Old Chicago (Coralville)

January 22, 2008
This place is worth going to during happy hour. They do have 110 different beers but they rarely change their beer menu and there is nothing spectacular or rare and the prices for some of the beers are a little odd seeing that you could drive a couple miles to John’s Grocery and get the same beer for a couple dollars less. The food is not too bad but again nothing special. Happy hour is nice because appetizers are half off (which makes them worth the price).

October 28, 2007
This is a typical chain restaurant and pub with the typical food. The buffalo wings are on the pathetically small side. The beer selection isn’t bad and the prices are marked up like any chains store. The real plus to Old Chicago Coralville is the Football on Sunday. They have two Hi Def TVs behind the bar and 5 others in the bar area. Dress in your team jersey, get some friends together, get there early, plant yourselves in front of one of the TVs and when your game comes on the manager will put it on the TV you claimed.

August 7, 2005 [ Updated May 30, 2007 ]
Overall they have a pretty weak selection of draft beers, even for an Old Chicago. I can buy the bottled stuff at John’s Grocery for a quarter the price...why buy it here? The only bright spot is the occasional seasonal or two (known as their "rotators") from craft breweries in the region. I wish they had a few more and that they changed a bit more often. Food is typical of a chain, not bad, but nothing to write home about. Go to The Sanctuary in Iowa City if you’re looking for a slightly better selection.

July 6, 2005
Another chain!? Oh, well, guess that shows how pathetic the beer scene in Iowa City sometimes seems. Yeah, they’ve got 100 beers or so, but not much of it is very interesting except for the occasional local brewpub selection. Still, I’d prefer this to a macro-swill place like the Vine. But the best place is Old Capitol.

January 24, 2005
Typical for the chain. They do tend to carry one of the local Iowa brewpub beers.