Chicago Inn

Chicago Inn

The Chicago Inn is near the I-67 exit and on the outskirts of Bradford, Michigan. Regulars often visit at breakfast time for socializing.

"The Chicago was a little over-named; it was a slightly run down cinder block building built about the time the freeway was going in, but the truck stop on the other side of the interstate had been built more recently and siphoned off most of the travel business. People in Bradford knew that the service at the Chicago was more personal than the truck stop, the food and the prices were better, and for a certain part of the community, they also knew that friends would be there for breakfast on any given weekday." - Bradford Exiles Prologue

It had been built by Harvey Wohlstadt as "the largest restaurant in town" with hopes of drawing traffic coming by on the Interstate. That Harvey was a Cubs fan may have explained how he can up with the name.^HS15

The Chicago Inn was described as "the unofficial business center of Bradford"^PUTP21 It also was the only place in Bradford you could buy the New York Times, from a news box outside.^PUTP22

The accident involving Class of 1988 students Steve Sharp and Brett and Brock Mansfield was within sight of the Chicago Inn.^GM6 Vicky Varney worked as a dishwasher there in her senior year.^HT1 Cindy Yeager worked there as a waitress after dropping out of college. That's where she met Pat McDonald before he shipped overseas to Kuwait.^WLH1

The I-67 exit was on Taney Road and the Chicago Inn was on one side while there was a Gulf station across the road. By 2001 the Gulf station was long-closed and Jason MacRae was planning to buy it for his knife business.^HS36