$20 gift certificate to Ann Sather Swedish Cuisine and Catering.

There really was an Ann Sather. And over sixty years ago, she decided what Chicago needed was another restaurant. Her restaurant. A place where people could come for generous homemade meals, warm hospitality and a genuine concern for their welfare.

So when the Swedish owners of a restaurant located on Belmont decided to retire, Ann quit her job of 22 years, pooled her life savings and bought herself a diner better known today as Ann Sather Restaurant.

For 30 years Ann ran the diner herself. Her devotion to wholesome, made-from-scratch food, low prices and hard work became legendary in the Lakeview neighborhood…and beyond.

In 1981 after searching for a successor who would meet her stringent demands for quality and remain devoted to her patrons, Ann sold the restaurant to Tom Tunney a 24 year old graduate of the Cornell University School of Hotel and Restaurant Management. Tom apprenticed with Ann for a year learning the business from top to bottom. Tom, a Southside Irish lad with French culinary training was learning all of the best Scandinavian cooking secrets in town.

Although Ann Sather passed away in 1996, her spirit prevails. In the just good food, just good friends, and just good fun philosophy that have made her diners famous.