• MOSCOWMULE-picbyMariaHartePhotography
    Hugo’s Frog Bar Moscow Mule. PR photo
  • Escargot-picbyJWKPECPhotography
    Hugo’s Frog Bar excargot. PR photo by JWKPEC Photography
  • IMG_4641-chocolatecake
    Hugo’s Frog Bar chocolate cake. Photo by Andrew Davis
  • IMG_4636-salmon
    Hugo’s Frog Bar salmon. Photo by Andrew Davis
  • IMG_4633-stonecrabclaw
    Hugo’s Frog Bar stone crab claw. Photo by Andrew Davis
  • IMG_4630-crabcake
    Hugo’s Frog Bar crab cake. Photo by Andrew Davis
  • Chocolate_Mousse_Pie-picbyKailleyLindman
    Hugo’s Frog Bar Chocolate Mousse. PR photo by Kailley Lindman
Hugo’s Frog Bar (1024 N. Rush St.; HugosFrogBar.com) is part of the Gibsons Restaurant Group—which means it comes quite the reputation.

A lesser restaurant might have caved under the pressure of being associated with such a group. However, Hugo’s (judging from a recent visit) is more than up to the task.

Coming from around the Chesapeake Bay area, I’m generally pretty skeptical of Chicago seafood restaurants—but they’ve slowly been putting me more and more at ease. I’m especially finicky when it comes to crab cakes—and Hugo’s does a great job with the item, thanks to almost a surplus of tasty crab meat and relatively little breading.

I was also impressed with the grilled Faroe Island salmon with brown-butter vinaigrette. As for dessert—well, let’s just say that you’re almost guaranteed to take some home. The chocolate mousse pie was incredibly delicious—but it’s also the size of Iowa, ensuring some continued decadence over the next few days following your meal.