Ditka’s

Who could resist having some beers and a burger at Ditka’s when in Chicago? Not me. Food was average and the beer was cold. Sports memorabilia was pretty cool. Service at lunch was great however. The location was odd but easy to find. It’s co-​located with an off track betting facility. Oh, well. Take what space you can get, right?

I wish I could give three and a half stars. I’d describe this place as «fine». My family came here for Father’s Day brunch, and were seated in a few minutes with our reservation. They had a special menu for the holiday, so I’m not sure what was on the normal menu. We ordered a mix of breakfast and lunch options. My brother got the chicken and waffles, which was a HUGE portion for the price. I got the fish tacos and they were pretty good. Portions were also reasonably sized so that everyone at the table was able to finish their meal. My dad had really good things to say about the breakfast, and both my parents were raving about how delicious the crab and sherry bisque was. They are pretty eager to try this place with the daily menu.

Marco… Great manager! Took very good care of us! Yummy food as well! Good burgers and nice outside area! Very good manager on site, made sure that our lunch was perfect. Will be back, overall good experience !

Went for b-​day on the 27^th @2:00 pm then to track.
Well my pork chop was over cooked and over seasoned dry, mashed sweet potatoes cold toppings for chop ok. My wife had burger and frozen fries burger raw told busser to get waiter and waited forever at this point it was close to post time. My wife mention that it was my b-​day and nothing except a check that was $ 50.00.Don’t know if this was because of after lunch but could of went anywhere for that price. Disappointed and will not be back.

Sibs and I took Mom out for pre-Mom’s day lunch. Had a reservation, but it wasn’t really needed at 2:00! Mom had the fillet sliders at our server Coco’s recommendation — she said they were outstanding. The rest of us had the steakhouse burger-​and all agreed they were terrific and done to perfection as ordered. Served with a generous portion of meaty fries as well. Great service from our server Coco throughout the entire time — no rushing us, but very attentive and pleasant. He even brought a delicious flourless chocolate cake for the table as someone mentioned my birthday!

If you are looking for a restaurant that has very good food and great value, Ditka’s is for you. I enjoy coming here for lunch with my friends because the tables are well spread, and you can hear conversations very well. The menu for lunch is excellent, including the famous Ditka’s pork chop. However, I really like Mike’s Grilled Chicken Salad. The chicken is tender, juicy, and flavorful, and the salad itself is plentiful and fresh. I have also been here for a cocktail party in the banquet room, and the spacing is marvelous — great for a large function.

Great Service and most amazing calamari… never frozen. Good iced tea as well…
The ambiance is not my personal. fave, reminds me of one of those stuffy cigar bars, kinda where the old white guys hang after golfing… club deal… like the inside of Capital Grille… which originated in DC (politician hangout)… so that makes sense… time to remodel maybe… REVO in Congress…
Yeah #FeelTheBern #BernieSanders2016 #BernBabyBern #NoTo$Shillary #TaxTheDonald =)
Will have to try a dinner there sometime for the food maybe, buts it’s not remotely cute or sexy or fun… vibe is like visiting Grandpa… waiter was cute though… so there IS that… ;-)

My husband and I treated ourselves to a dinner at Ditka’s at the Arlington Race Track. The meal (Da Chop single and Da Chop double) were cooked to absolute perfection. Hot, perfectly spiced and juicy. I paid extra for the baked potato and because it was my husbands birthday, our server, Melanie, brought the most intense chocolate desert I’ve ever eaten. So, the food was fantastic but even more fantastic was our server. Melanie was onslaughted with five tables at once but you’d never know it. She was incredibly attentive, smiling, joking with us, and knowledgeable about the cut of meat and how it should be cooked. I loved the chop but I definitely will ask for Melanie when I go again. She said she only works on Satuday night so if you go, go on Saturday and ask for her station. You will not be disappointed.

Went here on a Friday night and shocked on how slow it was. I expected a huge crowd and long wait (even though we had reservations) but it was at like 20% capacity. We sat down right away and ordered our drinks. Our server and service was fast and the food was delicious. We had the pot belly nachos and some burgers. I always wanted to try this place out and was not disappointed. I will def be coming back here again.

Ahh… First impressions… Ditka management consider themselves more important than patrons I mean paying customers… why this conclusion… the number of premium parking spots allocated to themselves. Most paying customers park in the lot away from the restaurant. There are a few more reviews on Unilocal on parking at Ditkas.
Hmmm wonder what my dining experience is to be?
The dining experience was Da Bomb… Very good service, excellent food!!!
The baby back ribs were delicious (heck don’t care what made it that good) coupled with the coleslaw with a hint of horseradish that was excellent. Loved the fries. The fridge burger was probably the best burger my wife has ever had. The southern fried chicken was up their too. The house salads were very tasty and the kale caesar exceptional. Wow the mango sorbet with frozen mango pulp in the center was fantastic. The chocolate ice cream was smooth and delectable.
But alas… the self indulging designated premium management parking spaces is a disappointment impacting the whole experience. It could have been a 4 star. A Pity… Pity indeed!

Pricey but goid quality. They pay attention to making sure the customer is pleased. Excellent place in the N.W. burbs.

Celebrated the most beautiful bridal shower at Ditka’s today :) the staff was above and beyond friendly and accommodating. We had a beautiful private room lined with windows and a private staff to take care of us the entire time. Drinks, appetizers, and meal were delicious. I would highly recommend this restaurant for any occasion!

Valentine’s Day 2016, went with the family great food and great service. My little guys got so much attention from that staff he did not want to leave

The restaurant: went on a Saturday for brunch. Food was good, but cornflake french toast is literally one piece of toast with four berries… But it was tasty. Ambiance is great for any Bears fan. Looks like a great place to host a party of any size.
Service: very friendly, saw some bad reviews about slow service but luckily it was quiet so they were pretty attentive. Very sweet waitress dumped a whole mimosa on an under aged guest’s jacket. She was apologetic, but I was surprised they gave no attempt to compensate– maybe one mimosa free? She couldn’t wear her jacket out it was sopping wet.
Parking: upon arrival we were told by the man parked next to us that we were parked in two spots, even though the yellow line of his spot was smack down the center of his car. When we tried to point that out to him he told us he wasn’t even in a parking spot, but yet as we were leaving his car was still there, NOT in a parking spot. Same with three other fancy pants cars. Yellow lines apparently mean nothing there as all were parked illegally. Is this regular practice? Go ahead and park wherever you want, apparently they don’t care.
Overall I would probably go back, but I might try a different location first.

Pros: Great Chicago atmosphere
Tasty cocktails
Pretty good food
Free b-​day dessert
Cons: Hostess, snooty young girl who, when asked if there was a coat said for us to «Sit on our coats“Wha?
Our waiter changed half way though our meal. Weird, but whatev
It took over 40 min for our food to come out with no updates from our waiter
I expect a higher caliber of service from a place like this. While both our servers were nice the whole place just seemed unorganized. It was a Sunday night at 7 and about 20% full, get your stuff together! Da Coach would not be happy :(

Excellent Mother’s Day Brunch. $ 45 buffet w huge cocktail shrimp and Alaskan king crab. That’s all I needed personally and really makes the cost worth it. Really nice dining room and setup in general. It’s in the old OTB spot near Arlington Park. Definitely take the Euclid entrance.

You have to dress nicely to come here! Do not come in gym shorts or slippers or something like you’re going to McDonalds or something, this place is fancy… You come in, you are greeted right away and someone walks to your table. Then you are immediately greeted by a waiter.
The food is expensive, but not tooooo expensive. Expect to pay about $ 16-​$ 20 for an appetizer + meal without any drinks. But the portions were small, and that’s what usually happens at places like these. One thing to note was, our food took about 40 minutes to get to our table. I’m assuming they did that on purpose so we can sit and talk with each other. We all got their breakfast options, and it was good but not amazing. I’m sure their dinner options are very good, this place seems popular.
The atmosphere was amazing, very fancy and they had Ditka’s jersey’s and posters everywhere. Parking was super easy, they have a huge lot. Restrooms are super clean. It’s a perfect place to have a group gathering, just warn your friends to bring more then $ 10.

You’d think that with this place being in walking distance of Arlington International that they’re friendlier to walk-​ins, than say the Oakbrook or Chicago location. Not so. After a nice afternoon at the track, my mother-​in-​law decided to treat us to Ditka’s to celebrate my husband’s birthday. It was 3:45 on a Sunday afternoon when we walked in. The place was pretty dead and there were only a few parties seated. The hostess was either having a bad day or really didn’t want us there because she snarled at us when we said we didn’t have reservations. She told us to come back after 6:30 PM. I get it, they had a bunch of reservations for graduations, but there was no one there at all. She could have been nicer – after all, it’s not what you say but how you say it and at least tell us we’d have the table for 45 minutes or whenever the reservations were scheduled to arrive. She ended up seating us in the bar at two high-​top tables and told us to move them together. It was funny because the tables didn’t move. They were bolted into the wall. Maybe she was new? Either way, it wasn’t a fantastic birthday experience since we had to split our party into two different tables.
The food was great though. 3 of us had the fish tacos, 2 had the cheesesteak, and my sister-​in-​law had the club sandwich. Everyone really enjoyed their food. The fish tacos were mahi mahi which is a perfect fish for tacos. I love the slaw and sauce that they put on top.
Our server was fantastic and made up for a crabby hostess. He went above and beyond to make sure all of our questions were answered and he even brought out a fudge cake for Michael’s birthday.
If you get a chance to go to any Ditka’s location, you should try it, but I recommend reservations for a perfect experience.

Spacious dining room, awesome food, friendly service, and reasonable prices. This is why Ditka’s has become one of my favorite places to go for lunch in Arlington Heights. It never seems too busy but once more people discover this restaurant, I’m sure that will change. Here’s some of my thoughts about the food:
Cornbread: Has a nice strong corn flavor to it with a good amount of nice chewy corn. Not too sweet, fluffy texture, and aromatic.
Fresh calamari: Excellent preparation. Every piece is fried very nicely to a crisp and the calamari has the perfect almost «al dente» texture to it. Both the cocktail and tartar sauces had just the right strength of flavor to complement the calamari.
Pork chop: Nice thick piece of berkshire pork chop, seasoned lightly and cooked to perfection (the juices were very well retained). The meat itself is very flavorful and tender even without the delicious apple chutney and cherry jus. The mashed sweet potatoes had a very pleasant finely mashed texture and the flavor of the root was unmistakenable (delicious).
Fried lake perch: No unpleasant fishy smell here, just excellently fried perch with delicious cottage fries (pan fried to a crisp and seasoned).
Seafood diavolo pasta: Generous portions of seafood with pasta that was cooked to just al dente. The sauce is delicious and can be prepared to be non-​spicy (and still delicious)
Cuban pork sliders: Taste like a cubano, but on a bun. The flavor could be stronger but this preparation is a classier take on a classic.
Ice cream pie: Fantastically delicious dessert. Vanilla, Chocolate, and Toffee ice creams with a crust made of M&Ms, nuts, and toffee and a pie base of Oreo cookie. Much better than any candy ice cream you will find in the store.

I had a $ 10 off a $ 20 purchase, so even though I don’t have interest in horse racing, I decided to stop by for lunch. I sat alone at the dark rectangular bar. There were a few older couples as well as groups of guys sitting at the surrounding tables. I drank iced tea and water and Ana, the bartender did a great job at keeping both glasses filled.
I started with the habanero chicken wings. Being that habaneros are really hot, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I got a plate of eight wings that looked like they had been seasoned with a dry rub. The came served with a grilled lemon half (very unique touch) and a bowl of avocado flavored ranch with some chopped tomatoes on top. The wings were moist and thoroughly cooked. They had a nice touch of heat, but certainly not enough to set my mouth on fire. I went to town on the avocado ranch sauce; the coolness countered the heat very well.
I then got a turkey burger. It came on a whole wheat bun with lettuce, tomato, and grilled red onion, which I especially liked. It also had a thick layer of well-​melted Monterey Jack cheese, which was a nice change from the usual Swiss or American cheese. The turkey was quite juicy and the burger was so thick I actually cut in half just to handle all the juice. I got a side of sweet potato fries while they were cooked well to a crispy finish, the portion size was quite small. I would have liked a pickle spear; that’s probably my one disappointment from that plate.
I would have tried the banana cream pie if I still had room for dessert, but I was pretty stuffed. Between the wings, burger, and drink, my total came to around $ 26, which isn’t too bad. For drinks, they had a pretty moderate wine list and a lot of local craft beers. They even have Revolution on tap, so kudos for that. Good prices, good quality food that is presented well, and friendly service. So even if you’re not into the horse racing, Ditka’s is still a fine place to stop for a meal or a drink.