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Legal Sea Foods to open on river at former site of Dick’s Last Resort
By Talia Soglin Chicago Tribune
New England seafood chain Legal Sea Foods will open a Chicago location on the river, the company said in a news release Monday.

The restaurant will replace Dick’s Last Resort at 315 N. Dearborn St. in the Marina City Towers. Construction on the location is just starting, said Kim Lapine, chief marketing officer for Legal Sea Foods’ parent company, PPX Hospitality Brands. The restaurant will likely open this winter, she said.

It will serve seafood staples including clam chowder, oysters, shellfish, lobster and sushi.

The two-story restaurant will have private dining rooms, a full bar and outdoor seating along the Riverwalk. Legal Sea Foods is toying with the idea of an oyster bar on the upper floor, Lapine said.

Legal Sea Foods has 25 locations along the Eastern Seaboard, spread throughout Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia. PPX Hospitality owns Chicago steakhouse Smith & Wollensky, also located in Marina City.

During the pandemic, the seafood company tested out a virtual kitchen in Chicago out of the Smith & Wollensky kitchen. The pickup-and-delivery location was open for close to a year and did “tremendously well,” Lapine said, convincing the company the brand had “sea legs” in the Midwest.

The company is open to the possibility of future expansion into the Chicago suburbs or other Midwestern markets, Lapine said.

“Delivering fresh seafood is a logistical challenge,” she acknowledged. “But we ship fresh seafood to Smith & Wollensky all the time, and our partners here on the East Coast are very adept at making sure that the quality and the freshness standards that folks come to expect are ensured.”

Dick’s, which Legal Sea Foods is set to replace, received a permit to open in Marina City in 2008 over the objections of some Marina City condominium owners. The chain is known for its boisterous atmosphere and irreverent service.

I could have sworn Dick's last resort has been open longer than that. Maybe I'm thinking of the location near navy pier.

It's a slight upgrade over Red Lobster and three times the cost

I thought the same thing too. I seem to recall going to a place over by Navy Pier in the mid-90s but then I thought I might be mixing it up with Baja Beach Club.

The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.

That's a fair review.

Let me know when Red Lobster starts flying in fresh seafood daily…and I dare you to eat raw oysters from there.

I thought Dicks was already down there near the river in the late 90s when I turned 21 but maybe I am thinking of another place.

I'm awaiting a Barely Legal Seafood thread....

I'm a member of their rewards program

It's more fun to be a victim

There will never be an effective vaccine. I'll never get one anyway.

I always thought Bob Chinn's could have made a fortune if they franchised.

Hate to tell ya this "Amigo", but that is sort of the essence of how life works.

There used to be a 2nd one in Lisle on Ogden

I am not a legal expert, how many times do I have to say it?

I always thought Bob Chinn's could have made a fortune if they franchised.

I've never even considered ordering oysters at Red Lobster, but the point stands, Legal Seafood ain't great.

We lose a lot of rights when we look the other way when it doesn't affect our lives or it isn't a cause we agree with.

Anthony Bourdain said he never eats oysters unless he can smell the ocean in the air.

There used to be a 2nd one in Lisle on Ogden

I enjoyed his book but I don't think I'd take life advice from him.

I am not a legal expert, how many times do I have to say it?

I enjoyed his book but I don't think I'd take life advice from him.

We lose a lot of rights when we look the other way when it doesn't affect our lives or it isn't a cause we agree with.

I enjoyed his book but I don't think I'd take life advice from him.

I hang by every word of his.