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224-588-8219
Picture for Bob Chinn's Crabhouse Rstrnt
City's Best

393 S Milwaukee Ave
Wheeling, IL 60090
Fax: 847-520-3944

Average Rating 4 (32 Ratings)

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Message from Bob Chinn's Crabhouse Rstrnt

With a vast seafood menu and crab specialty, this restaurant provides "a seafood lover's dream."Visit Citysearch.com

  • Menu
  • Mai Tai
  • Shrimp Special
Editorial Review
by CitySearch Contributor
Wheeling seafood empire packs in hordes of casual diners for super-fresh oysters, chowder and king crab legs.

The Scene
Fasten your seat belt for one of the most stimulating dining experiences in Chicago. No two nights are the same inside this 650-seat Wheeling establishment, which is consistently one of the highest-grossing restaurants in the country. Employing 350 people, from oyster shuckers to highly trained waitstaff, this is a well-oiled operation. The come-as-you-are clientele illustrates a comfortable, albeit hectic environment.

The Food
A mind-boggling daily menu of fresh flown-in seafood features rarities like flaky Hawaiian onaga and melt-in-your-mouth Florida stone crab claws, served on signature plastic plates with flatware from Target. Go easy on Chinn's delicious garlic rolls, which complement every meal. Recommended appetizer: Miniature garlic blue crab claws are a delicacy, as is the thick and creamy--perhaps Chicago's best--clam chowder. Must-have entrees include Hawaiian ahi tuna, served rare on a sizzling platter of sauteed onions, and sweet and tender "Red" King crab legs, Chinn's most popular item.
Insider Tips
from CitySearch

What to Drink
Signature mai tais are popular and potent, and Chinn's serves 850 of them daily. And you can take the cup home.


Save Money
Monday to Thursday, 3:30pm-6pm and 9pm-close, order a drink in the bar and grab a burger, wings, fish kebabs, a half-dozen oysters or clams, and more for just $1.95.


Know Before You Go
Chinn's doesn't take reservations on Saturdays; call ahead to put your name on the "preferred seating" list, which will cut your wait in half.


32 Ratings and Reviews

  • better than getting an A on you final

    Review rating : 1out of 5   s t i ll sIk - 05/15/2009

    the title says it all

  • Best Seafood in the US and maybe the World

    Review rating : 5out of 5   Willa2736 - 07/25/2008

    For several years in the late 80s and early 90s I lived in Deerfield, IL and at least once per week my husband and I ate at Bob Chins. When we first started going there it was quite small with one dining room, I don't remember how many could be seated but my guess would be around 60 to 100. We suffered through their first expansion where it would become big enough to seat about 350 people. The restaurant never closed during this "dusty" expansion - we continued to go but admittedly I worried that the quality of the food would suffer when the "big" numbers materialized. My positive thought was that perhaps we wouldn't have to "wait so long" to be seated. Well I was WRONG on both counts. The quality of the food didn't suffer and alas the wait got no better. Soooo as I understood it, they decided there was not enough parking and they could also benefit with places to sit while waiting for dinner around the exterior or perhaps it was enclosed, I really can't remember. At any rate another rehab was under way. Well guess what that sitting space never materialized and that rehab merely became more periphial (porch) seating for diners. I believe there was then space for some 750 folks to dine at Bob Chins. Guess what - if we weren't inside by 5:30 p.m. on Friday or Saturday evening it was still a 2 hour wait. You kinow they certainly were doing something right!!!!!
    In 1994 we retired from the FAA and moved to Phoenix where we remained until late 2005. During that period we made several trips back to the Chicagoland area to "go to Cubs games" and to eat at Bob Chins. Neither ever disappointed us. Now that we are really retired in Lake Kiowa Texas, we are still planning to take the family for a sojurn to Bob Chin's Crabhouse. The best seafood I have ever eaten and I have traveled and tried many from Maine to California, to Hawaii, to Europe, Japan, HongKong, Beijing, Australia and New Zealand.l BOB CHIN'S IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST!!!!!!
    Willa Hawke
    Lake Kiowa, TX

  • Review rating : 5out of 5   LAKEBOCA - 07/25/2008

  • Great Fresh Fish!!! Steaks are awesome too!

    Review rating : 5out of 5   RBT LTD - 07/25/2008

    If you are looking for a Restaurant with great ambience then DO NOT GO to Chinn’s. If you are looking for a Restaurant who servers some of the Best Sea Food and Steaks anywhere THEN GO TO Chinn’s. I grew up in Northbrook and before Bob opened up in Wheeling I use to go to his Restaurant in Northbrook called Kahala Terrace. I then started go to Chinn’s Crab House in Wheeling when he first opened. I have recommended Chinn’s to countless number of people. I also tell them to be prepared to have dinner with around 600 of your closest fiends. I do not go there for the ambience I go there for the FOOD! Best advise I can give someone is to go there for lunch because if you try to go there for dinner on a Friday or Saturday night on a nice summer night around 5-6:00 be prepared to wait at least an 1 ½ hours to get a table. Why do over 3,000 people come to the Restaurant daily. For the wooden upside down lite fixture baskets? The plastic cups? The salad buffet? The crowds? The waiting in lines? NO - THEY COME FOR THE FOOD!!!!!! If you are looking for formal dining DO NOT GO TO CHINN’S. If you want a Very Good to Excellent seafood dinner or steak THEN CHINN’S IS THE PLACE. P.S. The Mai Tais are GREAT and yes they come in a plastic cups but your welcome to take the cup home.

  • Review rating : 5out of 5   Rhgcpa1 - 07/25/2008

  • Review rating : 5out of 5   BevinB - 07/25/2008

  • Absolutely the Best!!!

    Review rating : 5out of 5   REvans1155 - 07/25/2008

    And not just for the food! The wait staff is without a doubt, the BEST in the Chicagoland area! Friendly, efficient, knowledgeable and they make the dining experience uniquely special!! We have had Matt H. on our last 2 visits and will ask to be in his section every time...even if we have to wait a bit longer!

  • The best STEAKS TOO!

    Review rating : 5out of 5   Generand - 07/10/2008

    If you haven't had the Dinner for Two, you haven't eaten the best they have to offer. Their 32oz porterhoue steaks top the downtown bunch IMHO. I've been going there for over 10 years now. Still the finest dining I know and believe me, I've eaten the best have to offer downtown. Yeah, the decor isn't the nicest, but then again, I GO TO EAT! If I want to look at fine furniture, I'll go to Walter E. Smithe. If I want to look at fancy silverware, I go to Crate and Barrel or Sak's Home Center. When I want steak and seafood, I GO TO BOB'S!

  • Review rating : 5out of 5   JBE199 - 06/27/2008

  • Bob Chin's

    Review rating : 1out of 5   Flak Bait B26 - 06/27/2008

    Worst seafood restaurant on the face of the planet. Plastic cups? Loud....garlic on everything. Just awful. This place would close in a week if it were on the east or west coast.

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