Old Chicago Pizza and Pasta

Very good service, very good food. We had the canzone meat me and Chicago 7. I recommend both. The coffee is fantastic. We will return soon.

My wife and I loved to frequent old Chicago in Ames. Not anymore. We were greeted by a rude boy that felt we should feel privileged to be seated by him. My wife and I ordered the cheese curds. We rated them an F. Overly frozen, refried, flavorless balls that were hard to chew. The beer was awesome! I gave it an A! Exile Gigi! Then we got the pizza. We ordered the Veggie 7. Usually our favorite, but the crust seemed off. Really chewy and not much flavor. At least it had veggies which were good. We gave it a C. It will probably be a long while until we go back… If at all…

This place has no idea how to hire people. I was called the n word three times in front of the bartender and her response was. «I’m not going to take sides here». Sorry old Chicago is hiring people who don’t realize that they are working for the company not just too pad there pockets with racist people tips.

Overpriced. Food is not that great. Several beers on tap but there is a better selection not too far away. Clean and generally busy. We won’t be back. Food is too average for the prices.

They took my Chicken Parm sandwich off the menu. Only reason I give them 4 stars. The other food is great though. Great service especially at lunch. Always a good experience when ever I’m up that way.

My wife and I came here for lunch today, for the first time. We both had their weekday lunch buffet ($ 7.99, not including pop) and while neither of us thought it was terrible, we weren’t exactly overwhelmed either.
The buffet is on the small side: four pizzas (rotating variety), some garlic/​cheese sticks, calzone, some mac and cheese and what looked like chili. It’s much smaller, for example, than the offerings at Pizza Ranch or Valentino’s. Also, the pizzas tended to be geared for carnivores: there were no all-​vegetarian or plain varieties; every single variety I saw there had some sort of meat on it. This was fine with me, but limited the options for my wife. Also, the pizzas were not identified, and it was not always easy to tell what was what. Surely it wouldn’t be a hardship to put out little cards identifying each variety? The pizza tasted pretty good, but I wouldn’t describe it as outstanding; it was comparable, I thought, to Jeff’s Pizza in campustown. Unfortunately, now that Joe’s Pizza and Pasta is apparently dead, there is no real source of outstanding pizza in Ames (at least for those of us who were brought up on the east coast).
According to the menu, the buffet came with «soup or salad», but this turned out to be an exclusive «or”– you tell the waitress which one you want, and she brings you one. I don’t think you can get refills on this. The Caesar salad I had was good, and my wife liked her tomato/​basil soup. The buffet also, according to the menu, ends with a mini chocolate-​chip cookie, but the waitress didn’t bring any. When I asked about it, she promptly brought two out, and they were excellent: warm, chippy and not as mini as I thought they would be. Be sure to ask for yours if the waitress doesn’t bring them out.
Service was friendly enough, but could perhaps have been a bit faster.
The buffet is quite a good value at $ 7.99, but I think the restaurant makes its profit on pop, which is not included in the price and costs a fairly hefty $ 2.79 (but at least it’s all-​you-​can-​drink). It seems odd, though, to pay more than one-​third the cost of the entire buffet just for a Pepsi.
Bottom line: I had a good lunch here and am not sorry I went, but neither of us are in a big hurry to return.

So many beers! Love their Thai Pie Pizza and their wings. Lots of options when everyone is in the mood for something different.

I love the place but I don’t appreciate the people who work there.
I love their appetizers
I hate their drinks (Buy bottled) their draft beers are average.
I hate their margaritas & other cocktails

Oh my god the food was so good! I will say I only had appetizers here but they were oh so scrumptious!
Service was so-​so and the décor was cool. This kinda has the same vibe as Applebee’s and other kinds of places. Tons of college students work here and the clientele is mostly middle aged people going out to eat.
The peppered bacon smothered cheese fries are TO DIE FOR!!!

Nothing spectacular about this Old Chicago location!
There are a few great things!
a. Lots of Beer on tap
b. Cool deals and specials during Monday night football
c. The place is kept up pretty nice and the parking lot is great!
Now to the other…
The food is pretty lacking, the service is so so, and I have had a few orders be sent back to the kitchen because they did not do what I asked… AKA not put cheese on my pizza!
Oh well, Lots of tv’s for sports watching, and brews to slugged

Sat down at 4:20, around 4:27 went up to the bar because we hadn’t been served yet and were told they didn’t take orders at the bar unless you were seated there, so our server would be right over. She didnt show up until 4:33. Then the beer didn’t arrive until 4:38. And then my beer was the WRONG BEER. I will never. Ever. Come here again. Absolutely awful service.

Bar staff is excellent have been here a long time. Food is consistently good.
Lots of Beer choices as usual.

If you’re in Ames for a game Old Chicago is a great place to go with a couple of buddies or the family to enjoy deep dish pizza and watch sporting events. The atmosphere and service is solid and for chain pizza it’s good. Personally, I’ve only had pizza and salads here (which are solid, too). The food isn’t award winning, but in Ames, what is? Come for deep dish pizza, drinks and side salads and you’ll leave content.

For beer… OC is always a good stop. I did not have food here, but I did have a couple of nice craft brews.
The service was great with the first bartender. The second bartender was not as good, but wasn’t a dealbreaker either.
There’s a fair amount of room in the bar, so you don’t feel like you are corralled here.

LOVE IT! Not a lot of beer on tap but the bar is reasonably priced and we’ll maintained. It is a fun atmosphere lively and exciting. I love their thin and crispy crust. It is perfect. The Hawaiian pizza is my favorite. I’ve had their pizza, sandwiches, and pastas. Not once have I had a bad meal there. It’s why I always go back!

I was pleasantly surprised with Old Chicago. Our waitress was an older lady, but perfunctory and nice. The place is clean and has interesting things on the walls. The food isn’t just good, it’s great! I expected generic, flavor-​lacking food served in big portions, but with cheap ingredients. I WAS WRONG!!!
As an appetizer, I ordered the Cheese Garlic Bread and it was FRESH, hot and tasty! The side of Marinara Sauce wasn’t my fave, but it was fine.
For my meal, I ordered a Calzone with chicken, mushrooms and onions. It is HUGE! Enough for two meals, at least. The dough was soft, yet chewy and absolutely delicious. They PACKED it full of chicken (REAL chicken, sliced up, not some processed chicken cubes) and FRESH mushrooms and sliced red onions. I asked for Alfredo Sauce, and our waitress said they don’t put any sauce in it, so she brought me some on the side for dipping — yaye for an accommodating server! The Alfredo Sauce was a lil’ runny, but TOTALLY YUMMY! You could tell it’s homemade.
My friend got the Sicilian Pepperoni Rolls (which is technically an appetizer) for her entrée. I tried them, and they were so flavorful! They were generously seasoned and definitely enough to be a meal!
Reasonable prices, generous portions, and delicious food. ‘Nuff said.

My boyfriend LOVES Old Chicago’s pizza, so it was particularly hard for him to give up when we made the decision to stop eating at most chain restaurants. This week they were giving away samples of the new pizza style they’re debuting, so we broke our rule to check it out. The new style is tavern style, and will replace their thin crust pizza. The tavern pizza is thinner and crispier than their current thin crust, and I liked it a lot.
I don’t care for Chicago style pizza, so Old Chicago really does nothing for me. Their thin crust pizza is okay, and I like their toppings, but it’s nothing I’ve ever craved. The rest of the food I’ve had off the menu was good, but again, nothing I’ve ever craved. I have also never been impressed with their beer list or beer tours; yes, they have a lot of beers, but nothing I can’t get anywhere else.
The Ames Old Chicago always looks a lot busier than it actually is because of the hotel next door, so don’t be discouraged if you arrive to a full parking lot. The restaurant itself is probably not that busy. I’ve always had decent service at this location.

I usually frequent the two in the Des Moines area but when I decided to join a bowling league with some friends in Ames I started going to this location to work on my beer tour. I’ve never had bad service here, however we exclusively sit at the bar so maybe that’s why. The food is always good and the beer is always cold. They do seem to get a good variety of beers cycling through. Like most restaurants in Ames this place gets very busy when there are scheduled sporting events at Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum.

Maybe I made the mistake of not getting a pizza here? Who knows…
Went here on a Friday afternoon with my boyfriend and his mother. Before I knock down their food, let me at least say out server was very pleasant and courteous.
Now I didn’t feel like pizza so I opted for their chicken/​avocado sandwich. I tend to love things with avocados, so I decided to give it a shot. Against better judgement I also decided on getting fries for my side. I should have sent back the fries immediately as they were cold, but oh well. Then I started eating the sandwich… It had a horrible bun, like some bun you would get on a hamburger at a really cheap 4^th of July BBQ. Also, there was no sauce. Just a slab of chicken and avocados, lettuce, and tomatoes. Meh meh meh. I will say that my boyfriend’s mother’s pizza looked yummy. I tasted a bit of my boyfriend’s Alfredo and declared it to be pretty blah.
Overall, another chain restaurant failure. I will admit they had an extensive beer list. If anything I’d go back for a happy hour. Spend money on drinks and MAYBE some happy hour priced food.

Is it fair to review a place you used to work at? Who cares… but consider that my disclaimer.
This OC was the first in a good radius around Ames for a long while. And I was one of the first staff-​members of this new establishment that helped bring pizza — and most importantly an amazing beer selection — to the masses in the area. :sniff… sentimentality:
Anyway, besides the warm fuzzies I have associated with the place, it’s not really anything too different from any other Old Chicago around, except this one is connected to a hotel. Enough time has passed that I don’t believe that any of the original staff I knew are still around — including managers. Still, my name is on the Wall of Foam here and they have shuffleboard so that keeps me coming back when I’m in town.