In the neighborhoodification of Lakeshore East, the pocket neighborhood just south of the mouth of the river, Brown Bag Seafood Co. (340 E. Randolph St., no phone yet), scheduled to open in April or May, brings the area its first counter-service seafood spot, albeit a more modern version than the classic shrimp shack.
Donna Lee, an Evanston native, plans a menu of inexpensive seafoods that hew to the Seafood Watch sustainability initiative run by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Customers will mark their order on the eponymous brown bags, selecting preparations such as sandwiches, salads, tacos, or over quinoa and proteins such as teriyaki-scallion salmon, lemon whitefish, blackened daily catch, or, like those shrimp shacks, flash-fried shrimp or cod. “Everything on the menu is less than $13,” Lee says.
All Lakeshore East needs now is a kebab cart, and it’ll be all set.