Calumet Fisheries reopens Saturday, seven months after iconic Chicago restaurant fire

CHICAGO (CBS)– The grills at a beloved South Side seafood restaurant are heating up again this weekend, months after a devastating fire.

Calumet Fisheries, housed in a small cabin along the 95th Street Bridge over the Calumet River, will reopen Saturday.

The restaurant has been closed since a fire ravaged the building on November 21. Chicago firefighters ruled the fire an accident caused by an electrical problem.

It took months of repairs and renovations, but Calumet Fisheries is now ready to reopen. It's rare for a 76-year-old company to prepare for a grand opening, but that's exactly the situation Calumet Fisheries staff find themselves in.

“I feel all the emotions,” said assistant principal Annise Louden. “I'm excited. I'm nervous. I'm just scared of what's going to happen.”

Word is spreading about the historic smokehouse's opening day.

“I expect lines out the door, to be honest,” Louden said.

Some people were so eager to see the old reserve again that they arrived a little too early.

“Where is everyone? Where is the crowd?” said Marchan Jackson. “You know, because I expected it to be crowded.”

Jackson is looking forward to shrimp dinners or smoking trout when Calumet Fisheries reopens its doors.

Jeff Maddux of Streamwood and his family stopped for a bike ride – also a little before Calumet Fisheries was ready.

“It’s a place that’s been on my list to visit in Chicago for a long time,” Maddux said.

Staff said they were preparing more food than during their usual busy time – Lent. The owner said that while customers will notice a new interior and menu board after months of repairs and renovations, the famous recipes of the cash-only Chicago classic will always remain the same.

The panel will open on Saturday from 9 a.m. Staff expect very large crowds to fill the sidewalk, especially when smoked fish sales begin at 2 p.m.

Calumet Fisheries is known for smoking its own food on site. It was first opened by brothers-in-law Sid Kotlick and Len Toll in 1948.

The famous sign on the side of the building announces: “The best fried shrimp, smelt, chips, oysters, catfish, smoked fish, chub, salmon, sturgeon, trout, sable, eel.”

Another sign out front displays a caricature of John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as The Blues Brothers. Calumet Fisheries didn't actually appear in the movie “The Blues Brothers,” but the smokehouse hosted the film crew during filming in the summer of 1979, when they used the 95th Street Bridge for a famous bridge jumping scene.

Calumet Fisheries also appeared in the late Anthony Bourdain's “No Reservations” and “Check Please!” from WTTW-Channel 11. and also received the American Classic Award from the James Beard Foundation. A caricature of Bourdain and the James Beard Award are also featured on the sign along with the Blues Brothers.