Yet another Chicago dining icon is celebrating a big anniversary right now — Shaw’s Crab House turns 40 this year. Regularly listed as one of the highest-grossing restaurants in America (in 2022 it was #42), Shaw’s has continued to turn out high quality dishes in a great atmosphere for its entire existence. To celebrate the anniversary, and to learn about what might be coming next for the restaurant, I chatted with Bill Nevruz, one of the partners at Shaw’s.

Nevruz has been with Shaw’s for almost 25 of its 40 years, starting as a bar manager and working his way up to a full-fledged partner at the division of Lettuce Entertain You that handles both Shaw’s and Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab. He remembers the first day he walked into the restaurant. “The minute I walked in, it felt like a restaurant that had already been around for 40 years. There was a certain patina, a beautiful age. It’s as classic as it is today.”

Despite its supposed timelessness, back when Shaw’s first opened, it didn’t quite look like it did now. The original Oyster Bar portion of the restaurant opened in December of 1984, and the rest of the place was still under construction. “They didn’t even have a hood; they were cooking crab cakes in toaster ovens,” laughs Nevruz. A few months later, the dining room opened, and the restaurant has been pretty much packed ever since. The Schaumburg location of Shaw’s opened in 2000, and if you have a vague recollection of another outlet, you aren’t mistaken — Shaw’s Seafood Grill in Deerfield closed shortly after Schaumburg opened.

A lot has actually changed about Shaw’s since it opened, though it may not seem like it to regulars. “When we change things, they are slow and intentional and logical so they seem like they have always been around,” explains Nevruz. Sushi wasn’t originally on the Shaw’s menu and is now a staple. Originally, Shaw’s was one of the few restaurants in its area that had absolutely no TVs; then they had a TV covered by a curtain that was only open for Bulls, Bears, and Cubs games (no White Sox!).

One thing that hasn’t changed is their commitment to sourcing great fish. “We have a full-time team that just manages the seafood,” says Nevruz. And their large volume gets them access to certain special products that not every restaurant can serve. “We serve Norwegian red king crab, and they opened up a supply chain to America just for us,” explains Nevruz. “We have to pay a pretty penny for it, but they would not have done it if not for us.” The oysters, of course, are the star, and Nevruz estimates that over 40 years, Shaw’s has served more than 10 million of the tasty little bivalves.

What’s coming next for the venerable seafood palace? Shaw’s regulars rejoice — happy hour (a pre-Covid staple) is supposed to return this year, as is live music on Thursday nights in the Oyster Bar, though the famous all you can eat brunch is not coming back, as it would just be too expensive. Nevruz also dreams of bringing back the Crab Cellar (a concept at Oyster Bah he developed) in some form or another — “I’ve never worked somewhere that was so loved — it was like a 99.9 percent customer satisfaction” — and whole king crab service has recently come to Shaw’s as something of a tribute to that lost spot. Nevruz also teases a potential new concept coming to the group. He won’t say much, but says that it’s something like if Joe’s and Shaw’s had a baby. He says: “There’s a certain elegance to Joe’s and a certain charm to Shaw’s, and we want to combine them.

In addition, the week of April 7, Shaw’s is running a special throwback menu, including dishes like clams casino and sauteed frog legs that were classics of years past, as well as holding events like a Champagne and oyster tasting. You can find all the details here.