Huh! I'm sorry you had a bad time there. I have only dined there once, with my wife on our anniversary, and it was lovely (I too had the crab combo). I'll report back if our second visit makes me... dare I say it ... crabby. Sorry. :-) Someone wrote: ... >Went to Shaw's last night... > >Started off with some charred sashimi tuna... didn't look as appetizing as >it tasted, but the portion wasn't bad for the $8 they were charging for >it. We got 5 2.5x6 inch slices, about 1/5th of an inch thick. Came with >som soy dressing on the side; we chose not to use it. > >My partner in crime ordered a lobster bisque for himself, which was sent >back. I've had many lobster bisques; this one was gawdawful. It was >removed from our bill with no apologies. > >I had the "Shaw's Seasonal Crab Combination", which consisted of two >alaskan king crab legs, a crab cake, and some dungeoness crab. It wasn't >spectacular. The alaskan king legs were slightly undercooked towards the >ends, and the exposed end meat on the crabs had a taste of parsley root. > >The other dish at the table was the plate of alaskan king crab. We both >noted that our crabs weren't very well cracked, and were somewhat of a >chore to eat. > >The two businessmen from Alabama seated next to us had a multi-tiered >seafood sampler, with oysters, shrimp and crab parts. The shrimp didn't >exactly look fantastic, we didn't ask for a taste. > >Based on our undersatisfied experience, we elected to skip dessert. > >Total bill for two: $77 This included one appetizer and two entrees. >No beverages or dessert. > >I won't be going back in the near future, or at least until someone >convinces me that the kitchen was just having a bad night. > >George Vuckovic >Tilted Media Group >[email removed] >
Chicago, IL
Shaw's Crab House
The first time I had the lobster bisque at Shaw's, it was wonderful, but it's never tasted the same since, and rarely been served hot enough. And I've always been disappointed by their overcooked and, well, boring, fish dishes. The oysters are the only thing that draws me back. Someone wrote: >Went to Shaw's last night... > >Started off with some charred sashimi tuna... didn't look as appetizing as >it tasted, but the portion wasn't bad for the $8 they were charging for >it. We got 5 2.5x6 inch slices, about 1/5th of an inch thick. Came with >som soy dressing on the side; we chose not to use it. > >My partner in crime ordered a lobster bisque for himself, which was sent >back. I've had many lobster bisques; this one was gawdawful. It was >removed from our bill with no apologies. > >I had the "Shaw's Seasonal Crab Combination", which consisted of two >alaskan king crab legs, a crab cake, and some dungeoness crab. It wasn't >spectacular. The alaskan king legs were slightly undercooked towards the >ends, and the exposed end meat on the crabs had a taste of parsley root. > >The other dish at the table was the plate of alaskan king crab. We both >noted that our crabs weren't very well cracked, and were somewhat of a >chore to eat. > >The two businessmen from Alabama seated next to us had a multi-tiered >seafood sampler, with oysters, shrimp and crab parts. The shrimp didn't >exactly look fantastic, we didn't ask for a taste. > >Based on our undersatisfied experience, we elected to skip dessert. > >Total bill for two: $77 This included one appetizer and two entrees. >No beverages or dessert. > >I won't be going back in the near future, or at least until someone >convinces me that the kitchen was just having a bad night. > >George Vuckovic >Tilted Media Group >[email removed] >
Someone wrote: >Went to Shaw's last night... I wne to Shaw's for the first time anout 10 years ago. It was very good but over priced. I enjoyed several different things. I was in Chicago on business at the time. I moved to Chicago 5 years ago. I have been to Shaw's 3 times in 5 years. It has always been a little worse. > [description of bad food and service removed to protect the appitite] >Based on our undersatisfied experience, we elected to skip dessert. > >Total bill for two: $77 This included one appetizer and two entrees. >No beverages or dessert. > >I won't be going back in the near future, or at least until someone >convinces me that the kitchen was just having a bad night. > For good crab I now go to Crab & Things in Des Planes. The Alaskan King crab is usually cut open. No cracking required. The Maryland crab cakes are very good. I prefer the snow crab. It is a little more work to eat but I think the flavor is better. We eat there about once every 2 months. Peter Richardson
We had our Christmas luncheon there today. While everyone enjoyed their meal, I was surprised at how pricey some of the menu items were ($36 for crab? c'mon!). Several people ordered the bisque; it was very good, but I still prefer the chowder. However, if you're still not satisfied with Shaw's, there's a new seafood restaurant about to open in the Water Tower area. McCormick & Schmidt is a national chain of restaurants, and they're opening their first Chicago area location at Chestnut & Rush on Dec. 26 after 4 PM. If the food tastes as good as the place looks, we're in for a real treat: floor-to-ceiling mahagony panelling, leaded and stained glass windows inside, tiled floors, etc. People who have dined at their restaurants in other cities tell me that the food is excellent. Karen (Opera Buffa) What I know about opera is laughable. Send e-mail to bikrbabe at aol (dot) com
>there's a new seafood >restaurant about to open... McCormick & Schmidt is a >national chain of restaurants, and they're opening their first Chicago area >location... >People >who have dined at their restaurants in other cities tell me that the food is >excellent. > I've eaten at the McCormick & Schmicks in Seattle, Portland, and San Diego, which were quite good. However, the one in Washington, DC (opened about a year ago) is not nearly as good. There's been some speculation about M&S' ability to reproduce their success away from the Pacific Coast.
I'm not much of a fish order, but used to think Shaw's was well above average years ago. Now about the only place I go is Davis St Market in Evanston, which I think is quite nice. How would you rate it compared to Shaw's and others?
>>>--Dave W--<<<Someone wrote: > > ElGreene wrote: > > > > >there's a new seafood > > >restaurant about to open... McCormick & Schmidt is a > > >national chain of restaurants, and they're opening their first Chicago area > > >location... > > >People > > >who have dined at their restaurants in other cities tell me that the food is > > >excellent. > > > > > I've eaten at the McCormick & Schmicks in Seattle, Portland, and San Diego, > > which were quite good. However, the one in Washington, DC (opened about a year > > ago) is not nearly as good. There's been some speculation about M&S' ability > > to reproduce their success away from the Pacific Coast. > > > I ate at the M&S in San Fransisco, despite hundreds of other better > spots to dine. Long story deleted. It was not good food, service or > ambiance. In fact it was bad. I don't hold out much hope, but I'm sure > that it will be busy with one shot, know not where to go/constrained by > location, conventioneers as M&S advertises in all of the hotel > magazines. to yank the thread onto yet a third restaurant, we ate at catch 35 saturday before last. last minute reservations meant a choice of 5:00 or 9:00 but at 5:00 they didn't seem extraordinarily busy. the space is kind of mixed up as to what it's trying to do--an elegant room filled with harry caray photos--is it always decorated thusly or is it a special tribute? also it was pretty darn cold in there. greeted with offers of drinks but not sneered at when we didn't. we started off with fried calamari--this was the disappointment of the evening--overpriced for the small portion, rubbery texture, breading falling off, bland tartar dipping sauce--i can't begin to list the places to get better calamari. after that i rebounded with the crab bisque which was very flavorful. she had the salad with the baby greens and the bleu cheese in a vinaigrette--somehow this didn't come together quite right. for entrees i had salmon in a puff pastry with, i think a dill sauce--very tasty. she had one of their seafood and pasta dishes but i can't recall which one and the one bite i had, while i remember as being good, did not linger enough for me to remember what it contained--shrimp, pasta and mushrooms are all i remember. for dessert we had the most tart piece of key lime pie that i have ever had in my life. anyway, overall a good experience, but pricey. also, the valet guy that night was hiding from the cold or something--we had to go look for him to park the car and again when time came to retrieve it. i recall having better luck at shaw's but i haven't been there in many years so perhaps by this time, catch 35 has surpassed it--has anyone been to both, who can compare them with more recent information? lisa