Lawrence Fish Market

Surprised this place hasn't been discussed before.

I've ordered carry out sushi from Lawrence Fish Market almost every weekend for the last two months, and I've not once been disappointed.

For those of you unfamiliar with LFM, it's a carry-out only fish market near Lawrence and Pulaski that happens to have a sushi chef on hand who serves up some of the freshest (although somewhat sloppy) cuts of fish in Chicago.

Individual pieces of Nigiri are generally $1/piece (yes, $1), with only Toro ($3.95) and possibly snapper being a bit more expensive.

Anyway, the place hasn't really blown up yet despite tons of positive reviews on yelp, so I'm hoping that prices won't shoot up any time soon.

Honestly, the fish here is easily as fresh as what I've had at Bob San and Coast, and you can walk away completely stuffed for under $20.

I will try and scan one of their hand-written menus this week.

Lawrence Fish Market
3914 W Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 267-6838

Thomasec-
I have also been ordering from LFM for awhile, and absolutely love their platters. I am, like you, worried that they'll eventually get "discovered" and raise their prices, and with this new "menu" I'm not sure they won't! I always thought of LFM as my little underground sushi secret, and I honestly don't even tell people about it for fear that it will become too popular (I swear, I have nightmares over this!).
I used to call and order a $20, $30, $40 platter, tell them what I like, and they'd make it happen. This time, I asked for a spicy crunchy tuna, california and spider, and it was $25. It has never been over $20 before, and they gave a lot less this time.
I will also admit that I have ordered bad sushi from there twice, and was forced to throw the entire platter away. Other than that, they do seem to be consistently delish though!

There doesn't seem to be much talk of this place anymore, but I'm sure it's still on the list of many people's go-to sushi spots. One thing that I don't like much though, is to order their platters just by dollar amount. They always give you something that you didn't really want. And having to count up to $40 (or whatever your budget is) is just a pain.

Not to worry, I have your solution. You can find a spreadsheet here, which will tally up your exact order. Enter the number of people, and you will even be guided toward choosing the perfect amount of sushi for your meal. I think that $15-20 it about right.

Enjoy!
-Pat

Thanks for the heads-up!
Tonghts Friday night Lenten dinner is now locked in!

Everyblock's Albany Park page, like others, has auto-search that lists changes to business licenses in the neighborhood. At the end of August, it stated that Lawrence Fish Market's license updated to "changed/closed". LFM doesn't have a webpage, but their yelp and facebook pages show posts from Stephany Hong that reads: "As of 20-Aug-15: The Lawrence Fish Market family thanks you for 27 years of loyalty, love, and patronage. Even though the store is still there, our team no longer is. After years of joyfully and faithfully serving the Chicagoland community, it is with heavy hearts that our family says goodbye." Driving by yesterday, I saw it is indeed still open. Can anyone offer further info? Who is the new team, and will they maintain the same standards of delicious, affordable sushi in a crummy storefront?

I had an errand in the neighborhood, and decided to stop in to check things out. The nice lady at the register confirmed that they had bought the store from the old owners, and while everything was basically the same for now, some changes are possible/likely in the future.

Ordered some rolls and a few nigiri. The menu looked unchanged, though I think the maki rolls used to be 8 pieces and are now 6 pieces. The fish I saw cut to order at the counter looked impeccable, but the sushi rice was not of the same quality. The caterpillar roll came with excessive mayo, a commonplace experience in other places but previously not at this market. I may go back another time down the road to see if things improve, but I am rather pessimistic.

thomasec wrote:Lawrence Fish Market
3914 W Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 267-6838

Roughly a year ago a fire at this location forced a temporary relocation in the back of the Brywn Mawr Fresh Market up by NEIU. They have since found a new home doors from their original location, now at 3920 W. Lawrence. Phone number is the same.

I just went for the first time and got the $50 maki platter. I'm kinda blown away. It was good and fresh and for what they are charging I would easily have spent $120 and possibly north of $150 for the same items in the North burbs. I get it the volume numbers are completely incomparable between the two places but for that quality and that significant difference it looks like I'll be taking that drive more often.

This place must be doing a bang up business lately. At least once a day I see a post on facebook along the lines of "fist time here - Awesome! Why didn't I know about this?!"

zoid wrote:This place must be doing a bang up business lately. At least once a day I see a post on facebook along the lines of "fist time here - Awesome! Why didn't I know about this?!"

I've ordered from them twice in the last month or so. The first time they didn't answer the phone, so I drove there just to see if they had closed during the lockdown or had gone under altogether or what. Quite to the contrary, I discovered they didn't answer because they were too slammed with existing orders. Nonetheless they graciously squeezed in my walk-in order.

The second time they answered after the second call attempt. Both times I went, there was a line of delivery drivers parked up and down the street with blinkers on, waiting to pick up orders. This place is definitely not hurting for business even in these uncertain times.

Something to note, THEY DON'T TAKE CREDIT CARDS. However they do have an ATM machine inside and they also accept Venmo and Zelle.

Fwiw, Joong Boo does a hell of a sushi special tray twice a wk for $30. Must preorder, but the fish is top notch.

Jazzfood wrote:Fwiw, Joong Boo does a hell of a sushi special tray twice a wk for $30. Must preorder, but the fish is top notch.

Both locations.

Picked-up from Lawrence Fish Market last night. This was our second time ordering. The first time we went with one of their Party Trays and added a couple things. This time we did a more tactical strike of our favorites. Had to load up on the Super White Tuna at $1.25 a piece. Next favorite would be the Negihamachi Roll - Hamachi and chopped green onion. Only miss was the Ninja Roll - Tuna, jalapeno, cream cheese and cucumber. It was topped with a dot of Sriracha which I don't like in the context of sushi. Fish was fresh, service was terse and extremely efficient (my favorite combo ).

Are they bringing orders out to the car?

Vitesse98 wrote:Are they bringing orders out to the car?

No, you have to go in and get them. FWIW the entire staff wears masks and the last two times I was there they had hand sanitizer available at the counter.

KClose wrote:Picked-up from Lawrence Fish Market last night. This was our second time ordering. The first time we went with one of their Party Trays and added a couple things. This time we did a more tactical strike of our favorites. Had to load up on the Super White Tuna at $1.25 a piece. Next favorite would be the Negihamachi Roll - Hamachi and chopped green onion. Only miss was the Ninja Roll - Tuna, jalapeno, cream cheese and cucumber. It was topped with a dot of Sriracha which I don't like in the context of sushi. Fish was fresh, service was terse and extremely efficient (my favorite combo ).

So you think the sriracha was the problem with your tuna, jalapeno, cream cheese and cucumber roll?

deesher wrote:So you think the sriracha was the problem with your tuna, jalapeno, cream cheese and cucumber roll?

Only in the context of sushi.

deesher wrote:So you think the sriracha was the problem with your tuna, jalapeno, cream cheese and cucumber roll?

There is plenty to enjoy in life's trashier food items! A Doritos Locos Taco for your thoughts

Went for a nice bike ride in Harms Woods, then headed east to pick up a sushi platter. $44 (with tax) got us enough for my wife and I, plus a few pieces for the one of our kids that will actually eat sushi, with a small serving leftover for (me) today. Not exactly sure what everything was, but it was all great, and literally half as much as we've paid locally (in Oak Park) for likewise half as much sushi. The only bright side of this pandemic so far is that it's cut drive-times in half as well.

deesher wrote:So you think the sriracha was the problem with your tuna, jalapeno, cream cheese and cucumber roll?

banner quote

Lawrence Fish Market, count me a Fan! pretty much sums it up. I don't remember ever going to LFM, not the new iteration for sure, but Wow. Value for cost off the charts, quick, clean, friendly, attention to social distancing and less than ten minute wait for an impulse walk-in order. Nicely packed with wasabi, soy and chop sticks.

6 maki rolls and two inari sushi for $21.40 pre tax/tip. Two of us could not finish. I did not go full-on anti-deesher with mayo, sriracha, jalapeno or cream cheese. Stayed simple, cucumber, Californian and Negihamaki.





Lawrence Fish Market, count me a Fan!

Ordered from there twice this week. We did the $100 assortment for 6 (very hungry) people with enough left over for a midnight snack. We toned it down the second time.

Jazzfood wrote:Fwiw, Joong Boo does a hell of a sushi special tray twice a wk for $30. Must preorder, but the fish is top notch.

After a visit to the dentist, I dropped by Joon Boo in Glenview for a sashimi party tray, on special for $25 on Wednesday and Friday. I came early enough, they had trays sitting in the refrigerator.


Since this is my family, I portioned it out rather than rely on Scout's honor. I made sushi rice to go with this. I also cut up some Daikon radish, then found there was a lot already underneath the fish.


After lunch, my Dad informed he prefers his sardines from a can.

If and when I do this again, I will share it with a different crowd.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:After lunch, my Dad informed he prefers his sardines from a can.

C2, at least your dad is honest.
Sashimi platter from Joong Boo looks great, especially for $25.

Cathy2 wrote:

Jazzfood wrote:Fwiw, Joong Boo does a hell of a sushi special tray twice a wk for $30. Must preorder, but the fish is top notch.

After a visit to the dentist, I dropped by Joon Boo in Glenview for a sashimi party tray, on special for $25 on Wednesday and Friday. I came early enough, they had trays sitting in the refrigerator.

IMG_0528.JPG

Since this is my family, I portioned it out rather than rely on Scout's honor. I made sushi rice to go with this. I also cut up some Daikon radish, then found there was a lot already underneath the fish.

IMG_0532.JPG

After lunch, my Dad informed he prefers his sardines from a can.

If and when I do this again, I will share it with a different crowd.

Regards,
Cathy2

You know where I live.

G Wiv wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:After lunch, my Dad informed he prefers his sardines from a can.

C2, at least your dad is honest.
Sashimi platter from Joong Boo looks great, especially for $25.

He is sometimes too honest. It sometimes is a bit deflating.

CAthy2

If and when I do this again, I will share it with a different crowd.

Me me me! :: waving hand wildly ::

When we start meeting in person again, seems to me a gathering at or near Joong Boo in Glenview should be on our list.

Katie wrote:When we start meeting in person again, seems to me a gathering at or near Joong Boo in Glenview should be on our list.

Great minds think alike with a visit on a Wednesday or Friday.

Cathy2