Angry Crab - Chicago

I see a couple of our better local food scribes have gotten to Angry Crab recently, I have been a couple times as well.



Ive gone early each time and havent waited more than 10 minutus for a table. BYOB is nice.

Items available on the board:



bugs:


snow crabs and shrimps in backgroud:


Crawfish were good, not quite up to GNR's: Toons or Cajun Connection standards but good. Only a few mushy ones. We went with their most basic spice level on the visits, shimps were decent, snow crab legs were meaty, but who cant steam/boil a crab leg cluster properly. Thought the pay by piece of corn and sausage was odd/expensive. Bummed on each visit there were no blue crabs. In the end I was kind of garlicked out and was craving a salad or a steak to break the one note theme of the meal.

Looking forward to trying the new steamed seafood joint opening in Skokie(The Boiler) later this year as comparison. Compared to other cajun seafood spots I have been around the country Angry Crab was on par price and quality wise, liked that other versions I have been to(Denver) offered Pho, gumbo, and other asian/cajun dishes vs just the boils.

I like this spot, big draw for me will be the period in which they are getting live crawfish and being able to get them on a whim vs an event. A six pack and a few pounds of bugs or blue crabs stop.

Angry Crab
5665 N. Lincoln
Chicago, IL.

Mike Sula's take over at The Reader's website . . .

But the crustaceans themselves (sold at market price) are remarkably fresh tasting; the shrimp fat and taut, the crab legs sweet and substantial, the crawfish heads oozing with prized hepatopancreatic tissue.

Wear your hazmat suit to the Angry Crab

=R=

Thanks for your report, Jim. Other than the crawfish, does anyone else have recommendations on ordering strategies? Which seafood, spice level, sauce(s) did you prefer?

I thought Mike Sula's review was frustrating in that he identified the menu challenges but didn't proffer much guidance.

e.g., "Once your name makes it to the top of the inevitable waiting list you'll be led to a table ... and left to calculate how many pounds of crawfish, shrimp, clams, oyster, blue crabs, Dungeness crabs, crab legs, and lobsters your mitts have the strength and agility to crack open."

and, "There is a somewhat complicated seasoning scenario featuring a choice of lemon pepper, garlic butter, "Angry spice," or all three, and four heat levels, the highest of which has the power to induce facial paralysis."

Thank you!

Am I the only one who looks at this place and immediately thinks of this discussion?

viewtopic.php?p=495416

rtb178 wrote:Am I the only one who looks at this place and immediately thinks of this discussion?
viewtopic.php?p=495416

You're not the only one. I presume that if they were serving Gulf shrimp and crawfish and other domestically sourced seafood, they would want to advertise the fact.

Katie wrote:

rtb178 wrote:Am I the only one who looks at this place and immediately thinks of this discussion?
viewtopic.php?p=495416

You're not the only one. I presume that if they were serving Gulf shrimp and crawfish and other domestically sourced seafood, they would want to advertise the fact.

Ask where they source their seafood?

Surprisingly not everyone serving sustainable seafood advertises it. For example, the Calumet Fisheries smoked shrimp is wild Gulf shrimp. You can hear manager Carlos Rosas talk about it in our Chewing the Fat Seafood episode here:
https://soundcloud.com/chewingthefat/ct ... ood#t=2:22

I'll add my two cents here.

Since you can only order in pounds, and not half pounds I usually go with a pound of shrimp (head on) and a pound of snow crab legs. I feel like the amount of work to get the shells off is minimal.

They recently added mussels which were good. I agree the crawfish are hit or miss.

My spice preference is maniac-Bears. The Maniac is a mix of of the available seasonings: lemon pepper, garlic butter, and Cajun spice. The Bears level is hot enough to make you sweat.

Although I don't like that they charge for corn and sausage, the sausage is really good and it is a decent size. It's got a little spice kick to it. Skip the sides to make room for more seafood, and get rice.

Also, BYOB, it makes it so good to down a few while chewing down on spicy foods.


For reference
Cubs - low spice
Bears - med spice
Bulls - high spice
Blackhawks - ghost pepper level spice

So, I went to see what the buzz was about. It was already busy at the open.

Had the calamari and a pound of whole shrimp (maniac and ferocious seasoning). The calamari was rubbery and tasted like it just got dethawed too quickly in the microwave. Dat breading on the calamari was flavorful, though.

I thought the shrimp was rather small and I can see the appeal with the seasoning. It reminded me of a variation of Vietnamese satay sauce with smoked habanero powder and whatever else.. I ended up taking some of the sauce home and ate it on my pho noodles the next day.

Also, I asked for an order of potato and got an amusingly small wedge.

Louisa Chu wrote:

Katie wrote:

rtb178 wrote:Am I the only one who looks at this place and immediately thinks of this discussion?
viewtopic.php?p=495416

You're not the only one. I presume that if they were serving Gulf shrimp and crawfish and other domestically sourced seafood, they would want to advertise the fact.

Ask where they source their seafood?

Surprisingly not everyone serving sustainable seafood advertises it. For example, the Calumet Fisheries smoked shrimp is wild Gulf shrimp. You can hear manager Carlos Rosas talk about it in our Chewing the Fat Seafood episode here:
https://soundcloud.com/chewingthefat/ct ... ood#t=2:22

If I go, I will, but given the distance, that's not likely to happen anytime soon, so I hope someone else who goes sooner will ask and report here what answer they get. As for Calumet Fisheries, if they are not making an effort to let people know their shrimp are wild Gulf shrimp, that's a mistake on their part, in my opinion.

Katie wrote:As for Calumet Fisheries, if they are not making an effort to let people know their shrimp are wild Gulf shrimp, that's a mistake on their part, in my opinion.

I don't see why it's a mistake. It's not like they are having a hard time selling them.

Meaty well cooked king crab, Maniac sauce, potato, corn and andouille, friendly, fast, tasty. Went at 3pm open, every seat was taken by the time I left. Accept the offer of a bib, its really messy!



Angry Crab, count me a fan!

Angry Crab Opening Wicker Park Outpost Next to BIG & Little's

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2016030 ... ig-littles