Angeltown’s most famous chili parlor began in...

Angeltown’s most famous chili parlor began in Lincoln Heights on North Broadway in 1913, when law student Tommy DeForest spent $75 to open a six-stool lunch wagon. His enterprise proved so profitable that he abandoned his law studies at a time when he needed a living more than a degree.

In 1919, after serving a hitch in the Army in World War I, he opened a small hole-in-the-wall eatery at 2620 N. Broadway. Ten years later, Tommy’s moved two blocks south to 2418 N. Broadway in a predominantly Italian-American neighborhood. It had a tiny U-shaped counter with a few booths and sawdust sprinkled on the floor.

Tommy’s beans and hot sauce quickly caught the fancy of the sporting crowd and the pate de foie gras set who wanted to go slumming. Over four decades, Tommy’s customers ranged from Mae West, Mary Pickford and Dorothy Lamour to Bob Cummings, Robert Preston and the youths from nearby Lincoln High School.

Pictures of famous people hung on the walls, but fame alone was not always enough to qualify for such an honor. Tommy had an inflexible rule: “No matter how famous someone is, if he doesn’t eat the grub in the joint he doesn’t hang.”

Tommy was not the only entrepreneur in the family. His cousin, Lee DeForest, invented the vacuum tube. Tommy’s claim to fame was the “chili size,” a hamburger adorned with chili and “flowers” (onions).

In August, 1958, Tommy was forced to close his restaurant because of financial difficulties. He died one week later. Family and friends say his death was from a broken heart caused by the loss of his restaurant.

As predicted, Tommy’s legacy, as durable as it is edible, remains. There will always be a chili size. But it will never taste quite like Tommy’s--he took his secret red sauce recipe to his grave.