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The Billy Goat Tavern is a chain of taverns located in Chicago, Illinois. Its restaurants are based on the original Billy Goat Tavern founded in 1934 by Billy Sianis, a Greek immigrant. It achieved fame primarily through newspaper columns by Mike Royko, a supposed curse on the Chicago Cubs, and the Olympia Cafe sketch on Saturday Night Live.

The tavern has nine locations with seven in Chicago, including the oldest extant location on Lower Michigan Avenue.

In 1964, the original tavern moved to 430 N. Michigan Ave., which is actually below Michigan Avenue, made possible by Chicago's network of multilevel streets in that vicinity. Being situated between the offices of the Chicago Tribune and the old Chicago Sun-Times building led to the tavern's mention in several regular newspaper columns, particularly those of Mike Royko.

In 1970, Sianis petitioned then mayor of Chicago Richard J. Daley to issue him the first liquor license for the moon. His hope, according to the comedic letter that currently adorns the establishment's wall, was to best serve his country by serving delicious cheeseburgers to wayfaring astronauts as well as raising moon-goats. Sianis died in October 1970.

On New Year's Eve 2005, the tavern held a farewell party for the City News Service, successor to the City News Bureau of Chicago, whose reporters were a fixture at the Billy Goat for decades. A small sign commemorating America's first news agency still hangs near the northwest wall.

In 2010, Illinois's Republican junior U.S. Senator-elect Representative Mark Kirk met with his defeated Democratic opponent, Alexi Giannoulias, for 20 minutes at the Chicago tavern following the bitter campaign and a tight election, where both sides had made each other's missteps very public.

The tavern is also known for its involvement in the Curse of the Billy Goat (also known as the "Cubs Curse"). Owner Sianis brought his pet goat, a tavern mascot, to Game 4 of the 1945 World Series, a home game at Wrigley Field against the Detroit Tigers. Despite paid-for box seat tickets, Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley allegedly ejected Sianis and goat due to the latter's odor. Supposedly, Sianis placed a curse on the team that they would never win another World Series championship. After an extensive dry spell, they eventually won the 2016 World Series against the Cleveland Indians.

Another sign reads: "Cheezborger, Cheezborger, Cheezborger. No Pepsi. Coke," These words, with Pepsi and Coke in reverse order, were originally popularized by John Belushi in "Olympia Cafe," an early Saturday Night Live sketch that was inspired by the tavern. Bill Murray and sketch writer (and bit player) Don Novello were regulars at the Billy Goat; Belushi and Murray were natives of the Chicago area, and Novello had moved to Chicago in the 1960s.

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