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My son took his mother to Joe’s Crab Shack a few years ago, and I’ve wanted to try it ever since. Last night was my chance.

I am not one to hang on every advertisement of chain restaurants, leaning more towards the best kept secrets that a region has in out of the way family establishments because of the food quality. Mom and pop just do a better job, hands down. But, whenever I run into a good chain store, I’ll give it my due, and the Joe’s Crab Shack in the Woodfield area up in Schaumburg is one of those.

It’s pretty easy to find. As a matter of fact, it is extremely visible from I-355 south; can’t miss it, just south of the I-90 intersection, in the western suburbs of Chicago.

My wife loves hot, steaming crab in the shell, so she ordered the $19.95 King Crab Special and wasn’t disappointed. They offer the option of a garlic steamed process and it was wonderful. A whole King Crab done well for $20 is a value anywhere.

I had the Coconut Shrimp and was also very pleased by the texture, flavor, steamy hot delivery and the sweet marmalade sauce for dipping. We kept running low on drawn butter and sauce but our fantastic waitress, Kim, kept those coming ahead of “run out”, as well as our soft drinks and garlicky biscuits (way better than Red Lobster’s).

The atmosphere is decidedly laid back with a decorated ambiance that must have taken one of those eclectic design firms that delivers strange and interesting collections of one-of-a-kind theme items hanging around the place.

It was a very enjoyable dinner, sitting there within the large but cozy confines of the interesting building while looking out our large window at the 12 inches of snow that fell this week. We also shared a few bites of the strawberry cheesecake that was one of the best I’ve ever had. But, the best executed menu item was the coffee. I’d compare their coffee to any of the most expensive javas in the world. And we all know how important the coffee is in judging a restaurant.

The price point was at the bottom end of the retail food chain without giving up any quality, except for the Caesar salad. At best it was mediocre and that might be a rather conservative judgment. One of my favorite meals is a nice, large, chicken Caesar salad. I eat many of them a year all over the Chicago area, at home and every where we travel while visiting the national parks. I know a good Caesar salad, and this wasn’t one of them. It might have been made up ahead of time and stuck in a cooler for a couple of hours which is a very big no-no for romaine lettuce and Caesar salad dressing. Or maybe they use an inferior dressing, I’m not sure. The garlic croutons were crunchy and very good.

But, the rest of the meal was phenomenal! Ask for Kim, don’t order the Caesar, get the crab dip or the lobster fondue as appetizers and you won’t go wrong.

Oh, and order coffee with your desert. Mmm!

So, for best seafood in the Chicago area, I pick Joe’s Crab Shack on Golf Rd in Schaumburg.
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