The phone at the White Eagle in Niles keeps ringing, with longtime customers asking for one last pierogi or a final bowl of its famed mushroom barley soup.

An older woman cried when she learned it wouldn’t be possible, recalled office manager Diane Palazzo of Victoria Venues, the current owner. The banquet hall had quietly closed its doors several weeks ago.

“She was totally shocked,” said Palazzo, who has attended events at White Eagle since childhood. “She said, ‘I don’t think you know what it means. I’ve had everything there.’ This is where all of her memories were.”

After more than six decades as a cornerstone of local Polish culture and a fixture in national politics, the iconic banquet hall and events center has shut its doors to the public.

The venue hosted a litany of dignitaries and celebrities over the years, from Pope John Paul II to President Jimmy Carter to former Polish President Lech Walesa. Three-time heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali was known to have dined there as well.

But it was more than just a magnet for celebrities. It was a constant in the community, a place where seemingly everyone has a memory of gathering. For generations, patrons marked every season of life at the White Eagle, celebrating their marriages and baptisms at the hall as well as grieving loved ones at funeral and memorial receptions.

Many regulars made a routine of visiting the White Eagle for a meal after paying their respects at the gravesites of loved ones at St. Adalbert Cemetery across the street, added Palazzo, whose own mother and father are buried there.

“It was something near and dear to their hearts,” she said. “People got married here. People christened their children (and celebrated) here. People buried their parents and had the funeral luncheon here. So it was just a part of their family.”

Now the 70,000-square-foot event space is slated for demolition.

Its famed onsite deli — known for sausage, sauerkraut and kolaczki cookies — served its last meal on Oct. 12.

“End of an era. Saying goodbye to a Niles landmark,” the venue’s website says. “The White Eagle is now permanently closed. Whether you joined us for a holiday brunch, stopped by to pick up some of our famous mushroom barley soup or celebrated a milestone event here, we’d like to thank you for being part of our story.”

History and heritage

During its heyday, the venue served as a social hub for the Chicago area’s large Polish diaspora as well as a center of political influence.

Amid a notoriously tough reelection campaign of 1980, President Jimmy Carter made a stop at the White Eagle to court the Polish American vote.

Attending the 100th anniversary dinner of the Polish National Alliance, the Democratic president addressed a crowd that included then-Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne and the U.S. ambassador to Poland.

“It’s been estimated that about 30% of all Americans can trace at least one of their ancestral lines back to Poland,” Carter said, just a few weeks before the November election. “Your first meeting was held in Chicago 100 years ago and I’m honored, as president, to join you in celebrating your 100th birthday. And I’m sure this second century will be just as successful as the first one.”

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Abner Mikva celebrates his win over U.S. Rep. Samuel H. Young for Congress in the White Eagle in Niles on Nov. 5, 1974. (James Mayo/Chicago Tribune)

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The business was founded in 1947 by Ted Przybylo, the son of Polish immigrants. Originally located in Chicago and operating under the name Andrew House, Przybylo moved the banquet hall to its current location in Niles in 1967.

The blonde brick-and-stone building rests on a stretch of Milwaukee Avenue designated as the Polish American Heritage Corridor by a state law in 2023, reflecting the numerous institutions along the strip with deep ties to Poland, including the Polish Museum of America, Oak Mill Bakery and several churches, as well as the White Eagle.

In its earliest days, the banquet hall hosted “hundreds and hundreds of weddings,” many for World War II soldiers who had returned home and were getting married in droves, recalled the founder’s son, Andrew Przybylo, the former mayor of Niles who co-owned the White Eagle for years with his five siblings.

“Back then, it wasn’t a matter of country clubs or getting married on a horse on a beach,” he said. “You would go to your local banquet hall. And my father had one of the better ones.”

Over the years, the wedding business continued to thrive: The White Eagle was known for its family-style service, where large platters of food were brought to the tables for all-you-could-eat banquets featuring a variety of dishes, Andrew Przybylo said.

The site also included a restaurant with a full menu serving steaks, chops and Polish specialties like golumpki, a hand-rolled stuffed cabbage dish.

“Mushroom barley soup was the house specialty,” he said, noting that it was made with imported dried mushrooms and whole cream. “Our barbecue ribs were extraordinary. The lamb shanks were very, very good.”

In its prime, the White Eagle “was the spot to be,” recalled Gabi Vargas, who worked there for the past 15 years.

“This place would be sold out,” she said. “You’d be looking on a Saturday, during its prime time, and it would not be available.”

The interior offered “an absolute authentic kind of Polish country decor,” Andrew Przybylo recalled.

Today, ornate candelabras still decorate the walls and brass chandeliers hang overhead. Plush old-world carpeting covers the flooring, a remnant of a bygone era.

Framed pictures of historical versions of the Polish coat of arms — featuring the national emblem of a white eagle on a red shield — dot the walls of one banquet hall room. A large red and white Polish flag hangs in the corner.

“We were always close and supportive of the Polish American community, as the community was supportive of us,” Andrew Przybylo said.

He credited his lengthy political career in part to the White Eagle. After his appointment to the Niles planning commission in 1987, he served as a village trustee for more than 20 years until his election as mayor in 2013, a title he held for eight years.

He was also a Democratic committeeman of Maine Township for more than a decade.

“I couldn’t have done those things without the White Eagle,” he added. “I was very grateful I was able to have a political career and a public service career, because of the White Eagle.”

A Tribune article in 1996 captured the way food and Chicago-area politics were customarily intertwined during campaign seasons — and how the White Eagle typified that tradition.

“Eateries are another must-campaign stop, especially for candidates trying to court ethnic groups,” the story said. “To woo African-American diners, they head to Army and Lou’s on the South Side or Edna’s on West Madison Street. For Polish Americans, it’s the White Eagle banquet hall in Niles.”

Another Tribune story explained why Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis prioritized stumping at the White Eagle during his uphill run against Republican Vice President George H.W. Bush in 1988.

“It’s no secret why Dukakis made his first Illinois visit of the fall campaign to the White Eagle restaurant in Niles,” the article said. “The White Eagle, owned by the Przybylo family since 1947, is a haven for white ethnic Democrats active in politics, and ethnic Democrats are one key to carrying Illinois.”

‘Loss of an icon’

But by the 2000s, the wedding industry began to change, with more couples celebrating their unions at country clubs, planning destination weddings or seeking nontraditional sites like zoos and botanical gardens, Andrew Przybylo said.

The 2008 global economic recession also hit the business hard, he added.

The Przybylo family sold the White Eagle to Victoria Venues in 2015, marking the occasion with a party on the premises that included performances by a local polka band. The lobby displayed photos and newspaper clippings that spanned the White Eagle’s history.

Some attendees said they were grateful the new owner planned to keep the business alive and many of its traditions intact.

Others had expressed trepidation.

“I think it’s a loss of an icon, a loss of heritage,” longtime customer Tom Suwinski told the Tribune at the time. “My dad is buried across the street — he’s turning over in his grave.”

As for the White Eagle’s recent closure, Andrew Przybylo said that “things change” and “you have to move on.”

But the former mayor anticipates he’ll likely “have some pangs when the building starts to go down.”

New owner Noah Properties is expected to take over the more than 6-acre site by the end of the year, making way for a 354-unit multifamily residential development with a restaurant and green space, which was approved by Niles officials in September.

Construction on the project is planned to begin in 2026, according to the suburb’s website. The building is expected to be demolished in the early phases, but, for many, the memories will remain. 

“I’m forever grateful for that building,” Andrew Przybylo said. “It was a marvelous run that we had there. Working hard and doing what we did as a family for other families. You couldn’t beat that. You couldn’t have a better job than that.”