By Morgan Pettis | Staff Writer
The Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom will be having its Waco grand opening on 11 a.m. today.
In 1976, Old Chicago opened the doors to its first restaurant in Boulder, Colo, and they have opened over 100 locations since then. The Waco location will be its105th restaurant nationwide and their seventh in Texas.
“We came to Waco because it is a great opportunity. We like the area, and it’s a great fit with Baylor,” said Dominique Romero, Old Chicago field marketing manager.
Old Chicago specializes in Chicago-style deep dish pizzas. They also host a tour which gives guests the opportunity to try 110 unique beverages from around the globe with added prizes along the way. As part of their opening, Old Chicago will also be offering the first 100 guests free pizza for a year.
The restaurant is a short drive from campus, and is located in the Central Texas Marketplace across from Cabela’s. Starting today, the restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week.
“Old Chicago is the place for friends and family to gather round and connect, to raise a glass and celebrate things in their life. We cater to everybody, and we’re serious about craft beers and good food,” Romero said.
As a way of giving back to the Waco community, Old Chicago partnered up with the Humane Society of Central Texas to help provide charitable contributions that go toward helping the homeless animals of Waco get off the streets and into loving homes. The donations will help with their renovations to expand their adoption center in order to maintain their no-kill status.
“This fiscal year has had a 90 percent live exit rate. I am glad to be living in a community that wants to support animals and the shelter.” said Don Bland, executive director.
A part of the partnership between the Humane Society and Old Chicago is the charitable contributions Old Chicago is offering throughout their opening. 100 percent of the proceeds from the pre-opening events will go to the humane society. For the first two weeks, once the restaurant opens, one dollar from every Chicago 7 pizza will go to charity. The Chicago 7 is Old Chicago’s most popular dish, it includes pepperoni, Italian sausage, red onions, black olives, green peppers and sliced mushrooms.
“The Humane Society is a great organization. Any time you can eat pizza and save an animal is great,” Romero said.
Old Chicago hopes for a successful opening day and welcomes all of Waco.
