Ann Sather in Andersonville Is a Chicago Institution. The Cinnamon Rolls Are Just the Beginning.

Ann Sather is a greasy spoon's greatest hits. Brown, heavy, confident, and completely unbothered by trends. The stuffed potato pancakes are the move — delicious, enough for two, the kind of dish that earns its weight. The Swedish sampler exists if you're new and want to understand what this place is. The salt is present. If you're the kind of person who tracks sodium, maybe don't come here. If you're the kind of person who had a night and needs a booth and something warm, this is exactly your place.

The cinnamon rolls are five dollars for two if you want to grab and go. They are worth five dollars for two. They also come with your meal, which is the whole thing in one sentence.

Ann Sather knows exactly what it's serving and serves it without apology. That's worth appreciating separate from the history entirely. Though the history doesn't hurt.

And the history is considerable. A Norwegian woman bought a Swedish diner on Belmont in 1945 with 22 years of savings and outlasted seven competitors. Tom Tunney bought it in 1981 and turned it into a community anchor during the AIDS crisis, co-founding Open Hand Chicago to feed men with AIDS when their own families had often stopped. ACT UP organized here. Mayor Daley showed up to a meeting here and left angry, which probably means the meeting went correctly. Tunney went on to become Chicago's first openly gay alderman. The cinnamon rolls were present for all of it.

The original 909 W. Belmont location has since closed for demolition. The institution continues.