Old Chicago

My family and I have been here before and sevice wasn‘t always the best but the food is ok. Today we stopped in for a bite and it was if we didn‘t exist. We sat for at least 15 minutes . We finally got up and left. Never be back again

Old Chicago Pizza & Pasta in Ames can kiss my ass. 10 minutes sitting at a bar with 4 other people total in the place and somehow she‘s too busy to see what I‘ll have.

That $0.20 tip at the end of my one drink in 45 minutes wasn‘t a mistake, I didn‘t want to wait a couple hours for change...

A co-worker and I went for lunch about a week ago; we have an hour for lunch and I bet we waited for at least 20 minutes before we we were asked what our drinks would be and then our server proceeded to walk away and we had to stop him and let him know we were ready to order as well. He was sort of mifted because we made him take our food order before he was ready for it. I have been here a couple of times and always the service is poor, food takes forever to get done, and it seems like every time I go, our food order is messed up.

Their thin crust pizza is about the only good thing there. Everything else tastes pretty bland and unoriginal. Also, their "Chicago style" is not Chicago style. I don‘t know how many times I have gone to restaurants here in Iowa that claim to have "Chicago style" that isn‘t anything close to what it actually is.

The service can‘t be beat. The staff is friendly, quick and observant. But, the average beer price of $4.50? Come on!

Good quick service, food is usually good. Avoid the sausage. Fun place to go.

i like the atmosphere at old chicago, however, the drinks are NOT THAT GREAT (and that might be an overstatement) however, they do have their beer tour. the drinks are a little on the expensive side, especially for being less than mediocre. for everything else, old chicago is good, if you‘re looking for some drinks & the game (as much as i HATE to say this...) go to west towne. if you‘re looking for food, it‘s a chain, so it is decent, but not anything special.

I really like Old Chicago as a chain, but I must say this one is not as good as others I frequented when I lived in the Lincoln and Omaha areas. The food sometimes doesn‘t seem as good even though I‘m sure every restaurant in the chain gets the same thing. The service has also been spotty (sometimes quite slow), although it has seemed better the last couple of times. Decent restaurant, but not the best Old Chicago you will visit and certainly not the best restaurant in Ames (I recommend Dublin Bay and La Fuente and have heard good things about The Cafe, though I‘ve never been there).

This place is not bad. It is very expensive though. Good beer selection.

I love Old Chicago. My only complaint is that the sausage is consistantly bad. It always tastes sour. My food science spouse says that it‘s rancid. Avoid the sausage and everything else will be good.

I visit Ames quite a bit and always come here for dinner. The food and service are good, but their draft beer selection is awful. Out of the 14 Old Chicago‘s I‘ve been to, this has the worst draft selection.

If you don‘t care much about primo beers, then I highly recommend it.

I agree with some of the other posts that the service in the dining room isn‘t always top notch............. but the bar servers and bartenders are GREAT! Once I learned of this difference, I only sit in the bar area now and the servers and bartenders are all really friendly, give great service and even remember my favorite drinks and food. Also, no, the food isn‘t fine dining but the happy hour specials are great and it is a great place to go for drinks, friendly bar staff, and good bar food.

I ordered a pizza for carryout and when I got it home the top of the crust was doughy and raw. I called the restaurant and spoke to the manager. They promised they would rectify the problem by sending me a gift certificate for a new pizza. It‘s been 2 weeks and still nothing. I guess it‘s my own fault for going back her to eat, because my prior experiences have been bad. Don‘t waste your time on this place!

The beer is good, and food is ok. I think the apps are pretty good in comparison to the rest of the menu really. The servers seem to be quite lazy though. As much as I hate actually flagging your server down, as I worked in the industry for about 5 years, it works here. Once you physically have them do something it takes no time at all. For me sitting at the bar resulted in much better service. On a side note, it‘s Shiner Bock, not Boch. Bock.

The best chicken parm sandwhich I‘ve had in ages. They could mix up the menu a bit better, but otherwise it was great. Servers were very busy but did their best to attend to us when they could. Shiner Boch. They need Shiner Boch on tap!!!. Had a great time.

They may have a bazillion beers, but their food is only so-so. The lunch buffet in particular is not that great. Very standard, limited selection.

food: horrible
service: terrible
price: no-good and very bad


DO NOT GO HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love this place. Maybe I‘m a little biased because I used to work there, but assuming it hasn‘t taken a total dive since I left I‘m always happy to go back whenever I‘m in town for work or football.

That, and to check out my name on the wall of foam. :)

The last thing anyone wants to hear is excuses for poor service(see May 24th entree)
The end result is that a lot of people experience poor service at this restaurant.
I have been here multiple times over the last couple years, for lunches, dinners and just to go out and have a few drinks with friends, and the best service I/we have ever received was average at best .
The food is good, and they have a great selection of beers, but like someone stated below, what difference does a choice of 100 beers make if you can‘t get someone to serve you one in the first place, or get a refill while you are sitting with friends trying to have some fun?
Please, no more excuses for poor service.

Food and service is poor. Had to wait forever to get service, food was cold or under cooked. Wait staff was more worried about how drunk they were the night before then make sure my family and I were taken care of.

I have given Old Chicago about 5 "another chances" too many (not by choice). The service is almost always poor. To the server who said that poor service gets a 10% tip? Give me a break. If you hate your job that much, get a different one. Rewarding laziness and unattentiveness is idiocy, what is this, the welfare system?
I will grant that one time, the server did right a situation where neither my wife nor I got the food we ordered after having waited 45 minutes for someone to come and ask what we wanted. However, the whole thing took 2.5 hours, and they weren‘t even busy. All in all, not the worst food, but there are certainly much better places in Ames.

Also, if a meal is messed up or not right- let us know- we‘ll take care of it! Always tip your server at least 10% especially if you have alcohol because servers have to tip out the bartender for that alcohol. One bad experience I recently had with a guest involved a simple mistake. They received the wrong crust on their pizza. I chose to have their whole pizza taken off and I even gave them a free beer. My manager did not want to take their pizza off but I insisted. Despite this my table did not tip me and I had to actually pay out of my pocket 5% to the bar for their alcohol sales . (I only make 4 bucks an hour.) If you have bad service then tip the minimum which is generally 10%. If you have average service tip 15% and if you have great service tip at least 20%. The only way the government can get away with paying less than minimum wage for this job is because of your tips. And if you can‘t afford to tip- you shouldn‘t be eating out!Also,don‘t take it out on the server if you think the prices of the food is too steep! Write that on a comment card instead.

Don‘t go out to eat if you are in a rush to be somewhere or you just live your life rushing from place to place. Eating out should be an enjoyable experience where you can relax and enjoy the company you are with. Just to name a few of the typical duties a server has with a guest: Getting ice throughout the shift(you run out fast!)/running dishes from the dish area/rolling silverware(so the guest has silverware on their table)/running back to the cooler to grab more lettuce or a dessert/waiting at the bar for drinks to be made/running your food to the tables/ringing in another guests order/counting change for another guest/Cleaning off another table/Greeting another table etc. And please keep in mind that as a server we don‘t get breaks or lunches. Many times we work 12 hours straight without sitting once. I‘ve even worked 15 without a break.

Generally I‘ve had good experiences at this restaurant. I‘ve not really noticed problems with servers. The service here is about what I expect of any place in Ames. I even had a server replace a pizza at no additional charge because there had been a mistake with the order.

I think they make the best pizza in town. I‘m a pretty picky eater and there are very few restaurants on my list in Ames, so it says a lot when I say that Old Chicago is one of my favorites.

Sad to say the two times I ate here the service was poor. Staff was too busy talking about partys. The food was cold and over priced. I will not be returning.

For all of you knocking Old Chicago, I think you‘re missing the point. I would have to agree the service in the restaurant may be below par, but Old Chicago is a SUPER fun place to go watch the big game! Monday night football rocks!! Free salsa and chili, great drink specials, and contests galore. Its a fun atmosphere for any sports fan. Join the World Beer Tour and select any one of their 110 beer selections! For anyone looking for somewhere to watch the game, this place is a must!!

I havent been here for 10 months and decided to give it another try in the hopes that the service has gotten better.
NOPE.

We weren‘t impressed with this restaurant and won‘t be returning. While they do have a good selection of beer, the pizza was a disappointment. The toppings were good, but the crust was almost impossible to bite through. It was tough and had what I think was corn meal caked on the bottom, which made it crunchy. Our service was average. Our food arrived in good time, but we didn‘t get the refills we needed.

Everyone is in such a hurry these days... has anyone who posted on this board traveled abroad??? Doubt it - cause if they had they would appreciate the fact that time is given for you to deside what you want - for you to talk with the person you are dining with... abroad - no one is in a hurry - and they appreciate the finer things in life - they don‘t bitch about how slow the service was at their favorite restaurant - People in the US need to relax a little more... there are worse things in life than having "slow service" trust me. (you are NOT paying for it - you are paying for going out and having a bit of fun (god forbid) - and for not cooking for yourself one night... and to just plain enjoy the fun, easy going atmosphere. perhaps your server is a bit more LAID BACK and you are a bit too UPTIGHT... you should try the laid back life style and see what it does for you - bet your life will be more fun!!

I‘ve dined here twice and the story is the same - horribly slow service, even when the restaurant isn‘t busy! I don‘t have three hours to eat!

I tried the noon buffet awhile back. Bad choice by me, poor food selection, and it wasn‘t that good. Only been there once. Maybe it is fine if you order off the menu.

The food is OK, and the beer selection is great.
The service is the weak link in this restaurant.

PS:
Please don‘t whine about how it gets busy, or that you have to serve 20+ people, or having to remember what someone ordered to drink...IT"S YOUR JOB!
You may be a good server, but the majority of your staff is not.

Do US all a favor and get us another beer and / or the bill in under 30 minutes.

I‘ll be back in a month or two see if your espoused service is for real.

"The Masked Muncher"

I work at Old Chicago and I feel I am a great server and the majority of the people I work with are great as well. I really think that the only people that come on here to leave comments are the ones who want to complain... because for as many bad reviews there are on here - there are a lot more good comment cards left in our box. I also think that people tend to forget that at a busy time a server is trying to please 20+ people at once and trying to remember what each one wants and needs at any given point. If you have come to expect poor service in Ames, do us all a favor and stay home and cook for yourself ...

My husband and I really enjoy stopping for a drink and some appetizers after work. The Pepperoni Rolls and Italian Nachos are our favorites!! I‘d have to agree with everyone else about poor service, but I‘ve come to expect it in Ames.

I have been a huge fan of Old Chicago since visiting the original in Boulder, CO. The Ames Old Chicago is a great place to drink and have some appetizers snacks at the bar, but it breaks my heart to say that the service is terrible. Go for the good food, and wide beer selection but prepare to wait a long time for refills or your bill if you are sitting anywhere except the bar. It‘s too bad, because the OC‘s in Omaha and IC are some of the best places to go when the employees care.

i was disappointed to find out that the restaurant wasn‘t actually named after the city of Chicago, it was named after a pinball machine or something. at least that explains why the food isn‘t exactly Chicago cuisine, but it doesn‘t explain the prices! i thought the food was just OK and service was good, but the food is definitely overpriced.

OK, they got a hundred plus beers to choose from, but what does it matter when you can‘t get anyone to take your order?
Service here is a major issue.

One of my favorite places to eat in Ames. I‘m from Chicago and even though it may not be authentic Chi-town pizza, it‘s still really good! The servers may not be the most experienced at their jobs but all the ones I have had have made up for it in their friendliness. I would definitely recommend it!

The city of Chicago should sue these people for trying to claim that this is Chicago style pizza. It is closer to the crud they eat down in St. Louis than anything remotely connected to the Windy City. Plus, I‘ve never been to a restaurant that has 5 hostesses and 2 waitresses. The service here is a joke. A cruel joke. Only exceeded by their inability to keep more than one item up for their "buffet".
Furthermore, don‘t let anybody hype their pepperoni rolls to you. Edible - yes! Orgasmic - No!

Great beer selection, but prices are pretty expensive! I go for the world beer tour and the half priced appetizers past 10pm..great clean place to go hang out with some friends.

I have never had a problem with the service however I have heard that is a problem, some of the bar staff are incompitent when it comes to the menu. Food is great

Increadibly overpriced? Horrible Service? Who are you crazy broke people?

The food is great, the service is great, the beer is WONDERFUL. Anyone who‘s ever been to most any other restaurant in Ames - that has good tasts - would agree.

Granted, it doesn‘t hold a candle to the Cafe, but that‘s a whole different sort of thing.

I think the service has gotten a lot better since it first opened. The bar section is definitely a good place to catch up with old friends with 90s music in the background.

This place is fun! Get on the World Beer Tour and check out the bar.

TERRIBLE SERVICE but great food. I guess that‘s what you get in a college town.

Do not get the Spagetti! It was very very Bad. Other than that typical Chain restauran.t

Didn‘t even make it to the food - got up and walked out. The service was terrible and the seating arrangements were terrible, no privacy at all.

The staff at Old Chicago is great... it‘s a lot of fun there, be prepared to have a good time!

The Beer selection is amazing

The worst food and service I have had in 3 years in Ames. Incredibly overpriced.

I love Old Chicago - Try the Italian Nachos!!