Troha's Fried Shrimp

Spurred on by the recent nomination of Troha's as a GNR, I drove by yesterday for a quick lunch. I was surprised that although Troha's has been prominently mentioned on LTH Forum for many years, it didn't have a dedicated thread that I could find, so I thought I would remedy that situation while posting about yet another excellent meal at Chicago's first shrimp house (in business since 1917).

Troha's


The interior of Troha's is pretty much no frills, but at the same time a museum of sorts. Lots of press clippings adorn the walls. Even a quote from LTH Forum enjoys a prominent display right next to the counter.

Troha's Press Clippings


For my lunch, I stuck to the basics, some fried shrimp and an order of clam strips. Both were fried perfectly. There's no place to eat in at Troha's, but it was such a nice afternoon, an al trunko lunch was no problem at all.

Troha's Fried Shrimp


Troha's Fried Clam Strips


On the way out, I noticed that they also served lake perch, so maybe next time I'll sub an order of perch for the clams, but any visit to Troha's will always feature at least one order of their best in class fried shrimp.

Troha's Fish & Chicken
4151 W 26th St
Chicago, IL 60623
773-521-7847

stevez wrote: it was such a nice afternoon, anal trunko lunch was no problem at all.

Nice round-up, great pics, and a worthy GNR nomination. And though it's known for its shrimp for obvious reasons, the breaded pork there is awesome, too.

(ETA: I see you've fixed your little typo. )

SaintPizza and I (with the 5yo in tow) stopped in for lunch today and took it to nearby Piotrowski Park. They were so great to us, insisting that we try a piece of the pork tenderloin gratis, or subbing a whole order of chicken tenders for a cheaper item that they were out of, and giving us an extra drink for the 5yo, and everything was so perfectly cooked and inexpensive, that when we got to the park and didn't find the clam strips we'd ordered we were still quite satisfied with what we did have.

I especially liked the catfish, which was (as everything) fried perfectly, the flesh within tender and exploding with moisture, seemingly only held together by the crisp breading. Delicious. The 5yo liked the park more than the food but made short work of the chicken tenders once we were back in the car.

Trohas clam strips - anyone know if they are fresh breaded at Troha's ? (I'm doubting that they are from the appearance. I just can't enjoy pre breaded clam strips anymore after having fresh whole fried clams and fresh in-house breaded clam strips out East.)

Shrimp were wonderful, I really enjoyed them plain or with Trohas hot sauce, a sauce that is the best hot sauce I've had from any of the Chicago shrimp houses I've been to.

bumped to add their website & hours of operation:

Troha's Chicken & Fish House
4151 W 26th St
Chicago, IL 60623
Phone: 773-521-7847

Hours: Sunday 12pm - 8pm
Monday - 2pm - 9pm
Tues-Wed-Thurs 10am - 10pm
Fri & Sat 10am - 11pm

http://www.chicagoshrimphouse.com/

hadn't been inside Trohas for a while, had folks run up while I waited in the vehicle a couple times in the past few months, but there is an area to stay and eat nowdays:



not the largest shrimps, but still one of my favorite shrimp spots in the Chicagoland(right now Johnson's in Lombard is #1) . Never had gotten a "dinner" before, I had done up just LB's. Really liked their slaw(some horseradish going on?), and the dill pickle is a nice touch.

"Small" shrimp dinner:

2017 means a century for the humble Troha's cash register. Nothing has changed. Ignore the fries, dive in to the still $6 two pork tenderloin dinner with fork-speared-lemon, pickle, ketchup, plus maybe a $3 add-on for a few melt-in-your-mouth perch fillets (left) with that pancake-redolent batter and house-mixed cocktail sauce, cut with some excellent tangy slaw on the side.

I think there is a shrimp dinner Groupon.

I love their perch!

... and don't forget the odd 1-2 punch of the Mexican hot dog across the street.

Santander wrote:2017 means a century for the humble Troha's cash register.

That's the date given on their website as well.

Troha's wrote:A Stein of Beer and a Bowl of Chilli for 5 CENTS. That's what the sign on the door read on opening day 1917.

But back in 2006 they seemed pretty confident it was 1920, putting that date on the box no less than five times.



Troha's claims to have introduced shrimp to Chicago in 1935.

Troha's wrote:Then one day in 1935 a new item appeared at the market, SHRIMP. Because Chicagoans never saw shrimp before, it had to be given out as a free sample, either smoked or boiled.

Though it certainly wasn't as common as it is now, Chicagoans were eating shrimp at least as far back as the 1870s, as you can see from this 1879 menu from Woodman's (Washington & State).



I don't know if Woodman's salad was made with fresh shrimp, but they were certainly available in Chicago's fish markets in the nineteenth century (though at premium prices – about ten times the cost of cod in 1890). And don't forget Shrimps de Jonghe. The de Jonghe family ran their famous restaurant from the early 1890s to the 1920s.

To hear them tell it, they were the fried chicken pioneers of Chicago too.

Troha's wrote:In 1959 Troha's became Chicago's First carry out Chicken. Before 1959 the only way you could get fried chicken was in a restaurant. We perfected the carry out deep frying method six years before Chicken Unlimited and KFC.

But not before Harold's Chicken Shack (and I doubt Harold Pierce was the first). Here's an ad from 1956.



I've been a fan of Troha's for a long time and am happy to report they're much better at deep frying things than they are at history.

Stopped by Troha's last night after a stop @ nearby Moreno's to pick up some mezcal. The fried shrimp breading was very greasy & the shrimp rubbery without much flavor. I don't know if the fryers were set too low or something but the product produced was not top notch.

Edited to add: this was ~8pm and I was only one in restaurant and only order they had going.

I've been mildly disappointed Troha's has retired the pork tenderloin, to the degree they are listing it in fond past tense in the history (still running with 1917) on the back of their current menu brochure. I miss those dill brine and lemon juice-spritzed cutlets.

However, their perch and chicken tenders are still ace for me, perfectly breaded, fresh, and greaseless. The place is neat as a pin and the silky hot sauce condiment is something I want for just about everything. I've stopped in on a few Sunday afternoons in the past year and they are always doing a brisk business, and accepting credit cards - no disincentives (beyond the pork) for everyone to stop through to see how battered-and-fried is done right.