Entering the restaurant, a lively, loud, boisterous environment is introduced to me as smells of fresh pizza and beer drift into my nostrils. I can tell that this outing will be an exciting one.
Old Chicago is a restaurant chain that was established in 1979. Old Chicago Duluth, located on 327 Lake Ave. S, is also located online at oldchicago.com/Duluth. I, Michael Chelseth, traveled there on the 27th of January, 2012. Old Chicago could be considered a sports bar for all of the TV’s mounted in the restaurant screening sports shows and for the sports memorabilia on the walls of the restaurant. The service at Old Chicago is fairly fast- we received our appetizer of garlic cheesy bread within 10 minutes and our pizza within 5-6 minutes after our garlic cheesy bread arrived. The main dishes of Old Chicago are pizza along with their other specialty beers and wines. Our waiter appeared very aware of the menu and prices. When we asked him if we could order a half and half 2-topping pizza for 1 topping’s price, he said yes. My dad ordered a Pepsi, which was $2.40. The price may have been high, but he did get a free refill. The garlic cheesy bread ended up costing $5.99, and the pizza, ‘1 topping large Chicago style’, $17.28.
The garlic cheesy bread was spectacular. It had a zesty garlic of taste to it. It was extremely greasy, hot when received, crunchy, and came with marinara sauce. The pizza arrived briefly after the bread, and was also extremely hot when received. There was cheese oozing off of the side, creating a creamy taste with the unique, wonderfully crunchy Chicago style crust. The pizza was sliced thick and was dished out to us by our server. The only complaint I had was that the tables were too small for four people and the pizza. The pizza was more than enough for four of us, and it served as another meal the next day.
At the restaurant, I enjoyed listening to the music, which also helped drown out the clattering of dishes in the kitchen. Overall, my experience at Old Chicago was great. If you are a pizza, beer, or sports lover, I would definitely recommend this restaurant to you. Overall, I would rate Old Chicago a 9/10- a very good restaurant.