Fans of the movie “Caddyshack” will now be able to dine in a restaurant named after their favorite comedy film.
The Murray Bros. Caddyshack Restaurant and sports bar opened for business at 11 a.m. Tuesday at 9546 Balmoral Ave. in Rosemont, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. On hand for a pre-opening press conference were the Murray brothers — as in Bill, Andy (the chef behind the eatery’s menu), Joel and Johnny, as well as CEO/co-founder Mac Haskell and internationally renown cellist Jan Vogler (whose touring the country with Bill Murray as part of their classical music/poetry tour which stops in Chicago Thursday night).
‘It really is kind of ‘first responder’ restaurant,” Bill Murray quipped, noting that fans of Chicago’s famous Italian beef sandwiches can get off a plane at nearby O’Hare and not have to wait till arriving downtown to partake in one of the iconic sandwiches. “It’s the first stop from the airport.”
Plans for the golf-themed eatery’s second incarnation (the original is located in Florida) were announced last year. The new venue boasts 8,600 square feet of space, enough to seat nearly 250 guests amid Murray family photos, images of memorable golf moments (the brothers — Bill, Ed, Joel, Johnny, Andy and Brian Doyle — are avid players) and of course plenty of assorted regalia from the iconic film, which starred Bill Murray, and other movies starring various Murray siblings. More than 30 LCD TVs will complete the sports-bar atmosphere.
The restaurant will serve lunch and dinner daily, and the menu takes its cues from golf terminology such as “The Tee Box” (appetizers), “The Greens” (salads), “The Bunker” (burgers), “The Fairway” (signature dishes), “The Approach” (brats, ribs, steaks), “The Grips” (sandwiches, hot dogs) and “The Finishing Hole” (desserts).
“The prime rib is fantastic!,” Joel Murray said excitedly. “It’s Fred Flintstone-size!”
“Don’t you mean John Goodman-size?,” Bill (not skipping a beat) asked in return.
” ‘Caddyshack’ is really about breaking down barriers,” Bill Murray added. “It’s a very American film. … The films [posters] on the wall are the result of the work ethic [we learned] from being caddies. Everyone should work as a caddie. You learn a lot about people. You learn a lot about how to treat people, about how you’re supposed to be treated.”
“You also learn you don’t want to be the guy carrying the bag,” Joel Murray said, laughing.
In an interview last December, Andy Murray said the menu is all about comfort food, the stuff he and his brothers and sisters grew up eating. “It’s not fine dining, but it’s gonna be consistently good,” he said. “You’ll go away happy and full. … I grew up eating everything. My eight brothers and sisters and I ate everything and anything my mom cooked. … [The restaurant’s] basically an extension of my living room.”
The Murrays were born and raised in Chicago’s northern suburbs. When asked about his ongoing love affair with the city, Bill Murray (who returns here often, primarily for Cubs games) said: “When you have Cubs blood and Bears blood running through your body all the time And I don’t have a problem with the Sox. When the Cubs won the World Series nobody was talking about defense or relief pitchers. They were talking about their uncle or their dad, the first time they went to the ballpark. It’s all about the whole family connection thing. My sister still lives in the house we grew up in. My other sisters are still here, so we can crash any time we want. We have all kinds of reasons to come here. … Plus we get to eat here for free, which is great.”
