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By Stephen Volkamer
These days when you go out for seafood, you find that each place is pretty much the same. You find standard food and standard service. Yet why settle for just the boring, limited standards? Set  your expectations higher and come eat at Dover Straits, located in Hoffman Estates and Mundelein. Where many restaurants have lost their unique charm and particularly succulent dishes, Dover Straits has both in abundance.
Dover Straits gets its name from the Strait of Dover, the narrow channel of water between Dover, England and Calais, France. The dazzling white, chalky cliffs on the British coast overlook one of the world’s busiest sea-lanes. In the Strait in 1588, the British defended themselves from the invading Spanish Armada. During both World Wars, Dover endured bombing from zeppelins, warships, air raids and artillery. Interestingly, the Strait that makes for great history also makes for great fish. The temperature and the depth of the water at 150 feet provide an excellent location for fresh seafood.
Dover Straits offers fine seafood just like the Strait of Dover, and sophisticated dishes you are not likely to find anywhere else. During a time when menus are simplified and portions are restricted, Dover Straits gives its customers a much welcome change from chain restaurants. In chain restaurants, what you eat in Orlando, Florida is the same as what you eat in Omaha,  Nebraska. While customers always know what to expect, dining becomes a dull experience. Dover Straits works hard to make your dining experience exceptional.
They offer hard to find, hard to make, and hard not to enjoy meals like bouillabaisse, Cioppino, Lobster Thermidor, and frog legs. Bouillabaisse Marseillaise, a French dish, is a stew of shrimp, scallops, lobster tail, mussels, and little neck clams. Expect a large serving of this robust meal! San Francisco’s Original Cioppino, another hearty fish stew and from California, is a combination of shrimp, sea scallops, fish filet, mussels, and little neck clams—all in a filling tomato stock. The Lobster Thermidor is a meal of sautéed lobster meat, shallots and green onions, covered in a Tarragon crème sauce with parmesan cheese. Frog Legs Cleopatra, one of many daily specials and increasingly popular, is tender frog legs lightly breaded and sautéed with shrimp, mushrooms, and capers in a garlic-wine sauce. At other restaurants, these dishes are rare because all the ingredients have to be fresh and require extensive skill to prepare.
Along with excellent food comes excellent service. A family of seven brothers independently operates Dover Straits. Their family effort shows in the professionalism of service. This is in contrast to chain restaurants which experience a high rate of employee turnover. Because of this, chain restaurants are not able to provide  experience-intensive dishes or a friendly repertoire with customers. For example, at Dover Straits, you can watch the waiter debone the Dover Sole alongside the table. You rarely see this in most restaurants because it takes experience and hard work to prepare that dish properly. Since employees rarely leave Dover Straits, customers know the staff by name and vice versa. Here you can expect to have a favorite table, meal and waiter. While interviewing the owner, he greeted nearly everyone coming into the restaurant.
Among other unique aspects of the restaurant, Dover Straits looks like a restaurant you’d find in New England or San Francisco. They have 200 gallon saltwater fish tanks with interesting creatures like eels, puffer fish, lionfish, and angel groupers. They also have live music throughout the week. Summer is a great time for seafood especially since June is the beginning of soft shell crab season. Next time you want a fresh, reasonably priced, and classy dining experience, dine at Dover Straits. Their food is one-of-a-kind!
Dover Straits
1149 West Golf Rd., Hoffman Estates
847-884-3900
890 East Rt. 45, Mundelein
847-949-1550
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