Calumet Fisheries opened in 1948, started by brothers-in-law Sid Kotlick and Len Toll with the goal of serving fresh fish on Chicago's South Side. The Kotlick-Toll family still runs it today. It has always been a takeout operation — no seating, no bathrooms, and plenty of regulars who eat straight out of the bag in their cars parked out front.
The smokehouse process hasn't changed: fish is brined overnight, then smoked over special oak logs and tended by hand for hours. It's natural wood smoke rather than liquid smoke or industrial shortcuts, a method that's become rare among Illinois smokehouses.
Smoked trout and garlic pepper shrimp are among the dishes people mention most, alongside a fried seafood menu that draws its own following.
The James Beard Foundation named Calumet Fisheries an America's Classic in 2010. It has also turned up on best-of lists from Eater and Time Out Chicago, and The Infatuation scored it 8.6 out of 10.
The smokehouse process hasn't changed: fish is brined overnight, then smoked over special oak logs and tended by hand for hours. It's natural wood smoke rather than liquid smoke or industrial shortcuts, a method that's become rare among Illinois smokehouses.
Smoked trout and garlic pepper shrimp are among the dishes people mention most, alongside a fried seafood menu that draws its own following.
The James Beard Foundation named Calumet Fisheries an America's Classic in 2010. It has also turned up on best-of lists from Eater and Time Out Chicago, and The Infatuation scored it 8.6 out of 10.