Bob Chinn’s Crab House

Everyone from the suburbs of Chicago always mentions Bob Chinn’s for seafood. When I lived in Chicago, I really wanted to visit but I didn’t know how to get to Wheeling. Luckily, Ken and his family have been going since Ken was a kid and Ken’s parents took us there for dinner when we arrived in Chicago! My friend, Carolina, said that they also have a really good steak but since it was my first time visiting the restaurant, I wanted to get the full Bob Chinn’s experience.

The original restaurant is located in Wheeling:

I’ve heard rumors that there used to be another branch in the city, but we opted to go to the original one that Ken used to go to as a kid. The restaurant is very family-friendly and was pretty packed for a Saturday night. Apparently they have really long waits because in their lobby area, they have all kinds of entertainment for kids (caricature artists, balloon animals, and lots of televisions). We arrived a bit later than Ken’s parents so by the time we arrived, our table was ready. The menu is printed daily because Bob Chinn gets seafood flown in everyday from all over the world so the menu varies a bit. There were way too many options for me to figure out what I wanted so Ken took care of the ordering. First, he started off with a mai-tai:

It’s world famous and very strong:

We shared garlic rolls:

They’re fresh rolls painted with butter, parsley and garlic. Really good, but they definitely need a little salt.

We all ordered bowls of their clam chowder:

The clam chowder was very thick and creamy and was very tasty. I feel like we all ate a lot of soup and garlic rolls that we didn’t have enough room for our main courses! Ken’s parents ordered the same thing as us so we were able to get our food at the same time. We ordered a two pound lobster:

And 24 ounces of Alaskan king crab legs:

I don’t know if I’ve ever complained about too much seafood but I was so frustrated with myself because I couldn’t finish all of the crab legs! We finished all of the lobster (and it was awesome) but then I think we both filled up because we had the appetizers. When we go next time, I’m saving all of my appetite for the main course!

One really cool thing about Bob Chinn’s: they know you’re going to be eating with your hands and you probably don’t want to go to the bathroom to wash them so they set up a bunch of washing stations throughout the main dining room:

So smart! I can’t wait to go back to Chicago so we can go to Bob Chinn’s again – the food was really good and it was definitely worth the drive to Wheeling!