Hometowns to Hollywood

For over 80 years, Chicago’s Drake Hotel housed one of the city’s oldest restaurants, the Cape Cod Room. During its 83 years of service, this fine dining location became known for its seafood fare and celebrity clientele.

The Cape Cod Room opened in 1933 during the Century of Progress International Exhibition and quickly became Chicago’s top seafood destination and the nation’s first themed restaurant. It was located within the Drake Hotel at 140 E. Walton Pl., Chicago, Illinois.

The Coq d’Or cocktail lounge within opened on December 6, 1933, immediately following the repeal of Prohibition. This was the second establishment in Chicago to secure a liquor license.

During its run, the Cape Cod Room served numerous celebrity guests, including Elizabeth Taylor, Henry Fonda, Julie Andrews, Mickey Rooney, Yul Brynner, Sophia Loren, and more. Some of these celebrities were regular with preferred tables: Taylor (4), Brynner (41), and Andrews (42). Most notably among the celebrity names, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio carved their initials into the Coq d’Or cocktail longe’s wooden bar.

The Cape Cod Room’s final night of operation occurred on New Year’s Eve 2016. During its final months, the restaurant brought back some of its classic dishes, including fresh-shucked oysters, Bookbinder soup, baked Alaska, and shrimp de Jonghe. However, due to major renovations on the hotel’s Arcade level that lasted from 2016 to 2019, the Cape Cod Room became a casualty. I was able to attend one of the last few evenings of its operation and enjoy this piece of Chicago history.

Nonetheless, some items from the Cape Cod Room have been preserved and are still accessible to the public, including the wood bar bearing the initials of Monroe and DiMaggio and other memorabilia. Additionally, a selection of the classic Cape Cod Room menu items has carried over to the Coq d’Or restaurant, which has since replaced the Cape Cod Room. These items include Bookbinder soup, oysters Rockefeller, crab cakes, the Cape Cod seafood boil, and baked Alaska. While the Cape Cod Room is no longer in operation, remnants of its exciting history are still present.