Old Chicago Pasta and Pizza

THIS LOCATION HAS CLOSED!
I was disappointed last week to find Old Chicago has closed and another restaurant has taken its place. I did not choose to stay and eat there.
Old Chicago has been for a number of years my one of my favorite bars, because I think the beer tour and mini-​tours are great fun. I was very much looking forward to participating in the Cinco de Mayo tour.
Here’s hoping another pops up somewhere in the Chicagoland area, lest I have to drive all the way Rockford!

I’ve had worse fish and chips, I suppose. While the fish was fresh, the tartar sauce was WAY too heavy on the dill, and I like dill. My fries promised to taste like salt and vinegar, but succeeded only on the salt. I like vinegar, so that was a little disappointing. Hey, sometimes it’s the little things!
Friend’s steak was actually pretty tender and juicy, albeit a little undercooked.
Service was not the greatest. S-​L-​O-​W. It was not busy when we dined here, yet we had to repeatedly flag our waitperson down for refills, napkins, etc. She was basically MIA for almost the entire meal.
If not for the coupon through
, I would not have eaten here, and probably would not eat here again without one.

Like Renita mentioned, the Chicago style crust isn’t really a true Chicago-​style pizza, but it’s still good. The thin crust is good too — crispy and light, but toppings could be more plentiful on the thin crust, I felt. We got the Malibu Veggie as a Chicago style crust and the Thai Chicken specialty pizza as a thin crust, both were good but I thought the Thai could have been spicier and the flavors weren’t all that distinctive.
A bit pricey for what you get, but go with a
coupon and it’s a decent deal. $ 2.50 seasonal brews on Wednesdays. Another member of my party had a ginger mojito that was pretty tasty.

Decent. I have had several encounters with Old Chicago. The beer selection is pretty decent but I do not feel it is extensive enough. A lot of the beers on menu are really big brand names you can get in many other places. The food is nothing to go for. Seriously, don’t go for the food. They have this World Beer Tour card. Every time you drink a new beer it gets added on your acount. Once you drink so many beers you get an award. Good gimmick but not worth it unless you’re one of the poor saps who actually hangs out there. Do yourself a favor and skip it.

Okay, so I think Old Chicago: I think college days, beer tour, pizza, awesome happy hour deals, and friendly staff. Needing a place in the burbs, this was it.
First, we went into the bar area to get seating. There were some nice booths and it wasn’t too crowded. They had some live music which was a nice touch. Yet, this is where it first went wrong. We waited at least 10 minutes to get menu and another 15 to get our order in. Had we not had other people who were already in route, we would have walked out. I get that there is a big party in there, but really? You weren’t that busy. This was a continual pattern throughout the night — eventually another waitress brough us our food and got us our re-​fills. You’d like they’d be happy that we ordered a second round. Apparently one of the regulars in our group said that the service tends to be slower here on a usual basis, but this was a bit extreme.
Second, the food was okay. I ordered a chicken wrap. It was okay, but nothing special. The french fries were tasty and well-​seasoned. I had a bite of the thin crust pizza. Maybe the food had changed or perhaps it is not having the college vision goggles on, but it is not what I remembered. Still decent pan pizza and better than other places, but not up there. It is certainly not enough to oughweigh the poor service. Note: Pan pizza does not equal Chicago people. Deep dish people will be disappointed.
Meh. That says it. I will reminisce about the old OC days.

O, reminiscing about the days in IA…
I love this place!
Waitress — good
Beer — a plenty (had the French Fischers)
Apps — great
Pizza — Very good ordered two large Meat me’s. (every kind of meat you can imagine, no, NOT alligator)
Anyway, after taking my kids here Sat night. I was very glad I was nursing Sunday (elastic waist pants!)
Pls. come. here.

I agree completely with Jeff B. I love Old Chicago, I just had my 85^th beer on the tour (baseball cap — score!) and always appreciate the wide selection of good beers at a reasonable price.
On a recent visit, the restaurant was nearly empty, which made for a strange atmosphere. There was a new local beer on special for cheap, which my date loved (I’m not a pale ale fan, but it wasn’t bad). The food was good — not outstanding, but we were perfectly satisfied. Our server was very helpful, offering suggestions on food and beer.
I’d go back, but I’d make sure to go during a peak dinner time in hopes of a better atmosphere.

This place isnt bad but its not fab-​o either. Went here with a group on a Friday night and we walked in and there was like one other table in the entire restaurant… weird. So we sit and I will say that they definitely have an extensive beer selection so that is a plus. Although, I really wasnt in the mood for drinking. The waitress was nice and personable. I got the pizza. It was pretty good, however, not Chicago style but who cares… it was still good pizza. Pretty greasy though. It reminded me of like a cross between Lou Malnati’s and chicago style. My bf had the burger and said it was really good. Overall, not a bad place… the most classic moment was we were sitting there waiting for our food and all of a sudden a very large man walks in, in his trunks and soaking wet from the pool (the Holiday Inn is connected and they share a bathroom… a little weird) and I think he was talking to them about the food… it was just funny.

First things first: This is not Chicago-​style pizza. At least the «Chicago style crust» isn’t. They also have thin crust, which I can’t comment on. But the Chicago style crust? Is pan pizza.
Think a better version of Pizza Hut.
But that said, it’s good pizza. The crust is pretty greasy but light and slightly crunchy, and flavorful. The pepperoni had those nice crunchy brown bits and the sauce was light and tasty.
We started with pretzels and dip. The pretzels were your standard soft pretzel, probably microwaved, but the dips were stellar — a spicy mustard and a garlic cheese sauce. Yum.
The beer list is quite impressive, and I was jazzed to see they have Woodchuck on tap. They also have a wide selection of calzones, grinders, sandwiches and other entrees.
The waitress was friendly and competent but a little slow and disappeared a few times. The crowd was interesting — conventioneers from the attached Holiday Inn, guys who looked like they just got off the assembly line, and random drifter-​types. I’d probably come back to try some of their drinks and appetizers.
Food: 4 stars
Service: 2 ½ stars
Let’s say 3 total and call it a day.

Food: I feel like they have standard quality pub food, with the exception of one item: their artichoke dip. My girlfriend and I meet up here, partly because it’s the half-​way point between our offices, and partly because of their artichoke dip. It’s smooth and creamy and served with crispy-​chewy garlic toast — yum. I like that they offer smaller portions during happy hour, but beware — they smaller portion comes with chips instead of garlic bread, which is not nearly as satisfying.
Atmosphere: I like the bar area, while the restaurant always seems a little empty. It’s fantastic during baseball and football season. It’s attached to the Holiday Inn, so there’s always a traveller or two willing to strike up a conversation. There’s a pool table in back and just generally a nice place to hang out for a relaxing drink or two.
Parking: Given that it’s attached to the Holiday Inn, there is plenty of parking. If you park in the back lot, there’s the option of entering through the back entrance of the hotel and walking through the hotel… which is nice in the winter.
Price: I agree, it’s a little overpriced, but for my occasional visits with my girlfriends, it’s worth it.
Service: Never had a problem, but never felt the need to boast its greatness either. It’s pretty much your typical chain hotel bar.

Came here for St. Patrick’s Day at 9:30pm and they were out of Guinness and every other beer. The waitress was very apologetic about everything, but what kind of bar doesn’t stock up hardcore for this day? Then they brought our bill when we were all done and we thought we’d figured it all out, because we paid the bill and the waitress and bartender said goodnight to us. On the way out they stopped us to finish paying for some drinks that hadn’t been put on the bill. Kind of a bummer all around.
This place is just overpriced, understocked and not too many interesting things seem to happen. They have a few pool tables, but all the people who want to play pool seem to be rednecks who want to tell you stories about hitting deer with their over-​sized trucks. Plus the bathrooms are disgusting. It was like going to a club — overflowing with feces and lack of toilet paper. Thanks, but I’ll pass.

The OC is my favorite chain restaurant, but this is my least favorite branch. It’s the closest one to me, and I don’t go that often. The crowd is kind of weird — I guess it’s a hotel bar at a Holiday Inn, which is very strange. They should open an OC in a more central location around here … most of them are in pretty popular strip mall outlots. Anyway, since it is the closest one, I go. Last time I was there was in the spring and they still didnt have HDTV’s for watching sports.
But, for all its flaws, it is an OC and it has 110 beers and I do my mini tours there and I’m happy.
My favorite OC is still uptown Minneapolis.,

Yummy food and good pizza but WAY overpriced. Lunch buffet pizza for $ 8.99! Are you serious. Plus the waitress pretty much ignored us. Not happy overall.

Saw review on Food TV. Need to visit — will edit review then! Could NOT believe this place was not listed here! One star until I visit…
Update 02÷13÷08 — I have visited twice. Went once for lunch with coworkers — They had pizza special and I had Veggie Lasagna. We were all happy with it. They did separate checks for each and it was no problem — maybe because there was only 3 of us.
Recently went after work for a goodbye to a co-​worker leaving us. We went on a Monday night because we found out that because of our company — we could get a 25% discount. So we were there and a few of us ordered a large pizza. Others ordered burgers or sandwiches. Everything was very good. We sat in restaurant side and place was not that crowded. And then when it came time for the bill — ALL of us forgot to ask for discount. We couldn’t believe it the next day! I would like to blame the place but I can’t. And yes I would go there again! They have great pizza choices and large variety of other choices. Nice place. Check it out.