Elephant & Castle

It was parade weekend so downtown was a buzz. Tons of people and activities happening.
We needed a place off the beaten path just a little to get an early dinner before the big event. It was about 3/3:30 ish, so early dinner late lunch time. E&C didn’t have a wait so that was great for us.
We were a party of 6, 4 adults 2 kids.
Even though it was brisk outside it was not freezing by any means, it was beyond warm inside this place. Too too warm. Maybe perfect for their staff in tshirts but too warm for patrons.
Our waiter, Ryan showed up to take our drink and food order. My friend and I were splitting a beer and we had to ask for glassses since he only brought us the bottle.
Then we never saw him again.
Our food was brought out by other staff and once that was done we were never checked on to see if we needed anything. Drink refill? More water? How’s everything taste?
Nothing.
Then we were done and needed to flag Ryan down so we could get the bill. And even then he never asked if we wanted dessert or anything else.
Now, I do not know if he’s new, needs training or just doesn’t care. So why he lacked on his service is unknown.
But we were perplexed why they included gratuity onto the bill when that is usually reserved for a party of 8 or more, not 6.
And frankly we a told my husband to leave him less than the 18% that was tacked on, he didn’t deserve it. I don’t know if he did it or not.
Nice kid for the 5 minutes he spent with us
but not worthy of an 18% tip.
The food was good. There wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary. Fish and chips, grilled cheese (my daughter did not like the seeds in the rye bread they used), burger and fries and salad and soup.
Good enough for a standard meal prior to an event.
I’d go again if we were in a pinch but there are so many other places in downtown that we’d probably go someplace else next time.
I don’t see this as a place we HAVE to stop at when we are in town.

Cockroach in my breakfast. Glad this place closed.

Tomato and bacon soup!!! Yum! Had a great dinner there last night! Service was fantastic and prompt. Most memorable night of our weekend! Alma is absolutely fantastic and a pleasure!!! Thank you!!!

E&C is very casual and welcoming. the bar is simply awesome. old school stools with no back support sit next to a large dark (mostly) J-​shaped wood bar with matching bar top & large classic rail. a brass foot rail compliments the stained glass bar overhang that includes metal glassware hanging racks. bar back mostly shelves & bottles. though a very large place, the sectioned areas make it more comfortable with a mix of booth /​table seating. the food is average to slightly above average pub food. stick with the popular items. crowd varies depending on the time of day, but don’t be surprised if there are several out of owners with shopping bags. solid place that someone sunk some money into to build.

Two words: happy hour. Their Wednesday half price wine is my favorite. I’ve also ordered their lunch blue cheese steak salad and I have dreams about it, its so good. They have huge appetizers, too, the pretzel sticks were fantastic. Price was good, too, and I’ve never had to wait. This is a good place! Although I’ve heard the patio can be loud with the L right next to it. I’ve only sat inside.

Perfect. Wonderful service & warm atmosphere. Adjacent to our hotel, we were lucky to sneak in easily on a busy Friday night in Chicago. My husband, the beer snob, loved his choices & experienced staff suggestions. I was completely happy w a dirty martini served in a Belgian ale glass. Kid friendly, too, which gives them extra points!

Beer good. Service good. Food, meh. Don’t order the fried pickles. They are long, crispy paper thin slices, and fried till dark brown, Just shy of burnt. Turkey soup was ok. Maybe their other grub is better …
Come to drink beer on tap. Too many other great places nearby to eat.

Elephant & Castle was literally next door to my hotel this weekend when I was in town for a wedding, and I came here with a group of family and friends. The wait for drinks was really long, but the waitresses were nice, and there was a good sized place cordoned off where we could socialize together.
I wasn’t blown away by my experience at Elephant & Castle, but I appreciated it for its convenient location.

Checked out this place for dinner with my team since it was close to our hotel and were seated at the back of the restaurant since we had a large group.
For my meal, I decided to go with the fish and chips, which was a pretty safe choice. The fish was decent, as were the fries. However, the tartar sauce left a little to be desired. It has a mix of horserdish in it and is more smooth than chunky so it wasn’t my favorite.
Overall, the food was good but pretty ordinary but they handled our large group well and even split everything into separate checks with no issue which was a nice surprise.

I happened to be in this area of town and had a hankering for poutine. Decided to search online and this was the closest place I could find.
I enjoyed my meal here. The poutine was priced nicely and very filling. Unlike many American places, the poutine here used real cheese curds rather than shredded cheese, so I liked that.
The fries were a little stiff, I don’t know what caused that. I had another side order of fries afterwards, and those fries were fine. I don’t know why the fries in my poutine were different.
Overall it was great. The food was good, the staff was very friendly, and there was a huge selection of drinks.
I know I’ll be back to try the other poutine varieties.

Stayed at the Allerton just down the street. Went to the E&C for a Guinness and some bangers and mash (a perfect combo BTW). Sat at the bar and the bar tender was awesome… excellent service even though she was alone and working like a maniac. Capped off my meal with a finger of Laphroaig. I can see where some complaints are justified. If you are traveling on business like me and you just want something good to eat and drink, this is a great choice.
June 2015 update: wanted a Guinness and some bangers. No surprise, this place closed. Could have been a cool place. Just poorly managed.

I stop here occasionally if I’ve had a grueling go of it at Northwestern Hospital, on the next block. Elephant serves big helpings of generally well made comfort food. I love their fat chicken pot pie in winter. Today I risked a steak, even though I’d normally save a $ 21 steak purchase for a restaurant known for steak. It was decent. Glad I ordered medium because it was rare; ordering rare might have gotten me a bloody mess. They were good about subbing in mashed for chips, and the big ben brownie afterwards was as big as a softball. Service was friendly but tapered off as the meal went on; I finally got steak sauce (it needed the flavor), halfway through my steak. Had to grab another waitress to pay my bill, so I did a rare thing, tipped Under 20%. But only by a buck.
I could’ve done without the TV blasting sports junk in the dining area, but the food hit the spot.

Decent food. Not so decent service.
We went here to eat a quick bite, it wasn’t that late on a Friday night, and the restaurant wasn’t very full.
The server was super attentive in taking our order, and then seemingly disappeared for the remainder of the meal. The place only got less crowded as our meal progressed, so do not think that she was busy. In fact, the server spent most of her time standing at the hostess stand.
As for the food, it wasn’t anything special. I got a burger and it was nothing to write home about. Definitely not worth the price. The fries were the best part of the meal, they were very crispy.
They did have a black and velvet (Guinness and Cider) which was pretty tasty. Other than that, I do not see a return visit in the future.

Restaurant update:
I had a chance to come back again with my wife for dinner and I would say that I am not a fan. First of all our waiter was not friendly at all, mind you this was days before my wife gave birth to our first kid. He did not like that we did not order alcohol. The restaurant was rather empty and somehow we were seated next to the restroom in back. I had the bangers and mash which was okay with broiled sausage, mashed potatoes, baked beans, and apple chutney. My wife had a well done burger which was okay but definitely not worth 10+ dollars. Our waiter ended up coming to the table to take our order and to give us the check. This is close to one of the worse dining experiences. 2 thumbs down.

A basic Irish pub near our hotel in Chicago. It was also St. Paddy’s Day weekend. We grabbed a quick bite and a few drinks here. It’s an irish pub so I went with the shephard’s pie. Standard dish. I was satisfied.
Folks probably come here mainly for the convenience and the vibe. It’s a great pub atmosphere. The wait staff was good about returning to tables to get drinks. many groups were obviously starting early for their weekend of festivities.

E&C! Use your Northwestern Memorial ID badge to get a discount on foods!
My fiancé and I went there not too long ago and we ordered the fish and chips and a couple of apps and had way too much food.
Try also going in the morning. You’ll run into a lot of night staff from the hospital getting an after work drink. It is one of the few places that opens early and serves liquor, especially on Sunday.
They also have a great deal of whiskey and scotches there. Really nice people who work there. Oh and a lot of tourists go there so that makes it fun too!

My husband and I always come here after dinner for some drinks… not cheap, but not super expensive. A typical Chicago price for a round of drinks.
Love the atmosphere – very much like an English Pub and the bartenders are always really cool.
One of these days we will have to order an appetizer or something :)

Elephant and Castle has been on my «to eat» list for a while and we were staying around the corner at the Allerton, so we decided to stop by for an appetizer and some drinks. I liked the décor of the restaurant. It feels like (what I imagine at least) you are in a pub in England minus the jet lag!
I was surprised by the number of families with young children here, but I guess you kind of draw that crowd when you have a children’s menu.
To eat I had the fried calamari (which was just okay) and the French Onion Soup (again just okay). It seemed like more of a bar food kind of place.
The service started out pretty good, but as they became more crowded our waitress kind of disappeared.

I recently ate dinner here while staying in Chicago for a weekend. I had the Lamb Curry and my boyfriend had the Fish and Chips. The food was excellent and our drinks were excellent. I had a snake bite and my boyfriend had a Smithwick’s, you really cannot go wrong with those. We really enjoyed our meal and drinks. The food was reasonably price, especially for being located right off of Michigan Avenue.
Our only complaint that they kept the heat extremely high. It was nice at first since we had been in the cold all day but eventually it only served to make us sleepy and our server was very un-​attentive, I could have been forgiving if the restaurant had been busy but it was only half full and there seemed to be plenty of staff.

Happy Nurse’s Week! Want to thank the nurse who kept that clueless doctor from killing you? Don’t give her dozen Sprinkles Cupcakes. Get her a giftcard to E & C. It’s where we go to de-​stress after a 12 hour shift ending at either 8pm or 8 am. That’s right. They serve alcohol in the a.m.
Thank goodness for E & C.
Service is pretty inconsistent. Sometimes it’s a chick with a bad attitude slamming down our drinks. Other times it’s a kind hostess who offers to charge my dead cell phone at her booth.
What to drink? Strongbowe & Magner’s. Hard Cider yum.
What to eat? I always order the bacon & blue cheese burger. Huge. Comes with a side of fat steak fries, a mountain of veggie toppings, and a tasty pickle. What not to order? One time I wasn’t that hungry and just wanted fries. One side order of fries cost me $ 4.50. Ouch.