Miller’s Pub’s Van Gallios, last surviving original owner of longtime Loop hot spot, has died at 86

Miller’s Pub owner Van Gallios with customer Tony Bennett. | Provided

Van Gallios knew the perfect recipe for a good restaurant.

Start with juicy burgers and Greek lamb chops.

Mix in slabs of “world famous” baby back ribs.

Add a 4 a.m. liquor license.

Swirl in bartenders who recognize repeat customers, laugh at their jokes and can pour a stiff one.

In the light of day or the wee small hours of the morning, Mr. Gallios helped make Miller’s Pub a destination.

The last of four Greek American brothers who operated the restaurant at Adams Street and Wabash Avenue, he died Tuesday at his Park Ridge home. He was 86 and had dementia and cancer, according to his son Andrew.

(From left) Van, Jimmy, Pete and Nick Gallios, who were the owners of Miller’s Pub.

He was born Evangelos Gallios in Chicago. His parents came from the Greek town of Megalopoli near Tripoli.

His father Aristedes immigrated to San Francisco. But after Aristedes’ brother died in that city’s 1906 earthquake, he moved to Chicago, where he made a living selling fruits and vegetables from a horse-drawn carriage.

His mother Georgia washed clothes to help feed their eight children.

Young Van Gallios.

After high school, young Van served in the Army in Europe. From there, “He went to Egypt,” his son said. “He went skiing in the Alps. He even made it to Greece — things, to him, growing up in the Depression, seemed exotic.”

After the Army, he bought a stake in the restaurant that his older brothers Jimmy, Nick and Pete had gotten into in 1950. They’d bought the place from the Millers, who’d founded it in 1935.

Mr. Gallios recalled, in a 2012 interview with Eater Chicago, how they landed their first restaurant.

”They had a bookie in the basement. It was called a wire room. These Outfit guys told the owners, ‘You watch who comes in, we’ll watch you, we’ll pay your rent. You can serve anyone downstairs beer and sandwiches, but keep people that might be a problem out.’ Well, the place got busted and went up for sale. It was cheap. I think 25,000 bucks. My brothers picked up that lease.”

For a time, the brothers operated two more restaurants — Vannie’s and the Wabash Inn. In 1989, Miller’s relocated to its current location, now run by the second generation of the family.

Van Gallios (standing) with his brothers (from left) Jimmy, Nick and Pete.

A Gallios was always on duty at what they called “the friendliest cafe in the Loop.”

With its dark wood paneling, green leather banquettes, leaded glass and amber sconces, Miller’s became a clubby beacon in the night for on-the-road ballplayers and touring celebrities who were staying around the corner at the Palmer House.

Liberace would hold court at the bar. So would singer Tony Bennett, comic Jackie Mason, drummer Buddy Rich, entertainer Jimmy Durante and baseball coach Tony La Russa. Ray Bolger, the Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz,” tap-danced around the room.

Mr. Gallios “loved sitting at the bar, talking to people,” his son said. “He was proud of the place.”

Van Gallios in an arm-wrestling pose with pro wrestler “Dick the Bruiser” at Miller’s Pub.

White Sox owner Bill Veeck was a regular. “He was a chain-smoker and had a little ashtray in his wooden leg,” Mr. Gallios told Eater Chicago.

“His two great loves were Miller’s and my mom,” their son said.

Mr. Gallios had met Constance Tressa, who was a secretary for the White Sox, when a friend introduced them at the restaurant.

“She was a coal miner’s daughter from Pennsylvania,” their son said. “He had on his kitchen whites, and he walked out in his little chef’s hat. She knew right away.”

Connie and Van Gallios.

Working nights gave Mr. Gallios lots of daytime with their children. He always made their breakfast.

“He taught us how to make an omelette, whip the eggs, get it nice and fluffy,” his son said.

When things were quiet at Miller’s, Mr. Gallios would drop in at new nightclubs with a relative.

“He liked to cabaret,” Andrew Gallios said. “He just liked to see all the new places,” including Crobar on Kingsbury, Ka-Boom on Green Street and punk and New Wave-flavored Neo on Clark Street.

“They would go to these clubs, wearing their suits,” he said. “Everyone thought they were cops.”

The Gallios brothers became well-known in their ancestral town. “They were sending T-shirts [to Greece] that said ‘Miller’s Pub,’ ’’ he said.

Van Gallios loved fishing in remote parts of Manitoba, Canada.

He enjoyed fishing in Manitoba, betting on the horses, playing a hand of gin and sipping a White Label Scotch and soda.

In addition to his son Andrew and wife Constance, Mr. Gallios is survived by his daughter Georganne Lopez and son Harry, sister Betty Sefer and seven grandchildren. Services have been held.

Van Gallios loved to cabaret.