Prior to 2013, the last time I'd visited any Old Chicago (which happened to be this very location) was immediately before prom. Our half-drunken limo driver deposited a group of us fidgety, acne-ridden, nervous teenagers at the door. We sat in the back room; the boys yipped and offered crude comments, while us ladies sat around and played with our necklaces. I don't remember the food - which means I probably ate something mediocre, since I'd decided not to ever visit the OC again.
But something has changed in the last 8 years. Now the food at Old Chicago is acceptable, and the service is wonderfully, surprisingly competent. Infinite orders of jalapeño cheese sauce are accommodated without judgmental stares. And this cheese sauce is something brilliant to dunk anything in. This warm cream sauce adds zing to anything from those semi-bland, soggy fries to crispy, tempura style fried whole jalapeños to gooey, half-baked parmesan soft pretzels.
And the drinks? You can't go wrong with that double silve mojito, which is a mojito made with tequila. Drink a few.
That extra boost in star-age comes from excellent service - as busy as it gets, your table of two will never be neglected in favor of catering to the whim of that table of eight. Nice.
I will start this review by saying that I have been to Old Chicago MANY times. Enough times that I have completed (5) World Beer Tours. I have my name on (4) plaques at this location and (1) at the east location (it was earned at the old east location before the new one was built). I remember the days when you could drink (6) beers a visit towards your Tour instead of the limit of (4) as it is now.
If you are going to just drink beer and complete a World Beer Tour always try to do the Mini-Tours. Not only do you get a cool shirt when you complete the Tour, but the beers you drink get applied to your World Tour under a unique number. The advantage is if you drink a beer that is on the regular beer menu during a Mini-Tour you can still drink it again because during the Mini Tour it is recorded under the Mini-Tour number and not the regular menu number. Another way to work the system is to drink the "rotator" beers on the chalkboard. These are usually seasonal and local beers and are chosen by location. You can drink "rotator" beers on multiple visits in the same Tour unlike the beers in the regular menu that can't be duplicated during a Tour.
I have tried about everything that Old Chicago has to offer and I have never had anything I didn't like. Although the pizza doesn't represent a "true" Chicago style pizza it is still pretty good. If I was going to recommend a single menu item it would be the spicy fries. Make sure you get them with a side of ranch dressing.
Since I have been to Old Chicago more times than I can count I have experienced both good and bad service. The number of bad experiences is very few and the large majority of the time the service is good. I have noticed that the servers in the bar area usually do a better job than those in the main part of the restaurant.
Make sure and get a card to start your World Beer Tour in your first visit. The 1st Tour is the most rewarding because you get prizes  for every 10th - 15th beer. Combine that with doing a few Mini-Tours and you will be leaving with prizes on every 3rd or 4th visit.
I went with a large group and they were very accommodating. The did sit us at several round tables together and made eating a little weird. The lunch pizza buffet was  a nice size. Most of us went with menu options.
I had a small salad and the chicken tenders with the house buffalo sauce. The salad was presented on a rectangular plate which was easy to eat and very nice looking. They did wait to bring out my salad with my chicken but brought everyone else's side salads out first. Next time I will be more specific. The chicken tenders were not a nicely plated but didn't matter because they were amazing. They had great flavor and were not over sauced.
One of the guys ordered a pizza and she brought him out a 16". I know we were a large group but everyone ordered and made no sense that one person would order such a large pizza. To there defense they did only charge him for a personal size.
Only thing I liked here was the tomato, mozzarella & basil app.. Wouldn't go here for dinner, ordered the "sliders" whoever thought of those should just stop, they were DIGESTING, sent them back. Â Husbands pasta sauce was sour & not that good too, he was a little disappointed. Might try it again, but I doubt it.. There are better places for food & sports in the area.
Review Source:Old Chicago has been a goto place for me for years but I just can't bring myself to rate it higher than 3 stars because it is simply A-OK. Their beer is great, but over priced. Their food is decent to ok. For example their Calzone is delicious IF you rip it apart and re-make it yourself. Over the decade plus I've gone to Old Chicago I've yet to have a calzone where the pepperonis weren't in one big lazy stack.
The biggest thing Old Chicago has going for it is that you can order off the full menu until close. There is no better place to eat after 10pm in Wichita.
We usually sit on the patio but opted for the bar tonight because it's too cold out!!! Â Excellent service - prompt & friendly as usual. Atmosphere is always fun & upbeat. Â I suggest the Italian nachos & the oriental chicken salad. Always fresh and delicious! Â Also they always have the Sam Adams seasonal brew... Mmmmm beer
Review Source:In thinking about the difference between chains and locally-owned restaurants, there's something that's been running through my head which I believe sums it up nicely:
Folks choose to franchise restaurants for love of money. Other folks open their own restaurants for love of food.
The Old Chicago brand started in 1976 by Frank Day, a Harvard School of Business graduate who, after successfully opening a string of small restaurants in his home of Chicago, left to Colorado with hopes to expand. Thirty five years later, Rock Bottom Restaurants, Incorporated owns nearly 150 restaurants, a hotel or two, and the Boulder Beer Brewing Company.
I initially scoffed when I found out that a business started in Colorado was specializing in Chicago-style pizza, then slightly relented once I found out Day was a native of Illinois, then I continued full force once I remembered eating the pizza.
Chicago-style pizza, for the uninitiated, is as much pie as it is casserole - a two inch-deep layer of crust upon which toppings and cheese are first layered before culminating in a deluge of sauce. And, as you may have guessed by this point, is not what you will find when you order an OC pie. In fact, it was so shallow and lacking in sauce that it was a perfectly-ordinary generic pizza from a city that doesn't have a particular way of making it. Still, I preferred it over the Original crust, which seemed perfectly at home in the daily lunch buffet in which I found it. A "thin" crust is also available, which is technically thinner than the other offerings, though we're not talking New York or St. Louis-style here. I preferred it amongst these three.And while we're on the subject of crust, a Chicago-style pie has one that's made from cornmeal, and it's what OC uses as their standard crust. Problem is, the different flavor and utter lack of chew may be fine in the Chicago style, it doesn't work with the thinner crusts. They do have a pizza roll appetizer in which it works well, though.
I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the promotional "Ultimate Deep Dish," which comes much closer to representing the Chicago style, offering a thicker crust and plenty of sauce. I sampled it as a Chicago Seven, which meant I had way too many ingredients going on (I didn't order it, but I had a couple slices), as well as an artisan pizza which isn't exactly cooked in a wood-fired oven or anything, but it uses a different crust recipe which should honestly be used in every other pizza that's not deep-dished.
Also sampled was a calzone and stromboli, though if you can add any ingredient to either dish, they're essentially the same thing, just in slightly different packages. I ordered a pepperoni and jalapeno calzone that actually managed to have too many toppings - layering the pepperoni like the cook previously worked as a bricklayer. It was figuratively akin to taking a bite of an entire pepperoni.
The chicken wrap was standard food service fare, as were the fries, though ordering the spicy version of the fries makes them a little more interesting.
The restaurant is perhaps best known for its World Beer Tour, where a card-carrying member can make his way through 110 of OC's wide selection of beers and gain notoriety through their name on the "Wall of Foam." I like the idea of a restaurant chain of this size promoting Good Beer Awareness, but it's sobering (pun intended) to consider that the tap selection is about a 50-50 split between the good and crap beers. I can knock out a dozen beers by drinking the big 3 domestic normal and light varieties on tap and in bottles. Never again, St. Pauli's Girl. You get gifts every fifteen beers for your first tour, which kinda justify the price, and if you feel sporting enough to make it through ten tours (1100) beers, you get a personalized pewter stein and a pizza party for you and twenty friends, though honestly, if you've drunk four beers a night for 275 nights at OC, you probably don't have that many friends with which to share this prize. The mini-tours, consisting of six to eight themed beers, are usually a better deal, and you get rewarded with a pretty nice-looking shirt upon finishing.
Despite the mediocre food and above-average beer selection, the benefit to this particular OC (and what should be the primary benefit of any chain), is the atmosphere - it's a popular stop amongst those visiting Old Town, and the folks working there genuinely seem to enjoy it, as they tend to hang around even on their off days. Hell, even my standard night was drinks at OC then going somewhere better to eat.
If you're looking for good pizza in Old Town, you're pretty much out of luck. If you're looking for an expansive collection of good beers, go to The Anchor, or maybe even Pumphouse. If you don't mind some middling menu choices every once in a while, you could do worse than OC. Day may have been a businessman first, but location, people, and plenty of beer can help fix the failings of an average pizza.
Old Chicago is a sports bar chain restaurant with several locations across town. Â They have a huge selection of beers, I enjoy coming here on occasion strictly for that. Â The food is similar to other pub chain restaurants and it's somewhat expensive. Â I do enjoy their pizzas most of all. Â I've had their burgers, and last time I had fish, but I haven't enjoyed anything else I've had here more than the pizza. Â It's not the best pizza in town, but it's pretty good and with the wide selection of different ales it's a decent place to meet up for a few drinks. Â Â My beers ranged from $3.50-$5 and a pizza is probably somewhere between $12-$18. Â It's not the first place I'd choose to go for lunch or dinner, but it is convenient since their kitchens are open late.
Review Source:Being from CA, I've never heard of Old Chicago. Â Then, after taking a visit to Wichita and being in Old Town at 10pm at night, I decided to get some to go food at this Old Chicago, thinking it was some local joint.
I order the chicken fettuccine, and even after it sat for 20+ minutes after I made my way home, it was still hot when I finally got to eat it but best of all, it was still delicious. Â I was in amazement.
As far as the location go, it seems like a pretty laid back place to eat. Â The hostesses were genuinely nice, and my order was cooked pretty fast. Â I asked for a recommendation on wings, and Honey Mesquite BBQ [85% sure that's what I ordered] was the choice. Â The garlic bread was also included in a separate baggy. Â That was good too.
Do I recommend Old Chicago? Â Absolutely. Â Familes? Â Sure. Â After work drinks? Â Yes.
Of course I was starving at the time so I may have a biased review thanks to my content stomach.
I have never heard of Old Chicago but apparently it is a chain, just not a chain anywhere that I have lived. Â This particular one is located in Old Town Wichita. Â Our friends took us here to enjoy some dinner and drinks before our karaoke adventures.
First, if there are special happenings going on in Old Town, you are going to wait for a table. Â The good thing is they take your cell number and also give you a buzzer so that you can walk around and check out other places while you wait. Â Keeps you from being that angry person glaring at the hostess for 45 minutes that's for sure.
Once we got in we were seated in the bar area. Â This area, and really the entire restaurant, is loud and boisterous. Â We got some drinks and ordered up some food. Â Since I had pizza the night before, I decided on a veggie stromboli. Â I have never had a stromboli, but it is similar to a pizza pita, except the "pita" is actually pizza crust and it is stuffed in this case with veggies and sauce. Â You pick it up with your hands and eat. Â Overall not too bad but kind of bland - not much flavor or spice. Â It is served with your choice of fries or veggies. Â I got the veggies and they were raw and served with ranch for dipping, if that's your thing. Â As for me it is definitely NOT and the ranch had spilled out rendering some of them inedible...keep that gross white creamy stuff away from me! ha! Â Our waitress was pretty good about bringing my refills out (both vodka AND coke). Â Please note though: as are many places once you get out of the South, this place is Pepsi only....and no Diet DP option either. Â What is it with Pepsi as you go farther and farther north?? Â
Anyway, overall an ok place to grab something, watch some football on TV, and have some drinks before going somewhere fun!
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
