Chicago’s Berghoff CafÉ after the repeal of Prohibition, April 1933, from the cookbook.

Even those who never had the pleasure of dining at The Berghoff Restaurant in Chicago will appreciate The Berghoff Family Cookbook (Andrews McNeel, $29.95). Photos in it depict an old-fashioned restaurant with classic German schnitzels and strudels on the table.

But what a place it was. The Berghoff was one man’s American dream. Herman Joseph Berghoff left Dortmund, Germany, in 1870 when he was 17 and had little money in his pocket. He founded a brewery 12 years later in Fort Wayne, Ind. Then, in 1898, he opened the Berghoff Cafe selling nickel beers which came with free sandwiches. After a move to the neighborhood where the restaurant stood until last year, he sold near beer during Prohibition. It was during those years that Berghoff became a full-service restaurant. When Prohibition ended, Berghoff was issued Liquor License No. 1 by the city for the bar. During World War II rationing, they offered fried jumbo frog legs for 80 cents and veal goulash for 55 cents.

How great is that story? They even had a separate men’s only bar until 1969 when seven members of the National Organization for Women sat at it and demanded to be served.

All these great tales are celebrated with equally great recipes such as the one for creamed spinach that was introduced around 1945 by a Swiss chef, and the apple strudel which was listed on the restaurant’s first printed menu. Sauerbraten stayed on the menu year-round but because of the potent aroma, was kept in its own walk-in refrigerator. In sharing the recipe, the directions require placing it in a large zippered plastic bag to marinate and then in a second bag.

The book was written by Carlyn Berghoff, great-granddaughter of the founder and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. She runs a Berghoff Cafe at the O’Hare airport and 17/West which replaced Berghoff when it closed. She co-authored the book with Jan Berghoff, her mother and wife of third-generation Herman Berghoff, and food writer Nancy Ross Ryan.

The restaurant may be gone, but thanks to those women, the Berghoff recipes can live on.

Here are some recipes from the book to try.

gciampa@projo.com