Great Chicago Fire Brewery & Tap Room

Great food

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Pizza, 12 Cheese Pizza

In my hometown of Mankato, MN there is a pizza place calleld Pagliai's Pizza. It's known for thick cut toppings, plenty of zesty sauce and a LOT of cheese. We have been craving pizza like that, having lived here for over 5 years, and we were referred to Great Chicago Fire Brewery & Tap Room.

Tonight being Pi Day, we decided to try it. From an atmosphere standpoint, it's sort of a typical dive-bar vibe, with dollar bills and Illinois license plates on the walls, corrugated steel, and plenty of Chicago memorabilia. We sat inside, but there is plenty of out-door seating available as well.

The frienly staff has a down-home bar sort of approach, and it helped make the visit a pleasant one. They made us feel like regulars, even though this was our first visit. Super nice, super helpful, and super welcoming, in a very relaxed sort of way.

Let's talk about the pizza. While it is not exactly like Pagliai's, this may well be the best pizza I have had since moving South. We ordered pepperoni & sausage, and they advertise a Chicago-style thin-crust. The crust was crisp and thin, but still has substance. The sauce bends nicely into the pie. The meats were hearty portions, with chunky sausage and large slices of pepperoni. But the cheese - oh the cheese - so much cheese! When I pulled the slices away, the cheese was stringing from the slice to the pie! SO good! Best of all, the price was really reasonable!

As you can tell, there is no doubt we will get pizza from Great Chicago Fire again - probably soon! if you're a fan of cheesy thin-crust pizza, definitely stop by!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Nice place. We didn't eat. We went for the brewery, but we were pleasantly surprised about the menu. We will be back to try the food. The beer was good, as well. When was the last time you had an Old Style? It has been a long time, but I enjoyed it.

Atmosphere: 5

Service: 5

Came in last min not realizing they were closing. They were so welcoming and went out of their way to serve us. Not only great food but fantastic service as well.

Thank you we will definitely be back…. Way before closing!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Heather is always the reason I come by. My go to bartender. 🥰

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Walked in 19:05 place closes at 20:00 we were told repeatedly as the bar server complained that she had worked a 13 hour shift. She was rude from the get go and we should have left. We were told we had 20 minutes left to order food. Complained throughout our entire stay which was only 25 minutes long. Won’t be going back.

Service: 1

pizza was absolutely perfect as usual but $4.oo for a domestic beer during happy hour shocked me. that alone has taken this place off from my list of places to go.

The place was nice.
They were packed for the nights dj bingo. But only 1 person working. So service was not great at all. I don't know if the lady was stressed and so it affected her service. But she was not friendly at all.

Moreover, my boyfriend ordered a meatball sub, that was served on a hot dog bun. It had no flavors of anything Chicago. He was born and brought up in Chicago and was so excited when we saw the place. We left it really disappointed and a place we would not go back to.

I had ordered a gyro. It was decent enough.

Had lunch here with my sister last week. We both ordered a Chicago dog and an Italian beef sandwich. The food was very good however, the bun used for the Italian beef wasn’t as good as you get in Chicago. If you can find the right buns, everything would be spot on. I will definitely dine here again.

Brewery is very quaint and local. Finding parking was easy. We had a Groupon flight deal, a couple of the beers we had tasted flat. Bathrooms really clean which I loved. Overall we had a great experience.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 5

11/30/2024 - Heather (server)
This was our first time visiting. It was our son's birthday and he likes Chicago style pizza. The pizza was good, but we were surprised as this was not the Chicago style pizza we were expecting. A little disappointment there. I liked the thin crust, my family not so much. They do not have a soda fountain machine. They carry RC cola and 7-Up to name a couple. No Coke or Pepsi. The sweet tea was perfect and not to southern sweet. Heather, our server was quick to acknowledge us and remained attentive. ***It was a good experience. I am glad we visited and supported a local business.***

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Pizza

Always great food, brews, and service!

If you are from Chicagoland you will like the "region style pizza". Kind of like the Home Run Inn that is available at the grocery store. Although, A little thinner crust.
The bartender was friendly and she is known by all of the locals. The bar feels familiar because it resembles a typical Chicagoland neighborhood corner bar.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: The Original Chicago Style Hot Dog, Authentic Greek Gyro, Authentic Greek Chicken Gyro, Pizza, 12 Cheese Pizza

I have to say this is the best pizza I have had since I moved to Florida! I used to drive from Northern Indiana to Chicago to get a decent pizza.Finally I can enjoy again.I highly recommend this place!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Pizza

Drove almost 50miles to check this place out. Came on a Monday, it was packed so we sat outside. Waitress didn't come to greet for about 20min. We decided to sit in the back. She took our order, said she will be back to turn on the lights. She turned on the lights AFTER we ate and she cleared the table. Service was bad since the moment I got there and we decided to stay because I was looking forward to the "Chicago style Pizza"
I was Born and raised in Chicago, the pizza taste like Waveland Bowl Pizza( In Chicago) NOTHING at all like our Chicago pizza!!! Not even close to Rosatis pizza. Prices were a little high for not even having a side of fries, chips could've been included (I think) I was so disappointed at everything overall? Maybe we came on the wrong day but unfortunately I will not be coming back. The Food nor the service isn't worth it. I wish it was but it's just Not, at all. The people that was coming outside to smoke greeted us and was more friendly than the waitress so it wasn't all bad.