Did You Know Bill Murray Owns Two Caddyshack Restaurants?
If the name Carl Spackler means anything to you, you might be excited about this news. I had no idea, but there are two “Caddyshack” themed restaurants. One is in the Chicago area; another in St. Augustine, Florida, but the Chicago Tribune reports a third location, in partner Bill Murray’s hometown of Wilmette, may not happen.
The themed restaurants have been open since before Covid, and online reviews seem fairly positive. Looking at some pictures of the interiors doesn’t really seem to scream “Caddyshack” at you, but people do seem to love celebrity restaurants, at least for a while. On the building of the Rosemont location is "Eat, Drink and Be Murray".
Any number of Chicago star athletes have either lent the name or been partners in eateries over the past four or five decades. But from Michael Jordan to Walter Payton to punky QB Jim McMahon, they’ve all pretty much come and gone. The only one that comes to mind that still going strong is Harry Caray’s, the original site isa fancy four-star Italian restaurant. The other locations are around the city and suburbs, including one at Midway Airport.
What brought this up is the story today in the Tribune (it’s behind a paywall) that says a proposal to build the Caddyshack –themed restaurant in a former Bakers Square has a deadline for filing plans with the city and it’s starting to look like that deadline won’t be made.
What’s interesting is why a restaurant with the theme of a movie made forty years ago would have mass appeal today. Then again, Caray has been dead for a quarter-century and his name is on at least four locations in the greater Chicagoland area.
Of course, if you make a better restaurant, people will generally beat a path to your door.