Shaw’s Crab House

This review is for the Saturday night «Grand Crab Buffet». First of all, I am normally a huge fan of Shaw’s restaurant so my expectations were set pretty high. The buffet price of $ 69.00 is a pretty hefty price so I expected a much better quality and a much broader selection especially with the «Shaw’s» name. I was completely looking forward to shrimp cocktail as that is advertised however it was peel and eat shrimp. This is not even the same category. I am in the seafood/​meat business so I understand cost effectiveness. However, it wouldn’t cost much to put out some peeled and deveined shrimp. Even casinos put that out at a much lower cost. Also, the king crab legs were definitely Browns not Reds so they were salty and fishy tasting. And they were small 20+. I would expect at least 12 – 15 at that price point. Not at all what I expected. Also, the restroom upstairs was so dirty and in need of an update desperately. The only part of the tiny buffet that was nice was the sweet table. They did have east coast and west coast oysters at the buffet however I am not a fan of oysters so I can’t comment on those.
Also the coffee I ordered with my dessert was completely weak and Luke warm. The check was $ 188 for my husband and I (2 buffets, one martini, glass of wine & cup of coffee) Would of enjoyed dinner downstairs much better at that price point.

Food was very good. We got the Crab Cake appetizer, King Crab legs, seafood salad, and bacon Brussels sprouts. It was a bit expensive for what we got.
The salad was very refreshing. I would come back but I would try the seafood buffet, especially because they serve King Crab at the buffet.

I have come to Shaws for years. Business dinners and our companies holiday parties. Always great food and service. I took my wire out for lunch at Shaws. She had the seafood salad-​she loved it. I had the new England clam chowder and oysters rockefeller. One of the best meals. Great food and service!

Visited on ¹⁄₃₀. Crowded, cramped space in the dining room. So loud we couldn’t hear each other speak. Food marginal and overpriced for the value — waitress disinterested.

Came with my husband and two kids (4 & 6 y/​o). My 4 y/​o has children tenders and my 6 y/​o daughter had mac & cheese. She said it was good. I had the «The Signature «, it come with 6 Oz of filet minion and crab. The steak was slightly over cooked since I asked for medium rear. It tasted it a little dry and it was not tender. My husband had the lobster and crab dish. He liked the lobster more than the crab. He had bloodymary and he said it was good. For appetizer, my daughter had a chocolate cake and it was a big slice. We couldn’t finish because it was too sweet. I had to drink water after each bite. The ambience is nice and romantic and the service was good. The restaurant did not make me feel like I should go back.

I came here with a group of 6 to celebrate my birthday. It would say it’s a fantastic place for a celebration. The oysters were really fresh, surprisingly so for Chicago. They tasted as good as the ones I had at the Island Creek Oyster Bar in Boston. We got the sampler so we were able to try all their different oysters. They were all gobbled up and no one complained about any particular one that they didn’t like. The chopped salad was also really fresh with bits of avocado and tomato.
For the main entrée, I ordered the crispy whole fried red snapper. It definitely was an entire red snapper, head and all which was great for me since I’m used to eating whole fish. It had a great crisp on the outside. The only thing I would say that I was a bit disappointed about was that the meat of the fish was a little dry but I guess I’m comparing it to whole fried fish I’ve had at Thai restaurants. I could be a bit biased but at $ 38, I would just think you wouldn’t want to over cook your fish. Anyways, the thai chili vinaigrette that it came with was a bit tart but helped with the dryness.
The rest of the table ordered king crab, a seafood combo platter, and tilapia. We shared 2 side orders of lobster mac ‘n cheese and 1 order of broccoli. Everyone enjoyed everything they ordered as well as the side orders. I was really excited about the lobster mac ‘n cheese but it wasn’t as cheesy as I thought it would be. Even though there were good portions of lobster meat, the lobster didn’t really taste like anything so overall that was a bit disappointing as well.
Our server was incredible. He was really attentive, engaged in a few conversations with us, and brought me a complimentary piece of chocolate cake for my birthday. It was delicious and I was so thankful that he lit a simple candle in the cake and said happy birthday. There were no awkward and loud singing waiters which made this 35 year old grateful! I would definitely go back for a special date night or another celebration. Stick with the oysters and perhaps choose another seafood dish.

So ever since my first review, a member of management reached out to me. To keep it short, they got me coming back to Shaws a number of times. Worth commending.
Saturday Grand Buffet visit — Worth it. Sure it gets expensive (~60+/person with tip-​tax), but when one have that seafood craving, this place definitely hits the spot!
Oyster special hours note: daily 4 – 6 happy hour is legit, but for some odd reason, during 1 $ 1 hour specials, something seems amiss. How is it possible that there’s some sort of shell gunk/​crap on ¼ of the oysters being shucked? I would understand if speed resulted in a few oysters having gunk, but the day I went ending up being a winter storm (a lot less customers) so how can the preparations be so…
In terms of Oyster Specials, still hard to beat their quality in the burbs, or at least I haven’t found a place short of shucking them myself.
Note: Supposedly they will be implementing drink specials in the future — can’t wait!

Amazing.
Sat in the bar area, service was fantastic. We started with a sushi roll, which was very good. I had the fish sandwich while my boyfriend opted for the crab legs. Everything was great.
Drinks are also amazing. Love this place, we will continue to go back.
Perfect for special occasions, date night, or just in the mood for really good sea food!

Loved this place my food was delicious and the drinks were so refreshing and great! I will be back and I recommend this restaurant!

This visit was a return visit for my boyfriend and my self after having a very bad experience at the chicago location. We opted to do the all you can eat crab buffet and we were seriously unimpressed. First off, the service was bad yet again. I understand not needing constant attention at a buffet but our server was no where to be found most of the time. It took about ten minutes upon being sat before she showed up then another ten minutes to get our drinks out to us the first time. We ended up asking the bus boy for drinks or to at least find our server on several occasions. Now, this really frustrates me considering this is exactly what happened at the other location.
As for the food. The hot items were cold, the crab cakes had so many shells in them they were impossible to enjoy. The crab tartlets were cold, the salads were warm, I mean get it together people. The selection was very minimal and the crab legs that were supposed to be amazing were not. They were tough and sort of chewy which meant they were overlooked. I liked how they cracked the shell on them but they just were not very good. For a restaurant to be called a crab house it was sad. I will say that the dessert table, which had more items than the dinner table, was very good. There were a few things that were tasty but I did leave Shaw’s disappointed (yet again) and a bit hungry. I expect more from a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant but it looks like profit is their most important concern.

Finally had a chance for a return visit after the Owner connected with me because of my last review.
We chose to sit at a table in the bar area, which we prefer. Started off with the Shaw’s Bloody Mary, which was very good. Moved on to the raw oysters and Florida crab claws. Both were excellent. My husband ordered the whole red snapper for dinner, it was cooked to perfection. I chose the seafood salad. Happy to report it was a very pleasant experience!

This place IS the place for Crabs if you’re a fan of them. The best King Crab I have had in the area. Cooked to perfection, slides right out of the pre-​cracked shells, sweet and tender. Great appetizers and drinks and wonderful desserts. Don’t pass this up if it’s within a reasonable drive time from you.

All I can say is «Shaw’s» shank redemption! Shaw’s advertised an hour of $ 1 oysters on Facebook, which executed a perfect plan for date night.
I went about making reservations on Open Table so I could get dining points followed by reviewing photos on Unilocal.This always helps me plan ahead, as I have OCD tendencies when I look at the menu. Meaning I have to read everything on it before deciding what to order, which isn’t always the most satisfying for my more impatient husband.
Happy to say that by the time my hubby came home from work, I had our whole dinner ordered in my head. This means more time for drinking and eating and less time obsessing over the menu at the restaurant.
We were greeted by a friendly staff and waiter named Jimmy. Service was on point.
We started off with a dozen mixed oysters for their $ 1 special hour. A dozen combo oysters are priced at $ 36 on the regular menu, so we saved $ 24, woohoo! More money for the amazing «blueberry mule» drink I ordered, which is blueberry vodka and ginger beer on the rocks, served in a copper cup. Highly recommend it!
I paired the amazing table side bread with a cup of seafood gumbo. It was perfectly spiced and meaty with delicious okra.
Hubby ordered surf and turf with his steak cooked medium to medium well, it tasted perfect! While I went for the more traditional seafood combo with garlic shrimp, seared scallops and Shaw’s renowned crab cake. We got a side of garlic spinach to share. Every item was perfectly cooked and prepared. We finished with our plates cleaned!
Craving for a refreshing dessert to clean our palette, we decided to order the key lime pie to go, to give our magnificent meal time to settle on our ride home.
We had our key lime pie dessert in our warm cuddly bed and we lived happily ever after…

We love Shaw’s. They’ve always been accommodating and the food is always prepared well and is a vacation for your tastebuds!
I recently went for a late dinner and ordered the Bloody Mary. It was one of the best I’ve ever had — even better than Chad’s! Sorry, Chad.
About 4 years ago, I drove a cake from Carlo’s Bakery in NJ, back to IL. We were having my daughter’s birthday dinner at Shaw’s and I asked about bringing a cake. There was a cake slicing fee per piece but after I explained what I paid for the cake and the lengths I went to get it back here, they kindly waived the fee for us. I was most appreciative and I’m sure we more than covered that fee by what we all ate and drank.
All and all, I would suggest this establishment. Lettuce Entertain you typically has a very nice sale (last I remember, it was purchase $ 200, get $ 50) on gift cards around the holiday season and they are perfect gifts for family, friends, teachers, etc. and even yourself!

Okay so I know this isn’t the Chicago Shaw’s and after I came here I wish that we went to Shaws in Chicago. Upon arrival, I did bring my kids with in a stroller and was rudely told that there are no strollers allowed in the main dining room (where I had made a reservation) and then they shooed us off to the Oyster Bar. I mean, I get it kids can sometimes be trouble but this isn’t a 5 star Michelin restaurant where kids shouldn’t be allowed in the main dining room. I then proceeded to ask if I can put them in high chairs if that would be okay. The hostesses kind of nodded and once again hinted that we belong in the Oyster bar. Ouch, talk about a slap in the face. I should have walked out right there and then but I decided to make the most of my experience.
Upon sitting in the oyster bar, our server approached us and he seemed nice. He brought out some cold sour dough bread which was such a turn off since shouldn’t a nice place at least have warm bread? And where was the bread basket that I guess only people in the dining room get. Well, I still asked for that bread basket. It was brought out in like 20 minutes and there was only one roll even though the server could clearly see it’s not a table of one and once again the roll was cold and hard. Like wow, worst bread basket experience. Everything else seemed to go downhill from there, didn’t care for the lobster bisque, the oysters although happy hour price weren’t fresh in my opinion and we got these super tiny ones. Then it gets better, the fried seafood sampler was tiny. I mean for $ 16 (per person, what a messed up rule) you get one crab cake the size of a quarter, two shrimp and a few calamari, I mean that’s just a waste of money. Maybe if I ordered just the calamari the portion would have been decent.
Then my husband and I decided to each order the $ 24 lobster rolls and we both hated them, the bread wasn’t warm and not super fresh and the lobster meat was a pink neon like color, I don’t know what that was and I’ve had my share of lobster rolls whether in the east coast and in Chicago and this is the absolute worst one I’ve ever had.
I really am thankful I didn’t splurge further on the king crab legs based on the poor quality of everything else, ugh gross. But of course I decided to still get dessert. They get a star for nice presentation for the dessert sampler which had key lime pie, cherry pie, mini crème brûlée and a chocolate cake. The only star is for presentation because everything else was just eh, and I’m a dessert person meaning it doesn’t take that much to impress me as I love me some oreos out of a box, but oreos out of the box would have been more satisfying than what we had. I left extremely disappointed since the place is not cheap and I was kind of appalled by the poor etiquette of the hostesses. If she didn’t want us and my kids in the dining room, she could have at least been nicer about it. I don’t think I will be back.

Shaw’s is getting a little too expensive for my pocketbook.
Two of us dropped in for lunch. Here’s what we had:
1 — Margarita
1 — Lagunitas
1 — Iced Tea
½ dozen Oyster Sampler ($ 18)
1 — Seafood Salad ($ 22)
1 — Alaskan Sockeye Salmon ($ 28)
Total bill before tip = $ 98.37
All of the food items were excellent, absolutely no complaints with the quality of the food or the preparation. The Sockeye Salmon is a seasonal special. For lunch, you get a 6 oz piece of salmon with a ridiculous frou-​frou side salad that is more of a garnish than a side. Service was top-​notch as usual.
I can’t rate higher than 3-​stars due to the price/​value quotient. Yes, I know that you are paying up for the ambience and it certainly is a nice dining experience. Unfortunately, I can’t justify these prices. I have been grilling wild, Alaskan salmon, when in season, for over 6 years. Sure, Shaw’s preparations are more consistent but I can buy 5 times the amount of salmon at Whole Foods when it is on sale. Sorry guys but I will only be back for ½ off oysters happy hour.

We mostly hit Shaw’s for Oysters and drinks basically always sitting at the bar… I’ve been going here for years…
You cannot go wrong with Shaw’s oysters. They always have a good selection to satisfy your tastes. The cocktail sauce & horseradish is good (just ask for extra horseradish) and the Tabasco is nearby. Most importantly is they shuck them properly meaning cutting them loose from the shell (some places don’t??). People complain about the $ 3 per but you get a selection and they are fresh, prepared correctly. If you want the best deal around go between 4 & 6pm and order the ones on special.
Bloody Mary… one of the best I’ve had with a super garnish! Just make it a double so you can taste the vodka as with any BM…
Sushi here is good but don’t expect greatness. It’s perfect if you just want something small to snack on. I’ve had various rolls many times. think it was a smart addition to the menu…
Shaw’s is expensive. Always has been, always will be…

I LOVE SHAW’S…best thing about Shaw’s for me… Oysters, oysters and more oysters! Yes, I am an oyster lover. Always fresh, always get the 2 or 3 variety, they have half off oyster nights between 4 – 6, and .50 oyster nights! How great is that? You don’t have to pay full price! Oysters are not always huge, blue points are larger than the riptides — but they are always tasty, briny, sweet and just mouth watering delicious. They now offer 6 oyster varieties!!! Connecticut blue points — large & meaty with a mild briny finish, Katama Bays, Calm Cove, Oakland Bay, Barron Points (sweeter finish) & Riptides… mmmmmmmm.
I’ve tried many different menu options as well… sushi is pretty darn good. Scallops entrée way over priced, fish & chips very good, but again, over priced, seared tuna delicious, lobster tail, crab legs. If you love seafood, you won’t be disappointed, it has been consistently good every time I’ve dined here, I just think Shaw’s leans towards the overly pricey side on many of their entrees… I could eat 2 – 3 dozen oysters here and call it a day.
Atmosphere is nice — casual side with bar, and they have a more formal dining section as well.
Just come for the oysters :)

By far my favorite brunch buffet. It’s pricey but worth it! It’ll cost you $ 48 and runs every Sunday 10am-1:30pm.
Omelette bar. Sushi. Fresh oysters-​typically 3 different choices. Shrimp cocktail. King crab legs (pre-​cracked so easy to eat). Lobster Mac & cheese. Candied bacon. Crab cakes. Parmesan crusted haddock on a bed of spinach. Lobster bisque. Don’t forget the huge dessert table with cupcakes, tiramisu, crème brûlée, and more!
They also have fun themed brunches like Pirates and Princesses and I attended Brunch with Santa this past year and got pictures with the jolly fella!
Check their website for $ 1 oysters 1 day a week for 1 hour.

Good ambiance, plenty of space (for events and such), good service, and good food. Very pricey so if you’re in a budget, skip this place. The moment you walk in, you know you’re in a seafood restaurant as the fishy smell greets you. This was my only gripe about this place. I would’ve given this 5 stars for the taste and quality of the food (for a Midwest restaurant) but the fishy smell and the selection made it 4 stars for me. Look, if you want the best and fresh seafood, Midwest is not the place, you must go to the coasts (east or west). This place will do though if you can’t travel to the coasts.
I have had their haddock ($ 26)in the past and that’s 4 stars. This visit, I tried their lobster roll ($ 24) which is served on a Texas toast pocket with a side of cole slaw and French fries. It was good and if I ever come back to this place, I will have it again. In the past I’ve also tried their sushi and that was good as well. I’m too cheap to try their crab legs for $ 65 pp.
Their dessert sampler came with samples of cheesecake, key lime pie, crème brûlée, and cherry pie. MUST HAVE! Perfect serving for 2 people.
Enjoy!