The Original Island Shrimp House — Restaurant in Palos Township

Everything was great except for one thing!

We drove all the way from the south loop and came on a Sunday and ordered the following : lobster roll, jambalaya and cornbread, Diablo shrimp, mussels in a white wine basil sauce.

I ordered the lobster roll that came with 50% more meat for $45 it was worth it!!!! The bread and lobster came out piping hot it was made fresh to order! The lobster had so much flavor from the butter and it was soo good! The bun was hot and toasted and buttery but I think it could have used more butter/garlic flavor, it was missing something but it was still good. The lobster was my favorite part it was flavorful and not just plain tasting. Highly recommend!!!!

The jambalaya soup and cornbread were delicious! The soup had a nice kick to it and I wish they served larger portions bc it was so flavorful and spicy. The cornbread was also very good and semi sweet which paired well with the spices in the soup. Highly recommend too!

The mussels in white wine basil sauce came with garlic bread and it was tasty but the white wine sauce was overly salty, way too much salt! The garlic bread was crunchy and flavorful and great for dipping in the sauce but unfortunately we couldn't enjoy the sauce bc it was way too salty.

The Diablo shrimp was good the shrimp was cooked to perfection and not overly chewy or overly cooked. The Diablo sauce was spicy which was to be expected but it was also sour which I did not like. I will try the butter and garlic shrimp next time.

Overall I was satisfied with all the dishes except for the wine sauce for the mussels. I absolutely enjoyed the lobster roll the best!

I could not give five stars because of the waiter. He took our order promptly and even went over the menu which I appreciated but he never came to check on us and didn't even bring our food. Another server brought our food and after that nobody came to our table and not even once to see if we needed refills on our drinks or if we need extra napkins or just to ask us how the food was. I saw everybody else being serviced and nobody came to our table not once after our food was served!

If they would have come and checked on us I would have given five stars. We spent a lot of money nearly $100 to eat here and I would think that the service would be better, at least check on us to refill our drinks!

I will say that they were busy as it was 45 minutes to an hour before closing time so maybe that's why. So I will give them a second chance and probably return in the future, maybe not right away, but if the service is crappy on my second visit I won't come back, especially since we travelled quite a bit to check...

Good Afternoon everyone. I am writing this post to report the unprofessional and egregious behavior of this restaurants ownership and management. On the afternoon of Christmas Eve Between 3:35 pm - 3:45 pm. I was searching on yelp for a place to eat for the afternoon. We came upon the original Island Shrimp House who seems to have good reviews. There is an option to do reservations on the yelp app. I booked the reservations. The return message said, “your spot has been confirmed, check in with host before 3:45.

I walked into the restaurant who had several people standing/waiting for orders. I walked up to the counter. There was a woman who never looked up or acknowledged my presence. A young man came out of the backed. I told the young man I wanted to dine in with my family. He said overwhelmed and aggravated, “ we have a lot of orders and it’s Christmas Eve we can’t help you today. “

Frustrated, embarrassed and confused I left the restaurant as I was with my family. There was no need for a scene. My family and I are of African American descent. I took a minute to figure out what happened. I called back to the restaurant. The same gentleman answered the phone. I asked for a manager. He left me on hold came back and said how can I help you. I said I want to speak with the manager or the owner. He said neither was there today just him and his brother. There was a woman who looks like the person responding to post on this yelp app. I am going to assume possible the owner but did not feel this situation important enough to get involved.

I told the young man what he did was not right. We booked a reservation on the yelp app, he has no signage that they are only taking over the phone orders. There is no reason why he would refuse our service. Other than possibly race/ethnicity and if in fact there was no dine in service they have a responsibility to advertise that fact. They should have honored the reservation.

At this point I am going to go to every outlet possible to see that this is rectified and that it does not happen again. I have posted the check in confirmation and the phone call to confirm this is a valid complaint. Some things should never happen. The restaurant should have served my family with no issue. And should have communicated in advance with all of it’s advertising outlets. We drove a long...

Let me start by saying the hunt is over for me. I have searched and searched the Chicagoland area for years and I finally found the quintessential lobster roll. My words can't describe what I tasted, it was so good. The lobster roll, "the beast from the east", which I split with my girlfriend and really didn't want too was harmony in my mouth, from the new england style bun that was lightly buttered and toasted, to the 12 ounce or more of lobster with a light mayo and a little bit of crunch. I ate this so slow to savor the taste as I never wanted it to end. Once I was done with that, I moved on to the lobster Mac and cheese. I dont even like Mac and cheese and this was an explosion of cheese accompanied by chunks of lobster. They don't put little pieces like these other places, they put chunks of lobsters. Finally, which I am glad I waited last for was the New England Clam Chowder. I am not joking when I say this, it was the best clam chowder I have ever had and the flavor was parallel to none. It was the soup that kept giving and I never wanted it to end. Big pieces of clams and good flavor. One thing I can say about all these dishes was they were made with tender love and care and they were not over salty, very clean and healthy tasting.

Tim the owner which I talked too for 15 min on the phone and another 10 min in the restaurant is a great business owner. Truly cares about his customers all while pumping out quality food. I truly felt like family when I walked in Island Shrimp House. Tim greeted me at the door and shook my hand. I have never found a business owner like this on the south side of Chicago. I wish other businesses would take notes from Tim and his family cause they truly understand what hospitality is and I could see that as they had a line of customer waiting to come in before they even opened.

A+++++ establishment please dont change continue to run your business like this consistently and i will be a cusotmer for life. I take my hat off to this family and there business as I was truly...