October 2019 — Ronny’s Original Steak House, a longtime fixture of Chicago’s Loop dining scene, glows under its vintage neon sign at night. Founded in 1963, the cafeteria-style steakhouse has served generations of downtown workers, theatergoers, and travelers from its no-frills location near the CTA Red Line and City Hall. Its tufted green booths, mirrored walls, and steady stream of regulars evoke an earlier era of affordable downtown dining—one of the few survivors of mid-century Loop eateries that once defined the city’s commercial core.