Old Republic [Kitchen + Bar] — Restaurant in Elgin

OMG...Geeze Lueeze. I just scanned into Nick's friends and learned a whole other world exists. I am a person who is not much interested in being cell phone technical. Keep it simple. QR codes never caught my attention or interested me.....until now. I first learned from a Co-worker about Old Republic KitchenBar. He was trying to show me pictures on his cellphone. "This is a cool place. It has a patio constructed with shipping containers. They have live bands. The entertainment is great. The food is delicious. It is a good time. I should go and check it out. The owner wrote, directed, and produced the movie Munger Road. Had I heard of it? Did I see it? YAS! I saw the movie when it premiered in ST. Charles. I don't have my own car, so I paid little attention to what this Co-worker said about a restaurant located some distance from where I live. Then, I rented a car...and go I did! I called my friend Colleen. Colleen knows every, store, restaurant, bar, and gas station up and down Randall Road. She wasn't familiar with this place. She was skeptical that it existed and that I knew what I was talking about. I couldn't remember the name of the restaurant but I used to work up in that area off of Randall Road. It's not that complicated. We could find it. I have a car. Let's Goooooooo. Colleen was up for a joy ride, so away we went. The Restaurant is called Old Republic KitchenBar. Old Republic shares a parking lot with Marcus Cinemas, Aldi, the U.S. Post Office... Old Republic is not on Randall Road, it is behind a medical office that is located on Randall Road. Technically, Old Republic is located at the corner of Randall Lake Crossing and Weld Road. This location used to be a corporate restaurant steak house. I can't remember the name. Sometimes I ate there. The food was good. Greeting us, as I parked the car, was a sign board of a 1970's Clint Eastwood holding out "a fist full of dollars". He was asking me, did I feel lucky? Well did I? Huh? Did I? My Colleen was raised North of here. I was raised South of here. We have worked in restaurants all over the area. We met 40 years ago working at a Bohemian restaurant. Remember Poplar Creek. Colleen worked there. Colleen graduated from culinary school and is a trained chef. Colleen has cooked, bartended, served, worked banquets, managed kitchens, managed bars, managed front of house, managed restaurants. Colleen opened her own Steak house. If it is food industry related, Colleen has probably been involved in it. Colleen is the type of bartender that people love, love, love. Quick, snappy, witty, attractive. Although Colleen has vava voom to her, it is her personality that grabs a person. Colleen has a light to her. A cheer. A brightness that people gravitate toward. A vibe that makes people feel good. When patrons notice her car parked in the parking lot, they stop in to sit a spell and absorb her company. When Colleen closed her steak house, she moved to Coco Beach and reinvented herself. For years she cooked for 500 to 700 at a convention center in Florida. Not only is Colleen fun, but her knowledge of the culinary is something special. She now is back from Florida and I am loving her reaction to Old Republic Kitchen*Bar. Her eyes fell everywhere and caught everything. From the decor, to the atmosphere, to the menu, to the food, to the building and it's lay out, to the 20 something bar lines running along the ceiling. She tried to get a better look at the kitchen, but one can only see so much from the door way. We stopped in on a thursday, late afternoon to early evening.there were patrons but not a crowd. The weather was gorgeous. A beautiful day. Perfect for outdoor seating. Colorful flags were fluttering in the breeze from where they hang overhead. Colleen loved the patio atmosphere. It was reminisce of the Florida vibe. So much to look at and see on a first time visit. Nostalgic pieces and edifices were placed throughout the restaurant. Double tiered seating...

Very nice patio, food, and atmosphere, but unfortunately, I'll only give 2 stars, the service we got was really poor, the hostesses (teenagers) at the door and th bartenders on the bar were really rude and I noticed that we weren't the only ones treated that way, we went to celebrated my bday, there were 22 of us, I called in advance to make a reservation they said that they don't take reservations on the weekends, so I went a little early to see if I grab a table at least for 6 since my mom and dad (76y.o.) were coming too and I wanted at least them to sit down, when we arrived (7pm) there was a small line of people at the patio entrance, we paid $10 per each of us ($220) just enter and watch the show (7th Heaven) the rude ladies at the door told me that there were a waiting list and they didn't know the time to sit us, I said its fine we'll wait, so we got in, there was a table of 6 very nice ladies and one of them remove one of their tables and gave it to us so we can sit, well one of the hostess came and told us that we need to move that they need that table to sit somebody else I told them that it was a table the other ladies gave to us, that didn't even matter ( this lady even threat us to call the security) and they still moved us of the table and gave it to someone else, they told us that the policie was to give any unused table to the next in line, but then there were two more tables that were available and some random people that were standing by just grabbed those table and nobody said nothing to them, so we wait and wait until we finally got a table thanks to my friend that told me there were 2 tables available for long time and no more people waiting, that happened at around 9:30pm, so 2 and half hours waiting to finally nobody cared about us and that waiting list, 5 useless and rude hostesses at the door! Too bad we are not coming back to this place. To have nice customer service is...

TL;DR: Overpriced, average, flavor-lacking.

I'm honestly pretty disappointed by this place. From the outside, it looks like a really great place, nice outdoor patio, decent size building! The inside is pretty interesting too, New York themed! I had really high hopes for this place knocking it out of the park. I love live music, but I wouldn't choose this as my Friday/Saturday-night go-to venue.

The one thing that bothers me the most is that I asked for a side of the mac & cheese with my NY Strip (yeah yeah, I know, that's not a side for a steak). The waitress told me that it would be a SLIGHT upcharge, which I anticipated and was fine with. When I hear slight upcharge, I'm thinking $3-MAYBE-$4 dollars, as I find that to be pretty standard. NOPE! $8 bucks for a side of cheese and noodles. Highway robbery.

The steak, which is from Ream's in Elburn, was something else to be desired. I am beyond confused why restaurants refuse to season their beef. Even with salt & pepper! The demi & garlic butter at least added some flavor, but the steak itself lacked flavor. Ream's even makes their own seasoning (and it's delicious!). They most definitely price-gouge you on the price of the steak too. Their menu says "Market", but I would think that's typically reserved for actual steakhouses, not for a sit down burger/sandwich joint.

The service wasn't spectacular or amazing, but it wasn't horrendous or terrible at all.

It's honestly just nothing to write home about. It doesn't "wow" you. It doesn't leave you wanting more. It's not a place I'd say "let's go to" when we're looking for food on a Friday or Saturday night, or even recommend to someone who's looking for a new place to check out. The only way I'd return is if a larger group of friends insisted we go there.

A very...