Davis Street, Oysters, Tater Tots and She Crab Soup

LTH,

I've waxed poetic about the joys of oysters and tater tots at Davis Street many a time and last night was no different. Out of a line-up of 5 Tony, oyster shucker extraordinaire , suggested, while passing samples, Westport or Maurice Cove. Maurice Cove were small to medium size, meaty with just a bit of sea/brine flavor. Westport meaty, verging on large and very flavorful with a nice hit of sea/brine.

I went with Westport the December water giving them a crisp, distinct, firmness, flavor and texture that is impossible to find in summer months. I don't know how valid only eat oysters in months with R in them is anymore, or if it ever was, but I prefer cold weather oyster to warm.

There were 4 of us at the oyster bar so we sampled a nice array, including Martha's Vineyard, Maurice Cove and Canada Cups, but my favorite remained, at least last evening, the Westport.

Last night's soup special was She Crab, which has been recently discussed. I am not the one to judge She Crab soup, as I simply do not enjoy cream based soups, though the consensus was quite good. Very (very) rich with a goodly amount of crab. I thought it a bit pricy at $4.50 for a cup, but there really was quite a bit of crab.

Tater tots were, as always, grand, though I have taken to asking for them crisp, Dan 'The Man' Simkowski's blackened catfish had plenty of spice, and the ceviche was quite good, though we would have preferred Tony's special Hangover ceviche, which has jalapeno and hot sauce added.

A winter menu favorite Seafood Chili has reappeared, only bowl sized portions, but they will split it for two if not busy at the oyster bar. There was mention of Louisiana style brunch on Sundays, which seems to be something new, but I did not pay attention to the details.

Enjoy,
Gary

Davis Street Fishmarket
501 Davis Street
Evanston, IL. 60201
847-869-3474

I'll add some pictures of oysters at the Davis Street Fishmarket. I had 3 R.I. Wilds and 3 Canada Cups for 9 bucks. The R.I.'s were nice and briney, and the Canada's were slightly sweet.

Finally made it into Davis St. Fishmarket last night for the first time since the remodeling (they told me that work was completed about two weeks ago).

For those that haven't seen it yet, the entire place underwent extensive renovations, in a very obvious attempt to make a drastic move upscale. In the process, they managed to destroy almost every single cool thing about the atmosphere of the place.

The casual, funky, bar room w/ beat up tables & raw bar? GONE - replaced by a slick, character-free, Pete Miller's-esque wasteland - a shiny, dark wood bar, booths, flat panel TV's, and a tiny raw bar situated off to the side.

Chalkboards w/ daily oyster & clam specials at the raw bar & dinner specials in the dining room? GONE - chalkboards are way too lowbrow for THIS slick new place. Specials now appear confusingly printed in chef-speak in the upper right corner of the menu.

Nautical accents in the dining room - nets hung from the ceiling, lobster traps on the walls, rope-wound pilings jutting up from the floor? GONE - replaced by a bland cream-colored paint scheme w/a margin along the top featuring generic drawings of fish & their names, and the same lame booths as on the bar side. They did retain a fish tank or two. Big whoop.

The menu, save for the chef-speak specials, does appear to be mostly the same. I've never really considered Davis St. to be great food-wise, but it had always been a casual, fun place to hang out, have a few beers, eat some oysters, and grab a good and fairly priced seafood dinner. I'm afraid those days are gone. They certainly are for me.

Sadly I have to agree. Whatever they may call the restaurant at the corner of Davis and Hinman, it is no longer the Davis St. Fishmarket.

This is too bad. I grew up about blocks from there and have fond memories of it. Has the food changed?

I have never been to Davis St., but Chinola's post makes my blood boil.....Chicago restaurants and bars seem intent, more than any other city I've lived in (LA, NY ,SF) to remodel funky, unique and historic settings with vanilla, generic, so-called up-scale decor...dull, dull, dull

The old Davis St. sounds great...I won't be going there now (I don't care how good the food is)..

ParkLaBrea wrote:Chicago restaurants and bars seem intent, more than any other city I've lived in (LA, NY ,SF) to remodel funky, unique and historic

Let's not get go crazy here. The old Davis St. decor was about as unique and historic as a Bennigans. Sure, it had character, but that character was carefully crafted by a decorator. That being said, it was a great bar for a drink, some oysters, and some tater tots.

There's more about Davis Street in these threads:

What happened to Davis Street Fishmarket (Evanston)?

Why would you eat an oyster? (Davis Street Fishmarket)

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:The old Davis St. decor was about as unique and historic as a Bennigans. Sure, it had character, but that character was carefully crafted by a decorator.

Michael -

Of course, you are correct about the authenticity of Davis St. Fishmarket's original decor. Still, I found the atmosphere concomitant with that decor to be casual, low-key, and relaxing, three things that the new decor (and atmosphere, or lack thereof) are decidedly NOT.

I had read the earlier complaints in those other threads, but it didn't really hit home for me until I went & saw for myself how badly they had ruined a place that I used to like, and had obviously spent a ton of money in the process. What a waste.

ChiNOLA wrote:

eatchicago wrote:The old Davis St. decor was about as unique and historic as a Bennigans. Sure, it had character, but that character was carefully crafted by a decorator.

Of course, you are correct about the authenticity of Davis St. Fishmarket's original decor. Still, I found the atmosphere concomitant with that decor to be casual, low-key, and relaxing, three things that the new decor (and atmosphere, or lack thereof) are decidedly NOT.

I could not agree more. I used to spend quite a bit of time at that bar, and I doubt I will much longer.

I just wanted to dispel the notion that it was an actual historic fishmarket.

Best,
Michael

I guess I should have said "funky, unique OR historic"...and Davis at least sounded kind of funky....

Biasetti's on Irving Park..another victim of "progress"...rarely go anymore...prices raised to pay for the "improvements."

I ate at the remodeled Davis Street Fishmarket last night. While others have lamented the sanitized decor, no one has complained that the rather quaint 50's and 60's oldies they used to play have been replaced by seriously annoying top-40 from the 80's. Just as we were about to bang our heads on the table, our waiter volunteered that he'd had enough and went to see if the music could be changed. If he was successful, I do not know. I could tell no difference. Actually, the decor seems like a poor-man's version of Shaw's. Could't they come up with a sound track from the 40's?

The tater tots were good, though. And the valet parking was free- must be a weeknight thing.

I had half a dozen oysters there yesterday during their half price happy hour ($5.50).

I heard a funny story from ex-employee of "the fish" recently - a few old employees went and were heart-broken to see that all traces of Steve Prescott, the creator and original owner, had been erased from the place. Then they realized that Steve's bad taste in music still lingered as bad 80's songs played on the radio.

I noticed it myself yesterday as I slurped my oysters to bad 80's glam rock.

Heard the news today that Davis Street Fishmarket is no more... Tho for me it died a decade ago..

http://chicago.eater.com/2016/5/31/1182 ... nt-yelpers

Aw, I hadn't thought about ol' Davis St. Fish Market in years. And I don't think I'd been in probably 13+ years.

I learned to love oysters at their craggy concrete raw bar in the late-90s. My buddy's buddy, all of us art school undergrads at the time, worked the bar and was quite generous with rounds of Malpeques and Kusshis, all washed down with pints of Anchor Steam. These briny delights, only anecdotally known to me as something grandma ate out of a can, thrilled my budding palate. Not sure how they'd stack up now, but I have fond memories of their chowder, mussels, and ceviche as well.

While I may not have previously acknowledged DSFM as an integral part of my food DNA, its place in my personal history is undeniable– that friend-of-a-friend, our oyster pusher, became my best pal (he met his future wife working there as well). A bond forged over raw bivalves! I was disheartened to hear things changed there and am now sad to see them go.

Cheers to the Davis Street Fish Market, where I learned to love oysters and grew a friendship with one of my favorite people!