Sunday, January 1, 2012

Chicago Eats - Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab



As with pretty much every other restaurant I've been to recently, I had been looking forward to dining at Joe's for the longest time. Not to be confused with Joe's Crabshack, Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab is amazing. The family and I decided to celebrate my father's birthday this year by going to a new restaurant, and I decided to take everyone to Joe's. My family agreed - one of the best meals ever. From the food to the service, I was extremely happy with Joe's.




Stone Crab: AMAZING. A little sweet, but perfectly tender and delicious. Did I say that they were amazing? The house mustard was a perfect complement to the stone crab, but you didn't need it as the crab meat stood on its own. This is something that everyone should at least try when dining here. They're not cheap, but then again, you know what you're in for when dining at Joe's...


Mussels: of everything I had tonight, the mussels were probably the least amazing. Not that there was anything wrong with them as they were great. But I didn't think that the broth was anything worth raving about, and that's one of the main reasons to order mussels, isn't it?


Petite Filet and Lobster: I ordered my steak rare, and it came out rare. The main star however was the lobster and Joe's cooked it perfectly, served with drawn butter as lobster should be. It was your standard surf-and-turf, but it was delicious.


Chilean Sea Bass: A bit salty, but good nonetheless. One of the items I thought was a bit overpriced, however.



Seafood Chopped Salad: They give you a LOT of chilled seafood on this plate. A LOT. I don't normally suggest getting any sort of a salad as a meal when you go out, but this is something that would fit the bill as extraordinary and worth getting, especially for the price (less than $20). I was actually impressed with the amount of various seafood served with this one.



Sides - Jennie's Mashed Potatoes and Sauteed Spinach: Both of the sides were great. Nothing out of this world, and to be honest I was a bit focused on my main meal. But can't go wrong with this starch/veggie combo.


Banana Creme Pie: Very good dessert. They don't try to throw a ton of sugar at you with this one, and everything blended together quite nicely. Would highly recommend.


Birthday Brownie a la Mode: A bit sweet for me...but it's brownie a la mode. The brownie was warm and moist. 


Service was impeccable. Our server didn't over-serve, quick refills on drinks/water, nice explanations of items on the menu. Definitely world-class. I'll just say it - Joe's is not a cheap place to eat (unless you accidentally find yourself at Joe's Crabshack instead). But, I would consider Joe's a place to go on special occasions. The food is amazing, a low amount of noise, and all around service is tight and accommodating. I definitely found great value here, and look forward to the next time I go back.