Cicero Food Guide: 10 Must-Eat Restaurants & Street Food Stalls in Cicero

Carley Gatson

Reviewed By Taylor B - Chicago, Illinois

When I heard about Troha's Chicken and Shrimp House at 4151 West 26th Street in Little Village, my first reaction was it is too far away from my home in downtown Chicago. It's a no-frills, mostly carry out business, not the kind of place for a family outing or a birthday celebration. But when I learned the Troha's has been doing business at the same address since 1917, since you could buy a stein of beer and a bowl of chili for 5 cents, since Babe Ruth played for the Boston Red Sox, I decided I had to give it a try. Troha's specialized in smoked and fresh fish until 1935 when they introduced a new item, shrimp. In fact, Troha's became the shrimp house in Chicago, deep fried or smoked or boiled. In 1959, Troha's became the first to perfect the carry out deep frying method for chicken, six years before Chicken Unlimited and KFC. My wife and I have perfected our own method for eating at Troha's. We order a full order of deep fried shrimp and 1/2 orders of perch, fish chips and Alaskan whitefish with sides of cole slaw and potato salad, take it home, reheat it and enjoy a buffet of fresh, flaky and tasty fish. It's a unique experience. Remember, Troha's family-owned business was deep frying shrimp before most Chicagoans knew what shrimp was or that it came from the Gulf of Mexico. After all these years, they still do it as well or better than anyone else.