Chicago Classics - The Half Shell
By Anthony Todd in Food on Jun 24, 2010 3:45PM
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.
We wouldn't recommend the Half Shell for its decor, ambiance or even smell. The decor is... well, the closest description we can come up with is New England during a power outage. Nautical bric-a-brac, but so dimly lit you wouldn't really know. It smells like a dive bar (beer, hints of cigarettes long past) with the addition of some brine. The posters on the wall are at least 20 years old - one "Hidden Treasures" of Chicago poster that listed the Half Shell as a food find was from the early 80s. But once you start looking at the bar, you realize this isn't your typical dive. Next to the beer taps, the booze and the old coasters is a huge tub of ice and oystery-goodness that takes up 1/3 of the bar.
The food is what makes a trip to the Half Shell worth taking. Order a half-dozen oysters for $8 or a cold order of crab legs for $11, and sit back with a beer or a (surprisingly strong and decent) cheap cocktail. Or, if you feel like being fancy and experiencing a true mental disconnect, order an ounce of Romanoff Blue Seal Caviar ($28) and a bottle of "imported" champagne ($24). For dinner, have the crab. Trust us. A huge plate of perfectly cooked legs, served on top of toast and fries (order the fries on the side to avoid soggyness) with garlic butter for dipping and a cracker for dismembering. $26 for that is one of the best bargains we know. Our companion had the "Thirty Two Pointer," a "generous combination platter of french fried shrimps, frog legs, smelts, perch and clams." We don't usually endorse fried seafood, but this was pretty darn tasty - and for $17 was almost as good a deal as our crab.
The Half Shell is one of a dying breed. Open since 1968, it's one of the last old-school seafood bars in the city - a place where you can go and chow down without pretense and at a low price. It warmed our heart to see large men wearing baseball caps and sports jerseys - ordinary guys - chowing down on oysters, drinking a beer and watching sports. This used to be normal, but we doubt many of today's wrigleyville bros would be so happy to be surrounded by bivalves.
The Half Shell is located at 676 W. Diversey Parkway.