Joe’s Crab Shack

The crab is pretty good, but I can get that crab from the store too, and cook it to perfection.
_​_​With that being said, I now understand why this star has about 2 stars overall score!__
My experience at this location was terrible. The manager was really rude and didn’t listen to our complaints we had at our visit. If there’s a mistake from their side, don’t expect any sort of empathy. This is not how customer service works, and definitely not for a crab spot.
Our server Terrance was an amazing guy and he did a really good job. However when dealing with the General Manager Penny Doncouse, it was really inhumane. Her attitude was simply bad an very uninviting.
In simple words: Mc Donalds service (or worse) at a higher priced level.
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!!!BE WARNED!!!

Our server Terrance was amazing.
With that being said, the portions of the food was overpriced for what you would expect to get.
However, the WORST was manager Penny. I mean, she was really being a ”penny” right there with her cheap service. I would get better service at a Burger King, than here from her.
Terribly rude, and extremely uninviting. I will make sure to stay away from Joe’s Crabshack.

This was my second time visiting this spot. First time I really enjoyed it but this time not so much. I order the Arctic steam pot. The seafood came out semi-​hot and was really under-​seasoned plus the Coke I Ordered tasted weird also.

Joe’s Crab Shack is one of our fave seafood restaurant. We used to go to the one in Harbor location near the marina and Oceanside location few years ago. Hubby and I decided to come to this location since we haven’t eaten seafood for a long time. Okay, No waiting time we got a table right away. We ordered Singapore Oysters it was marinated with herbs hubby’s faves. I ordered Caesar salad shared with hubby and the Artic steam pot bucket combination of lobster, crab legs, shrimps, sausage & potatoes and butter. Omg so delish! Foodporn, Foodgasm yummy! Nobody can beat their steam pot with mixed seafood. It was out of this world! I can’t wait to come back again. Overall great service fun atmosphere. I had fun wearing the big Bib saying lets get crackin!!! And don’t forget the Coronarita! Yum ! Salud !!!

This place is a No Go. This is NOT what seafood is. Everything was just horrible. A marinated mess of mushy seafood that leaves you upset that you didn’t read the reviews first. What a waste of time and money. What are they thinking and how are they still in business? Blaaa

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This place used to be our #1 place to eat… work took us to AZ for a few years and first time back. Boy has it gotten bad! Wasn’t very busy, only barside was open. Our waiter took our order and we really didnt get much from him unless we called him over for something, then my wife got her coconut shrimp and they were way over cooked and had to request more. We called the manager over to complain and she didnt care at all.
***PLEASE READ THIS;
On your receipt they list the % for tips 15, 17 (i think) and 20% and how much that % would be. But if you do the math yourself the figure they give for 15% was actually 20% and 17 and 20% were both more than 20% of the bill. If you dont do the math you could easily way OVER TIP. It certainly feels like a SCAM to me, but good thing i do my own math and dont rely on that. for example the bill is 78.00 then 10% is $ 7.80 and good service is 20% so you just double that. Be Cautious and break out the calc on your phone if youre not sure,
I had the Sow Crab and it did deserve a 4 star review.

After looking at the reviews. …wasn’t too sure that I wanted to eat here but overall the experience was very good. Peter was excellent from the start. Thank u Peter for friendly attitude. The crown apple shot wasn’t the best a little watered down but over all our date nite was a good one.

I typically go to the Downtown location. My fiancé and I came to this location because we were short on time and it is closer. Bad idea. We ordered lobster daddy feast and the lobster came out not even cooked. It was still dark in color and cold ! Not even warm. We also ordered the Rajun Cajun which was also cold. Not even warm.
We did not get Anything written on our bibs which is JOeS TRADITION! We did not get offered drink refills and when I finally asked for water that never came either.
Talked to manager and he offered us dessert which we did not want at this point. and gave us a slap in the face of $ 10 off a $ 90 meal. Finally asked to speak with the manager AGAIN as we did not want to pay $ 80 for a long wait. No drink refills and cold under steamed seafood.
We had a VeRY professional female manager who DID take care of it and gave us $ 40 off. Which was reasonable and she mentioned she would talk to both the other manager and the server. She is the reason this review even got a star. tHaNk YOU FOr dOING YOUR JOB RIGHT!

This mostly isnt a review about the food, it’s about the trial period for «no tipping.» Way to go. It’s about time the restaurants pay for quality and not put the burden and stress of tipping on me. Way to go! Hope it goes well.
About the food. Amazing crab cake sandwich, but that is all I have had at Joe’s in a long time. I will be back especially if the no tipping policy spreads to San Diego. Something I would love to see catch on. :)

I am sorry to say but tonight was the worst seafood I have ever had. We ordered Crab, Crawfish, and shrimp pots. The Crab was ok, but Crawfish and Shrimp were bland. Crawfish shells were soft and mushy. The overall meal for 2 pots game to $ 80 with the tip, and i will never be back.
Much better options in Crab Town, and Crab Hut.

Good food/​crab.
Good drinks.
Drap ambience.
Not sure if this was because it was a weeknight, but the usual fun, over-​the-​top, boisterous vibe you’re used to from Joe’s, wasn’t at this one at all. Low energy. Maybe this location and staff didn’t drink their V-​8!

Everything was pretty good, as it usually is at Joe’s. My only complaint was that the hush puppies were burnt. I mentioned it to the waitress, and she told me they are supposed to be like that or the insides wouldn’t be cooked enough. I asked for new ones. She said she could bring them but the insides might not be fully cooked. When she brought the new hush puppies out, they were cooked perfectly on the inside and outside. She needs a little education on hush puppies.

The Tuesday Happy hour is a joke. We drank out of plastic cups and ate small portions out of cardboard paper trays in the bar area at a booth. We could only order half the HH menu because they weren’t making the other appetizers the server said. The food was not good. Nachos were gross and the fried pickles didn’t taste good and food was way too salty. I wanted to love a $ 2 HH but I guess you get what you pay for?

I came here with a friend that is from out of town, never had been here before.
And I was really excited to try it out. She’s pregnant so she really was craving crab legs and shrimp. I was as well.
The staff was really great. Our servers name was Trevon and he was pretty solid. I ended up ordering just shrimp that came with sides because they couldn’t modify anything to not have spice to it.
I basically paid 16 dollars for a plate full of over fried French fries that had been sitting for a very long time. A few shrimp that is the only thing I ended up eating.
I was very disappointed with the place because it was very slow, only a few tables there and the quality of food, even if it is pre packaged fries and shrimp, can be cooked and presented better. I will definitely never return to this place or recommend it to anyone.

For a chain the food is ok. I think it is more of a shock and awe at the amount of food you receive. Once you see past the sheer size of your meal, you will be left feeling underwelmed.
I do not understand why they still will not allow you to trade out sides. If I want to forgo my fried hush puppies for some fresh veggies and help with America’s obesity rate then they should be open to that!

It had been years since I’d been to a Joe’s Crab Shack and for whatever reason, we decided that it’d be a good idea for dinner. One thing I can say about the place is that they give good-​sized portions. We were able to sit at the bar rather than endure the 30-​minute wait and were served pretty promptly. Also, the hostess was very nice and smiley.
I got one of the steam pots of crab legs and was a little disappointed because I thought it came with fries and hush puppies, but instead I got corn and potatoes. The potatoes were underdone and pretty tasteless. The best part was the crab. I ended up ordering a side of hush puppies, but I think they left them in the fryer (or oven) a little too long because they were hard on the outside. Believe it or not, I actually like LJS hush puppies better in comparison. Also, the claw crackers they give you aren’t that useful.
There were a LOT of birthdays the night we were there. I think five in the hour or so we were eating and they make an announcement each time and have the person do something silly to celebrate. I’m all for recognizing someone’s birthday and you can’t have control of how many birthdays there’s going to be, but it got a bit annoying after awhile.
I think next time I’m in the mood for crab legs I’ll stick with going to The Firehouse in PB where you can get them for $ 10.

Any place called CRAB SHACK should close their doors forever when the ‘Crab Cake Dinner’ is made with CANNED CRAB. I’ll start by saying I ordered two of these dinners to go. Each Dinner cost $ 19. Our total bill of $ 43.82 is ridiculous, considering this is a crab restaurant, and they are serving CANNED CRAB to make crabcakes.
The dinners consisted of 2 tiny crabcakes, that were sloppy, wet, and didn’t even hold together, which made it impossible to dip into the disgusting-​tasting remoulade sauce. A good crab cake should consist mostly of large chunks of crab, with a binder that, when you take a piece with your fork, you can easily dip it into the sauce without it falling into the sauce. They should also be crisp on the outside and not falling apart. They were actually flabby! They fell completely apart because they are using CANNED CRAB, and it was very obvious. The crab also had a horrible-​smelling odor.
I was especially put off when I got a whiff of the smell, and discovered they didn’t even put a lemon in the container. I think most people would like a lemon to squeeze on their seafood. Good thing I had some at home or these crab cakes would have been inedible. Actually, they almost WERE inedible. I ate one, and threw the other one down the garbage disposal. These faux crab cakes were so bad that I would never step foot in a Joe’s Crab Shack ever again. It truly is a shack. The ‘sides’ for this meal were minimal for the price of this meal. It consisted of 3 hush puppies (which I substituted for french fries), and a teensy tiny container of cole slaw. Any man would have walked away hungry. What a horrible experience!
Somebody please shut this place down. The health department should investigate this place.
Even now, I can taste that awful vinegary yuck just thinking about it.

First impressions last, This is my first time dining at Joe’s Crab Shack and I am happy to say it won’t be my last. My family was undecided where to eat after watching a movie, We decided to walk around Hazard Center Complex. Joe’s Crab Shack has their menu posted outside the resturant, It helped us decide to eat here. The servers were friendly and accomodating, Our server Briana helped us order and explained the menu really well. We ordered Arctic Bay Steampot it includes queen crab, shrimp, a whole lobster, corn and smoked sausage boiled in garlic and topped with Old Bay Seasoning, This order is good for 2 people, we also ordered a Sampler Platter and drinks, Everything we ordered was delicious. I am looking forward to go to Twosday at Joe’s Crab Shack $ 2 drinks and $ 2 bites all day every Tuesday.

I was coming here before I discovered Crab Hut and Boiling Crab. I also was coming here because it was someone else’s idea. I am not the biggest chain restaurant fan and I’m terrified of loud, obnoxious birthday songs. Joe’s Crab Shack is okay at best. I am however, a fan of large portions and lots is calories and that’s what you’ll get here.
I prefer Crab Hut over Joe’s Crab Shack because I make way healthier choices at Crab Hut. There are definitely a ton more items to choose from at Joe’s Crab Shack all loaded up with rich, creamy sauces and cheeses. There’s even a section just for fried stuff! I am trying to keep my cellulite to a minimum over here! I also feel that with chain restaurants, I can find a similar dish somewhere else that tastes a hell of a lot better and comes with a unique dining experience. Y’all know I do not like wasting my meals on somewhere just mediocre.
The last time I visited this location, the service was poor. We had to wait at least 15 mins before a server approached us to take our drink orders and it was not even busy! Now I go to Crab Hut so often that the employees recognize me and I get treated like VIP. Plus, they are waaaaay better at refills and I drink water like there’s a shortage.
Hot Tip: Do not order the Ragin’ Cajon steam pot if you plan on having a hot make out session in the next 24 hours.

Bravo, 4.5÷5 stars! My boyfriend, his parents, and I were very impressed by Joe’s Crab Shack. At first, the hostess was a little awkward and she wasn’t that welcoming. But after the 10 minute wait period, we were seated and our positive experience suddenly began. The hardest part was deciding what to eat, so I’m glad both our waitresses (the trainee and the «veteran» shadowing her) were able to assist us. We probably asked about a million questions until we finally decided on what we wanted to eat.
After ordering and what not, we were entertained during our wait for the food and drinks. Why, you ask? Because every so often, some line dance song plays (Cha Cha Slide, Cupid Shuffle, etc) and the waiters/​waitresses dance to it for no more than 2 minutes. Before you know it, our food is out. I guess there was some sort of miscommunication with my boyfriend’s parents’ order where the chef couldn’t understand what our waitresses fully meant, but they handled the situation perfectly and all was well right after.
So for dinner… My boyfriend and I shared the «steampot for 2», and his parents ordered/​shared the same thing. It came with double the crab, double the fun! There was plenty of crab, potatoes, shrimp (and even extra shrimp because we replaced sausages for it), and there was even corn! I wish there was more sauce on the shrimp itself, though. The crab was very flavorful, as was the corn and potatoes, but because of the shell of the shrimp, there wasn’t much of that spicy garlic taste to it. Nonetheless, it was amazing. I believe it’s the perfect portion of food for two – even if you both are starving. It all paired well together, even with the drinks we ordered (mojitos, the shark bite, and a strawberry-​mango freeze). You get a bang for your buck! Each steampot was about $ 45, and it was completely worth it. Not too bad for all the food.
The only other time I’ve been to Joe’s Crab Shack was about 4 – 5 years ago, and it was the Harbor Drive location. I wouldn’t consider it a real experience, though, since I didn’t actually dine in AND my friend just ordered an appetizer for us… To go. I do like how that Joe’s is by the water, though. Despite that «addition» to their location, I’m glad I ate at this one because it was amazing! The customer service was reliable and friendly, the food was delicious and fulfilling, and the entire atmosphere was clever and fun.