Redfish

We walked by this place last night, on our way to elsewhere, and there was brown kraft paper in the windows and no lights on. Looks closed to me!

CLOSED! Vacant building!

110% agree with Maia V. Crummy food, loud dining room, and a not so friendly vibe from the staffers. Walk around the corner to House of Blues for cajun cooking at a similar pricepoint and with superior service.

I used to frequent this place alot for lunch when I worked in the area. I’m not sure why. Glutton for punishment? 4 hours of a mind numbing job sitting on an ass numbing chair and any old crap would be a winning idea?
The food is… edible, but a crappy attempt at cajun. The drinks are weak — only at «celebratory» work day lunches of course, promise! Which makes me question myself and my peers again… we came to this place to celebrate something?! The service is worse… slow and not always too bright. The highlight is the Marti-​Gras beads… something for me to hang in my cubicle to distract myself from the stomachache I got from my lunch at Redfish.

Been here a few times. I do like the music on the weekends. Food is average but I wouldn’t necessarily call this «authentic» cajun. It’s like they just add paprika and black pepper to the food and call it cajun. The «blackened» fish was rather bland and night very «Cajuny». The atmosphere is very casual, relaxing, and fun. Good place to have a relaxing meal with friends. The food is not bad but I just wouldn’t go here if you want really good cajun spiced food. If you want a relaxing, fun place to have dinner with friends, this isn’t a bad place to go.

Buch of friends were in town, we were hitting some bars around State and Kedzie. We popped into Red Fish (the bar area) at about 11pm on a Saturday. There was a blues band playing (all good stuff). The crowd– interesting. Seemed to be a lot of regulars (who all knew each other) perched on stools towards the front. Some real peculiar people there. Definitely had a «wild cajun» feel about it. Not a trendy place, don’t go for drink specialties, and it was really hot and stuffy inside. But if you neeeeed some live music and a crowd that does not feel pretentious or cosmopolitan, stop in to Red Fish.

Walking around aimlessly in the loop, we were in search of something good for dinner. I didn’t want to try Redfish but I was outnumbered. The décor inside and the mardi gras beads on the table didn’t make me feel any better about my friends’ decision to eat here. We started off with sangrias, which I thought was random for a Cajun-​New Oleans style restaurant. My husband ordered a pitcher of sangria just because it was on special that night. The sangria was horrible. There was quite a few entrees to choose from. I decided to try the catfish po’ boy with the sweet potato fries. To my surprise, it was pretty tasty. The fries were crispy and flavorful and the po’ boy was packed with all kinds of spices and flavors. The service was pretty good too. I don’t know if I’ll be in any kind of rush to try Redfish again soon but if you’re if you have a craving for a Cajun style food, this place may just hit the spot.

Meh, I took my little brother here and we ended up full of grease. Not worth it in my opinion, but for those of you just dying for clogged arteries, feel free to dive in — it will keep your doctor busy.

It was a total fluke that I ended up here last night and, honestly, I was more than a little wary of dining here. As a lifetime Chicagoan, I try to stay clear of the tourist traps all along the downtown drag– Weber Grill, P.F. Chang’s, Rock Bottom, etc. That said, this place ‘did the trick’; we relaxed, had a beer, enjoyed some basic grub in substantial portions, and had a nice walk around downtown before heading back to Lakeview. Our server was extremely curteous, and the service was nice and quick.
The cons: the décor is cheesy, and the crowd is even cheesier. The majority of people there still had their name tags on from whatever workshopping or teambuilding conference they had just left. The middle-​aged hoard also hogged the jukebox, playing every Michael McDonald and Foggerty tune you could possibly think of. We actually moved from bar seating to the dining area just to avoid the sing along to Journey.
All in all, could have been worse. If you’re in a pinch and need a beer and a bite in the neighborhood, try it.

I got the absolute worst case of food poisoning from this place. AVOID IT.

I have been to Redfish a couple times and I love it. The food is good, but nothing special. The bar is great. They always have amazing drink specials. Great bands. I love hanging out there.

I’ve never had the food here, just drinks in the bar. The décor is pretty «TGI Fridays.» Still the service was good and prices ok.

Terrible. Just plain terrible. Worst food in the city. Very high prices for drinks. The service is REALLY bad.
I was served cold red beans & rice. Not once. Not twice. But three times in the same sitting. How nice, eh?
I usually don’t complain about restaurants, but everyone has been fore-​warned. Stay away from this terrible place.

To call Red Fish «cajun» is to finally assert that language has no meaning.
I had the jambalaya for around 16 bucks. It was supposed to come with a salad, but the waitstaff never brought it. So by the time the jambalaya and cornbread got to my table, I was seriously ready to chow. Unfortunately, the jambalaya bore no resemblance to what I have had in various gulf coast eateries. In fact, even by Chicago standards, the jambalaya at Red Fish was a new low.

I’ve been here for Fat Tuesday and of course it is very packed, but was fun. And hey, they got hurricane drinks.
I came another time for a late dinner. So needless to say there were only 3 tables of people. And I do have to say the service was terrible. It took forever to get our drinks, then forever to take our order, then forever to bring the food, I think you get the jist. Everything took so long and it was so unnecessary due to the deadness of the restaurant.
Regarding the food, I was surprised to see that the menu wasn’t truely authentic as far as strictly cajun/​creole food. Which actually appealed to me as I’m a bit picky. There were actually several items that I couldn’t decide between. I tried the mac n cheese and the chicken oscar. The food was pretty good.

I liked Redfish immensely the first time I was here. The crab-​artichoke-​cheese dish is one of the best I’ve tasted and the jambalaya was excellent. Our waitress was a blast and comped us dessert because she thought we were newlyweds.
But Redfish is just canned Creole for the northern masses. An honestly, it’s fine for all that. I was just really disappointed to discover that the restaurant was part of a chain. Each subsequent trip yielded worse and worse service, less amazing food quality (pasta was overcooked to mushiness) and the last time we went, everything took so long to order that my stomach cycled from hungry to not hungry back to hungry. Plus, location-​wise, it’s right by HoB, so the prices are inflated.
There is an adjoining bar that remains open after the main restaurant closes. If I am going to be in the area, I definitely go there. I think Redfish’s kitchen serves the bar, but there are killer drink specials, live jazz, and fun bartenders.

All I had was a chowder and a caesar salad, which wasn’t too bad… but the service and atmosphere of this place was a bit off. I can’t say I was enthralled with it enough to go back.

Every time I go there (and I’m sad to admit that I’ve been there multiple times), I’m startled by the fact that I genuinely dislike this place. The food always tastes like a chunk of salt lick’s been sitting in it (poor hypertensive me, I would know about salt licks), especially their soups, but also their sandwiches and mixed drinks. The one thing I do order every (agonizing) time I’m there is their sweet potato fries. Almost as good as the fries at Rockit.
But the service – this is the truly bad part. I’m sure they mean well, and they’re friendly enough, but I’ve never had decent service while there. The salty food’s very, very slow in coming, or sometimes doesn’t show up at all. My boyfriend works nearby, and he’s had several (more than one!) instances where the servers actually DID NOT bring his food, and then they had the audacity to say «Oh, well we won’t charge you for that.»
And we won’t charge you for the can of whoop-​ass we’ll open on your salty selves if ever we make the mistake of stumbling in again.

Redfish has changed much in the time its been in Chicago. Years back it seemed that the dishes had a more Cajun flavor and uniqueness. Today, more like a chain restaurant, offering dishes that appeal to everyone, but, nothing especially exciting.
Check out the bbq, cherry cola bbq (very sweet) and Captain Morgans! (Yum)
Where’d the Gator bites go?
Check them out when they have live music, great for dates, or meeting new people. Free live Blues, fri & sat and Soul on Wed.

Redfish has Cajun food served in a fun atmosphere. The chicken, jambalaya, gumbo and the various seafood dishes are popular here. There is a live band playing occasionally to keep the good times rolling. Come around Mardi Gras season and get some beads too.