Arcada Theatre

Excellent venue, amazing owner and you cannot beat the atmosphere and service here. Its beautiful!

I have to say, Ron Onesti and his staff continue to fight the odds and bring some great entertainment to this historic location. Sure, this is a very old building, and it requires constant maintenance, but you’re just not going to find the breadth of entertainment at any location like this. And even better, you have a ton of options for pre-​show dinner, easy, free parking, and even a great beer pub next door to grab a quick drink before/​during/​after the show.
We’re really lucky to have this business in town. Don’t miss it!

I went with my husband to see ELO band (without Jeff Lynn) and wondered would it be a good show. It was great. Played all the hits and then some. A few days later went to see Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr from the 5^th Dimension with my sister. Another great show. Was disappointed for such icons not to have a full house. We sat upstairs and it was ¼ filled if not less. Shame on St. Charles for not supporting this great theatre and you are missing some great acts. I happened to see them in Vegas many years ago and they have not lost anything.
Ron Ornesti has done a terrific job getting varieties of shows for all ages. For all who has gone in the past, please look over the schedule and book a show or two. St. Charles residents have no excuse. We come from a distance to go & will continue to do so.
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK RON ORNESTI

I love Arcada for so many reasons. Venue is intimate and oozes history and character.
Not one bad seat in the house. Staff is genuinely happy to see you. Some interesting, diverse and classic Artists coming through, including a variety of shows for the non-​musically inclined.
Yes, they have cooking shows too! (apparently Ron is a fan). Sophia Lauren was here recently, why? I have no idea… I’m sure she’s nice to look at… least she was in her day.
Tickets are reasonably priced (aside from the main floor). Lots of street parking. Many great restaurants nearby and Ron Onesti (owner) is always on-​site and very personable and engaging with patron’s.
I’ve been here many times but recently was here for Blue Oyster Cult on a Friday night (thanks Gerry A. for the heads-​up). We arrived a little after the opening act; Chicago 6. I’m not a fan. We decided to grab a few drinks at the bar and ease ourselves in. Arriving after the Happy Hour special 6:30 — 7:30pm (Fri & Sat.), we ended up paying $ 7/​drink. I had a few wine’s while a friend had beer. Timing was perfect as Bar wasn’t swarming with people. Nice to know that if you arrive later for a show, you can bypass the lines, still find parking and hang out at the bar with attentive service…
Walking around I happened to run into Ron. I’ve met him before at a few other functions. He immediately greeted us and asked if we wanted to meet BOC before the show. Umm. that was a no brainer. How nice of Ron! We followed him to another line with around 10 others… and after around 25 min, got to meet the band. Very cool.
Finding our upper balcony seats was a breeze. Everyone working here is helpful. Security is around. For $ 40 — these seats were better than ok. At no point did I not regret purchasing $ 60-​$ 70 main floor. Great view, no obstructions. I’ll be the first to admit that I love being as close to the stage as possible, but for this venue, you can’t go wrong with balcony seats and you’ll be happy you saved the extra $ 20 (just use that for booze). Acoustics were fine. Lighting good.
AND you can bring your drinks with you!
Seats are a little tight, but not bad. Crowd was VERY mellow. I think I was the only one dancing to the «Reaper»; last song of the night. Couldn’t help but notice the ratio of men to women was 4 – 1?
Band didn’t get on stage till 9:30 and played till 11pm, which shot our chances for a late dinner at a nicer restaurant nearby. All closed. We were pretty hungry, so just walked across the street to Riverside Pizza Pub purely out of convenience.
Arcada is a classic venue. Love the charm here and that’s what you get. It’s nothing fancy. Not modern. Simple casual and comfortable vibe. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take character over flamboyant any day and this venue does not cater to the pretentious.
Well kept for the most part, but I will say that the broken stall in the very TINY women’s restroom really needs to be fixed. Yes, its outdated and based on reviews (& my last visit here, few years ago) this door has been broken for FAR too long so if your reading this Ron — for the love of Women everywhere — FIX THE DAMN DOOR!!! ;)
Ps.There’s a second Restroom located upstairs.(also tiny).

I have enjoyed many shows here. The talent they get are from a loooong time ago. Most are still talented. Free parking garage around the corner. Very safe neighborhood. Now the negatives. There are many. Cheap liquor. Bathrooms are atrocious. Smelly. Cramped. The door lock is broken on the first stall in ladies room. Surely Mr Onesti can afford to fix it. Smells musty. Be aware of the overpriced seats on main floor. Folding chairs with not an inch of room between seats. I paid $ 100 to sit like a sardine. Big nope. Ron Onesti is the cheesiest boring human on earth. He needs to update his look. Will never go back. Not at the prices he charges for tired old acts.

Really enjoyed my first concert. Just learned of the Creedence Clearwater Revisited show yesterday, as WGN and 95.9 The River were broadcasting from the theater. Jim Green was our opening act and is a very talented young man on the guitar. I definitely felt front row balcony, stage left, is the way to go. It’s a little tight for a 6 foot 5 guy. I was amazed to see the lady next to me playing Words With Friends during the opening act, didn’t even have the courtesy to dim the display. For a 90 year old theatre, that seats 900, it’s good to see they’ll be having over 250 shows this year.

Overall, I really enjoy my experiences at the Arcada theater. They offer a wide variety of events– and I’ve been present for comedy, concerts, and actual movies. Most recently I was there for a 3 night showing of the original star wars films– and it was so fun to see them back on the big screen. The theater is definitely set up more for live shows now, so you had to choose your seats carefully to avoid the lighting and sound equipment. I’ve never been disappointed in an event at this location. Really the only challenge is that sometimes «check in» or ticket sales purchase is quite slow– otherwise, everything has been great.

I’ve been there plenty of times and I always have a great time. The Arcada Theater is a landmark in St. Charles.
The owner Ron Onesti has taken so much pride and care into the theater, it shows.
He welcomes you as you walk in and shakes everyone’s hand on your way out. He makes everyone feel at home while watching your favorite performer and if your lucky, you’ll get the chance of a meet & greet with your favorite artist!
I took my son last Valentine’s Day and made my son have the Best night ever with a meet & greet with The Romantics.
The staff are very friendly along with great homemade drinks. May I recommend the Sangria. It’s very good!

What a wonderful old theater! We’ve seen a few concerts at the Arcada, and have always had a great time. It’s a small theater for a rock concert, so the seats are all good, they have a nice bar (yes, drinks are allowed inside the concert,) and they get very good talent considering they’re in St. Charles, Illinois! The St. Charles address is one of the best things about this place. It’s nice to see a great show and not have deal with traffic and parking in Chicago.
I give the Arcada five stars for fun and entertainment. They lose one star due to the LONG lines to get into the woman’s bathroom. They need a new updated woman’s bathroom.

Ron Onesti is a fantastic promoter and he has done a wonderful job at restoring this business and bringing in a variety of concerts for everyone to enjoy.
That being said, Ron feels a seating chart is a mere suggestion. I have personally experienced three of his shows in the last 15 months where seats were purchased in the first or second row, and ticket holders arrived to find their seats were moved or new rows were added in front of the posted front row.
Perhaps Ron can be charming and use promoter-​speak to justify his decisions to others. The 3^rd strike was enough for me. I probably will never be back.

First time here and I can’t say much positive about the experience. First the seating. We paid roughly $ 75 per ticket for the performance. This gave us 6 thy row, dead center. Sounds good, but these seats were basically folding chairs crammed together. While the sides of the theater has 12 seats left row, they crammed 14 of these uncomfortable chairs together for the center rows. Very uncomfortable and patrons were practically in each other’s laps.
second, the smell. Upon entering the theater the air was filled with the smells of what seemed like a restaurant kitchen. Smoky smells of cooked food, popcorn, and just very dank smelling.
Third, the sound system. Many large TVs lined the walls showing venue commercials, then the aforementioned PBS episode snippets. The sound system was harsh and not what you would expect for a live performance.
Lastly, the performance. We’d seen the PBS performance of Pasquale Esposito. My better half really enjoyed it so we bought tickets for the performance. The program was essentially researching the PBS episode again, literally, but with P.E. singing some of the songs live.
This was a serious let down. For me, it couldn’t’have ended soon enough, but it dragged on for three hours including the intermission.
Unless this venue hosts a performer I really must see, we won’t be back.

As music venues go, there are some charming things about the Arcada Theatre that make it more appealing than say, Chicago Theater or Oriental Theater, even though the entertainers they have are as big as any you’ll want to see downtown Chicago. For one thing, it’s in friendly downtown St. Charles. Many roads lead to that downtown so you don’t have to fight bumper-​to-​bumper traffic to get there. Once you do get to the theater it’s possible to park on the street in front of it. When I went to see Echoes of Pompeii last Saturday, I parked on the street just a block away — for free! The place isn’t fancy and it’s showing its wear, but you get the impression the place is setup for people who want a good time, rather than to ‘see-​and-​be-​seen’. They have an impressive full liquor bar if you are so inclined and the view of the stage is good regardless of how far away you sit. (It’s kinda like the size of the Briar Street Theater that hosts Blue Man Group.) Before Saturday afternoon, I had never heard of Arcada Theater OR Echoes of Pompeii. It was by chance I saw the marquee while driving on North Ave and I’m glad I did. The concert was great and the place was too. I can’t wait to return.

I have been here before for concerts nice venue the banquet chairs do suck for what you have to pay for. My complaint is that for tonights concert «here come the mummies» the ticket was supposed to be $ 39 dollars at the box office however I was charged a $ 6.75 processing fee for some broad to type in where I was sitting if this is the case for all concerts I will no longer come to this venue.

Old theatre in a charming downtown area. The venue is beautiful and small enough that there’s not a bad seat in the house. If you’re stuck up in the balcony, there are multiple giant screens capturing all of the onstage action.
It is a weird place to see a metal show as everything is seated, but great nonetheless.

Security there have big heads. I was working the venue and after the show trying to go help the band I was with and security assaulted me and ripped my shirt I will be boycotting this place.

Great acts in a great venue that’s a 20 minute drive with free parking. Nothing not to like. I’ve seen the winery dogs and Jim peteriks world stage here and both were great. It was awesome seeing a big name such as mike portnoy live in my own small hometown. Onesti really does a good job here.

The Arcada Theatre is beautiful. However, when I recently attended the Graham Nash concert there, I spent an uncomfortable evening. It’s an old movie theater, and the center main floor seats have been replaced with conference /​banquet room style chairs. They are positioned too closely together, and not staggered in the arrangement. This resulted in me having a 7^th row seat and not being able to see the performer without holding my head at a 45º angle throughout the evening. I also had to sit with my shoulders hunched inwards, since the arms of those seated on either side of me were squeezed over my seat space. I left a wonderful concert feeling as though I had been beat up, I was so stiff and sore from sitting in an uncomfortable position throughout the evening.

The Arcada Theater is truly a time capsule and a place of wonderment in the suburbs. I recently took my 13 year old son, an aspiring drummer, to his first rock show to see Hellion, Y&T and Quiet Riot. First of all, every seat in the Arcada is a great seat. I could talk about how great this place is for days but it all comes down to Mr. Ron Onesti — one of the most genuinely warm and friendly individuals I’ve met.
One of the guys in our row saw that my son brought some drum sticks. He asked what they were for. My son explained that he was hoping to get his first rock star autograph. Kevin had a meet and greet with Quiet Riot and asked them to sign one of Josh’s sticks. Apparently Mr. Onesti overhead that there was a kid in the audience hoping to meet a rock star at his first rock show. He came out to our seats and took us on the tour backstage where my son and I met Frankie Banali, drummer for Quiet Riot. Mr. Onesti gave us a peek into some of the green rooms, one of which had all the lighting made of drums and also got to watch Y&T from backstage.
At the end of the show Mr. Onesti found us and presented my son with a show bill signed by every band member from all three bands. Truly amazing!
I’m sure Mr. Onesti had many other friends, family and customers he could have spent his time with. I am forever a fan of Mr. Onesti and the Arcada Theater for giving my son (and I) the experience of a lifetime.

The Arcada Theater is one of the nicest & most intimate venues I’ve been to. I saw my first show there with Robbie Krieger, Adam Ezra Group, Rusted Root & The Wailers. The acoustics were phenomenal & there is NOT a bad seat in the house. I would definitely love to see more shows here.
Drink prices are very reasonable & snacks are available. There is even a Starbucks & specialty chocolate shop attached to the lobby.
While all of that is impressive, I was most impressed with the owner & all of the staff. Ron Onesti is a very active/​hands on owner. He made sure to walk around & try to greet as many of the show attendants as he could. Him & his staff members are the nicest I’ve ever come across at a concert venue.
I will definitely be returning here for another show.

I went back to the Arcada last night to watch a tribute band and felt it was important to update my review, as nearly a year has passed, and the Arcada is still as depressing and dirty as ever.
The women’s bathroom on the first floor, with its two stalls, was probably the most disgusting bathroom I have ever set foot in. The floor was soaking wet, and yet sticky at the same time, and a large roll of soggy toilet paper lay on top of a drainage grate that obviously wasn’t draining. The stall doors were missing their original locks, which means that an inch-​wide hole sat smack in the middle of each. The entire bathroom needed updating — new paint, new tile, new everything. I really can’t describe to you how gross the bathrooms were — I can tell you that I rubbed hand sanitizer on my thighs after using them though, and could not wait to get home for a shower.
The rest of the theater is still as hodge podge as ever. Tacky Christmas lights surround the decorative ledges on the balcony, while fake trees lit with colored lights dot either side of the stage (actually, only one side features colored backlights, as the backlight on the other side of the stage seems to have been permanently set to white.
And of course, you know you’re in a classy place when it offers popcorn and yogurt bites as concessions in the lobby.
The floor of the main room is dotted with plastic cups and other trash items from people too lazy to toss their garbage.
The over-​the-​top marketing doesn’t help. Even the main speakers on either side of the stage are dotted with «Onesti Entertainment —
.» The owner of the theater came onstage no less than three times during the concert to promote upcoming shows and events. It seemed to me he just liked hearing himself talk.
As I said a year ago, the place needs a major renovation. I am not a big fan, and would not come here if my fiancé did not have a genuine interest in the acts playing.