After he came back from the Marines, Anthony Rotello opened The Olympic Tavern. Since that time, 1945, it has remained a family operation. That doesn't mean that it hasn't done plenty of growing and expanding, though. It also hasn't just been a tradition for the Rotello family. Certainly if you grew up in Rockford, your own family probably has a history of going into The Olympic Tavern that dates back nearly that far. If you think about it, that's something pretty special. In today's ever-changing business landscape, it's not often that you can go in and eat or just sit at the bar in a place that your parents and grandparents also frequented. That's a rich piece of your own family history to be celebrated.

Anthony Rotello's original vision was "a place where local factory workers and businessmen could sit next to each other and enjoy a cold beer and a burger." It seems interesting that much has changed (certainly Rockford has many less factories these days), but that reality is still something that can be found in the place that Rotello built. Since Anthony's son Tom took over the business in 1989, The Olympic Tavern has gone through several renovations and expansions into a full service restaurant and bar that seats over 300 people.

The latest change at The Olympic Tavern is the addition of new chef Randy Rodriguez. Chef Rodriguez has won many culinary awards; including last year's first place title in Bon Apetit's Chicago Iron Chef Competition for the second time. As one can imagine, the addition of such a renowned Chef brings with it a revamping of The Olympic's menu. It also brings new specials every day. A couple examples of those daily specials, and a glimpse into what the new menu will bring are Vested Shrimp (this appetizer is jumbo shrimp stuffed with horseradish, wrapped in hickory smoked bacon, grilled and served over barbecue sauce and citrus mustard) and Encrusted Salmon (a dinner entre, this is pan seared Atlantic salmon (not farm raised) brushed with honey dijon and topped with a walnut crust and served with a miras butter sauce).

Marketing director (and Anthony's grand son) Zak Rotello says, "the new menu will be great. I have a lot of confidence in the new chef." He continues by saying that the majority of "the Rockford market doesn't want a $60 steak. They want simply prepared food at an accessible price point. I think the highest priced menu item will still be below $25. We just want to take what we have, upscale it a bit, and make the presentation just outstanding. We've never had a real "brand image" with our food.... we have everything from cheese fries to filet mignon......I like that about The Olympic. You can go there and get some post-softball game munchies or dress up and bring a date. I think that's what has kept us going for so
long."

Zak Rotello also feels that one of the strong points of the Olympic is their beer selection. He says, "I think we have the best draft selection of anywhere in town. The whole idea behind draft beer is that it is fresh from the brewery. We turn over barrels sometimes twice a week, even on our specialty brands." In addition to the tried and true Miller Lite, They have such selections as Guinness, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Blue Moon, Hacker-Pschorr Weisse, Bell's Oberon, Newcastle Brown Ale, Warsteiner Dunkel, Pilsner Urquell and Killian's Irish Red on tap. All of that is testament to the fact that beer connoisseurs will find plenty of choices to wet their whistle while dining.

In honor of their monumentous anniversary, the Olympic Tavern will be offering up a number of specials, and not all of them are of the food and drink variety.  For starters they will have three live bands on the deck (inside if it should rain). Wednesday June 15th sees HMS Goliath (Miles Nielsen's (Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen's son formerly from Harmony Riley) new all star band) laying down the musical entertainment. On June 16th: Dan Voll Combo Loco will be presenting their incredible form Latin jazz mixed with rock. And for the final night of music, Whalebone comes in on Friday June 17th, bringing with them their own style of pure uncut funk. They will also have drink and food specials throughout the celebration, though.

This seems like a great opportunity for all of Rockford to continue their family tradition with the Olympic. You'll be getting to hear some great music, have some delicious food, and celebrate a good chunk of Rockford history. If you don't already have a tradition with The Olympic Tavern, there doesn't seem to be a better time to start one. It's obvious from talking to Rotello that he loves The Olympic, and I think he'd feel the same way even if it wasn't his family business. Give them a try, and I bet you'll feel the same way.