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We are an intimate restaurant and accept reservations for parties of 1-6 guests. We kindly ask that you do not make multiple reservations for more than one group. What’s more, the Indian-influenced dishes on the menu are bizarrely disappointing. The skin on the tandoori-style roasted chicken ($25) arrives blackened to the point of tasting of soot.
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The oddball menu also lists a chopped wedge salad ($19), glazed black cod with a sweet miso glaze ($43) and matzo ball soup ($13). If Winston Churchill, who was chancellor of the exchequer in 1926, made a surprise visit from beyond the grave, he’d have a lot of questions. After taking over the bar, Tobin started sprucing the bar up and decided to extend the famous Ale House wall mural which was painted in 1971 by Maureen Munson. The mural contains the portraits of fifty or sixty old-time customers. With the help of Elliot’s talents, soon enough, every corner of the bar was covered in pictures of a present or former regular.
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Partners came and went, each one nuttier than the previous one. Eventually his ex-wife Beatrice bought all existing shares and took over the bar with Arthur. One of the most sought-after paintings at the pub is one of Sarah Palin naked, holding an assault rifle while standing on a polar bear rug with harlot red high heels on. Elliot painted the piece right after the Republican Convention in which Sarah Palin was made the Vice Presidential nominee.
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It doesn’t help that the meat rests on a bed of overly chalky dal. If the food were as irresistible as the atmosphere, we’d have a new Chicago hit on our hands. But unlike other Hogsalt operations that arrive fully formed, Armitage Alehouse’s menu feels needlessly full of misfires.
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Logs crackle from the fireplace, as diners lounge in large, cushioned chairs. If you’re in this neck of the woods, then you definitely cannot miss out on a pint at the Old Town Ale House. A night out at one of these restaurants will never be boring.
Step into any of their restaurants and you’ll notice the same dim lighting, antique decor, attentive service, and occasionally even the same dishes. Of course, the only reason you can order Indian food with a gin and tonic at a pub is because the British once occupied India. Not that Armitage Alehouse needs to address this, but it might have shown that it at least considered the charged history. Though the bone may be little more than an excuse to give people less filling, the dramatic presentation is undeniably impressive, and the bone is filled with loads of unctuous marrow, which you can spread over the pie crust. There’s no faulting how the crackly crust mixes with the ultra-savory fillings, like the oxtail and red wine pie ($25) or the more balanced steak and ale pie ($25). A phone interview was denied, as was our usual request to send a Tribune photographer, which explains the subpar iPhone photos here.
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Diaz immediately ran the bar into the ground and sold it in 1970 to a bizarre group of Rush Street eccentrics, one of whom was my friend, Art Klug. No sooner did the new owners take over the Ale House than it caught fire. Enlisting about forty brawny (and not so brawny) drinking pals they carried the old bar out of what was left of the original Ale House and into the middle of North Avenue and then through the door of what used to be Pete’s Butcher Shop.
But Armitage Alehouse is one of those exceptions that’s too stunning to deny. It’s lovelier than Au Cheval, cozier than Bavette’s, and more polished than Maude’s Liquor Bar (which sadly closed in 2020). If you’re looking for Chicago’s most transporting space, the only competition might be the Cherry Circle Room.
During Bruce’s lifetime, the Old Town neighborhood that wraps around the bar has changed dramatically. He described Old Town in the ’60s as a small Greenwich Village, filled with artists, writers, and actors. The biggest shift happened in the ’70s when the city widened the street outside the bar. Bruce said this seemingly small move altered the social fabric of the block and forced local businesses to close. In the years since, Old Town has seen massive gentrification and is now one of Chicago’s wealthiest neighborhoods.
He started coming to the bar five years ago when he was taking classes at Second City; both Bruce and Tim say the only way to get a job at the bar is to become a regular. Tobin Mitchell took over the bar in 2005 when both Art and Bea Klug died unexpectedly during the same year. Tobin cleaned the place up and also decided to extend the famous Ale House wall mural which was painted in 1971 by Maureen Munson.
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While the origin story of chicken tikka masala is hotly debated, the dish didn’t gain national consciousness in the U.K. When you step into The Old Town Ale House, the first thing you notice are the paintings that fill about every inch of every wall, made by the part-time owner and blogger Bruce Elliot. In fact, The Old Town Ale House has seen a shift in ownership over the years, before finally finding its place in Elliot’s hands. Brendan Sodikoff doesn’t create restaurants; he fashions escapes from reality. In true pub-style, The Old Town Ale House puts down daily specials on a chalkboard, which include the day’s drinks and food.
Bruce’s paintings of boxers and filmmakers are hung alongside those of drug users and nude dancers. There are depictions of colorful regulars like the late Ruben Four Toes, pictured as a child smoking a cigarette and drinking a martini. Tim Barrett, who bartends at the Old Town Ale House, is up on the back wall too.
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