Old Chicago

Tonight I visited our local Old Chicago restaurant for a dinner date with my husband. He had been wanting to return to the restaurant for quite some time but it's not one of my favorite, stand-out restaurants. Tonight though, I agreed to go there and I am glad that I did.

For starters, right now they are featuring their three-course dinners for $9.99. There are also some $10.99 dinner options as well. You can check out their special menu here to get a full idea of what they have to choose from.

As we entered the restaurant, we were greeted by two hostesses, who asked us if we would prefer dining room or bar seating. We chose the dining room and one of the hostesses led us to a table near the back, close to the kitchen door.

In some restaurants, being seated close to the kitchen door is not a desirable location, but at our local Old Chicago restaurant, I don't think that there is an undesirable table in the house. The way that the building is designed, you don't hear the typical kitchen clatter during your meal. We have been there when it is busy and noisy (as it was tonight - dinner hour on a Friday night) and when it is not busy at all (middle of the afternoon during the week) and neither time did we hear kitchen clatter.

Our server, Jessica, greeted us within a minute of our being seated and immediately took our drink orders. My husband chose Mountain Dew and I chose Pepsi. We received our drinks promptly and with terrific customer service as well. Jessica was friendly, observant, and able to multi-task, which in my opinion is a vital set of skills for a server. She kept on top of our drinks and we had refills ready and waiting for us whenever our current glass was half full.

Moving on to dinner itself, my husband and I both decided to order items from the current special menu. We love a bargain and these options are most certainly a bargain! For an appetizer, my husband chose an old favorite of his, the Sicilian Pepperoni Rolls, while I chose to try something new, the Cajun Chicken Calzini. Each appetizer dish had three of the item ordered.

I had not had the calzini before as it is a new item to Old Chicago. And it is one that I hope that they will keep. The menu (which you can see in the above link) describes it as: "A zesty filling of blackened chicken breast, Andouille sausage, onions, bell peppers, Mozzarella cheese and Worcestershire sauce baked, then deep-fried crispy inside our made-from-scratch dough. Drizzled with cajun Tabasco® mayo."

I describe it as something like a pizza pocket with a kick. I don't normally enjoy spicy foods, but this had just the right amount of kick to it with the cajun Tabasco® mayo without being too hot to handle. It didn't make my eyes tear up or my mouth burn, but delivered a wonderful bit of flavor and spicy kick to a fabulous appetizer. The chicken and sausage were both well-cooked and tender and juicy. The vegetables were soft and added a nice contrast of texture from the outer shell and the meat. And the cheese was nicely melted inside as well. Overall, it was an appetizer that will definitely be on my list of "must have" items the next time we go there.

My entrée was a new item on the menu as well, the Pepperoni Stuffed Chicken with Pasta. The menu describes it as, "Oven-baked chicken breast stuffed with fresh basil, pepperoni and Mozzarella, Parmesan and Ricotta cheeses. Served with fire-roasted spaghetti marinara and topped with fresh Parmesan. Comes with our toasted garlic bread."



It was delicious. I must admit, though, that I made the mistake of eating the spaghetti marinara before eating the chicken breast so I didn't have much room for the chicken breast. I had to try it out though, for a complete review of the entrée though, so I did. Once again, the chicken was well-done, moist and juicy. The mix of the toppings on both the pasta and the chicken breast were outstanding! The flavors blended together nicely and left me wanting to finish all of it, although I did not have the room for it.

We asked our server, Jessica, for two to-go boxes for the rest of our entrées. She took our plates and brought back the boxes with our food nicely arranged inside of them. The original presentation of the appetizers and entrées were also nicely done. They definitely care about the way the food looks here and it really pays off.

I was too full to try out the dessert so I requested that it be brought out in a to-go container to start, and my request was honored quickly. I'd say that overall, from arrival time to the time we paid our check was somewhere around thirty minutes. Which is pretty impressive for a Friday night dinner hour, next to a theater.

During our meal, the manager, Charles, stopped by our table to check on us and see how things were going. It was actually during this exchange that I decided that I would review my experience there tonight on here. I interviewed him briefly, as I did not know if Old Chicago was a national chain or a local one. As it turns out, it is a national chain, but is widely concentrated in the midwest and plains regions. There are a handful of other franchised locations outside of those two main regions as well. There are 100 locations within 23 states, with the largest concentration being the 27 restaurants within Colorado's state borders.

And finally, for my review, a quick extra thank you to Charles, for going above and beyond for me, in granting what I am sure seemed to be the oddest type of request in the food service industry. Because I had decided to review the food after we had already started eating it, and because the menu does not have a picture of the deliciousness that was my entrée, I asked Charles if it would be possible for me to take a picture of the next Pepperoni Stuffed Chicken with Pasta that came out of the kitchen to use here on the review. He agreed and brought it out himself to allow me the opportunity to be able to provide you all with a photographic review of the entrée as well. That is the photo of my meal that you see above. Or rather, of some other patron's meal, I suppose. Thank you again Charles for your wonderful help tonight, and thanks to Jessica for a fabulous dining experience! We will be sure to come again (and soon!)

My overall review: * * * * *