The Boiler Shrimp & Crawfish

-Grubbing in Chicago (land)
New to the 'Scene'

The early running favorite for biggest Chicago food trend in 2015 is Cajun food. There's been a handful of restaurants with a New Orleans and or Cajun connection to have opened of late. There's even a genre within the trend in Cajun Seafood spots. The Angry Crab opened this past Spring to lines of people and they're still lining up for it. Out in Skokie a place called 'The Boiler' has recently opened and they too have been packed. I decided to check them out.

Newly Opened Cajun Seafood Spot in Skokie 

Our visit would happen just a few days after they opened, yet the place was already packed. Its tucked away in a strip mall and they don't open until 4p and at this point I imagine they have lines waiting to be seated when the door opens. The setup was a bit odd as they have two cash registers right there when you walk in but you wait to order with a waitress and then pay her when you're done. It made the situation longer than it had to be. If people paid upon walking in and then sat down with a number I don't see why it wouldn't speed up the process. But they're learning.

Menu / Boiled Crawfish

I'll be honest. These places are all pretty much the same to me. I've been to popular ones in New Orleans and now I've tried a few in Chicago. Biggest difference in them all is whats available with the boiled seafood. Here they have a few sides including the standards of sausage, mushrooms, corn. A side of rice was dry. They supply a bunch of limes and salt to make a sauce with to dip your seafood into but I thought it was just fine with the sauce they tossed the seafood in. In this case we tried the combo that included all three flavors. It was good. But the problem was the crawfish were cooked too long. The crab legs were just fine and certainly hit the spot. I'll be back for them.

Crab Legs

The Boiler Shrimp & Crawfish
3445 Dempster St
Skokie, IL 60076
(847) 779-3150
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