Decorated war veteran Walter
Sawa opened Sawa’s Old Warsaw in
Broadview, IL, 1973. Over 30
years later, the restaurant is
as popular as ever serving up
great tasting Polish - American
cuisine.
Founder Walter Sawa was a pork
butcher in Poland until 1939. He
then went on to serve his
country in World War II,
receiving medals of Honor from
both the Polish and British
army’s. Sawa escaped from a
prisoner of war camp and lived
in Scotland before immigrating
to the United States with his
wife and son in 1948.
In the early 1960’s, Walter
opened several restaurants in
the Chicago area, the first
being Warszawinka. The
restaurants featured homemade
Polish dishes like pierogi,
Polish sausage, roast duck and
cabbage rolls. In 1973 Walter
opened the Sawa’s Old Warsaw in
Broadview because of the diverse
ethnic background of the
community.
Just like when the restaurant
opened, the Polish – American
style smorgasbord is still the
feature cuisine.
Sawa's Old Warsaw is now run by
Walter Sawa's son, Stuart. The
restaurant has become an icon of
the Broadview community. Several
community organizations gather
at the restaurant for meetings,
parties and of course, the great
food!
Come and join us! Plan your next
family dinner or group
get-together at Sawa’s Old
Warsaw, 708 343.9040.
Wars and Sawa
There is a legend about the name
of Warszawa that derives it from
the names of twins Wars and Sawa.
Their godfather was a Polish
king, who had hunted at this
place. Thanks to the king's
bounty the twins established a
settlement, which grew into a
city - Warsaw. In fact, the name
of the city derives from the
name of Warcislaw (Warsz in
short), who was the owner of the
settlement. Many villages took
their names from their owner's
name, with '-owa' added to the
end of the name - hence Warszowa
(Warszawa).
