Elephant & Castle — Restaurant in Chicago

Warning: This is gonna be a long review bc this place IS THAT GOOD☺️👍 So, this was our first visit here last night as we had a show to see at the Chicago Theater (Jimmy O. Yang comedy show EXCELLENT BTW!) My daughter & I often have the opportunity to get to see concerts at the CT but rarely have the time to dine beforehand bc of her job. However, this time we were afforded the opportunity & after perusing the list of various restaurants listed within walking distance of CT, we chose the Elephant & Castle. (A lil backstory here~ please not bragging ..we budget)We've been incredibly blessed to visit Ireland a couple times & so we enjoy a good pub along with it's welcoming atmosphere but have rarely found the same ambiance here in America. Until last night at The Elephant & Castle! WHAT AN ABSOLUTE GEM in the heart of Chicago!!! I read some reviews before making our reservation & saw a couple not so favorable ones but we decided we simply wanted to see for ourselves & we're so glad we did!! First off, when I called to make the reservation (same day of so was nervous about availability but bc we were going to be inbetween lunch/dinner rush I thought maybe we'd have a shot) our hostess answered & was so nice about making our reservation not making me feel as tho it was a last minute imposition (have had that happen before days before a needed reservation at another place). So that was a positive sign. When we arrived 1/2 early the hostess was very kind & said it wasn't a problem at all and seated us right away. Even tho it was midday they still had quite a few tables already occupied, another good sign. From the "get go" our waiter Mike promptly arrived at our table was so welcoming & quick getting us our drinks to start. He never made us feel rushed but had that perfect timing that all good waiters have in allowing time to decide without feeling hurried. During our time there we were able to have a great conversation with Mike about travel and family in between our food arriving. What an incredibly nice guy and excellent waiter. Our food arrived quickly. We started with an appetizer of roasted tomatoes with warm feta dip & garlic bruschetta. Awesome & hit the spot for some comfort food on a cold, rainy end of January day. We both got a pint of Guinness & let me tell you..in America it is hard pressed to find a bartender that knows how to pull an excellent pint of Guinness that matches the creaminess of the ones you get in Ireland. But man, oh man did this take us back to my grandparents homeland!! Perfect pint and Kudos to the bartender!!! Anyway, my daughter ordered the Leek and Cheese pie & I got the Steak and Mushroom pie. Both were so so good. The steak in mine was extremely tender it just melted. I tried hers & the flavor of the leek was well balanced with the cheese & potato. Our meal was exactly what we were hoping for & we were NOT disappointed. Do me a favor, (apologies to anyone who hasn't had a good experience there) but DEFINITELY make a reservation & try the Elephant & Castle for yourselves. Mike, who was at the end of his shift, turned us over to Omar for the rest of our visit & our end of dinner Irish coffee (and reg coffee for me). What a wonderful end to a great meal! Again the staff here are so warm & kind. Omar was such a wonderful guy & waiter!! The staff here are just really cool & so welcoming. We felt like we'd been going there for years. Kudos to management for hiring some amazing pp💞We budget so we can travel & have dined in many places & been blessed to meet many ppl along the way & our experience at the Elephant & Castle was truly one of the standouts. We were impressed to find such a Gem of a true pub feel right in Chicago! We will MOST DEFINITELY go back our next trip in & take Omar's suggestion to try the Wee Pie Flight next time. Anyway, guess my novel review is now at an end😂 Happy Travels & Great Food finds to all of you out there ..you CANNOT go wrong stopping in to Elephant &...

We had a reservation at elephant and Castle for dinner after seeing MJ the musical at the Nederlander theater. The atmosphere is awesome! We were in London last summer and I felt like I was in London again. The food I thought was excellent. They were a couple of vegetarian options on the menu and they were unique. Of course, there are numerous items for meat eaters, but for us vegetarians it’s usually limited to a black bean burger or a salad. Elephant and castle had different and creative vegetarian options. I had the leek and potato pot pie with a side of sweet potato fries. It was DELICIOUS!!! It was SO refreshing not to have to order a black bean burger. My husband ordered the French dip, my younger son ordered a cheeseburger with fries, a.k.a. chips, and my older son ordered the fish and chips. All said their food was delicious. My #1 complaint, and this is minor, because it was very crowded. But my one complaint is that our server could have been more attentive. He never came back to see if we needed refills on water or sodas or anything. And our food was delivered at the same time, with the exception of my older son. His food wasn’t delivered and we sat there for another 10 minutes. Nobody noticed that we all had our food except for my son. I finally had to flag down our server and show him that my son still hadn’t received his food. He apologized and it came about five minutes later. So when I say he could’ve been more attentive, that’s another example of how could your server not notice that one of your customers hadn’t gotten their food??? I would definitely go back here, I love the atmosphere, the food was great, maybe it was just a newer server. I don’t know. But I would definitely recommend...

The list of gluten sensitive options on the web site is only partial. The PDF menu link on the Gluten Sensitive web page very illogically goes to the regular menu, not the gluten sensitive menu. I was with family members who made their decision to go to the Elephant & Castle based on the existence of a gluten sensitive menu. I got all tuned up for one particular item mentioned on the "gluten sensitive" menu, but upon arrival found out it was fried in shared oil, so I felt crushed, particularly since my family ordered THE ONE item I wanted, to share amongst themselves, after I had spent 40 minutes anticipating its deliciousness.

Low-gluten isn't safe enough for "gluten sensitive enteropathy". We have to have gluten-free. Yes, "gluten sensitive" is an actual medical term. It means something different than gluten intolerant. Please don't use medical terms inaccurately.

I had to involve myself on my smartphone to ignore my family chowing down on the one thing I wanted, and didn't enjoy visiting with them at all.

Pkease link your gluten sensitive menu to the gluten sensitive web page, so that potential customers can make more-informed decisions.

Photo of the truffle and parm chips I couldn't eat. We're all adults, so no, my family sees no reason to deny themselves the foods they want just because I'm upset. We're adults. I'm expected to smile and enjoy the company. I would not go here...