bear repetition, are perfect for a pleasurable evening dinner.

Lincoln Park Refectory, American

Lincoln Park, foot of Center Street

Open from 10 A. M. to 9 P. M., between May 15 and September 15

Plate luncheon, 75 cents. Table d'hote dinner, $1.50
Also a la carte

Maitre d'hotel: Caspar Brauer