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GuideUpdated July 16, 2026

4 Best Seafood Restaurants in Chicago

4 Chicago seafood restaurants for fresh fish, oysters, and ocean-forward menus.

The best seafood restaurants in Chicago are The Dearborn, Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, Lowcountry South Loop, and more. Start with The Dearborn if you want the strongest overall first pick.

By James Whitfield•4 ranked picks•Published July 16, 2026•Updated July 16, 2026
Methodology•Editorial team
The DearbornJoe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone CrabLowcountry South Loop
4 Best Seafood Restaurants in Chicago
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Top picks at a glance

#1The DearbornSeafood • South Loop • moderate#2Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone CrabSeafood • Chicago • $$$$#3Lowcountry South LoopSeafood • South Loop • moderate

Who this guide is for

The best seafood restaurants in Chicago range from raw bars and oyster counters to full seafood tasting menus. These picks are sorted by rating and reviewed by TastyPals editors. Picks span South Loop, Chicago and Wicker Park.

Quick picks

The Dearborn
Seafood • South Loop
The Dearborn keeps showing up in the right conversations in South Loop when people want a reliable seafood plan.
Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab
Seafood • Chicago
Let's be honest about what Joe's is: a Miami Beach institution (the Weiss family has been hauling in stone crab since 1913) transplanted to North Bridge in 2000, where tuxedoed servers move like th…
Lowcountry South Loop
Seafood • South Loop
Lowcountry South Loop has a thesis, and it commits to it without apology: you are here to get your hands dirty.
Browse all Chicago restaurantsBack to Chicago hub
Editorial details
Published: July 16, 2026
Last updated: July 16, 2026

On this page

  1. 1. The DearbornView →
  2. 2. Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone CrabView →
  3. 3. Lowcountry South LoopView →
  4. 4. Ina MaeView →

How the restaurants compare

Editorial restaurant image stand-in for The Dearborn
Google
The Dearborn
South Loop • Seafood
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
moderate
Best for
South Loop
Mood
South Loop
Editorial restaurant image stand-in for Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab
Google
Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab
Chicago • Seafood
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
$$$$
Best for
cocktail
Mood
Special occasion
Editorial restaurant image stand-in for Lowcountry South Loop
Google
Lowcountry South Loop
South Loop • Seafood
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
moderate
Best for
South Loop
Mood
South Loop
Ina Mae
Wicker Park • Seafood
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
value
Best for
Wicker Park
Mood
Wicker Park

How we chose

We looked for restaurants that feel like a strong fit for the guide topic, not just the most obvious names in the city. The shortlist favors rooms with clear mood, dependable pacing, and enough distinction to help someone decide faster. Read our full methodology →

Room tone

Lighting, pace, and general energy all need to support the reason someone clicked this guide.

Food fit

We favored restaurants that feel best suited for the moment, not just restaurants with broad reputation.

Useful range

The final list tries to give readers enough variation in neighborhood, price, and style to compare real options.

4 ranked picks

Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab — Let's be honest about what Joe's is: a Miami Beach institution (the Weiss family has been hauling in stone crab since 1913) transplanted to North Bridge in 2000, where tuxedoed servers move like they've been doing this their whole lives — because the recipe has. This is not a sleeper spot or a value play. It's a $50-plus-a-head, two-restaurants-in-one situation, and the bills get loud fast: I've seen one tab hit nearly $700 for three people once cocktails, wine, claws and steaks pile up. So go in clear-eyed and order with intent. The Florida stone crab is the whole reason you're here — sizes run from a $46.95 Jr. Jumbo to $94.95 for the large claws, sweet and cold and worth the splurge once. But the quieter genius is the crab bisque, which regulars swear is the best they've ever had, and the key lime pie, a proper Miami closer. The bone-in rib eye holds up the steakhouse half. It's old-school, tuxedo-tradition dining without irony. Bring someone celebrating something, and bring a credit card you trust. View restaurant →
Lowcountry South Loop — Lowcountry South Loop has a thesis, and it commits to it without apology: you are here to get your hands dirty. In a city where the South Loop still negotiates between its industrial past and its aspirational present, this room has built a reputation for the kind of communal, tactile eating that most contemporary Chicago spots are too self-conscious to fully embrace. The Build-a-Bag format — choose your seafood, your sauce, your heat level — is not a gimmick dressed up as a concept. It is a genuine proposition: that a legitimate occasion sometimes means a bib, a mallet, and a table where conversation is the only pacing that matters. This is the room for the group that would rather argue over spice levels than study a tasting menu's footnotes. The architecture of a meal runs through the bag itself. The Build a Bag - Shrimp and Build a Bag - Crawfish are understood to anchor the accessible, high-volume end of the order, with the Crawfish reportedly demanding the most patience — shells requiring the kind of deliberate work that good boil cooking always asks. Build a Bag - Mussel is consistently flagged as the sleeper option, known for absorbing the cooking liquid in ways that reward anyone thoughtful enough to order bread alongside. Build a Bag - King Crab and Build a Bag - Lobster Tail are the unambiguous moves for a table that intends to mark the occasion properly — the sauce reportedly building in layers of heat and butter rather than arriving as a single blunt note. For a first visit, the practical approach is to anchor the table with the King Crab or Lobster Tail, then build around it with Shrimp or Crawfish for contrast and volume. At price level two, the King Crab represents the steepest outlay and, by most accounts, the clearest return. Book Friday evening for a full room; come Thursday if you want to hear the person across from you. Request a booth for two — the bag experience benefits from a perimeter. View restaurant →

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Save these spots to your Chicago list

Save these spots to your Chicago list in the TastyPals app, then explore similar restaurants when you want a tighter shortlist for the night.

Personalized city picksCleaner shortlistsBuilt for iPhone and Android
TastyPalsTonight
Your taste. Our picks.
Smarter follow-through after the guide: better restaurant context, quicker narrowing, less second-guessing.
For tonight
Date night spots with warm rooms and polished service
Next step
Keep exploring in the app when you want a tighter shortlist