Chicago meets Persia

***This information is from Lee Bey's wonderful 10/10/25 Sun Times article as well as Jan Whitaker's amazing website, https://restaurant-ingthroughhistory.com    Thank you both so much for your wonderful work***

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There you are, ready to drive to see friends in Michigan or Ohio and you leave Chicago on the Skyway.   After all those lawyer billboards, your eye gets caught on something really different...a Persian minaret. 

At first, I always assumed it was a building for the nearby Nation of Islam's offices on South Cottage Grove.  Hold on to your hat...it was a restaurant.

It was built in 1928 as a fabulous 450 seat restaurant / nightclub with live music and was called Raphael's.   The band was called Raphael's Persians and their performances were broadcasted on the radio.

image courtesy of Jan Whitaker.

The idea of a large restaurant and nightclub was not unusual for Chicago.   The South Side had featured the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Midway Gardens:

The Raphael did not do as well as the proprietor would have wanted.   It seems to have had a short life.  A couple other owners tried their hand at a restaurant / night club there but ultimately the building was purchased in 1964 by a congregation, Haven of Rest Missionary Baptist Church.

Go read more about this dazzling building:
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Lee Bey's Sun Time's article: 

Sun Times article

Jan Whitaker's website:

Jan Whitaker's website