We’ve been to Holt’s in Park Ridge more times than I can count, but almost every one of those visits ends the same way: pizza or a burger, table cleared, everybody happy. Last weekend we finally broke the streak. It was one of those late-summer evenings you know you’re not going to get many more of, so we grabbed a shady spot on the patio and decided to order like we’d never been there before.
Holt’s Park Ridge at a Glance
- Where: 43 S Prospect Ave, Park Ridge, IL 60068, in Uptown Park Ridge, a block from the Pickwick Theatre
- Price: $$ (apps $6-$21, tacos $16.95-$17.95, cocktails $11-$15)
- Vibe: Casual inside, lively sidewalk patio, floor-to-ceiling windows that open all the way up on nice days
- Order: Cheese Curds, Cheddar Fries, Birria Tacos, Elote Tacos
- Skip: The consomme on the side of the birria, it’s fine but the tacos don’t need it
- Good for: Families, patio season, and finally ordering something other than the pizza
Uptown Park Ridge, and a Patio Worth Fighting For
If you’ve never been, Holt’s sits right on the corner in what Park Ridge calls Uptown, not downtown, a distinction I only recently learned myself. It’s a block down from the Pickwick Theatre, the Art Deco movie palace that’s been anchoring this stretch of Prospect Avenue since 1928, which makes Holt’s a natural stop before or after a show. The inside looks nicer than you’d expect for a place this casual, but don’t worry, jeans are still fine. There are a few long communal-style tables right inside the front windows, and when the weather cooperates those windows lift all the way open, so even the “indoor” seats practically count as patio seats.
We got there on a nice night looking for outdoor seating and landed in a shady corner of the sidewalk patio, which is exactly the move if you can time it. This used to be a multiple-times-a-summer spot for us, and after sitting out there again I’m not sure why we ever let that streak lapse.
Cheese Curds and Cheddar Fries: The Real MVPs
We started with the Cheese Curds ($12.95), Wisconsin cheddar in a beer batter with a side of marinara that tastes house made, and it should, they’re already rolling pizza dough in the back. The batter has a real crunch to it, not the flat, greasy kind, and the marinara actually gets used instead of sitting there as a formality.
Then the Cheddar Fries ($10.95), hand-cut, perfectly salted, buried in what I’m confident is Merkts cheddar cheese. We destroyed both apps completely, all four of us, which is a problem because it meant nobody was very hungry when the entrees showed up. Worth it anyway. These two are up there with the cheese curds we loved at City Works in Schaumburg, and that’s not a comparison I make lightly. Order this. Both of them. Funny enough, my kids still won’t touch melted Merkts on fries, they’ll only eat it cold and spread on crackers straight from the fridge, so their loss was more fries for me and my wife.
A Blackberry Agave Seltzer to Start
I opened with the Untitled Art Florida Seltzer, Blackberry Agave, a 5% ABV canned seltzer from the Wisconsin brewery Untitled Art that I’d already had once before at Una Annee. It’s a good one if you’re into hard seltzers, light, a little tart, not syrupy sweet like some of the mainstream brands. If you like exploring canned drinks the way I do, we’ve also gone deep on Loverboy’s sparkling hard tea, worth a look if seltzer isn’t quite your thing. And can we talk about the cocktail prices for a second? $12 to $14 a drink when plenty of places around here are charging $20-plus for something with half the effort in it. Ridiculous, in the best way.
Kids’ Mac ‘N Cheese and Noodles
The kids went with noodles off the $9.95 kids menu, one with red sauce, one with the Mac ‘N Cheese, cavatappi tossed in gouda, white cheddar, and Monterey Jack with toasted panko on top. This is not Kraft. It’s not even yellow, it’s white, with a sharper flavor than the fake stuff most kids are used to. My son said he was full from the apps, but I think the real story is that white, grown-up mac and cheese isn’t what a seven-year-old is expecting. I finished his leftovers for lunch the next day and would order it again in a heartbeat. Kids might not love it. Parents absolutely will.
Elote Tacos
My wife went with the Elote Tacos ($16.95), Holt’s take on Mexican street corn stuffed into taco form, roasted corn, cotija, lime crema, and chili powder doing the same job they do on the restaurant’s elote pizza, just reworked for a tortilla. She said they were delicious, and her only regret was not ordering the elote itself on the side, only because she assumed the corn wouldn’t reheat well as leftovers. She was taking two of the three tacos home anyway since we were all stuffed from the apps. Turns out she didn’t need to worry, they reheated fine a few days later and she stands by the recommendation. Order this.
Birria Tacos, the Star of the Night
I finally strayed from my usual pizza or burger order and went with the Birria Tacos ($17.95), beef birria and chihuahua cheese packed into a deep-fried white corn tortilla, served with a side of consomme loaded with diced onion and cilantro. I didn’t realize the onion and cilantro were confined to the consomme until they showed up, which worked out perfectly since I don’t do great with onions and cilantro isn’t my favorite either. I still ate them the way the menu intended, and it was the right call.
The crunch on that fried tortilla against the gooey cheese and beef is the kind of bite that makes you understand why birria took over every taco menu in Chicagoland the last few years. I dipped a few bites in the consomme, but honestly it didn’t add much, so I skipped it entirely on the reheated leftovers a couple days later, and if anything the beef tasted even better after a day in the fridge. The pizza and burgers here are still excellent, we’ve written about them before, but the birria tacos might have just taken over as my go-to order.
The Verdict
Holt’s remains one of the best neighborhood restaurants in Park Ridge, and this visit proved there’s a lot more to the menu than the pizza and burgers that usually get all the attention. The apps are still the best one-two punch on the menu, the tacos are worth building a trip around, the drinks are reasonably priced, and the service was excellent, as it always is when we go. If you’ve only ever ordered the usual here, branch out. If you haven’t been in a while, this is your reminder to go sit on that patio while the weather still allows it.
AntiFoodie Rating: 9/10
Holt’s Park Ridge FAQ
Is Holt’s in Park Ridge kid friendly?
Yes. There’s a full kids menu at $9.95 a plate, including pasta, mac and cheese, grilled cheese, pizza, sliders, and tenders, and nobody blinks at a table with kids on the patio or inside.
Does Holt’s have outdoor seating?
Yes, a sidewalk patio out front plus a row of tables just inside the windows, which open all the way up on nice days so it feels like an extension of the patio.
Do you need a reservation at Holt’s?
You can book ahead through Resy, and it’s worth doing on a nice evening if you want a patio table, but we’ve also walked in and been fine on quieter nights.
What’s the best thing to order at Holt’s?
Start with the Cheese Curds and Cheddar Fries no matter what. For entrees, the Birria Tacos are the new move, though the pizza and burgers that made Holt’s famous are still worth ordering too.
Is Holt’s Park Ridge expensive?
Not for what you get. Apps run $6-$21, tacos are under $18, and cocktails are a reasonable $11-$15, noticeably cheaper than a lot of comparable spots in the area.
