Old Chicago Restaurant

I recently wrote to Old Chicago Restaurant regarding any items being vegan since my boyfriend wants to have his birthday dinner there (so I let him have his way one day a year...LOL) so I thought I would share so anyone who wants to go there knows the ins and outs! Here is what they replied:

"Our pizza crusts (Thin, Original and Chicago Style) are all vegan… no cheeses or dairy… There is a butter flavored oil in the Chicago Style that can be mistaken for butter… but it is a soy bean based item. Our sauce until recently used to have parmesan cheese… we now use a yeast based parmesan flavored product, completely dairy free… especially changed due to the large number of vegetarian and vegan requests that we get. You are certainly good to go on the crusts and the pizza sauce.

However, please be aware that the nature of our business is meat, cheese and diary… we are very busy and all of those ingredients are used throughout our kitchens… the possibility that some may end up on your special order is still a very real possibility. We take special orders very seriously but, I would be remiss if I didn’t warn you of the possibility that ‘cross-contamination’ of dairy or meat is still a real possibility.

We do not have dairy free cheeses at this time nor do we carry Garden burgers or Boca burgers… however, some of our kitchen managers will bring these in if they receive enough guest requests. Our pasta noodles are 100% semolina (no egg) and with all of our toppings and with our marinara or pizza sauce (or olive oil for that matter), I’m sure you could make up your own pasta fairly easily… Entrée salads can also be tailored to your needs."

It was written from the director of culinary research & development so at least I can believe he knows what he's talking about....hopefully lol. Hope this helps someone out!