I work for a publishing company and one of our sister companies is located in the suburbs of Chicago, IL.  About once a year we visit our distant friends to discuss business face-to-face. The last few times we visited, our team took us to Bob Chinn’s Crab House to enjoy some delicious seafood as well as an extraordinary dining experience. The atmosphere is energetic, loud, and sizzling with a huge dining room and vivacious staff. The room smells of fresh steamed crab claws, perfectly buttered fish and mouth-watering steaks. The menu is a simple, legal-sized sheet of paper with 8 point font as tight as it can be on the front and back. (Click Here to view a sample dinner menu).

Our table ordered a variety of appetizers including the Crab Cake Nuggets, Oysters on the Half Shell, Portobello Mushrooms, Calamari and King Crab Fingers.  We passed the dishes around the table, eating family style.  My favorite was the little Crab Cake Nuggets because they had a crispy exterior with a moist mixture inside that melted in your mouth.

During our first visit, I had the 8 oz Strip Steak & Antarctic Bay Scallops for dinner.  The portion was perfect.  The steak had a perfect sear and cooked to perfection at medium-rare.  The scallops were small but flavorful; buttery and delicate.  I had the pleasure of taste-testing a few of the other guests’ meals and fell in love with the Sea Bass Steamed Asian Style, so much so that I ordered it when I returned a year later.  This moist, mild fish is steamed in a soy sauce base with sesame oil and fresh ginger.  It is topped with scallions and cilantro and served with white rice.  The appearance is of a bright white fish with a translucent sweet smelling sauce, vibrant green accents perched on a small puff of steamy white rice.  I am so glad I tried the dish again, it was so worth it.

Some other recommendations from my dining partners were the 10 oz. Prime Rib, the Macadamia Sautéed Sea Bass and the Alaskan Bairdi Snow Crab Legs.  If you have the chance to stop by Bob Chinn’s Crab House, I highly recommend it.  I even brought home two of their signature tiki cups and a t-shirt for my hubby that says “I have the best legs in town”.