Help with name of restaurant

When I was little, my parents would take me to a restaurant on the North side. I remember that it always scared me to eat there as it was full of stuffed animals (not the cute cuddly ones) and having dinner next to an attacking bear was too much for a 5 year old to take. They no longer remember the name, but I was hoping someone might. I think it was a German place. Thanks

Sounds like the now defunct Come Back Inn. The place was a destination for a long time though it really suffered the last couple years. For a time before they closed there was actually a dance club in the basement.

Come Back Inn Restaurant & Pub Address
1913 W Lake St, Melrose Park, IL 60160

I'm gonna guess the defunct Grizzly's Lodge on Lincoln. It's been so long since I was in there; I don't remember seeing any stuffed animals, but it seemed like a place that would have them.

IIRC, there was a big attacking bear somewhere, along with a couple other hunter's trophies (at Grizzly's) though I don't know that it was open that long ago. If it wasn't northside, I'd have guessed Szalas, though Sparky found it amusing rather than scary.

Was it a Hungarian Restaurant in Rogers Park? I think the name was "Golden" something or other.

d4v3 wrote:Was it a Hungarian Restaurant in Rogers Park? I think the name was "Golden" something or other.

You're not thinking of the "Golden Ox," which was a German restaurant, and not in RP, I don't think?

The first place that came to mind in reading the OP was the Golden Ox, which was always listed as a German restaurant, even though one of the chefs there (the father of a friend) was Hungarian.

The Golden Ox was at North and Clybourn.

It was about 35 years ago. None of the places sounds familiar to me. But thanks for the suggestions.

Could have been Chicago Brauhaus, which has been around for 40:

http://www.chicagobrauhaus.com/

They have a few deer heads, but can't picture anything more elaborate (but perhaps they've long since thrown out the scarier animals).

aschie30 wrote:

d4v3 wrote:Was it a Hungarian Restaurant in Rogers Park? I think the name was "Golden" something or other.

You're not thinking of the "Golden Ox," which was a German restaurant, and not in RP, I don't think?

No that wasn't it. I remembered it was mentioned a couple of years back in the "RIP" thread, so I searched for it. The name was the Golden Bull. As I recall, the place was decked out like a hunter's chalet with lots of mounted and stuffed animals. The menu was a combination of Austrian and Hungarian dishes with an emphasis on wild game meats.

The Brauhaus has not been around for forty years although an antecedent went back to 1965: Zum lieben Augustin at 4600 North Lincoln. Part of the ownership moved on to start Treffpunkt. Treffpunkt was in the northern part of the site of the Fountain Square condos now under construction. By the time that restaurant burned down along with half the block in 1979 or 1980, the owners had acquired a former furniture store practically across the street and were using it for some functions. They opened Brauhaus in that building as a replacement after the fire. None of these restaurants had more than nominal examples of the taxidermist's art. When I moved to Lincoln Square in 1976 there was a taxidermist's shop in the storefront where Tallulah is now.

The Golden Ox probably had the most taxidermy among German restaurants on the North Side in my memory but nowhere near on the scale mentioned in the original post.

Edited to correct spelling error.

Was it Cafe Bohemia? I remember the menu being primarily game with taxidermy "trophies" on the walls. It's been gone at least 20 years.