Alternative to Bob Chinn's??

It's my mom's 60th birthday and we wanted to take her out for an nice dinner. She mentioned that she thought she might want to go to Bob Chinn's. For some reason I thought there was an outpost downtown....obviously I checked and there isn't. Since we are coming from the far southwest suburbs, the trip to Wheeling would take us well over an hour.

Here's my question, is there any restaurant in the similar vein of Bob Chinn's in the city or possibly western suburbs(of course there's nothing south!)?

Thank you for any suggestions!

Joe's Stone Crab?

Not sure how close this would be for you, but it's not far from either
I-88 or I-355:

Chinn's 34th street

3011 Ogden Ave
Lisle, IL 60532
(630) 637-1777

I believe it's the nephew of Bob Chinn that started this one?

There is a Chinns outpost on Ogden Ave in Lisle or naperville called Chinn's 34th Street Fishery. I do not think it is the exact same ownership, but some relation. Crab and tuna are great.

The Chinns from downtown was located at LaSalle just north of the river in the old traffic court space. I think it is niw called Fulton's. This space is managed by Levy Bros.

3011 W. Ogden Ave.
Lisle, IL 60532
630-637-1777

Fulton's on The River
315 North LaSalle St
Chicago, IL 60610

Babaluch

Sadly, nothing quite like Bob Chinn's closer to south of Chicago, or in Chicago.

Joe's Seafood, Prime Steaks, & Stone Crab is more upscale, & typically only offers King Crab legs, or claws, and stone crab(out of season now , so probably only frozen & not fresh).

Shaws, not as many crab selections, and I have hit and miss meals @ Shaws both in the city, and Schaumburg.

Chinn's 34th street is a small restaurant with a different menu, not a bad place but I have never been overlyimpressed.

Bob Chinns - Wheeling offers alot of different varieties of crab I have not seen elsewhere. Such as Kona crab, and whole King Crabs, of course the serve king crab legs, Jonah crab, and dungeness crab, the steaks although not prime are pretty decent as well. I have eaten there maybe ten times, and enjoy it for what it is. A decent place to crack some crabs, and drink some cold beer.

good luck with your choice.

why not Shaw's on hubbard?

How about Tin Fish in Tinley?

dukesdad wrote:How about Tin Fish in Tinley?

I think Tin Fish in Tinley Park (south suburbs) is a great suggestion. Similar to Chinn's in specializing in very fresh seafood in a casual setting. Also similar in that it's rather noisy, and waiting times at peak times (e.g. Saturday night) can be lengthy (unlike Chinn's, it's not huge); I'm not sure whether they take reservations.

Tin Fish
18201 S. Harlem Ave.
Tinley Park, IL 60477
(708) 532-0200
http://www.tinfishrestaurant.com

If you want to go a bit more upscale for seafood, here are two more possibilities.

Hugo's Frog Bar is a seafood restaurant from the folks at Gibson's Steakhouse. I've been to the one downtown and it's been consistently excellent. They have a location in Naperville (western suburbs) but I haven't been there.

Hugo's Frog Bar
55 South Main Street
Naperville IL 60540
(630) 548-3764
http://www.hugosfrogbar.com

I've always enjoyed Parker's Ocean Grill, an upscale seafood restaurant in Downers Grove, right at the Highland Avenue exit from I-88.

Parkers' Ocean Grill
1000 31st Street
Downers Grove, IL 60515
(630) 960-5701
http://www.selectrestaurants.com/parker ... index.html

In downtown Chicago, you've got several excellent upscale seafood restaurants, most of which have already been mentioned:

Shaw's Crab House
Fulton's on the River
Hugo's Frog Bar
Catch 35

Have you ever tried Papadieux's in Westmont?I have had consistently good seafood.It's located off rt:83 just north of Ogden ave and south of 31st.
Their Cajun style is very tastey

I second the Joe's Stone Crab suggestion and prefer it over Chinn's. I'm not an expert on seafood, but I love the crab claws and filet mignon surf and turf.

jerryg wrote:Have you ever tried Papadieux's in Westmont?I have had consistently good seafood.It's located off rt:83 just north of Ogden ave and south of 31st.
Their Cajun style is very tastey

Just one warning, it is not the best place in the word if you like simply prepared fish. Most of their offerings are topped with fish and cheese, stuffed with even more fish and cheese, and have likely been fed a steady diet of fish and cheese before being killed.

You can view the Pappadeaux menu on their website here.

Perhaps give Cy's Crab house a try. They have multiple locations. The best IMO is the one at:

3819 N Ashland Ave
(between Byron St & Grace St)
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 883-8900

I second Cy's crabhouse. They have some decent specials throughout the week.

An oldie but a goodie: why I wouldn't go back to Pappadeaux's by choice (though if forced, I could find something decent to eat there). If you've read this before, sorry to have bored you with yet again...

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=536

I've been to Pappadeaux several times for lunch and dinner, and on several other occasions when they were doing their "all you can eat lobster" on Thursday evenings. For lunch and dinner, I agree with the other posts; the food is okay, not great, and many of the preparations are too elaborate, with other ingredients overwhelming the fish. (And it's not authentic Cajun food, either.) However, the lobsters have always been terrific (excellent quality as well as quantity).

EDIT: Please note, I have only been to the Pappadeaux location in Arlington Heights, not the one in Westmont.

Also there is a Pappadeux in Arlington Heights. You can have any sauce or preparation on the side or ask for the fish as you like it, they are accomodating.

Mike G wrote:An oldie but a goodie: why I wouldn't go back to Pappadeaux's by choice (though if forced, I could find something decent to eat there). If you've read this before, sorry to have bored you with yet again...

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=536

This post may have lost some of it's relavance seeing as how it is four years old, NO?

nsxtasy wrote:I've been to Pappadeaux several times for lunch and dinner, and on several other occasions when they were doing their "all you can eat lobster" on Thursday evenings. For lunch and dinner, I agree with the other posts; the food is okay, not great, and many of the preparations are too elaborate, with other ingredients overwhelming the fish. (And it's not authentic Cajun food, either.) However, the lobsters have always been terrific (excellent quality as well as quantity).

While I have eaten both high and low throughout Louisiana over the years, I don't believe I could define " authentic" Cajun". However I am fairly certain that I have not found anything in the Chicago area that comes close. ( Have not made the trip to Utica as yet but plan to in the near future)

Marshall K wrote:

Mike G wrote:An oldie but a goodie: why I wouldn't go back to Pappadeaux's by choice (though if forced, I could find something decent to eat there). If you've read this before, sorry to have bored you with yet again...

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=536

This post may have lost some of it's relavance seeing as how it is four years old, NO?

Maybe, maybe not. I appreciated the link but also took into account the age of the post when I read it. Some places are very much like they were 4 years ago, some aren't the same as they were four hours ago. It's merely one diner's perspective and a point of reference.

=R=

Marshall K wrote:While I have eaten both high and low throughout Louisiana over the years, I don't believe I could define " authentic" Cajun". However I am fairly certain that I have not found anything in the Chicago area that comes close. ( Have not made the trip to Utica as yet but plan to in the near future)

Agree completely.

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Marshall K wrote:This post may have lost some of it's relavance seeing as how it is four years old, NO?

Maybe, maybe not. I appreciated the link but also took into account the age of the post when I read it. Some places are very much like they were 4 years ago, some aren't the same as they were four hours ago. It's merely one diner's perspective and a point of reference.

That writeup of Pappadeaux's was a year and a half old by the time it was posted here, so it's actually nearly six years out of date. But some people like to continually bash restaurants that don't suit their tastes, even if they only went there once.

Here's another old post with a much more positive take. I have, however, been there several times since (though not within the past year). Like a lot of places with huge menus, it can be hit or miss, definitely one of those places where you need to order carefully. The servers are woefully ignorant. But the fish is fresh and often very good.

This post may have lost some of it's relavance seeing as how it is four years old, NO?

I will believe that when someone can demonstrate that Pappadeaux's is not still every bit the place I visited.

You kids today, always on about what's new! Don't you have respect for the classics?

But the fish is fresh and often very good.

Or you can go to Mitsuwa, where the fish is not only fresher, but not wearing a thick layer of blue cheese pesto raspberry marinara.

Mike G wrote:I will believe that when someone can demonstrate that Pappadeaux's is not still every bit the place I visited.

And that would mainly be to demonstrate that their crawfish etoufee is no longer ordinary?

And that their menu generally has escaped the more-is-less school of chain dining, I suppose.

I'll check back when I link to it again in another couple of years.