We had a free night in the Chicago area and found this ridiculously AWESOME tiki bar, Kahala Koa…read moreTiki Bar. The selection of drinks is downright encyclopedic, and the drinks were outstanding. In addition, we ordered a plate of bacon-covered water chestnuts, and they were so effing delicious!! I mean, they were a serious revelation!! So we ordered another plate. The atmosphere is amazing. The family that owns this wonderful tiki bars has put some serious work into adorning the place with amazing tiki decor. And this has to have taken YEARS to do. The outside of the building does not say, "Hey!! I'm an awesome tiki bars!!" But step inside and you are transported to tiki land extraordinaire. And then there is the staff there. They are so friendly, attentive, and helpful, and just very authentic and genuine. I CANNOT WAIT to return to Kahala Koa Tiki Bar the next time I'm in the Chicago area. The place totally rocks!!

If you really know tiki drinks this is the bar for you. Authentic drinks, great bartenders and…read moreperfect atmosphere. Enjoy.

Their pizza is easily the best in town, their salads are incredibly tasty, seasonal dishes are…read morefantastic, apps are nearly a meal in and of themselves, and the pasta is expertly crafted. Waited tables is a dying art but this establishment gives me hope for the culture of elevated dining. Staff knows the menus, are courteous, and are one of the defining marks of the restaurant ambiance. The sportsball TVs can be a bit annoying at time, especially when trying to have a pleasant evening with the kiddos (there is no winning their attention vs the screens) and do more to break the "dressed down" atmosphere by inserting a bit more "sports bar" than needed. At least they keep it at the bar most nights. One of our favorite date night spots in Arlington Heights!

The evening began with the sort of optimism that has historically led men into bankruptcy, war, and…read moresecond marriages. The hostess appeared wearing a blue-and-white striped sweater hanging off one shoulder like she'd stepped out of an Italian perfume commercial. Around her neck was one of those little cornicello pepper necklaces, dangling just enough to suggest fate had finally decided to throw me a bone. Blue eyes. Not "blue." The kind of blue sailors used to abandon families over. She laughed at one of my jokes. That was all the encouragement my diseased brain required. I immediately conducted a full tactical assessment of the restaurant. The P.O.A. Index... ...was approaching DEFCON 1. Every direction I looked was another devastatingly attractive waitress carrying Aperol Spritzes with effortless confidence. It was like wandering into a government-funded supermodel relocation program. Then... A shadow fell across the table. A man. Our waiter was a man. Christ Almighty. The emotional whiplash nearly snapped my neck. It's like going to the zoo hoping to see lions and discovering the enclosure has been replaced with an accountant named Kevin. There are beautiful women everywhere, and somehow I'm discussing pasta recommendations with a guy who probably knows three different olive oils by taste. Cruel. Absolutely cruel. To his credit, the b@5tard was outstanding. Friendly. Fast. Knew the menu inside and out. Kept the drinks full. Never interrupted. The s.o.b. gave me absolutely nothing to complain about, which only deepened my resentment. The food, meanwhile, was infuriatingly good. The pizzas arrived looking like they'd been blessed by an Italian grandmother carrying unresolved anger from 1947. Thin crust. Fresh mozzarella. Just enough char to remind you that ovens are supposed to flirt with fire, not electricity. The pasta had that unmistakable handmade texture that makes Olive Garden feel like a felony. The cocktails disappeared with alarming speed. By my third Negroni, I was convinced I could hear Dean Martin narrating my life. Walking out, I glanced back toward the hostess one last time. She smiled. For approximately three seconds I considered abandoning my entire life to become a part-time sommelier with absolutely no qualifications. Then reality returned. The male waiter handed me the check. Four stars. The food was phenomenal. The cocktails were dangerous. The hostess should be classified as an Italian national treasure. And our waiter deserves a raise... despite committing the unforgivable crime of existing between me and the waitresses.

Barista Tara is a rockstar!! I visited CoCo & Blu the other day and inquired about latte art. I was…read moretold that the amazing artist who'd once made my drink had moved out of state, but that everyone else there could make hearts and flowers. Enter Tara, who said she'd try her best to make something special. She delivered an adorable bear on my drink! She said she might be able to do better, but I loved her effort and enthusiasm. My friend and I headed outside to enjoy our drinks on the patio. Several minutes later, Tara came outside carrying another latte. She had PERFECTED the latte bear and gave it to us for free! She made my entire day. Thank you to Tara for the amazing art and for going above and beyond in your customer service!! I can't wait to go back for my next coffee and hope she's working when I do.

Came here for the first time on a Saturday. Was fortunate enough to walk into town and walk in…read morehere. On a Saturday morning at not even 9 AM. Expect a line as there was a long line when we arrive. Unfortunately there's only one person at the cashier register and I think there's only one register and there's only that one person who's taking the orders. While I understand that this is a small run shop I will say that standing in line and waiting on a Saturday morning really is discouraging. The food however, a super delicious and came out very timely. So absolutely no complaints for me and they also have a water station set up so you can help yourself to water which is fantastic. After sitting around for about an hour to an hour and a half this place got super packed with families's children and strollers which made it even harder to move around. The ambience is fantastic so definitely worth it for your social media. I would come back here again, however I'm not really someone to order alcohol here at this time but for breakfast I think it's great.

Best thin crust in town! Always top quality and excellent service. There will be no left overs…read moretonight

Lola's Pizza is part of Kahala Koa Tiki Bar, and if you're going to drink a few Zombies or Navy…read moreGrogs, well, you'll need something to sop up that booze, so it's a good idea to order one of these tasty pizzas! We got the beer crust, which was a nice matrix of crisp and chewy. The pepperoni was pleasantly spicy with a dash of herbiness. They also have thin crust, extra thin crust, and pan pizzas as well. We will be back for more drinks and more pizza!

10/02/26 - I went to an event @ Gatsby's Pizza & Pub on Rand Road in Arlington Heights, IL. This…read morespecific event dealt w/people in town for Hersey High Schools reunion.. I went here specifically for this event. They had some pizza for people to munch on while having a beer. The pizza was nothing to write home about but it was a great time to catch up w/people that I haven't seen in years. The server took my card when I came in to keep a running count of my drinks. I only had 2 beers @ $5.75/beer = $11.50. When I left I gave the server $20.00 cash & told her to keep the change. Later I looked at my credit card & saw they also ran it through & I was charged another $11.50 for the 2 Beers. I called twice to try and get this charge removed. They said they would remove the $11.50 charge but as of 10/12/26 the charge is still on my card. I'm sure this was an honest mistake but I would like this charge removed.

I went to Gatsby's Pizza and Pub on a Thursday night for their trivia night. It was hosted in a…read moreside room and we could hear the host clearly. My husband and I had the southwest BBQ pizza. It was really good and came with lots of chicken, onions, and barbecue sauce. For dessert, we shared a Snickers pie. This was also very good. The bathroom is small, crowded and not very clean. Overall, Gatsby's is a nice family-owned neighborhood bar. I recommend Gatsby's Pizza and Pub.

Better than expected bar and grill in Arlington Heights. It has higher prices and higher quality…read morethan it looks. Jimmy D's District is a longtime favorite across from the old racetrack. Even though that is gone this place remains and has a modern atmosphere. The drinks are better than the food truthfully. A pretty strange location in this suburb away from anything. It's across from the former Arlington Park racetrack which is gone and has nothing on the property. This used to be a hangout before and after events there. At least they have seemed to class it up a bit. The bad thing is higher prices. It's about $15 for a specialty cocktail. The best we had of these was the Cucumber Spritz. This is made with lemonade, soda, and Stoli Cucumber vodka. As for the food it's mostly meaty. It's about $12 for the Pretzel Twist. A big one and it usually comes with cheese. The rest of the menu is meaty. For sure it's great for watching a game. It's located on Northwest Highway. This is also across from the Metra station.

Our Burger Club finally made it's way to Jimmy D's back in December of 2025. It was a Monday night,…read moreand kinda cold outside. There were seven of us and we all converged from Buffalo Grove and Vernon Hills. Jimmy D's doesn't come up on your normal burger place lists in and around the area, but we saw a post somewhere and knew we had to check this place out, especially if it ended up being across from the future home of the Chicago Bears. We'd probably end up hanging out there and wanted to make sure it was a good enough place to hang and be a part of the action, whilst not paying for said action. Anyhoo, we all pulled up to find a nice parking lot next to/behind the restaurant. It's a cool place with a couple entrances (one in the lot and the other from the street). It's a nicely adorned building and has the requisite sports decor on the inside with plenty of televisions to watch many games at once. There was plenty of seating for our group as it was quite empty on a Monday night and there wasn't any game of note when we were there. We called ahead letting them know our numbers and they accommodated us with a reserved table. They were attentive and constantly refilled out waters and sodas and brought more beer when needed/requested. The service was friendly and attentive. We were there for the burgers of which there are four options: the House burger, the Fried Egg Burger, the Mac Daddy, and a Black Bean burger. However, stipulations for being in our club is that you can only order a red meat-based burger. We did order the buffalo sauced wings as an appetizer to share. They were sauced nicely, not too hot, and quite good. I would definitely recommend getting them if you visit. I also ordered the cream of chicken soup. It was a perfect option for the cold night and I rank it among one of the better cream of chicken soup options in the suburbs. While not a sommelier of cream of chicken soup, I do rank it quite well: I think it matches Jameson's Char House for quality, thickness, and flavor. Mama clearly knows what she's doing with her soup. I opted for the Mac Daddy burger. It's prepared with: black angus beef, boom boom sauce, house mac n' cheese, bacon, fried onions, sliced jalapeños, toasted brioche. I normally don't opt for the special/signature house sauces as I've been burned before by these so-called "recommended" house sauces (I'm looking at you, Lucky Burger, with your terrible "dijonnaise" sauce - ugh, don't get me started on THAT sauce). However, I was told it's a hot sauce for the burger and figured it wouldn't overpower everything else on the burger. The mac n' cheese was a tad creamy, but so what, the bacon, fried onions, jalapenos, and boom boom sauce cut into the creaminess a bit and it worked. And it didn't overpower the flavor of the burger, which I thought it would, but somehow didn't. I really liked this burger, the bun held up, the bacon stayed crispy, and jalapenos and sauce added a nice kick but not overwhelmingly so. I would get this again. The sandwiches come with housemade fries or tots, but I know that if tots are offered, you can (generally) never go wrong with tots (I'd point out Puck's Pub but they closed and did the world a favor in doing so). Everyone generally liked their burgers and would return again. In our 5 point scale, Jimmy D's District got a 4.25. They have a nice brunch menu and drinks to match and I want to try them out someday. Let me know if you're going and I'll meet ya there if available.

The atmosphere at this piano bar was great! The musician was amazing and really got the crowd into…read moreit. The martinis were delicious! Will go back again.

I attended a private party at Big Shot Piano Lounge in Arlington Heights. It is downstairs,…read moregrandmas's basement type stairs. Not sure of there is ADA access. The ceilings are low and there are multiple support columns which made for tight spaces. I think maybe when it's not a private party there may be less tables and hopefully less congestion. It was impossible to talk or have a conversation, it's all about the piano, which the piano players and singers were good and knew a wide variety of music. Very very loud. The bar was nice, aesthetically pleasing and suited for the basement vibe. I was bummed at the lack of mocktail options, next time I'll come prepared with my own concoction idea. Food was okay. They did a great job of serving the buffet, but it was in a corner and it was again awkward to access with the columns and tables.

Went here to catch my brother-n-laws band Yellow Pills. Band killed it! Had to grab drinks from…read morethe bar up front which was no big deal. Bartenders were friendly. Hope there new concept takes off.

Came tonight for dinner and some music. Such a disappointing experience. From the moment we…read morewalked in, the customer service was bad-the woman that seated us just kind of pointed in the direction of the tent on the table with a upc code on it and said vaguely "use this to order. If you need help, flag someone down, maybe we can figure it out." What? We figured out how to order and start a tab. Every time someone came to drop something at our table, they were clearly confused about who got what and what was what. Never even talked to us or greeted us except to mumble what the item was they were delivering. Off putting. And the new menu is awful. Easily the worst food we've had in a while. They used to have such a great menu-used to love coming for cocktails and apps and listen to some music. Drinks are still solid, but menu is tiny, with food that just didn't taste good. Music wasn't great either, and way too loud. We wanted to listen to music, but we also wanted to chat over dinner and that was practically impossible. We gave up and went somewhere else for dessert. Hopefully they figure out their concept quickly and work all the kinks out. We'll be finding somewhere else for live music unfortunately.

This was one of my favorite lunch spots when my house was being remodeled. The shrimp tacos are…read morehands down my favorite and I get them nearly every time I go. Usually, I just plopped down at the bar and would chat it up with the bartenders who were always friendly if not too busy. Pricing is great and I always enjoyed the food and drinks.

Makes sense why this place has not so good reviews. I want to like it, but everything seemed off…read more Originally the host was going to sit us in the walking aisle table when there were so many open tables. Then our server kept disappearing and I would see her texting. The food was alright but it gave me a major stomach ache for days. Probably go anywhere else lol.

Had three enchiladas verdes with beef. The sauce was nice and light but had just the right amount…read moreof heat. I loved the trio of salsas with the chips. I found the variety unique and delicious. I was impressed by the variety of margarita offerings. My selection was delicious! Finally, the service was very attentive. Highly recommend especially in the summer as they have a nice patio!

Excellent service, excellent food, and the restaurant is beautiful. I didn't know there was a…read moreparking garage near the restaurant and walked several blocks to get there. I don't know if the parking garage is free but I found a 2 hour free spot so took it.