RIVER NORTH — Shaw's Crab House's annual Oyster Fest has moved up on the calendar this year — to Sept. 26, instead of its usual October date — and is moving west from its River North digs to a parking lot at Grand Avenue and the Chicago River.
The move to the Chicago Tribune-owned lot at 560 W. Grand Ave. is necessary because of demolition work next to the lot on Rush Street where Oyster Fest has been held the last few years, said Steve LaHaie, managing partner of Shaw's Crab House.
For revelers, there are upsides to the westward trek: a lower admission fee and a wider variety of oysters.
Tickets are $25. They cost $30 last year, mostly because blues legend Buddy Guy was the headline act, LaHaie said. Singer-songwriter Brett Dennen is this year's headliner.
And this time around, the menu will feature six types of oysters, up from the usual two. Food will be cooked on-site. In previous years, with the restaurant right around the corner on Hubbard Street, staffers could run food in and out of the kitchen as needed.
The menu is split into regional themes — West Coast, East Coast and Gulf Coast. Items include steamers with drawn butter, cioppino in a bread bowl, fried oyster po' boys, and for those who don't eat seafood, a fried chicken biscuit (oyster gravy optional).
Shaw's usually holds Oyster Fest in October when oyster season on the coasts really gets going, but moved it up a few weeks because Chicago weather has been so dicey.
"It makes it more difficult with some West Coast oysters beds that don't open until Oct.1, but we were able to get the three we wanted," LaHaie said.
The West Coast oysters are coming from British Columbia, Puget Sound and Hood Canal. The East Coast oysters originate from Prince Edward Island, Maine and Massachusetts.
Oyster Fest is from 3 to 10 p.m. Sept. 26. Tickets are for sale at oysterfestchicago.com.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
