Joe’s Crab Shack

Reserved a table for 10 way ahead of time on the patio to celebrate a 50^th wedding anniversary. So we arrive and they seat us inside, not just inside, but next to the service area and the door to the patio, so we are dodging tray tables and servers for the entire meal. Then, the food… the appetizers were great, but that’s when things started going down hill, one steak was so darn tough she couldn’t saw it in two with a knife, so we asked for a replacement, then the crab legs were so soggy, you couldn’t crack them open, or tear them apart to extract the meat. Pardon me, but a bad steak I can overlook because their specialty is, drum roll… crab legs; however, I cannot accept the fact that they don’t know how to properly cook crab legs, and the corn on the cob was under cooked. It was a total embarrassment. The server was fantastic, did all he could and he was rewarded. But what a disappointment otherwise. This turned a once in a lifetime event for our parents into a memory no one will forget, just not a good one.

I was apprehensive as I’m not a chain restaurant person, but overall had a great experience. Our server Gill was extremely helpful and personable. The peel and eat shrimp appetizer was delicious as were the crab legs. Their frothy butter sauce is dangerous. Equally as dangerous is their signature cocktails. They’re a bit overpriced but weren’t as syrupy sweet as I had anticipated.

It’s a fun place to eat outside on a nice night with a beautiful view. Go later in the evening, after 8 when it’s cooler and the crowds have died down so you don’t have to wait for a deck table.
Garlicky Mussels were done perfectly. Joes’s Classic Steampot for two, is more food than two people can finish. If you like crab this is the way to go. Plus the whole red potatoes and ears of corn on the cob also have a hint of Old Bay seasoning from the steaming which kicks up their flavor as well.
The negative… wait staff were more concerned with hanging out together than taking care of customers. Buy a bucket of beer on ice so you aren’t relying on your waiter to get drinks for you.

Turd City, this place is atrocious.
You get a surly staff, overcooked tasteless seafood, dirty environs, children running everywhere, too loud music, someone hollering about a birthday every few minutes… Seriously shut this place down.
Perhaps the most offensive thing was the wait staff clearing tables on the patio and emptying glasses of half-​drank beverages over the side of the deck, straw and all.
Finally, the food was garbage. You’d do better picking up some Long John Silvers and a six pack and eating it on the hood of your car in the parking lot.

People were blowing whistles and screaming while I’m trying to enjoy a meal. A bachelorette party was taking place in the main dining room and they kept getting up and dancing around the whole restraunt being super loud and obnoxious. I came in expecting a good meal instead I left with a huge headache.

I’ve seen a mixed sort of reviews of this place. But I always liked it when I was a kid. Hard to believe that was almost 20 years ago. Tonight was just like back then. AWESOME!!! We got there about 7pm on a Saturday night. It was packed and busy and loud. The hostess told us we’d be an hour till we got seated. That’s fine. It’s Saturday night. We got seated on 45 minutes.
We noticed the outside area was pretty empty and we thought maybe we’d get to eat out there. We didn’t even have a chance to ask as we were quickly taken to a booth. That was fine with us.
Our waitress got to our table before we even knew what we wanted to drink. We got the sampler appetizer, which had fried calamari, chips with a crab meat dipping sauce, and fried jalapeño cheese poppers (they were huge). Everything was hot and very flavorful. My girlfriends mom got a beer. While me and my girlfriend had our own mixed drinks. These were great. While I don’t remember the names, Very fruity, we’ll mixed, pretty strong drinks (not bad for $ 8 a piece.
All three of us had the classic steampot. They were amazing!!! They had them out before we could even finish the appetizer. A whole lobster spilt in half. I can’t even remember how many crab legs. A whole corn on the cob. Whole sausage, and a about 5 red potatoes cut in halves. It was cooked great. Only complaint was that the lobster was mushy, cooked a little too long, but everything else was cooked great.
Our waitress told us that she was a trainee because she was new. She was pretty good at her job. Got to us fast. Checked up on us alot more than she needed. And brought us out whatever we needed promptly. Another great seafood experience and I’d say a well spent $ 140 (not including tip. I gave her $ 23!!.)

Nick the server is awesome! He showed us just the right amount of attention. Customer service is key and he was a five star server. The food was good and what I liked most was he kept us updated on our food and when it would be ready.
Thanks Nick!

I used to love this place. I see signs of decline. First, I always get the crab stuffed mushrooms. Those are my favorite thing. Well they used to be. Once I got today there was not a single mushroom, there were pieces of mushroom, instead of a crab stuffing like they used to be with cheese, it was at least two thirds bread. An obvious cost cutter.
The fried platter had amazing small portions, which turned out to be an OK thing since there was next to no flavor in the scallops shrimp or the fish.
They have a sign on the door that they are probably a «no tipping establishment». What I discovered that means is, they have jacked up the prices, decreased the portions, and cut the quality. Now you will pay a 20% tip whether they are good or not because it’s built into the price.
As I said, this used to be one of my favorite places. It is now permanently off my list.
Just to top it off the table next to me found an insect in one of their drinks!

went to Joes Crab Shack tonight at 530. There was 2 tables with people. We stood at hostess stand for 5 mins while manager stood at end of aisle looking at us. He finally came and sat us. We ordered dip duo… The chips were limp, pale and greasy. We sent it back. It came back with fresh chips but cool dip. Our food arrived and it was cold… the fish was doughy. Seems like the fryer wasn’t hot. My grilled shrimp tasted like raw fish… it was disgusting. We called over the manager and told him to take all the food back and we left. NEVER NEVER WILL I GO THERE AGAIN

We really enjoy going to Joe’s Crab Shack. We always have the crab and find it is tasty and fresh. Often we’ll have one of their fun, delicious tropical cocktails. I especially love to sit out on the patio overlooking the Ohio River when the weather is nice. We come here frequently and the service is fine. We like the fact that this is a no tipping restaurant. Overall this is our «go to» place anytime we’re hungry for crab.

A family member wanted to go here for their birthday and after reading all the negative reviews, I was dreading it. Very pleasantly surprised and it was great. We were supposed to have a reservation for 10 that the hostess and manager could not find. But they put a table together for us fairly quickly. We were one of «those parties from hell» as we ended up having 14 and one person came very late. However, our server Candace kept up with us and took excellent care of us. The food was excellent and we are pretty picky. We had a variety of pots and crab baskets amongst our group. I had the combination of King crab, snow crab and queen crab. It was delicious and the crab was cooked perfectly. You can tell by how easily it comes out of the shell. The great balls of fire appetizer was yummy with just a touch of heat. As are the hush puppies. I checked the bathroom and it was clean. A word about tipping, they post no tipping. But the servers deserve it and we certainly wanted to reward Candace for putting up with us. You can only tip with cash. They will not allow you to add it to a credit card. Terrible policy, Management — absolutely disgusting. We managed to scrape up cash amongst us but not near what Candace deserved.

for a not so busy day… Super bowl Sunday.
Service was atroshish. Took way to long to be acknowledged by serving staff. Seating was a breeze. For three of us my dinner was the only one hot. My husband and my granddaughter’s food was warm at best. Like there;s had been sitting someplace. Beer was cold! I think for what you pay for dinner you should want to return often. Me, not so much!

Yes, it’s a franchise, but give them a break. Where else can you find such a selection of crab legs? Not to mention that the window view of the Ohio River, is magnificent.
We arrived around 11am on a Sunday and there wasn’t anyone else dining, so I can’t speak on the dinner waits that some of the other reviews mention. Our waiter was attentive and even though we were a bit indecisive, he was patient and didn’t rush us. I finally decided on the basic order of snow crabs, which I think we’re $ 26. The order came with the choice of corn on the cob and potatoes or fries and hush puppies. He let me switch it up though, and I ordered corn and fries. I wish I’d have asked for the fries first, before the meal though, because after I dug into the crab legs, the fries weren’t too warm and up against the crab legs, those fries took a backseat. Everything was pipping hot when it arrived, I was just slow and crack a lackin. When you order crab legs, you choose the type of seasoning that you want, there are several to choose from like a BBQ dry rub and a Cajun flavored option, I went for the garlic and herb option. Oh boy! I’m still thinking about how tasty they were! You wouldn’t think that flavoring the outside of a shell would cause the crab meat to be so flavorful, but it did. I hardly needed the warm butter that was brought out with it. The corn in the cob came in the same bucket, so it was flavored and juicy too. The order of hush puppies came in a batch of like eight, so do keep that in mind. I would recommend those too though. They were unique, with corn and peppers in the middle.
I will mention that my husband didn’t care for his order of fish tacos. He said that the chips that came with them were stale and hard and that the tacos weren’t flavorful. He didn’t finish his meal, which is why he ordered the extra order of hush puppies. Moral to this mention, stick to the crab legs. Back to those unforgettable crab legs, I noticed on the happy hour/​special menu, that snow crab legs are $ 29 for all you can eat on Wednesdays. That alone makes a good reason to make a random trip up from Lexington to Newport.

Service was good but food was bland. We ended up adding salt and pepper to almost all of our food items. This was a fun and enjoyable restaurant in the past and I wanted to support a restaurant that pays their staff a living wage (NO TIPS). Unfortunately the tasteless food and lack of atmosphere will keep us from coming back.

Took my mother for her birthday was awful Great view but awful service. Food was awful also took over 3hrs all together What we thought would be a quick easy dinner out was not busy at all Food was order they lost order after about 1hr waiting they took are order again and this time food came out cold wrong food and you could tell that the seafood bucket was old was worried to even let my dad eat it They came out took order again this time we asked for management to take order after she took order it still took another 1hr for food They did comp are bill and was free But many others we seen sending food back also saying it looked old and was cold as if just left under warmer Even if i was offered dinner for free I will not go back to this restaurant they need to get new management and clean house When it comes down to it Its poor management when food comes out that has been sitting under warmers and will give customers food poison

Really disappointed…
In town for a little R&R… Used to eat here while in town all the time, but this time was distinctly different.
Restaurant was dirty. Feet stick to the floor, hair in the bathroom sink dirty.
Staff was careless. Host told us our party in of three had a ten minute wait. After twenty minutes, I inquired about the time… Oh it’ll be about ten minutes. I said, you told me it would be ten minutes twenty minutes ago. He stammered a bit mumbling something about cleaning tables and by the grace of Joe, found an empty clean three top in a nearly empty restaurant.
He dumped us on a server, telling her in front of us he was placing us in her area. You could see the irritation in her face dealing with the host. It was as if she had been dumped on all day. She was obviously a more experienced server due to the way she dealt with us. Fairly attentive and polite.
I had to use the restroom, bathroom was disgusting. Gobs of hair on the rim of the sink. It looked like someone had shaved a huge beard in the sink… There was the remains of a tobacco dip in the other sink. It was dry. No one has cleaned these in a long time. Horrible.
When our food arrived, my order was wrong. I ordered a KC steam pot with fries and hush puppies, got corn on the cob instead. No scallops ! Asked for them and they arrived ungrilled and damn near raw. No sear marks at all.
Looks from the reviews a lot of issues were on going, but I think with the no tipping policy, no one has incentive to strive for excellence. I just get the impression no one gives a crap about the guests or their fellow employees… Sad indeed.
Guess I’ll have to find a new seafood restaurant in Cinci for our visits.

Came to this place because the birthday boy wanted to eat seafood. I ordered the East Coast Platter. Big mistake, the crab cake was dry and broke apart, the fried fish was greasy and the 3 shrimp wrapped in bacon were small. Disappointed, I should had tried one of steam pots, they looked better.
I will come back to try something different. Our Server Billie, was awesome!

So, I stopped eating here for about a year. I went back in August on a nice summer evening to see if things had gotten better. For sure they had. The place was very busy and it didn’t take too long to get our food. It was cooked well and I was happy with my meal. So it seems this place has shaped up and gotten better at being the good franchise I know they are. Good job Joe’s

Awesome food! Crazy prices, but it’s all worth it for some amazing crab legs and lobster. The food was amazing! The staff was very helpful, and constantly checked on us. The waitress brought us refills even tho we never asked for them and still had plenty to drink. I felt like I was going to waste it if I didn’t drink it. Either way it was an awesome experience!

Shamefully pathetic and nasty. Shrimp boiled in shell and cold barbecue spooned on before serving.
After removing shells, legs and deveining your left with a stale shred of unflavored meat.
Ate one & was done, well actually I spit it back out…
Server brought warm water with a lemon wedge stuck in it, just like I asked Brooke NOT to do twice.
She did wait till the food came so maybe the «cook» fills plastic cups with tap water and the start of shift?
If you just don’t care, eat at Joe’s
… he sure hasn’t in a while. It’s that nasty.
Oh and cost $ 14. Glad I didn’t try the cheap crabs for $ 37.. ouch!!!
Location is pretty overlooking river if you sit outside (which is why I tried it despite Unilocal reviews warning)
my fault
Buyer beware~

My fiancé & myself both got sick from eating here. Only ate 3 shrimp, sent the rest back. She had the King Crab bucket & was chewing it back on the ride home. The servers also don’t work on tips anymore, I’m not saying this led to our bad service, but…

We’ve been here in the past and it’s been good, but this place has really gone downhill.
We went recently on a Sunday at 1:30 — not a busy time, but there were still a few tables seated. We waited at least ten minutes to be greeted by a server, which turned out to be a theme of the meal. Everything took WAY longer than it should have. The server was very dry — we asked if there was a Bloody Mary without crab legs in it and laughed, and got a flat «no.»
When we finally got our food, it looked as if it had been pulled from the back of a freezer, dropped in hot water, and tossed in a steam pot. Not appetizing. I also waited a full twenty minutes for butter… Isn’t that pretty standard with crab legs? Our server made eye contact several times and actually walked the other way.
Bad food, bad service, overpriced drinks. Suffice it to say, we won’t be back.

I had Joe’s for the first time on a busy Saturday night. We got seated quickly, and our waiter was kind and very attendant to us. Food came out SO FAST! The queen crab bucket is amazing. We also tried the sampler appetizer, which was great! For being as busy as they were, we felt our server took good care of us and the food was speedy and delicious!

I went to Joes tonight with my Mom since she was in town and we had a pretty good experience last time we went. I asked to be seated on the patio because the great view. We waited for over 20 minutes to be greeted after 6 different servers had walked by our table. Being in the restaurant industry I found this completely unacceptable.
We finally went in to get a manager, she said she’d be taking care of us for the rest of the night. She took our order and brought us waters then ended up passing us off to two other server.
We got our app for free which was the «garlicky mussels.» The mussel themselves were gritty and no longer attached to their there broken shells scattered throughout what was a pool of melted butter. I can’t believe they actually let those leave the kitchen. Anyone who has worked in a restaurant that has served seafood should have recognized the poor food quality immediately.
When we received our check we realized the manager also did not make us aware of a $ 9 up charge on our entrée. Overall their staff seemed completely unaware of their surroundings, taking multiple smoke breaks, standing around the bathrooms, as well as openly being frustrated with each other. It’s almost embarrassing they are still open. Especially with the closing of multiple Joes Crab Shacks throughout Ohio. It was a disappointment and not worth the $ 60 check we were left with.

We had reservations for 10 at 8 p.m. on a Saturday. It was a beautiful night to sit outside by the river and Joe’s Crab Shack was hopping. Within about 40 minutes, we had our drinks. Our food order was taken, maybe, by one hour and a half.
I was sitting at a table with 5 good friends. Because of the setting, the restaurant got the A-​OK rating. The food was also very tasty. I ordered the appetizer of shrimp in a bucket (very good served warm), with a side salad (not remarkable), and yummmmmmmy hush puppies. They had an amber beer on draft that was delicious, but I don’t recall the name.
Except for the disgusting film on the menus, the long waits between service and the fact that we did not receive silverware until 10 minutes after our food arrived– all was well at Joe’s Crab Shack. I knew going into this that Unilocal reviews indicated service as reduced.

I can’t even give 1 star, service sucked big time was so disappointed, there was 6 of us and 3 of us ordered the 33 shrimp plate and the shrimp was overcooked, fries was overcook, 1 other of our party ordered chicken strips the strips were overcooked and so small I seen kid 4 piece chicken nugget meals have more chicken and worst of all there was a hair in her food. After 20 minutes no waitress o personally had to get up from my meal and get a staff member to get me a manager. After getting the manager she did fix it but didn’t seem to be to concern about what happened. The wait wasn’t bad but service and food majorly was crappy and would not recommend them to anyone in the future unless I hear they have improved operations starting with management.

My family and I went to this place today for my aunts birthday. We’re finally seated after an hour and a half wait, only to wait another twenty minutes for a waitress to come over and take our orders. Upon ordering, we find out that there is no corn on the cob, which comes with everything, French fries, or a couple of other sides. After ordering, we wait nearly an hour for our food to come out. There were about 15 of us, however, every order came out without having side dishes. After our waitress dropped off the main courses, she left for about 30 to 45 minutes, while we ate, and then came back with a huge tray of side items. Of course we were all finished eating by then, so nobody wanted them, and I can’t leave out the fact that in all of this time, no one received a refill to there drink.
In addition to all of that, the steam pots came with about 2 or 3 pieces of shrimp in them. So after we were told that there was no corn, we observed tables being served corn, all over the restaurant. We arrived at about 5:15pm, we didn’t end up leaving until about 9:20pm. After all of the complaints, and the manager arranging discounts, it took about 30 minutes to settle the checks.

The bartender’s Jenny & Laura are great & so much fun!!! The food’s hit or miss on my visits there. Recommend not getting anything «breaded» or fried, stick with steamed or boiled seafood items. Most of the staff is moody & not very service friendly. I went in to pick up a to go order one night & no one seemed to know who was «in charge» of To-​Go orders. While I just stood there looking like a clueless wonder for almost 10 min’s, several other staff members walked by & no one even asked me if I had already been helped?! I had to finally ask someone to go get a manager to get my food.
Honestly, if it weren’t for the awesome bartenders – I don’t know if I would keep going back. Most of the other staff is moody & not very service friendly.

About once per year, typically for Father’s Day or a birthday, Paul requests a meal at Joe’s. Every year I silently object and go anyway. I don’t know if Joe’s has gotten progressively worse over the years or if my palette has improved, but I really, really, REALLY hate their food.
The guys ordered the crab nachos, which looked so awful I refused to even try them. The chips to everything else ratio was way off (far too many chips and not much of everything else), and the everything else looked like pet food. Nasty. I ordered the Classic Steampot and was thoroughly disappointed. The shrimp were overcooked and the crab were undercooked. Fighting with that stupid net in the pot was just, well. .. stupid. I went with the hush puppies and fries instead of the usual corn on the cob – big mistake. The fries were okay, but the hush puppies were like eating a glob of grease. That’s all I could taste. I’m hoping that since Paul’s lobster was also overcooked, this will be the last visit to Joe’s.
The only thing that kept this from being a one star review was service. As much as people complain about it on Unilocal,our server did a great job.

We went there today for lunch. We were greeted and shown to our table with a great view of the river. It was a bit too chilly for the deck.
There were four of us. Two ordered the steamer pots. They raved about the crab, mussels, crayfish, etc. They both commented on the perfect., sweet corn. Another had the fish and chips. That was quite good. I ordered the crab dip appetizer~ ~ fabulous! My entrée was the coconut shrimp. The reason first four stars. It was good, but slightly overcooked.
All in all it was a pleasant lunch by the river.

After my experience this weekend at Joe’s I quickly realized that it has become the «unofficial birthday restuarant» (my words, not theirs). It seemed like just about every table had someone celebrating a birthday which prompted the servers to sing, dance and put on a show. Yes, this is funny the first few times, but after 5 or 6 renditions of «Happy Birthday» I had about enough.
Not only that, but our food took over an hour and a half to arrive at our table. We waited patiently without any knowledge of what was going on. Not once did our waitress stop by our table to apologize for the wait or offer any sort of discount. The only reason why we waited was because we were hungry and had waited for so long. We waited for about 2.5 hours to be exact, if you include the time we had already waitied to be seated.
What a disappointment. Sorry Joe’s but I won’t be back anytime soon. The service was seriously lacking and the food was mediocre.