Klas (restaurant)
Klas was a restaurant in Cicero, Illinois, founded in 1922 and shuttered in 2016, which specialized in Bohemian cuisine. The restaurant served numerous high ranking Czech and American officials, along with many other notable individuals, and served as an important institution for the Czech American community. The building was demolished in 2022.
History
The restaurant was founded in 1922 by Adolph Klas, who was born in Plzeň and moved to the United States at age 26. Adolph Klas had previously worked at the Edgewater Beach Hotel, the Blackstone Hotel, and the Drake Hotel. The restaurant was redecorated in 1934, featuring the artwork of Mary Adamec and Albert Rohls. Russian singer and artist Gennadi Gordeyev, who fought against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War, painted multiple murals that are inside the restaurant's Russian Room. The first floor bar room was rebuilt to replicate the appearance of a 14th Century Bohemian tap room. The restaurant's dining rooms were named after their respective decor, and included the Moravian Room, the Russian or Boyar Room, the George Washington Room, the Fountain Room, and the Garden Room, which overlooked a garden with a fountain and wishing well. The restaurant was elaborately decorated, with hand carved woodwork, a wrought-iron balcony, stained glass windows, historically themed paintings and murals, chandeliers, cuckoo clocks, and other European antiques and objects of art.Adolph Klas died in 1962 and his widow Ella died in 1966. Ella Klas's brother, Charlie Hoch, would run the restaurant until 1978. In 1980, the restaurant was sold to Milena and Laddie Kindl and Jaroslav Kratky.