Sam Rafael holds up a photo of some of the meals that customers can order from his Seafood Lands Market and Restaurant, which opened in Hillside about a week ago. | Michael Romain
Saturday, November 6, 2021 || By Michael Romain || @maywoodnews
Sam Rafael, the co-owner of the newly opened Seafood Lands Market and Restaurant, 352 N. Wolf Rd. in Hillside, said the establishment has an advantage over similar seafood restaurants.
Take the restaurant’s seafood boils. Basically, customers can order all of the ingredients for the boil inside of the store and either take them home to cook on their own or turn them over to Rafael, who will cook them however the customer desires.
“The food is a little bit pricey — like the seafood boil and premium steaks,” he said. “The middle-class consumer who enjoys those meals at [conventional] restaurants will end up paying a lot of money. So, instead, they can purchase this food from us with whatever payment they can, even EBT, for example, and then, for small cooking fees, I can cook the food to their taste.”
Rafael said his establishment has been open for about a week. Throughout the months of November and December, the store will be celebrating its grand opening with discounts on some of its best dishes, such as the lobster bisque and clam chowder. Customers can also purchase marinara sauces.
Rafael said Seafood Lands has three other locations, including a location he co-owns in Chicago. | Michael Romain
All of the dishes are homemade right on site, Rafael said, adding that he also makes pastas — Alfredo, pesto and scampi among others.
Rafael, who is from Wisconsin, said there are three other Seafood Lands locations, which are owned by a group of partners. He said he said he has a share in another location in Chicago.
He said his partners decided on the Hillside location, which used to be home to the Tornado Spot – Tobacco & Deli.
Customers can order seafood like lobster tails, crabs, shrimp and mussels and have Rafael cook the food to their specification at Seafood Lands. | Michael Romain
In addition to seafood and steak, the store also sells freshly squeezed lemonade and desserts such as creamy red velvet cake, caramel cake, banana pudding and taffy grapes.
Seafood Lands Market is open every day, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, call (708) 401-5904.
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