Easy Street Pizza & Beer Garden — Restaurant in Jefferson Township

My experience with dining at Easy Street for the first tine was pleasant, but also rather interesting. I had previously ordered pizza through delivery and although my order was late, I really couldn’t complain on the pizza. I had ordered a large pizza with basil. It met my every wish, (thin, great sauce, right consistently of both sauce and cheese). So when it comes to pizza, I know I’m always going to be in for a treat.

On Father’s Day, I decided to dine in and try other items from the menu. I arrived early evening expecting it to be packed, as it was indeed Father’s Day. I walk in and sit on the bar, I immediately knew I wanted a sandwich. I ordered the BBQ crispy chicken sandwich with a side of fries and Mac N Cheese.

Now here’s where it gets interesting. After my order, the waitress/server at the bar insisted she had my debit card. I had told her adamantly that I wanted to pay for cash. She simply said that’s fine, and walked away. I ended up sitting there confused and expecting her to give me back my card.

After waiting for five minutes watching her move around and eat on the job, I finally reminded her I still didn’t get my card. She then told me that she needed to hold my card so she could “remember my name”. Absolutely flabbergasted! That was totally a first for me, I’ve never experienced that at any other restaurant before. I simply said ok, and went about waiting for my order. I couldn’t help but wonder why she needed to hold my card. Many thoughts wandered my mind. If she wanted to “remember my name”, couldn’t she have simply asked me for my name to begin with? Maybe take my ID at the very least, but perhaps that wouldn’t be necessary either. Another thought was that she simply took my card because she saw a young black male who’s intention was to “dine and ditch” and therefore felt the need to take his debit card hostage. I hope that wasn’t the case.

On to my order! I was served by a polite gentleman whom I believe to be was a manager of some sort. I decided to settle eating out on the patio as the flies on the bar were beginning to be a problem. As packed as Easy Street was, I knew I was going to have to be patient for my order, which was completely understandable and not a problem. The ambiance outdoors was like no other. I enjoyed it all (including the TVs) I don’t think I’ve ever watched television outside, haha! I finally got my order and boy was it worth it. The Mac N Cheese was so good, I had to save some for my brother just so he could taste how good they were. It was really amazing. My sandwich was certainly appetizing. Although if I could suggest, it would have been much better if the white meat chicken was seasoned with salt and pepper before the breading. The BBQ sauce really picked up after it. Fries were nice and crispy. All in all, everything was nice and tasty.

I finally felt like I could walk out on a good note, that was until I found out they had taken payment from my debit card. I thought I had made it clear to the bar server that I was paying cash from the get-go, but she proved me wrong. It was a little disappointing, I hadn’t anticipated on using my card. I know it sounds minor, but I pay cash for things like shopping and dining out.

Overall, my tastebuds enjoyed the experience and my male server rectified any misunderstanding. Would I come back? Absolutely. You just can’t fight the temptation sometimes. This is one of my favorite local spots in Chicago alongside Tom and Jerry’s and Mother Clucker’s. It’s easily one of the best pizza spots in the area (definitely outdoes Cochiaro’s, that’s for sure)

I recommend this place to anyone looking for a place dine in, whether that be with a family or just a few friends. The atmosphere is totally welcoming.

(Oh and PS: My brother loved that...

I am writing this review due to our negative experience on March 20th. Before this we visited Easy Street about 3 weeks prior and were told by the hostess? Or the manager? that there would be a Friends Themed trivia night on March 20th. That’s all that she said and of course we were excited about it. Not once did she say we had to make “reservations”, mind you we were reminded about 3 times throughout that evening that there would be a Friends themed trivia night. Well, the day finally came, we show up and it is packed. That same hostess/manager asked us if we had a reservation? I Didn’t even know Easy Street had a reservation system. Had this been mentioned we would’ve made the reservation 3 weeks ago when we were there. Not to mention that we had friends with us who live out further up North and they came all the way here for this themed trivia night. In the future, please be clear with your customers about how/when to make “reservations” for these type of events, needless to say that she turned us away and didn’t...

Food was great would give it a higher rating but one of the guys there was very rude. I was outside waiting for my friend. He came up to me asked me why I was standing there told him I was waiting for my friend and he told me I could only sit outside not inside I told him it was fine. As I was there waiting he let multiple people go and sit inside. When my friend got there we told him we were ready to sit and he said first he had to check my ID before he could seat us even though families were going inside with kids and teens and my friend who recommended the place said that they’ve never asked for her ID before being seated. When we were eating the same guy kept smoking right by us. My friend and I had to keep swiping away the smoke. He didn’t just go once or twice he went multiple times and saw us swiping the smoke and didn’t care. I dont know if he’s just a host, security, an owner I just know he made me not want to go back and not...