I can't believe it's taken me this long to write this review. I honestly can't tell you how many times I've visited this restaurant. This is my favorite crab boil in the city! The food is very flavorful. A bit too much garlic at times for me but the flavor is so great I didn't mind burping the garlic for a day or two afterwards. The seafood is ALWAYS fresh. That's a huge plus for me. The ambiance is kind of boring but we're not here for the vibes. We're here for the food. The servers are always polite and kind. read more

Madison Crab House - Fried Shrimp - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I went for lunch and got combo A (crab, shrimp, crawfish). The food was delicious, didn't have to wait much and it was great service. Definitely will be returning. Parking: Street parking is avaible read more

Madison Crab House - 1 lb. Shrimp Head Off 1 lb. Snow Crab Legs - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

A friend and I came to Madison Crab House right before happy hour ended at 5 pm. With that we were able to both get margaritas (good pours), fried chicken wings, garlic noodles and fried calamari from the happy hour menu. We also got a lb of snow crab legs from the regular menu. Service was great and our food came out pretty quick. The restaurant itself was nice and we were seated in a pretty comfy booth close to the bar. read more

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Ordered King crab legs. And it was not what I expected. They were so small. The waitress was slow. We literally had to yell towards the kitchen to get her attention. Because she went MIA for about 15mins. We told her that we weren't happy with the food and she refused to take anything off or discount us. I will not be back to this place. They completely missed the mark. Flavorless food and bad service. I can see why it is empty. 1-10 rating Service: 1 Food: 1 read more

Madison Crab House - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Food is ok....service is fine. Prices are high, and beware of extra charges. $3.00 for melted butter with my lobster...Really??? $3.50 for 3 tiny pieces of corn. $1.50 for bread. etc...etc. All in....I don't think the food and atmosphere justify the prices, which might explain all the empty seats. read more

The lobster roll, Cole slaw, and French fries were nicely portioned and delish! I will definitely prefer again!

Let m start by saying o eat here all the time in house I've never got a gigantic piece if corn or shrimp I always order the same thing today I get the fattest piece of corn shrimps that looked overcooked and when I order take out no sauce just dry and big ass potato totally dissatisfied idk if it was an hour b fore closing hut they definitely disappointed!! 0 stars for not meeting usual expectations read more

What a waste of money. Don't do carry out. You'll be extremely disappointed. We ended up going to portillos because we were still so hungry.

My go-to order for 2 is a pound of the head-on shrimp medium with mad sauce, a side of rice and corn, and fried shrimp (comes with fries). Since this was a special occasion we also got garlic bread and Mad wings. We got this for takeout and the food was delicious eaten 20 mins after picking up. The star of the show is of course, the shrimp. I grew up eating shrimp so I prefer it with the head-on for extra flavor. The corn comes in small slices and is thrown in the bag of shrimp so it soaks up the delicious sauce. If you don't know what sauce to get, try the Mad Sauce. The Mad wings comes with 6 pieces and were surprisingly super juicy and had great seasoning. They were larger, juicier and more tender than the equivalent from Wingstop, and includes Ranch dipping sauce. For lack of better phrasing, the garlic bread was perfectly garlicky and buttery. Rice is perfect to soak up all the extra sauce from the shrimp. I usually like to spoon sauce from the bag directly over my rice. The food goes well with a squeeze of lemon to cut through all the butter. When you order the shrimp, they give you a bib and gloves so you don't have to get your hands or shirt dirty, even for takeout orders (how considerate!) You'll have to peel the shells off the shrimp, but this bit of work is so worth it because it allows the shrimp to soak up all the seasoning. Fun fact: I learned recently from Netflix's Ugly Delicious that this style of food is actually Vietnamese/Cajun fusion. Apparently the traditional Cajun seasoning doesn't include garlic or butter. This reminds me of the Boiling Crab and Kicking Crab chains from California. Do yourself a favor and pick up some shrimp from Mad Boiler, and set aside some extra time for a food coma nap afterwards! read more

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The food was very tasty especially the garlic noodles. I also just got a crab leg bag with all the sauces mixed and it was so tasty. Someone with me got the $60 crab leg bag and at a crawfish and he had so much food that he can eat and he was passing around to everybody. The last rolls was pretty good also. But atmosphere was very casual and nice and the customer service was excellent. The only complaint I have is I asked them to put just a little bit of spice in my noodles and they were so hot I really couldn't enjoy them. But the flavor was there I would definitely go again if I'm in Chicago area. read more

Madison Crab House - Lobster roll - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I came here with a friend a while back during the afternoon and we both didn't realize there was a happy hour menu. The wings are so crispy the fried rice was delicious. Their fries are awesome I've also tried their seafood boil another time and it was pretty decent (maybe I'm being harsh bc I grew up in the South) I'm surprised this place doesn't attract more traffic and attention because their food is great read more

My favorite seafood in a bag spot. Service is great. Ambiance is typical for this style or restaurant. No complainants. My go to!

I usually do not review my fav restaurants because I want to avoid making reservations as the places get popular. For Madison Crab House, I would like to make sure my fellow west loop residents had a chance to appreciate this flavorful seafood boil experience. IMO, the keys for great seafood boil experience are: fresh ingredient & addictive sauce. This place got both. Lucky to have this place near home. The freshest ingredients and great flavors! Combo C is my and my wife's go to option. Their mad fries to die for. read more

The seafood here is extremely fresh. It have been here 10 times now and it is always consistently fresh. In addition, the sauce is extremely flavorful. It's the best seafood boil I've had in Chicago. In fact, it's better than a lot of other seafood boils that I've found in DC and New York. The service is also great. They are extremely nice and attentive here. It is a casual place. read more

Madison Crab House - Combo C (dungeness, oysters, mussels, shrimp, potato, corn) with Mad Sauce, medium spice. - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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If I could this would be 3.5 stars. We walk by this place frequently and decided to give it a try. Overall, prices are great. You get an option on what kind of sauce you get your boil in. We decided on garlic butter, there was SO much garlic. Not exaggerating, we both burped up garlic for 24 hours. Since the sauce was on the outside of the shell, the crab/lobster had no flavor. My hands were an absolute mess too, which I didn't love. The server was attentive and there's nothing special about the decor. That have a somewhat limited drink menu. Would not likely return or recommend unfortunately. read more

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Was on the hunt for a decent lobster roll that wasn't $30+ I ordered delivery, and although $22 was still expensive for the size... To make up for the price a bit, they should've at least given a bigger coleslaw. Otherwise, the Lobster Roll was delicious on garlicky bread; I wanted just another couple more bites. One thing to note, there were a few tiny shards of shell, so be careful not to chew aggressively! The Mad Wings were very flavorful, but I would've liked more crisp. I hope to try their seafood boil soon! read more

Madison Crab House - 6 Piece Mad Wings - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I don't normally get Cajun food because that cuisine is always made with a lot of garlic but every now I'll treat myself. This is one of my favorite places to get Cajun food because the Cajun seasoning and sauce in my opinion are solid and delicious. You must start with Cajun fries and wings. The wings may not be fall of the bone but are so juicy in addition to the good Cajun seasoning. Fries come hot and are balanced between crispy and soft. Shrimp were fresh. My friends liked their mussels. Service was good. Clean interior with good amount of seats and space in between. There's plenty of street parking but still may be difficult to find depending on when you go. https://www.yelp.com/collection/8mCXaaKQAQ7hn-PPUG9iXQ?utm_content=Collections&utm_source=ashare read more

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I've passed by this place quite a bit but just never got the chance to stop in to try it. Well I finally got the chance and got dinner with a friend here. Arrived around 7 and it was not that busy when I walked in. It definitely did get busier though as time went on. My friend and I ordered 1 lb shrimp head on and 1 lb mussels with sausage and the garlic butter & cajun Louisiana dry rub sauce. It was definitely a good combination for the sauce and was not salty at all. I definitely loved the flavor!! Garlic noodles was okay. Didn't have too much of a garlic taste but I tasted more of the red & green bell pepper taste to it. It was definitely messy but it was good. read more

Madison Crab House - 1 lb Shrimp Head On & 1 lb Mussels with sausage in the garlic butter & cajun Louisiana dry rub sauce. - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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RATING: 6/10 We stopped in here because we were all desperate to try a seafood boil where we got bibs and gloves! And Madison Crab House definitely delivered on the bib and glove aspect at least. The actual food was a bit mediocre. We ordered a seafood boil and garlic noodles to share. The garlic noodles were a bit flavorless and we definitely could have skipped on the dish. The seafood boil was pretty good--we all particularly enjoyed the shrimp, crab, and sausage. The crawfish was okay. I wish there was more corn or potatoes that came with the boil in order to pair with the salty meat, but you can always add on more for an extra charge. The restaurant itself is pretty spacious but be warned that it doesn't seem to have air conditioning. The one stand out quality of this restaurant was the service--our waitress was super attentive and very sweet which made our visit! I think if you're looking desperately to eat a seafood boil, this restaurant will do--but I'd probably look somewhere else first. read more

Madison Crab House - crab legs in a plastic bag - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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This review is strictly for flavour since I did not eat in. I got a seafood boil with Snow Crab Legs and corn in the Mad Sauce/ Medium. I would definitely order from here again the crab was very flavorful and the legs were easy to crack at home. I will say that $38 for a pound of crab legs are a bit expensive but I enjoyed the meal nonetheless. read more

The seafood bag here is beyond delicious. I've gotten it way to many times and it's 10/10 every time

Amazing seafood boils! Attentive service and food comes out quick. Ordered Combo A with mad sauce and substituted mussels for the crawfish for $1. Food came out piping hot and delicious! Enough for 2 people to share. If you're craving seafood this is the place to go! read more

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Tell me why I was so confused with the name Madison Boiler on the sign. Ugh. Tourist problems or not? This place had pretty unique flavor options for the boil which is why we came here BUT we stayed basic and got the classic Cajun garlic butter what not flavor. I wish they did fresh crawfish! In Michigan, it's not legal to have fresh crawfish shipped in and such. So I've been really wanting fresh crawfish but it's okay. The flavor was delicious! The fried oysters is a must get! Super big and juicy and fried perfectly! Ughhhh! I miss it so much and it comes with fries! Dip your fried in the seafood boil sauce guys. Don't miss out! Their garlic bread is super good too. Just smeared with minced garlic on butter bread. Did that in the sauce too. Don't miss out! Service wasn't bad. It was decent. Could've checked on us more because we were thirsty! Especially that all the salty stuff we ordered! read more

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So so so so flavorful! Fiancé and I came here after I had a craving for crab legs. It was a Sunday and their weren't plenty of crab places open. We found this spot on yelp, and said, let's. I ordered the 1/2crab leg, 1/2 mussels, and shrimp boil and he ordered the lobster poboy and fries. Lawdy the crab boil bag was was delicious, finger licking, shell sucking good. I ate and ate and ate and ate! The poboy was good also, it was too cold for my liking, which is why I never get crab or lobster poboys. It's BYOB! Served quickly! Nice casual spot for yummy seafood. read more

Madison Crab House - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

It's pricey. Dinner for two, king crab, shrimp, clams, 2 lobster tail, corn, potatoes and garlic bread $ 240. We did get 2 beers and a martini ...flavor was decent just pricey. I also thought the side cuts in the crab legs was odd. We've been to these places before but usually we spend 150...175. $240 is alot! read more

Madison Crab House - Apple tini... ok. little alcohol - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place is really good. Way better than Angry Crab. The service was good staff were nice. At the time it was BYOB while they were awaiting their license to sell alcohol. My bf ordered the lobster roll with the mad fries there were no complaints. I ordered a pound of snow crab in the garlic butter with potatoes sausage and corn. It was delicious. Snow crab is always a pain to eat but when you crack the sells it's worth it. Overall, I recommend and I will return. read more

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So glad we found this place! I've been looking for a cajun 'seafood in a bag' place and was so happy to find one in my neighborhood. They have $5 beers and we got an app of the Cajun fries which were great. We debated a few options but each got a lobster tail and potatoes, corn, and sausage. The lobster tail was also only $17.99 and amazing (price may vary). Debated going that same day for dinner as well but will definitely be back soon! read more

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This place is amazing. I always get the blue crabs with sausage potatoes and corn in the mad sauce in medium level heat. I've had the lobster roll and it was so butter and soft full of flavor. The raw oysters are so fresh and refreshing. I definitely recommend.Blue CrabLobster RollOyster read more

Madison Crab House - Blue crab legs in mad sauce medium. So good !! I eat this atleast twice a week. - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Had to come back to show my babes some Love! This place has been MY hidden Gem since it OPENED! Before it was Madison Crab House. You might even find a review from me YEARS AGO! I'm so happy tik too still hasn't got a hold on this special gem. It's a lowkey spot with amazing food. Honestly the BEST crab boil flavor in Chicago! Now the price has went up DRAMATICALLY since I started coming here which I understand but also saddens me since my family and I are one of the "Good Tippers". But nevertheless the food is always worth the try if you looking for a boil that will never disappoint. I'll be going in today to indulge. Did I mention, I love every staff member in the joint. read more

I'm so happy that there is a cajun place in the loop since all the other cajun places are outside the loop. I've tried these types of places in California so I knew our food would come in a plastic bag covered in the delicious sauce of my choice. We arrived on a Thursday night around 5pm and there was plenty of seating. However, shortly after we were seated, five different groups came in. I'd like to take the credit by saying they all decided to copy us. =) Upon our entry we were quickly greeted. The service here was on point and we never had to wait long for the waitress to take our order. The food also came relatively quickly. We ordered the shrimp (w/o head) with garlic and cajun spice. It had great flavor. We also ordered the soft shell crab with cajun fries. The crab didnt have much flavor so I would recommend skipping that. We later added the shrimp pasta to our order. I would also skip that since it was pricey and only included 3 pieces of shrimp. I wish they had garlic bread because I did not see that on the menu but that would be a great side to dip in the sauce. There was a lot of construction on street in this area so parking was very limited. I recommend parking on Monroe and the other side streets. read more

Madison Crab House - shrimp (w/o head) and soft shell crab with cajun fries - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I'm giving this a 3 star. 1) slow slow slow service. Took a few to get seated when there's barely anyone here. Took forever to give our order and even long get to get drinks and 2) I got crab legs but the crackers were too large to crack most of them and they didn't have smaller ones and I paid 30.99 for them. Food was average more greasy than seasoning and little food for the prices. read more

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My friend and I came here on a Saturday around 5:30pm for early dinner. We were quite hungry and we ordered 1 lb of shrimp with head on in sweet chili sauce and 1 lb of mussels, 1 order of sausage, and 1 order of broccoli in mad sauce. We ordered mild because my friend doesn't like too spicy. I appreciated the plastic gloves provided to keep our hands clean while we peel the seafood. The food arrived PIPING hot -- too hot to the touch. The shrimp with head on were small sized shrimps and a little over cooked and dry. But the sweet chili sauce on it was pretty good, and not sugary sweet. The mussels in the mad sauce were definitely overcooked so much that the meat shrank to tiny dry pieces of meat. The sausages were polish sausages that had shards of bone it in. Normally, the sausages used in seafood boils are andouille sausages, not polish sausages. Broccoli was good though. The sauces are quite salty, so I recommend ordering rice or bread to absorb some of that salt. Price point-wise, it's reasonable and service was appropriately attentive (my water got refilled without asking!). After trying so many different seafood boil restaurants in the city, I still think Angry Crab or Asian Cajun's seafood quality, cook, and sauces are better -- but they are also more expensive than Mad Boiler. read more

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It was good! For two people we spent $77, but we both got full! They have great customer service. We are traveling and was a great stop! read more

Madison Crab House - Combo A - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Love the FOOD and LOCATION! I love Cajun food and have been to four cajun food places, including Mad Boiler, in Chicago. Angry Crab has been my favorite and I would say this place is as good as Angry Crab. However, the price for Mad Boiler is a little more expensive, which is understandable due to its location. We ordered King crab legs, shrimp, clams, and crawfish with all sauces except the curry sauce mixed together. Sadly, crawfish wasn't in season, so it wasn't very fresh. But everything else was very delicious! Will go back again! read more

Madison Crab House - King crab legs, clams, shrimp, crawfish, and corn with all sauces except the curry one mixed together - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I great place! The food is fresh and very tasty. The staff is friendly and helpful. I highly recommend Mad Boiler. read more

Honest review: low country was so much better but this was still better then angry crab. Ambiance: i like it good music is playing good hangout space its nice inside here and its a byob so thats a plus. Service: it needs to be improved. Food: i love how they have different boils and different things like a lot of fried options asian food and a lobster roll. The issue is I don't think the actual boils weren't that flavorful and the portion was supper small like smaller then angry crab i was like hmmm is it really a pound?. Spice level: i dont think its spicy tried medium then spicy and both werent spicy if u love heat go for fire if u like so so heat then spicy if u just want a kiss of heat go for medium. Best things: mad fries/ lobster roll. Mad fries$5: i love fries and these were great, they were crispy and flavorful. My only complaint some were a lil greasy and i wish it came with a sauce or an aioli fries needs mayonnaise $12 fried oysters: i loved the cornmeal batter it was flavorful and crunchy my issue was the oyster was fishy and overcooked and the only sauce they had was cocktail sauce n it didnt have no horseradish in it $18 lobster roll: this second greatest lobster roll i ever had (acadia still number 1) the lobster was seasoned and hot which i liked just wish it had more butter on it. The coleslaw was amazing mayonnaise and lobster go hand and hand just put more slaw. My issue was the bun it was soggy and gross plz use a lobster roll $10.99 curried mussel boil: first thing I noticed a lot of mussels didnt open or barely opened not a good sign. The curry wasnt that flavorful honestly can tell they just used can red curry (someone asked how u can tell if its from a can because it tastes like that neighborhood thai curry fresh curry has more depth and wont taste the same like if every curry u taste is the same then it was from a can) Mad shrimp on $13.99: this was better then angry crab but it was a lil on the saltier side and had way to much garlic like for an Italian to say thats to much garlic is saying something. N shrimp poop vein was not re read more

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Yet another boiler popping up in the Midwest. Location in west loop was a smart move because it's always so populated in that area so a lot of foot traffic that would be coming in and out so smart move on their part. Service A+ always made sure we got wait we needed and very attentive as well. However.... The fell short in the food aspect of it. Garlic noodles: The noodles were ultra ultra thin! Not even enough flavoring it tasted so plain like it wasn't even garlic so not trying that ever again. Seafood actually a bit pricer from the usual places I go to but I get it, you need to bargain up to the rent as well since it is west loop. But the corn was so expensive, forget about it. I didn't even want to bother paying that price for half a corn. The food itself really lack flavoring and it was just all dried up, no sauce that you can really dip into... I really wanted to like this place but it just didn't taste the same like other boilers I've been too. Even my friends were upset that they weren't able to mix different flavors together either. Overall, no one was really satisfy with what we ate. It was just okay... But this would not be the worst boiler I've been to. I would leave to The Boiler in Skokie... read more

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Food was great. Service was great. Recommend. Nice happy hour. Drinks were delicious. Come support this small business

Food was trash. Grilled cheese sandwich wasn't a grilled cheese sandwich(see video). The food was unseasoned. read more

This is great location with resemble priced seafood. I noticed when I entered this establishment it states Madison Crab House although the Yelp page states otherwise. I love they offer BYOB which can save you a ton of money. I order 2lbs or head-on shrimp with corn and potatoes. For my seasoning I ordered everything except curry. It was pretty filling but I had better from NOLA. read more

Madison Crab House - Mad Boiler & Madison Crab House menu - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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