Blues singer Willie G. encourages couples like Erika Hernandez and Jacob Melendrez to kiss at Lou's Fish Shack. Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle

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There aren't many places where you can hear live music while you chow down on Dungeness crab Louis and fish and chips, but that's the case at Lou's Fish Shack on Fisherman's Wharf.

Head upstairs on Thursday through Sunday evenings, and you'll catch the likes of longtime Bay Area bluesman Willie G., Little Wolf or Jim Moore & Funktional Soul.

It's a longtime tradition. According to Kevin Westlye, president of High Flying Foods, which owns Lou's, many of the musicians have been playing at the restaurant for five to 10 years and draw a steady crowd.

"We have regulars who have come in every Saturday night for 10 years," he says.

It's one way that Lou's has nestled into the San Francisco zeitgeist, blending local appeal with a tourist draw.

That's certainly what founder Laura "Lou" Gillespie had in mind when she opened the place in 1988 in a Victorian building on busy Jefferson Street. The restaurant downstairs served Cajun-style seafood, while blues held forth upstairs, reachable via a separate entrance.

Ten years later, High Flying Foods acquired the business, and in 2011 gutted and remodeled the building.

They opened up the space with broad windows, created one entrance and connected the two levels. That meant that whatever is on the menu in the downstairs dining room and bar can be served upstairs as well, where's there's a separate bar, small stage and dance floor.

Another remodel - the city's six-month street project, completed in May - also benefited the restaurant. The sidewalk widening and repaving allowed Lou's to expand the front patio. It's where diners can congregate to watch the always-entertaining street scene.

Westlye says the space - and the menu - are designed to be accessible. Fresh seafood is the focus, with wharf favorites like cracked Dungeness crab - hot or cold - crab cioppino, linguine with clams, pan-fried snapper, fish tacos, and a crunchy fish and chips. Many dishes are in the $10-$20 range.

If you want to eat upstairs during a performance, there's a minimum food and beverage charge - basically the cost of a main course and drink - but there's no cover.

As the evening goes on, the scene evolves.

"The band energizes the crowd toward the end of the dinner hour," Westlye says. "And by the time the last set rolls around, dinner might be done and the dancing takes over."

Lou's Fish Shack

300 Jefferson St., (at

Jones Street, Pier 47)

(415) 771-5687,

www.lousfishshack