Joe’s Crab Shack

I have been to other Joe’s and had a nice experience. This one was by far the best. My husband and I ate here on Father’s day and ordered their steam pots. Perfect portion and delicious! Will go back.

Walked in on Sunday around 7pm because we were craving a Cajun steampot. We were greeted and seated promptly. Our server took our drink order and took our appetizer order (garlic mussels) and that was the last we saw of her for 20 minutes. 20 MINUTES! Mind you there were only about 5 or 6 tables occupied. Once we were able to flag her down she apologized and said she had gotten «busy with the manager» whatever that meant. Nonetheless, my fiancé ordered a beer and we put in our order for a steampot for two. Close to 8 minutes later she still had not returned with his beer nor our appetizer. I feel bad to say it, but we walked out. I could not believe the lack of service. I would avoid this location at all costs!

If you like seafood, don’t go here, you will be disappointed. The 11pm late menu is different then the dinner menu. This location is on the San Antonio River Walk, so there was a wait to be seated. Since the value of people is great, the restaurant is poorly cleaned.
The bar is not fully stocked, so if you don’t get any of their signature drinks, then you are shot out of luck. If you are a fan of boiled seafood, stay away from anything stemmed. The fried shrimp is really the only thing decent on the late night menu.
Poor rating due to cleanliness. Wait staff was assume.

By lack of tables at noon on a Sunday, I should have known to stay away. Only 5 tables in the place and yet took almost 5 minutes to get greeted by our server. I’ve waited tables for about 15 years now and here’s what will never happen to my tables:
1. Taking 5 minutes to greet tables
2. Not bringing utensils until AFTER the food arrives.
3. Having only 2 soups and a side salad, yet delivering them separately.
4. Just being completely clueless as to what my job entails.
It’s a learning experience and I’ll never waste my money there again.

Service was great. Very friendly and nice staff. However, our food was cold and the raw oysters were so tiny and somewhat dried up. Four of us spent over $ 200 excluding tip. We were mot satisfied and the quality of the food was very low. This was my first time there and not impressed.

I decided to give Joe’s another shot. I came here on my b-​day 3 years ago and it was a huge mistake. The food was nasty. It was clearly ALL previously frozen, tasted stale and expensive. So after several years I decided to give them one more shot. This time I ordered the «Live Crawfish». It comes in 1 lb increments. $ 8.99 per lb and if you want corn and potatoes it’s $ 2 extra. Not a terrible price for Crawfish. There is NO way I was given 1 lb of Crawfish. Maybe it all weighed 1 lb with the corn and potatoes! The corn and potatoes were undercooked and had very little flavor (corn and potatoes cooked in a Crawfish boil are normally BURSTING with flavor). The flavor on the crawfish was good, but again, there is no way I was given 1 lb of actual crawfish. There may have been around 15 total crawfish and 40% of those were pretty small. I know we live in San Antonio and it’s hard to get real seafood here without paying and arm and a leg, but Joe’s is a step above Long John Silvers. I grew up on an island so I know how «fresh» seafood is supposed to taste. I also host an annual Crawfish Boil so I’m very familiar with how properly cooked crawfish and the fixins should look, smell and taste. Joe’s, I’ve given you my business for the last time, you’ll never get one more cent out of me. You fail!!!

The happy hour is good here certain drinks are $ 3 and appetizers are like $ 5 and its from 4 to 7, the customer service herr is okay. I felt like our waiter was a little grumpy and rude but besides that the food was good we order the mushroom stuff crab with cheese which was good. We also order the joes classic pot which was good. What I care about it the food being hot and tasty and it was. Will come back here as long as the food is fresh and hot

I’m giving Joe’s 3 stars not because anything really terrible happened, but because everything was just «A-​OK» like the star translation says.
I was CRAVING a crab cake sandwich (or poboy) and they were the first place that came to mind for a place nearby. The sandwich itself was ‘meeh’. There was more bun than anything else. It reminded me of the dollar burgers you get at fast food joints. Bare minimal ingredients and effort. We’re talking 2… maybe 3 pieces of quarter-​sized lettuce. One slice of a tomato. A shot of mayo. A crab cake patty that was maybe a pinky-​width thick. And these thick buns that covered the taste of all of that. It somewhat curbed that crab cake craving for now, but it’d be nice to find someplace better. For almost $ 11, I was expecting just a little more meat to the sandwich.
The boyfriend ordered Blackened Mahi Tacos. He said they were good, but the 3 tacos didn’t have a whole lot in them. I’m talking– combine all the ‘stuffing’ from all 3 mini tacos, and it would have been enough for one good sized decent taco. Also, the «side» that came with the taco’s were tortilla chips. Which you think would be a good combo, however it was just that. Chips. No salsa, no sour cream. Nothing to dip them in. Just plain ol tortilla chips. Again, for above $ 11, we expected just a little more.
Our waitress was nice, however, we didn’t see her too often. She seemed a bit overwhelmed, which confused us since the place really wasn’t all that hopping and there were other servers there. However, she did make sure our food came out hot, and made sure our drinks were filled. So, again. Bare minimum.
The only really «good deal» were the drinks. They were having a $ 2 special on some of their hurricanes. The quality wasn’t that great, but you can’t really complain when they’re only 2 bucks.
After taxes and tipping, we probably spent around $ 30 for the whole dinning experience. Which– isn’t a lot. But I don’t think we got what we paid for either. Try somewhere else if your looking to feel full/​statisfied afterward.

Waitress remembered us and quick service. Food came out quick. Kids got the pizza and we had calamari and fried pickles. Kids play ground is fun plus they can play in the sand. Indoor and outdoor seating plus a nice bar. Music is fun to listen to and great atmosphere.

Last day in San Antonio so we came for lunch. Great choice because it was empty and received excellent service. The shrimp could have had a little bit more seasoning.

Product– food was great everything was hot and cooked as needed and wanted. Only issue isn’t really an issue tea was extremely strong like so strong we mixed in a cup of water and it was still as dark as the coke I was drinking. ⁵⁄₅
Service– overall service great. Server could have been a little quicker on refills but great server this evening. ⁵⁄₅
Image– Everything around the restaurant as far as the exterior looked like any of their other restaurants. The interior wasn’t fishy smelling and restrooms were clean and looked recently remodeled. ⁵⁄₅

Don’t go eat there!
Waitress was not to knowledgeable: we had to remind her MANY times on her simple job. The manager finally came and went as we explained problem. The door host dropped off the ticket at the end!!!

Not worth the money at all. I rarely pull out the ol’ 1 star rating, but here goes. Had the KJ Bucket. Scallops were so salty, I had to rinse them to eat them. Mussels were siting on top of the liquid, so they were dry and had no flavor. Crab legs were just ok. Shells were rubbery. I told the server about the mussels and did not eat them. She apologized but did not tell the manager or adjust the bill. It just was not worth the money. Will not return. It was so bad I didn’t wait to leave before posting this review.

I really love this place as a chain I know people aren’t into this place but I really like it and this location is never really busy so you don’t have to wait unless it’s a holiday weekend. this place is really reasonably priced… and the servers have always been pleasant

I ordered a Redfish Orleans dish to-​go which has redfish topped with a creamy Cajun sauce that’s loaded with crawfish, shrimp and andouille sausage. I chose to replace the dirty rice with a side of cheesy smashed potatoes and because I completed a dining experience survey I was able to redeem a free appetizer promotion code for an order of garlicky mussels. Everything was right on point and it was my first time having mussels to which I’ll advise you the garlic butter sauce and toasted garlic bread definitely help otherwise they taste kind of weird.
Everything came out as ordered. This order was to-​go and the bartender even remembered to include silverware. The non-​alcoholic drinks are overpriced so I passed and I’d be willing to bet my redfish that the alcoholic drinks carry a nice, plush premium too!
There was little engagement between the bartender and I. It should be noted that I visited another location in Louisiana and the experience I had there was phenomenal. Both bartenders engaged everyone at the bar in conversation and were very upbeat and really enjoyed their jobs. This location was the polar opposite.
For everything I ordered, the price I paid seemed more than sufficient to me. The service could’ve been better considering the restaurant was not all that busy at the time of my visit.

I should have posted this review a long time ago to hopefully save some one a lot of grief and despair.
I’ve been to the Shack on a few other occasions. On the whole the food is typically very commercial. Nothing creative and it’s usual pretty safe. I will say that I’ve only paid for that food once. And that was plenty. The other 2 occasions were expense account situations., This food is NOT worth the money. It’s extremely over priced.
This particular night was all the things that can go horribly wrong in a meal rolled into one terrible hour and a half experience.
Most of this bad review is for the service and lack of leadership. Our server, nice kid. Really but I think I was her very first experience working in a restaurant — EVER. I’m talking no back of house, no hostessing, nada. She didn’t know which wine was the red one. Chardonnay or Merlot. That is to say it took her 15 minutes to take our drink order and then another 15 to get it to us. I would have left, but again a work function.
At dinner ordering time I had a few questions, the pretty summer menu made everything look amazing. So I asked for recommendations and she literally said, I don’t know, I haven’t tried it yet. I asked which one seemed to be the most popular? She said, «I’m not sure.» Ok, got it. I went with a seafood skewer of some kind with two veggie sides.
Food was delivered. My bosses was bland and boring but edible. Mine arrived with two different sides on it. She set the plates down and quickly ran away from the table. Not exaggerating about this. She dropped and bailed. When I finally got her attention she reluctantly returned to the table. I asked about my veggies and she said «I’m sorry we sold out of the ones you wanted.» What I got instead of steamed veggies was a HUGE bed of sticky rice. Not a side but a bed of it that my skewers swam in. And the other a loaded baked potato. Yea, close enough. I said I don’t want them and I don’t want a rice coated skewer either.
She apologized and said she’d get that fixed and get it right back to me., She left without letting me select two new sides. Ummmm… Ok, guess I’ll see what she and the Chef decided I wanted.
At this point I am beyond irritated. I have stood up and looked for anyone that resembled a manager, owner, hell lead server. Nothing. My boss is finished with his meal and I have yet to see an entrée. I started counting heads and average ticket sales in that place. What a crime. Had I had anything to eat my dinner would have been $ 40 bucks. With the 35 people that were in there you’d think they would get some competent service in there.
Shame, to see that so many people are happy to spend that kind of money for very bad experiences. I could have gone on and on about the negative things that I saw and experienced. I think I have painted a pretty accurate picture with the highlights.
Clearly — not a fan.

Had dinner here last night. I ordered the creole beach bake. Well I ate half of the lobster tail before I realized it not only tasted awful, but had an extremely strong smell of ammonia. I was unaware that this meant the lobster tail had been spoiled before it was cooked.
Three other people in my party also had lobster tails that smelled the same. Luckily for them, they didn’t eat any of it. And luckily for me no food poisoning.
Everyone in the party who ordered the spoiled lobster got $ 20 off the check, but honestly I doubt I’ll be back after this.

Awful. Our waiter Matt was awesome. The dinner&drinks; Bad! The drink was super sour and might have had ½ shot? Took all the breading off calamari and it was like leather. I posted a pic. Lobster and snow crab also chewy from being overlooked. Undercooked Potatoes in the salty clam chowder. Since we were still hungry we had the key lime pie and turtle dessert. Both were very good which is why I gave 2 stars.

I can never figure out what to order here. I’m not really a fried seafood person, and find the plates here that are fried to be kind of overpriced. Well, this restaurant as a whole I find overpriced, but that’s seafood for you. I guess I just generally find seafood I like and stick to it and so far have not had a whole lot of success with this place in that regard.
The service we got was fine, though I did feel a little pressured from the waitress to hurry up and order. Sorry, I’m pretty indecisive and nothing particularly grabbed me on this menu. Eventually I left the decision in my boyfriend’s more-​than-​capable hands and we got the steampot. The menu pictures looked massive, but I know how unreliable or unrealistic those can be, so we asked our waitress whether they would serve to for sharing– and she said though they were intended for one, with an app and dessert, they could be amply shared between two.
So we added the crab nachos and a Caesar salad.
The nachos were decent. They were probably super caloric, too, but the crab cheese dip was surprisingly tasty, and the additional veggies on top added to the freshness, though in the future I would exclude the lettuce, which I found stringy and slightly unappealing.
Now the first thing I’m going to say about the steampot is that there’s no way this is intended for one person. I know SA is a city of fat people, but seriously. You’re going to have to be really dedicated to be able to consume all of this in one sitting, as seafood doesn’t tend to reheat well.
We had a variety of mussels, claims, shrimp, and crab legs, along with the obligatory potatoes and corn, and it was more than filling for the two of us, and we can put food away like nobody’s business.
Crab legs were a good size, as were the shrimp, though the shrimp weren’t particularly clean… another personal peeve of mine. All the seafood seemed fresh, and the steampot was promptly served to us and opened with a poof of steam upon our table with a flourish.
We opted not to go for the dessert as we were plenty full.

Was the seafood oversteamed and not cooked on the spot? Yes
Was it too salty? Yes
Did that stop me from enjoying my meal? No, not at all.
You’re in texas eating seafood, I’m not sure what you are expecting besides large portions and food bursting with flavour and that’s exactly what you get here.
I got the Sam Adam’s Steampot (snow crab, lobster, clams, corn, potatoes, sausage) but substituted with cajun spice. I ate all $ 26 worth of seafood, I did and I enjoyed every moment of it. The cajun spice is soo delicious and got a real kick to it (my hand still smells like the spice). You can tell that the seafood was pre-​steamed and re-​steamed with the spice after you order it because of the speed in which the food came and how easy it is to crack all the shells. I was able to eat my entire pot with just using my teeth to break the shells rather than the tools given. The lobster was a little old and chewy too. But the flavour is soo good (especially in the corn) that it makes me want to go back right now and eat another pot.
The service is amazing – everyone is friendly and helpful and very chatty – but almost too friendly because I was constantly being asked if everything was okay even though I was just working through my pot alone.
Oh, and they make you wear a bib, and i’m glad they did.
YUM!