![\"Abner](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ctc-l-white-eagle-1974.jpg\"\/)
\nAbner Mikva celebrates his win over U.S. Rep.\u00a0Samuel H. Young for Congress in the White Eagle in Niles on Nov. 5, 1974. (James Mayo\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
![\"Polish](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ctc-l-Lech-Kaczynski.jpg?w=620\")
\nPolish President Lech Kaczy\u0144ski gives a speech during his welcome to the White Eagle banquet hall during his visit to Niles, Feb. 10, 2006. (Abel Uribe\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
![\"White](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ctc-l-White-Eagle-2004.jpg?w=620\")
\nWhite Eagle cooks Adem Spaijoski, from left, Jan Gaszynski, Zofia Bujak and Natalie Glinska hold plates of pierogi in Niles on Sept. 29, 2004. (Buzz Orr\/for the Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ctc-l-white-eagle-closure04.jpg?w=620\")
\nThe former deli at the closed White Eagle in Niles is seen on Nov. 24, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ctc-l-white-eagle-closure03A.jpg?w=620\")
\nThe main ballroom at the closed White Eagle banquet hall in Niles, is seen on Nov. 24, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Show Caption<\/p>\n
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Abner Mikva celebrates his win over U.S. Rep.\u00a0Samuel H. Young for Congress in the White Eagle in Niles on Nov. 5, 1974. (James Mayo\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
Expand<\/a><\/p>\n The business was founded in 1947 by Ted Przybylo<\/a>, 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.\n<\/p>\n The blonde brick-and-stone building rests on a stretch of Milwaukee Avenue designated as the Polish American Heritage Corridor<\/a> 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.\n<\/p>\n In its earliest days, the banquet hall hosted \u201chundreds and hundreds of weddings,\u201d many for World War II soldiers who had returned home and were getting married in droves, recalled the founder\u2019s son, Andrew Przybylo<\/a>, the former mayor of Niles who co-owned the White Eagle for years with his five siblings.\n<\/p>\n \u201cBack then, it wasn\u2019t a matter of country clubs or getting married on a horse on a beach,\u201d he said. \u201cYou would go to your local banquet hall. And my father had one of the better ones.\u201d\n<\/p>\n 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.\n<\/p>\n The site also included a restaurant with a full menu serving steaks, chops and Polish specialties like golumpki, a hand-rolled stuffed cabbage dish.\n<\/p>\n \u201cMushroom barley soup was the house specialty,\u201d he said, noting that it was made with imported dried mushrooms and whole cream. \u201cOur barbecue ribs were extraordinary. The lamb shanks were very, very good.\u201d\n<\/p>\n In its prime, the White Eagle \u201cwas the spot to be,\u201d recalled Gabi Vargas, who worked there for the past 15 years.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThis place would be sold out,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019d be looking on a Saturday, during its prime time, and it would not be available.\u201d\n<\/p>\n The interior offered \u201can absolute authentic kind of Polish country decor,\u201d Andrew Przybylo recalled.\n<\/p>\n 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.\n<\/p>\n Framed pictures of historical versions of the Polish coat of arms \u2014 featuring the national emblem of a white eagle on a red shield \u2014 dot the walls of one banquet hall room. A large red and white Polish flag hangs in the corner.\n<\/p>\n \u201cWe were always close and supportive of the Polish American community, as the community was supportive of us,\u201d Andrew Przybylo said.\n<\/p>\n 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.\n<\/p>\n He was also a Democratic committeeman of Maine Township for more than a decade.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t have done those things without the White Eagle,\u201d he added. \u201cI was very grateful I was able to have a political career and a public service career, because of the White Eagle.\u201d\n<\/p>\n A Tribune article in 1996 captured the way food and Chicago-area politics were customarily intertwined during campaign seasons \u2014 and how the White Eagle typified that tradition.\n<\/p>\n \u201cEateries are another must-campaign stop, especially for candidates trying to court ethnic groups,\u201d the story said. \u201cTo woo African-American diners, they head to Army and Lou\u2019s<\/a> on the South Side or Edna\u2019s on West Madison Street. For Polish Americans, it\u2019s the White Eagle banquet hall in Niles.\u201d\n<\/p>\n 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.\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no secret why Dukakis made his first Illinois visit of the fall campaign to the White Eagle restaurant in Niles,\u201d the article said. \u201cThe 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u2018Loss of an icon\u2019<\/p>\n 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.\n<\/p>\n The 2008 global economic recession also hit the business hard, he added.\n<\/p>\n