As locations go, the just-opened Legal Sea Foods couldn’t have found a more fitting setting than in Marina City, which offers sweeping views of the nearby Chicago River.
Or as Matt King, president and chief operating officer of Legal Sea Foods, puts it, “It’s always nice whenever you’re eating seafood and you’re on the water.”
Initially created in 1950 as a fish market in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Legal Sea Foods Chicago is the first non-East Coast location for the chain, which operates 27 restaurants and a seafood production facility. Legal Sea Foods is a New England institution, though locals have strained feelings since the Berkowitz family sold the company in 2020. The fish chowder has been served at every Presidential inauguration since Ronald Regan’s in 1981. The new owner, PPX Hospitality Brands, already has restaurants in Chicago.
“We have a long history of working in Chicago with Smith & Wollensky, so we are really comfortable with the market,” says King of the neighboring steakhouse, which is also part of PPX. During COVID, Legal operated a ghost kitchen out of Smith & Wollensky to test the market.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25561666/Clam_Chowder.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25561662/_DSC6848.jpg)
Executive Chef Ozzy Amelotti, formerly of The Metropolitan Club and Carnivale, heads up the kitchen of the two-level restaurant, which officially opened on July 30 inside the former Dick’s Last Resort. The all-day menu features a number of the restaurant’s signature dishes, including clam chowder, crab cake, and half-pound lobster roll. Fish and chips, like all its fried seafood offerings, are made with gluten-free proprietary breading. Fresh oysters are a regular feature at all Legal Sea Foods as they are here. Nigiri and maki are newer additions for the chain.
Amelotti also created dishes specifically for Chicago, including grilled or blackened Lake Superior white fish. Appetizer scallops de Jonghe is a riff on the signature Chicago dish originally made with shrimp, buttery breadcrumbs, sherry, and garlic.
“You can’t go into a new location and say I’m not going to use anything that’s from there,” says King. “It’s important to connect to where you are. We obviously got our core items and what we are famous for, but there’s always room to add some local flair.”
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25561663/_DSC6966.jpg)
Local also applies to one of the on-tap beers. Legal Sea Foods worked with Chicago’s Spiteful Brewing to create a New England-style IPA, Working for the Haze. The signature red and white wine sangrias get an extra kick with the addition of rum and vodka. The wine-by-the-glass program features two pours, six and eight ounces.
Legal Sea Foods expansive river-level space seats 240 and features a large bar area, main dining room, private event spaces, and an outdoor terrace. A curved staircase leads up to the intimate upper-level Oyster Bar, with bar seating and tables for 30.
While the 10,000-square-foot riverfront location provides obvious perks, creating the restaurant inside the landmarked Marina City building designed by architect Bertrand Goldberg wasn’t without its challenges.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25561668/Lobster_Roll.jpg)
“It certainly gives your architects and designers a lot to think about,” says King, citing the dilemma of how to incorporate the curves and turns of the space into the design. One solution was the creation of curved waved-shaped banquette seating that mirrors the curves of the building’s interior core.
“Instead of trying to hide its uniqueness, we worked with it,” he says. “The space really dictated a lot of the layout, which is one of the things we like. It’s very much Marina City and when you come into that space, you know where you are.”
Legal Sea Foods, 315 N Dearborn Street (entrance off State St. Bridge, next to Smith & Wollensky). Open for lunch and dinner 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.