Billy Goat, the tavern beneath [Chicago's] Michigan Avenue made famous by the "cheezborger, cheezborger" skits on "Saturday Night Live" in the late 1970s, sued Cheeburger Cheeburger Restaurants Inc. on Monday for trademark infringement.
The federal lawsuit comes as Cheeburger Cheeburger, a Florida-based chain of 32 family-style restaurants mostly in the South and East, plans to open its first location in suburban Chicago. . . .
[T]he famous phrase comes from [owner Sam] Sianis and Greek immigrant co-workers barking out the orders of customers during busy lunch hours [at the Billy Goat].
It became immortalized when comedian John Belushi, in a series of skits on "Saturday Night Live," would tell customers hoping to order something else: "Cheezborger, cheezborger, cheezborger � no Pepsi--Coke. No fries--cheeps."
Citing a Tribune story, the lawsuit said Don Novello, better known as "Father Guido Sarducci," another long-running "Saturday Night Live" character, wrote the "cheezborger, cheezborger" skit based on Billy Goat's.
In a Tribune story commemorating Billy Goat's 50th anniversary in 1984, Novello said he had regularly visited the Lower Michigan Avenue tavern in the late 1960s when he worked in Chicago as an advertising copywriter.
And now, this. Didn't that phrase enter the public domain back in 1976 (now 27 years ago) when Saturday Night Live put it on the map? Details here from the BillingsGazette.com. (via FARK)