Monday, November 4, 2013

the forgotten restaurant

i finally took the time to google and research the name of one of my favorite restaurants that i have ever been to...yes i did forget only because it was somewhat chaotic that evening. and it only took me 7 years to research. i have been to chicago many times since and couldn't ever figure out where i was to be able explain it to anyone...then people would mention names of restaurants and none would ring a bell.

yes here is the story...then i will get into all of the juicy details of this amazing place. i actually worked for a pharmaceutical company and we had our national meeting and product training in chicago that year. thousands of reps attended making it very congested. with restaurants in the general vicinity of the conference center  and hotels packed a member of my team called her parents who were very frequent visitors of the windy city. we hailed a few cabs and we were off to 60 east grand ave. (well i know that now) as my team mate called to make reservations we were on our way. the night was dark rainy and cold we were very hungry and almost opted for room service but this was really the only night we could all get together as we were all going in different directions throughout our stay.

my first impression when walking in was i loved the look, atmosphere and energy but there was no room to walk...it was packed (which that is a very good sign when you have never been). people were waiting for tables, mingling at the bar laughing at the high top tables, voices were all you could hear...and you had to talk loud to the person across from you. the picture below is the "waiting" area with the bar and high top seating.


so i think it must have taken close to 1.5 hours to actually get seated since our reservation was made in route. we enjoyed conversation as well as laughs so the time went fast. we headed through the curtain entry way pictured above which they keep the curtains down during the peak hours and i was surprised at how quaint and formal it was. we were seated at a large round table for 8-12 (maybe).

we all placed our orders. a few of us ordered the crab...i am such a seafood girl so i was one of them (pretty sure it was the king crab legs). we were all pretty excited to see what the crab was all about because we were told that's what they were known for...that and their amazing steaks (filet).

our dinners came and a guy like the one pictured below showed up. he cut our crab legs for us. so it was a matter of peeling back to two pieces and pulling our the meat. wowza these were huge and of course everyone that didn't order them were wanting them now.




this is similar to what they looked like. mine actually came with 2 large claws and probably 6 meaty legs. these are served chilled with butter and lemon. and are beyond amazing. as many different times as i've had crab from various cities these were the largest and sweetest ever.and actually they were so large they actually filled me up quick and i shared the rest with the others. the next few pics are some of their entrees. I love the presentation...simple and yummy...not too crazy!






scallops



turtle pie

meeting and banquet room


so the next time you are in chicago visit joe's seafood prime steak and stone crab they have an amazing restaurant, a top notch wait staff and the most important thing...their food is killer! the next time i go (now that i found it again) i will be going with my husband...but its a surprise....shhhhhh ((wink))
or
you can visit their one other location in las vegas 
or
in january 2014 a location in DC








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