Holy Mackerel!
Categories:
Bars & Pubs, Restaurants, Seafood Restaurants
Details:
$$$$, Business Breakfast, Business Dining, Date Spot, Fine Dining, Hotel Restaurants, Lunch Spot, Special Occasion Dining, Open 7 Days
Message from Holy Mackerel!
Holy Mackerel! combines fresh seafood, fresh cocktails and fresh design. Menus are printed daily to offer only the best and freshest seafood available - none of the fish has ever been frozen. The interior is a fresh take on vintage design. Upon entering Holy Mackerel!, guests are greeted by a dramatic wall of water and an inviting bar. The sophisticated yet casual dining room features large-scale murals depicting vintage Chicago lakefront scenes, wood wainscoting and fully upholstered leather chairs.
Editorial by Citysearch
The SceneMore sedate than sports-fan central Harry Caray's, handsome furnishings with subtle nautical references, an entry waterwall, leather chairs and plush booths and vintage-inspired lighting create a plesant if slightly snoozy hotel-dining atmosphere. Lakefront murals and WWII-era swing and standards add time-warp whimsy. Service is friendly if not quite solid on some basics.
The Food
The seafood-centric menu of classic, creative and Asian-inspired preps is reprinted daily with fresh flown-in selections. Pristine regional oysters are iced-down with cocktail and mignonette sauces. Fried rock shrimp, a tad limp and low on flavor, is saved by a zesty spice kick and Thai coconut dipping sauce. Generous lobster boil is a purist's delight: Whole lobster, clams, shrimp, mussels, new potatoes and corn, each perfectly cooked and juicy-tender. Conversely, cioppino is skimpy on seafood and oddly unbalanced in heavy tomato "broth" resembling pasta sauce. Banana cream pie and warm buttered rum chocolate pudding cake are decadent denouements.
Hits
Holy Cow! What a spectacular selection of ultra-fresh seafood.
Misses
The staid setting is luxurious but you can't help but feeling you're in a suburban hotel.
Key Points
- Plan a party
- Unique banquet spaces
- Accommodates groups of 404
The Inside Scoop
- Know Before You Go - While Harry Caray's steaks are listed on the menu, landlubbers will appreciate that their whole menu is also available on request (they share a kitchen).
- What to Drink - Get in the swim with a Nautical Mile (Rubi Rey rum, mango puree, fresh lemonade, a spalsh of Aperol and a Swedish fish, $9) or Seaworthy (pomegranate, Navan vanilla liqueur, and fresh pineapple juice served over Grand Marnier-marinated berries, $11.25).
- The Extras - Seven days a week starting at 6am, breakfast dishes include pesto scramble, New Orleans crawfish omelette, vanilla ice cream-battered french toast stuffed with Bailey's cream cheese, and crabcake Benedict.
- Parking - There's a free lot, but you can live large with the free valet.
Latest reviews from Citysearch.
Food is Super Average
by kbgeorge
Went on a Friday night with family. Service was very, very good but Food was super average for the prices. Kids menu is very limited with a total of 4 items. Expected more of a menu/vibe of a Shaw's but didn't even come close.
I had the atlantic salmon and it was flavorless and a bit dry. The Rock shrimp potatoes on the side were good but not spectacular. My wife had the Lemon Sole. Again, not bad but very average flavor for someplace that flies in fish daily. My daughter had the "amish chicken" which was the most plain small half breast of chicken for $20.00 I've ever seen. The music playing was from the 40's and had no energy in the room. I walked through the Harry Carey's bar to go to the bathroom and wished I had booked a meal in there. Much more lively and interesting. All in all, not a great dining experience and a total bill of $179.00 for a family of four should have left us feeling a lot more satisfied. Will not go back. Will spend my money at a place like Capital Grille or the like in the area.
Pros: Service, Valet
Cons: Food is average, room is boring and no energy, ambiance is horrible.
Posted 03/21/08