O'Keefe's

After the death of Bill O'Keefe from cancer in 1969, assorted people associated with the O'Keefe family and the band still could find employment at O'Keefe's under the ownership of Mr. Joe Smith and I remember well celebrating my 21st birthday there because the owner picked up a monumental tab...

It is now known for it's big St Patty's Day celebrations....in the late 1960's and early 1970's it was more known for "The Seven Course Irish Dinner" (six large beers and a boiled potato), Chicago Beef Dips  and a strange hamburger called the YUK burger (a peanut butter bacon & hamburger concoction reportedly invented for Frank) and a general hangout for Frank's friends. Pizza wasn't too bad either.

I have no idea who owns the place now...it's been added on to and remodeled quite a bit since the old days, but we stopped there on Nov 26, 2000 for dinner and if you sit in the old section where the booths are and forget anything that is on the opposite side of the bar, you can still get a good feel for the place as it was in the old days.  The YUK and Seven Course Irish Dinner are still on the menu.  The people who own and work in the restaurant no longer have a clue who opened the restaurant, why it is called O'Keefe's or much of anything about the history of the place, so don't bother asking them.
 
 

Frank's brother Michael O'Keefe (foreground)  and James Britton (in the back with the hat)   during a break from kitchen duties at O'Keefe's in 1972.  The hedge was covered with those nasty sour  red cherries, unfit to eat, but made real good ammo and it was clear if you'd been "hit" .....early "paintball" fighting??

Michael O'Keefe survived the battle  and chills out after another shift at O'Keefe's. The white house bordering the alley is gone now--it was 3 apartments, one of which  J.B. and I occupied and  where this photo was taken in 1972