Chicago Tribune: A guide to eating your way through Chicago's West Side

FRIED SHRIMP FROM A CENTURY-OLD SHACK

Troha’s Chicken and Shrimp House

4151 W. 26th St. 773-521-7847

How does a hundred-year-old landlocked Little Village restaurant end up serving some of Chicago’s best flaky golden fried shrimp ($10.70 for half order)? It all started in 1917 when George Troha plied locals with a bowl of chili and a stein of beer for a nickel. During the Depression, chili meat became scarce, so Troha switched over to selling fresh and smoked fish, eventually unveiling shrimp in 1935. The idea of frying it came a few years later, after the restaurant’s owners were inspired by a visit to New Orleans. The Trohas also claim to have developed carry-out fried chicken six years before KFC. Whether that’s true or not, one thing is certain, the fourth-generation owners are still killing it a century later.

KICKIN’ CHICKEN