Bob Chinn (March 2, 1923 – April 15, 2022) was an American

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

. His most well-known creation is Bob Chinn's Crab House, in Wheeling,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, which opened in 1982 and was ranked by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine in August 2012 as the top grossing restaurant in America with an estimated $24 million in revenue. In a ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' profile he is described as a "brassy, gregarious, outsize personality, operating with the subtlety of a punch to the solar plexus". Chinn was born in

Duluth Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, in 1923 to Chinese immigrant parents from

Taishan, Guangdong Taishan (), postal map romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized in Cantonese as Toishan or Toisan, in local dialect as Hoisan, and formerly known as Xinning or Sunning (), is a county-level city in the southwest of Guangd ...

. He would move with his family during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

where the family owned the New Wilson Village, an Uptown restaurant. Chinn would later serve in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

as part of an artillery unit during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war he started a number of his own restaurants. Bob Chinn's Crab House is his 14th and most successful establishment and was opened in 1982. He died in April 2022, at the age of 99.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinn, Bob 1923 births 2022 deaths American people of Chinese descent People from Duluth, Minnesota Military personnel from Minnesota American restaurateurs United States Army personnel of World War II People from Wheeling, Illinois United States Army soldiers Military personnel from Illinois Businesspeople from Minnesota Businesspeople from Illinois 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople Date of death missing