Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom — Restaurant in Fort Collins

I don't know why I keep going there, the service is horrid. I was there at 9pm, there were only 2 other tables. The waitress brought us water and silverware, took our order, and disappeared. Then brought our food, and disappeared . Never checked on food or drinks. Finally I got up and went to the bar to get more water, and when the bartender (who was dressed like a homeless person) asked what I needed, I said I just needed water because my waitress was invisible. Turns out the 'manager' was standing there, and without a word he filled a glass and handed it to me, no apologies. I went back to my table and started my stopwatch, thinking it would be seconds before he went and told he to do her job. 14 minutes later, the waitress saw us staring at her, quickly printed our ticket, and almost ran by and dropped it on the table. I didn't even have a chance to say anything. So I left the folder were it was, and several minutes later, she came by again not breaking stride and picked up the folder. When she realized I hadn't put my card in it yet, she brought it back and again tried to flee!!! I showed her the stop watch and told her it had been 17 minutes since I had to get my own water FROM THE MANAGER, and if she thought I was paying the whole bill she was crazy. Without a word she left the table, and finally the manager appeared. I told him I couldn't believe after HE heard my waitress couldn't even bring water that nothing was done. He half heartedly apologized, and asked what he could do. I told him he could keep the ticket, because there was no way that was acceptable . He made it sound like he was doing me a favor by taking care of the bill, and we left.

Obviously, the problem comes from management - not only poor training, but terrible supervision. The food is usually decent, but the service...even in a town with bad service as a whole.....

Sunday night there was about 10 booths filled so not a busy night. We are a party of 9 that have come out to celebrate with family that flew into town. We ordered 3 pizzas, 4 apps, and soft drinks. It took 40 min after our order was placed just to receive the appetizers. When the pizza finally arrived an hour later, she didn’t bring the gluten free pizza. She had us serve the pizzas ourselves while she went back to chat with the manager.

We flagged her down for ranch that she’d forgotten, and asked if the GF pizza was nearly done. She responded that it was, and we continued to wait. Then we asked again and she admitted that she had forgotten to place the order for the gluten free pizza. She spoke with her manager that was watching us from another booth, and the manager said that she’d comp the gluten free pizza. By the time the GF pizza arrived, everyone’s pizza was cold for those that waited or finished.

It was a disjointed dining experience, where the manager and waitress starred at us from another booth except when the waitress was cleaning. Our server was disengaged; we had to flag her down for refills, missing utensils, our order, and to pay my bill. I immediately put my card in and she turned to walk back to cleaning the booth.

We stood to leave, and the manager was laughing with the server as she cleaned booths. I asked to check out to leave, and the manager told me that we needed to return to our table to check out. When I refused, because my entire party was heading out the door, the manager seemed irritated and just walked away. The waitress then followed me to the register.

My previous visit to this location wasn’t any better. I thought I’d give them another try. I will not be making that mistake...

I took my wife and her mother there for lunch on Valentine's day. The waitress, Aricka, was fantastic. Very responsive, quick to refill drinks, and very friendly. We each ordered an individual pan pizza. It took approximately 25 minutes to get out, which is incredibly long considering the dough it pre-made and ready to cook. When it finally did arrive, mine had no sauce. At all. I pointed this out to Aricka and she immediately went back to tell the manager. When she returned, she informed us that the kitchen was running low on alfredo sauce, which is what I had asked for, and so they only put a little bit on my pizza, hoping I wouldn't notice, I guess. She said the manager was personally making me a new one. Another 20 minutes (?) later, he comes to our table with a new pizza. Everyone else had eaten and I was incredibly irritated so I just asked for a to go container. He made some lame excuse that their POS system was acting up. The last I checked, pen and paper was still an option. When I got the bill, I was charged for all three pizzas. No recognition that I wasn't even able to eat with my family. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. The only reason it got two stars was because of our waitress. The only people who should consider going to Old Chicago in Fort Collins are other restaurant managers looking for good employees, because she was one of the best we have ever had. Thanks, Old Chicago, for a terrible Valentine's Day meal.

Update 2/16 - Old Chicago responded asking me to submit a comment on their site. I did. I have received no response at all, despite the fact that I left my number for them to call. I wonder if the Loveland location is an outlier; they are well run and responsive. Fort...