Lawrence's Fish & Shrimp — Restaurant in Chicago

I have been eating from Lawrence’s Fisheries on South Canal since about 1960. Introduced to it by my father, a Chicago southside native who always knew the best and most unique food in Chicago. Through the 60’s and early 70’s when I was in college at DePaul, a late night run to Lawrence’s wqs always a likely destination. And despite an undercurrent of racial difficulties which have always plagued Chicago, Lawrence’s was neutral territory. And over the years, other ethnic groups have broken breaded shrimp together here.

Between 1974 and 2008, I lived in many different places. Los Angeles. Australia. Hawai’i. When in Chicago on family visits my first demand would be take away from Lawrence's.

I noted with dread when ownership changed. . . .

When I moved back to Chicago in about 2009, and now living downtown, I noted the changes being made to the place. I was, quite frankly, scared. I’ve seen all too many successful businesses destroyed by new owners unwilling to hold on to the things that really work. Change for change’s sake.

The original location has obviously had massive upgrades to it. But I’ve been impressed that you’ve done it while respecting the past, respecting the history - respecting WHAT WORKS. I came in for an order today - 1 lb of fish chips, 1 lb of shrimp - now with the “light” breading - a worthwhile addition. “Do you want some crackers?” You bet, they’re important. Still served in little paper bags, all in a bigger paper bag. Reasons. You don’t put fried fish in plastic.

I went in one Saturday night (after midnight) when the place was rockin'. Sat in booth with a friend, and some young people were in the next booth - clearly "date night". One of the mid-20's men kept looking over his shoulder at me. . . .and finally turned around and said "hey man, how do you know about this place?" I told him about my father and I visiting when I was in grammar school. He smiled and said "yea, me too".

i want to salute whoever has been responsible for dragging this food into the 2020’s without messing it up. You’ve done a...

Ordered a little bit of everything! Crispy!

We ordered clams, oysters, popcorn shrimp, coconut jumbo shrimp, and dill pickle fries.

All of them were good but our favs were the jumbo coconut shrimp with Thai chili sauce and the dill pickle fries with jalapeno ranch. The popcorn shrimp pairs well with the tartar sauce and was also good.

I was concerned about some of the reviews stating that the shrimp has a chlorine taste but this was not the case at least for us it wasn't. Maybe for the other large shrimp they offer on the menu but we didn't order that we ordered the coconut jumbo shrimp.

The banana pudding is also delicious, very rich and decadent.

The lady who took our order was very polite, professional and respectful. Excellent customer service. The food came out piping hot and not overly fried which I was concerned that it would be but it was fried perfectly and all of our sauces were in the bag so I didn't have to ask!

I couldn't give 5 stars because like many reviews said, the inside of the establishment smells like cleaning solution. They did have a mop bucket out near the bathroom and someone was mopping so that's why. I will say the restaurant is somewhat clean. There were crumbs on some of the tables that needed to be wiped down. Overall, it was relatively clean and smelled clean from the solution but since it is a restaurant I wouldn't recommend having it smell like pine sol when people want to eat inside it's just not appetizing.

There is plenty of seating outdoors though but since we came late at night we wanted to dine inside and couldn't due to the smell so we had to leave and eat the food elsewhere.

Overall, I would not dine in ever and would just order to go. If I had to order again from this place I would definitely order the jumbo coconut shrimp with Thai chili sweet sauce it was so good!!! I would also like to try their fried fish maybe the cod or...

I have been going to this place since the 1980’s during my going to the club days. This was the place you would go to after the club in the wee hours and was hungry because the location stayed open 24 hours, you had a shot at getting something good to eat. The shrimp has always been a preferred or a matter of preference for people. If you are into breaded shrimp and lots of it then this is the place to go. I am not the biggest fan of shrimp, but this is one place I will still purchase/eat some shrimp. I went in today around the 2:00 pm hour and the place was clean, service was fast and the customer service counter associates were decent. I ordered the popcorn shrimp, wing zings, cod nuggets and the clam strips. The popcorn shrimp had a little bit of a spicy kick which made it have more flavor, wing zings were big and filled with plenty of kick. The clam strips were crunchy and chewy and the cod nuggets were my favorite. This was my first time trying their cod nuggets and they were cooked soft, lightly crunchy and not with a lot of batter like the shrimp and the fish inside was flaky tender. On the other hand, my sister thought the ocean perch was JUSTS okay nothing to write home about. What makes this place so unique from most seafood restaurants or fasts food places is that they make their own sauce. So you have a choice as opposed to other Seafood Joints giving you only, the same hot sauce, Tatar sauce and cocktail sauce, LF has their own brand and variety of sauces to chose from. I am still a fan of this place and for my tastes palate to me still makes some of the bests and decent Seafood here in Chicago; after trying the cod nuggets today I will be making a trip back...