Acadia, the new South Loop spot from Chef Ryan McCaskey, was an oasis in a sea of blizzard last Friday night when we stopped in for the first time. more ›

There's enough seafood here to satisfy even the hungriest of ocean predators. more ›

In Midwestern Chicago, quality seafood places at relatively reasonable prices are hard to come by, but those willing to trek to the North Center neighborhood can find some seafood steals at Snappy’s Shrimp House. more ›

Balsan, the restaurant in the Elysian hotel that Penny Pollack called "Shockingly creative and delicious" is giving away a Grand Seafood Tower to one of its Twitter fans. The tower, which normally costs $130 and is pictured over on the right, includes a whole lobster, king crab, prawns, clams, mussels and oysters. The thought of it makes us want to fall over in a happy coma. It can be yours, for the low low price of nothing. more ›

Last night, the Shedd Aquarium teamed up with Chefs Sarah Stegner and George Bumbaris of Prairie Fire to teach diners about sustainable seafood. While there is something a bit counter-intuitive about an aquarium teaching people how to eat their charges, this education is important, as consumers have a real ability to impact the health of the oceans. Best of all, you can learn while eating some darn good food. Join us for a belated World Oceans Day and learn what you can do. more ›

Is it just us, or is Chicago suddenly spoiled with oysters? A host of new dining spots, plus several old standbys, are sourcing and serving up impressive oyster programs for a city so far from seawater. Over the weeks ahead, the Chicagoist Foodies (gastropodistas?) will be getting to the bottom of this newfound bounty of bivalves with what we're calling our Oyster Throwdown Series - head-to-head reviews of oyster bars all over the city. more ›

We've talked scallops on this site before, but here is a simple twist that brings the best out of first-rate ingredients. Salt and pepper scallops are easy for any night of the week - just focus on finding the highest quality salt, pepper, and scallops that you can. Scallops are a great dinner this time of year for people abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent. Or just for people who like scallops. Or mermen. Whatevs. You are weird. more ›

As a home cook in Chicago, finding good seafood is always a going concern. At Chicagoist, we are always on the lookout for ingredients that are worth your time. Not being close to any coast makes buying fish in Chicago more of a challenge than buying our beloved pork or beef. We visited Dirk's Fish & Gourmet Shop in Lincoln Park to check out the fresh catches and sea how Dirk's measured up with other fishmongers around the city. more ›

Quite possibly the most unassuming of Chicago’s 2011 Bib Gourmand restaurants also touts one of the zestiest, most vibrant menus. Taste of Peru, in Rogers Park, has been a Chicago favorite and Peruvian staple for nearly half a decade. Taste of Peru has a distinctly Peruvian menu with fresh seafood and meat entrees, and is well worth the trip to the far north side. more ›

For dinner this week, try cooking tilapia. Its versatile white and flaky filets are easy to find in area grocery stores and seafood markets. more ›

With more and more cooks focused on using quality ingredients in the home kitchen, the search for good seafood in Chicago is on -- and retailers and specialty stores are meeting the demand. more ›

A few weeks ago, we were desperate to pretend it was fall, so we made one of the coziest comfort meals we could think of. How quickly we forget. Now that fall is upon us and summer is waning, we're trying to get one last bite of tasty summer citrus and white wine. more ›

We should never have noticed the Half Shell. It's a basement bar, with a small sign but no other notable features, a few blocks away from the main business area of Clark Street. Since we aren't often looking for bars in that area, and certainly not basement dives, we may have walked past The Half Shell 50 times before we noticed it. But last week, we happened to be reading Sex, Death and Oysters, Robb Walsh's book about oyster bars around the world, while we walked. We looked up to check the traffic, and like a beacon out of the pages of the book, the sign reading Half Shell: A Great Pub and Oyster Bar blinked into focus. We had to go. more ›

Worried about sustainable seafood and where to buy it? Greenpeace has just released it's most recent report, "Carting Away the Ocean," on grocery stores and their efforts (or lack thereof) to ensure the existence of tasty fish for the next generation. Last year, the big loser was Trader Joe's. TJ's sold so many types of fish on the "Red List" of threatened species that Greenpeace branded them "Traitor Joe's" and started a parody website. It worked - Trader Joe's agreed to change it's buying practices. more ›

We were at Isaacson & Stein Fish Company a couple of weekends ago and saw some octopus that we were sorely tempted to buy. Of course, we're not entirely sure how we'd prepare it or how we'd make use of a full octopus. This got us thinking about where we go to eat octopus in the city. We are madly in love with tender octopus appetizer at MK (pictured) and our mouths watered as we watched Chef Jose Garces of Mercat a la Planxa prepare Pulpo Gallego. more ›

Lovers of Lula, rejoice! Yet another alum has taken her place among Chicago’s great executive chefs. Nicole Pederson, former sous chef at Lula (who has also cooked at Gramercy Tavern in New York) has taken over the helm at C-House. Owned by Marcus Sammuelson, the chef-owner of Aquavit, C-House primarily focuses on seafood, with a well-stocked raw bar and a selection of eight different oysters. more ›

Certain fish have the texture to handle direct heat (e.g grilling) very well, like salmon, swordfish and tuna. Another fish that makes a good steak is shark. Shark has a great flavor and the preparation is best kept simple: lemon and a little butter will suffice. Pete's Fresh Market had shark loin for sale at $4.99 per pound last week and we had a couple steaks cut from it. more ›

2008 was already shaping up locally as a banner year for new restaurant openings. L2O was recently named the best new restaurant in America by Esquire, with Takashi and Mercat a la Planxa also making the list. Bill Kim left Le Lan to focus on Urban Belly; Graham Elliot Bowles responded to criticism of his eponymous River North outpost by slowly tweaking things until he got it right. Ryan Poli came back to town with Perennial. Superstar chefs such as Marcus Samuelsson and Terrance Brennan targeted Chicago for restaurant locales. And we're still waiting for Lula Café's Pilsen location to open in a bit (with Jason Vincent at the helm). more ›

Arguably the most anticipated restaurant of the year, The Publican finally opened its doors before they were torn down by the hungry, excited masses. We were initially surprised there wasn't a wait, being 8:00 on a Saturday, until we saw the space. Eyeballing it, The Publican is about the size of three avecs and although we were seated immediately, the German-style beer hall was full of people at long wooden communal tables, small groups at pig pen-esque private booths, and others just sitting at the bar for a drink. more ›

For those of you asking about when the Publican, Paul Kahan's new beer, seafood and charcuterie palace in the Fulton Street Market (845 W. Fulton Mkt.) helmed by Executive Chef Brian Huston, is finally opening, pencil in Thursday. This definitely trumps "Must See TV." more ›

After a visit to Café Ba Ba Reeba and a taste of their excellent Gambas al Ajillo (spicy garlic shrimp), we decided we had to replicate it at home. After some experimentation and advice from friends, we came up with this adaptation. The recipe calls for a pound of shrimp, which will serve two as a main course or four as an appetizer. Be sure to have some bread on hand to sop up the garlic-flavored oil. Watch out – everyone will want to steal your recipe! more ›

With more out-of-town, internationally acclaimed chefs now able to find Chicago on a map, we could be reaching a point where "Rock Star Chef City" hits critical mass. And that's without Gordon Ramsay's recent threats to test the local waters. In short, when a chef earns the name recognition and acclaim affording him to branch out to different cities, he starts to balance that fine line between chef and restaurateur that draws the watchful eyes of the critics. more ›

Everyone around us is frantically grilling their way into summer, and, as usual, big chunks of meat seem to rule the day. In our search for alternatives to steaks and chicken breasts, we ran across an article that suggested grilling clams. After doing a little research, we found out that this wasn’t as far-fetched as it sounds and decided to try it out. After a couple of attempts, we can whole-heartedly say that clam-grilling is both tasty and entertaining – but the recipe needed some tweaking to fit our tastes. Next time you’re looking for something new, try it out! more ›