The History
Opened in 1933 inside The Drake Hotel at 140 E Walton Place on the Gold Coast, the Cape Cod Room was Chicago's premier seafood restaurant for 83 years. It occupied the lower level of one of the city's most storied hotels — The Drake had opened in 1920 and quickly became the address of choice for visiting royalty, presidents, and Hollywood stars. Adding a seafood restaurant in the depths of the Depression was a bold move, but it worked. The Cape Cod Room became an institution almost immediately.
The room was designed to evoke a New England fishing village, and it never changed. Red-checkered tablecloths covered every table. Dark wood paneling lined the walls. Nautical decor — ship wheels, fishing nets, maritime paintings — created the feeling of stepping into a Cape Cod cottage. The raw bar sat at the entrance, where oysters were shucked in front of arriving guests, and the smell of the sea greeted you before you even sat down. Waiters in white jackets moved between tables with the quiet efficiency of men who had been doing this for decades, because many of them had.
The restaurant was famous for its Bookbinder red snapper soup, a rich tomato-based creation with chunks of red snapper that became one of the most requested recipes in Chicago history. Dover sole, massive lobster tails, crab cakes, and oysters Rockefeller rounded out a menu that was unapologetically classic. The Cape Cod Room did not chase trends. It did not need to. For 83 years, Chicago came to it.
What Made It Famous
The Cape Cod Room was the definition of old-money Chicago dining. It was the place where Gold Coast society celebrated engagements, anniversaries, and milestone birthdays. It was where business deals were sealed over lobster and where families returned year after year, sitting at the same tables, ordering the same dishes, greeted by the same waiters. In a city obsessed with the new, the Cape Cod Room's refusal to change was its greatest strength. You knew exactly what you were getting, and what you were getting was perfect.
The Bookbinder red snapper soup became so famous that the recipe was one of Chicago's most requested for decades. Food editors at the Tribune and Sun-Times published it repeatedly, and home cooks across the city attempted to replicate it — mostly without success, because there was something about eating it in that wood-paneled room, at a red-checkered table, that could not be reproduced in a kitchen. The raw bar at the entrance, where oysters were shucked in front of you with practiced speed, was a city institution in itself. Regulars would stop at the bar for a dozen oysters and a glass of champagne without ever sitting down for dinner.
Marilyn Monroe dined here. Princess Diana visited. Generations of Chicago families celebrated the milestones of their lives at these tables. When the Cape Cod Room closed in 2016 for hotel renovations, there were promises that it would reopen. It never did. After 83 years of continuous operation — through the Depression, World War II, the social upheavals of the 1960s, and the restaurant revolutions of the 2000s — the Cape Cod Room simply ceased to exist, ending one of the longest and most beloved runs of any restaurant in Chicago history.
Key Facts
83 Years
From 1933 to 2016, the Cape Cod Room operated continuously inside The Drake Hotel — one of the longest runs of any restaurant in Chicago history, spanning the Depression through the digital age.
The Bookbinder Soup
The Bookbinder red snapper soup was Chicago's most famous seafood recipe, a rich tomato-based soup with chunks of red snapper that was served at virtually every table for over eight decades.
Inside The Drake
The Drake Hotel at 140 E Walton Place has been a Gold Coast landmark since 1920, hosting royalty, presidents, and celebrities. The Cape Cod Room was its crown jewel for dining.
The Raw Bar
Oysters shucked in front of you at the entrance — for decades, the Cape Cod Room's raw bar was a destination in itself. Regulars stopped for a dozen and champagne without even sitting down.
What Remains
The Cape Cod Room closed in 2016 when The Drake Hotel began renovations. Despite initial promises that the restaurant would return, it never reopened. The space that housed 83 years of Chicago dining history has not been replaced with a new restaurant.
The Drake Hotel itself, at 140 E Walton Place, is still open and operating as a Hilton property. The hotel's iconic lobby and the Palm Court — where afternoon tea has been served for over a century — are still worth visiting. If you stand in the lower level where the Cape Cod Room once was, you can imagine the red-checkered tablecloths, the nautical decor, and the sound of oysters being shucked at the raw bar.
Address: 140 E Walton Pl (The Drake Hotel), Chicago, IL (Gold Coast)
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