When the air wasn’t thick with industrial waste from the Union Stockyards, working class 1950s Chicagoans enjoyed the savory smoke of another foregone institution; Chicago’s shrimp shacks. Today, a few one-room huts along the waterfront are the only clues left of what once stood one of the largest seafood shipping operations in the country. A few names still mean a lot to native locals. Calumet Fishery is a shrine to the smokiest salmon and juiciest fried shrimps since 1928. Lawrence’s Fisheries started when a first generation American began serving frog legs in 1950. But if shrimp shacks were once a critical part of Chicago cuisine, how could this Chicago tradition fade away, and how can visitors still taste the recipes that shaped community and culture in the Windy City’s days of old?
Shrimp is not found in Lake Michigan, so it wasn’t until Troha’s Shrimp House, operational since 1917, saw an opportunity in 1935 to sell fried shrimp from New Orleans. Soon a new flavor hit the taste buds of Chicago, and the shrimp shack was born. After World War II, Chicago’s waterways saw a heavy increase in shipping and fishing boat traffic. Smokehouses were set up along the Chicago and Calumet Rivers, and shrimp was no small business. Shrimp shacks served deep-fried, smoked, and fresh seafood to a community known more for its landlocked variety of meat.
The honeymoon was short lived. As early as the 1960s the shrimp shacks of Chicago were feeling the pressure from mother nature herself. Lamprey eels decimated local trout populations, the once mighty community of Chicago’s smelt fishermen, the elusive Spring-time seasonal favorite of Lake Michigan, also fell prey to new predators leading to near-extinction. Ecological change, and the slowing of boat traffic through Chicago’s waterways made the surrounding shrimp shacks disappear.
So where should our dear readers go if they want to experience a shrimp shack as authentically Chicago as Deep Dish herself? The one good thing about hard times is that only the best survive. That’s what you’ll find in the aforementioned 95th Calumet Fishery, Troha’s Shrimp House, and Lawrence’s Fisheries. Newcomers like Frank’s and Snappy’s uphold generations of tradition, continuing to serve history through the highest quality product, one shrimp at a time.
MORE READING:
A Fish Story: Chicago’s Seafood History
Troha’s About Us
Calumet Fisheries Has Been Smoking Fish Since Before You Were Born
