The original owner of Daley's Restaurant was John Daley. He was a young Irish iron worker who came to the USA to work on the construction of the elevated line. By 1892 the University of Chicago, The World's Columbian Exposition and the Rapid Transit Line were all under construction and young John Daley saw the need for a food facility to feed construction workers. Daley was quick to recognize that it was better running a restaurant that swinging from I-beams in the cold Chicago winds. He chose an empty store at 809 E. 63rd Street for his "temporary" workers diner. It soon became Daley's Restaurant.
