Mr. D's Sports - Arlington Heights

Our server Tina was great. Pizza great, except that it took over an hour we were starving watching everyone around us get their food that came after us. Waited, waited, waited poor Tina kept checking on it. We finally had to ask for a to-go box. Beautiful view of the Arlington Racetrack is located there too. The Lemonade Vodka stand is the way to go before Mr. D's. Delish so fresh on a hot day.

Please note that this review is based on our visit the Friday night before the Breeders ' Cup. At least during our visit, Mr D 's seems to be less traditional sports bar and far more Arlington Trackside . The majority of the tables had betters with their racing forms and notes spread all over, just like during the season . Absolutely all of the TV 's had a simulcast of some sort of horse racing and there were self service and attended betting kiosks for the races being simulcast. Of course there were the usual hoots and hollers and aw shucks (or something) during and after the race. It was a bit hard to get the attention of the waitress and finally had to go to the bar to get a drink. $3 miller lite draft specials hit the spot. After a while our waitress ambled over with the menu. Apparently there are fewer choices in the off season (we noted that the wraps praised by another reviewer were not to be found on the menu of the day) even though there were electronic signs still hawking items that couldn 't be ordered. We weren 't in a particular hurry so we relaxed and watched the preliminary races from Santa Anita while enjoying our beverages. It was eerie that the entire place cleared out like a church after the sermon after the last race at Santa Anita had concluded, even though there were other races still being shown simulcast. I felt that it was very nice that Mr D 's offers free public wi-fi (must click to accept terms and conditions) and the night that we were there, the signal was very good We both ordered an Arlington burger with waffle fries- the burger was nothing particularly special, about the same as the one that we had at Harry 's in downtown Arlington Heights a few Fridays ago. The bun that it was served on was a bit softer, fresher and more flavorful than the average in my opinion. I am not sure why, but the waffle fries seemed particularly tasty, perhaps it was something about the oil that they were fried in? If they had *ONE* TV with something other than the horse races on, I 'd be tempted to give another star, but as Gus Demitriou said on the HBO original series Luck , 'It is what it is '.

I came with a friend yesterday during the Craft Fair seemed like a better alternative to the food bar and sitting in a cold/dark area. My friend ordered the Chicken Panini which turned out to be a grilled cheese with chopped chicken pieces! Fries came highly recommended however were marginal at best. I ordered the Chopped Salad it was a bowl of spring mix with about 5 cherry tomatoes cut in half and some bacon bits....for $12! (I did opt to omit the cheese pasta for health reasons. They forgot to add chicken so the waitress did remove from the bill. Other than a good waitress and booth seating...the only other postive was the water ! Won 't be back!

Here's the long and the short of it: Great spot to grab a beer before the races! Onion rings are delish! Nothin too fancy, but gets the job done. Pairs nicely with beer of course. Super ideal for larger groups! They have a ton of long tables. Huge TVs everywhere! So tune into the horse races or catch a game : Affordable! Two thumbs up for that right there. The peak of my experience...THE BEER TOWER. That's right folks, 100 ounces of any domestic beer for $18. Can't. Beat. That. Plus it's just a fun thing to indulge in when you're with your friends! Really wish I would have snapped a photo of this beer tower, especially since Mr. D's seems to be lacking pics! Next time, next time.

Trivia. Again. Found out that Mr. D's hosts trivia on the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month. Big cash prizes here too, but along with big cash prizes come big teams. We were confused about where to go when we entered because there didn't seem to be a host stand anywhere, but we found a server who told us there was a table waiting for us thanks to the manager (we called ahead). The food here is pretty good. Ashley had an italian beef which was dry, but the beef was tasty and the giardiniera was really hot (thats a good thing). I had a hamburger. Typical hamburger, smaller than most sports bars. Good fries. Cheap beer specials. I believe it was $2 for Bud Light, Miller Lite, and Coors Lights drafts. Attentive and friendly wait staff made this a fun night. Too bad we sucked it up big time at trivia.