Crab Cooker Restaurant

I’ve been going to the Crab Cooker in Newport Beach for 50-​plus years. I went there on my first date with a guy from high school who is now my husband. We tired of the horrible parking problems in Newport and started to go to the Tustin Crab Cooker. It is just as good without the parking problem and when I ordered a glass of wine, it was served in a real glass — not plastic. Aside from the sentimentality that keeps my husband and I going back, it’s the best lobster we have EVER had ANYWHERE.

What can I say? The hubs and I have been coming here for over 20 years, and it’s our go-​to spot when one of us has a craving for the freshest, tastiest seafood this side of the ocean. Sure, they use paper plates, plastic utensils and cups. Who cares?! When the food is the star, you don’t need frills! The setting is comfortable, the service is usually spot-​on, and grabbing a table for two with minimal wait (even on a weekend) is not a problem. They have the best shrimp cocktails I’ve had anywhere. The complimentary breadsticks/​balls are fun to munch on while you wait for your food (which usually doesn’t take long because they HUSTLE here!). I’ve had just about everything on the menu, and can highly recommend the King crab legs, crab cakes, shrimp skewer (spaced with bacon! Mmmm… bacon), and you usually can’t go wrong with their catch of the day because you know it will be SUPER fresh. Can’t wait for our next visit to ‘The Cooker’!

Always great fish. Cooked over mesquite wood. Casual. Yummy. Same menu as Balboa restaurant without long waits. Summer served us. She was excellent.

3.5 stars.
The crab and crab cakes were great. The cheesy mashed potatoes were average at best. The tomatoes were ok but not fresh.
Overall we would go back because the main dishes were good but it did feel a bit overpriced for the average sides and cheap serving utensils/​plates. At $ 20 for crab cakes and $ 40 for crab I would have specter a more impressive service or better quality side dishes.

This is on my list of my top 10 favorites. When I need a clam chowder fix, no one does it better. I love their lobster, salmon, and the coleslaw is fantastic.

It’s pretty good to have oysters and they’re cheap atmospheres a little noisy but overall pretty good girlfriends parents like it a lot so I end up going

Nothing fancy about this place. Paper plates and plastic utensils but BOY, is their food and service good! Salmon, Mashed Potatoes and Rice Pilaf… hits the spot every time.

GREAT crab and lobster!!! The King crab leg meat was HUGE! The lobster grill amazing. Clam chowder, cheese mash potatoes and fresh bread where great as well but the rice and coleslaw was so so. For the price it’s a too casual but cool New England style but once again AMAZING crab and lobster!

I wasn’t expecting much but that didn’t even meet my expectations. The clam chowder tastes more like tomatoes than anything.

My son who is 10 years old started a liking for seafood thanks to this restaurant. He now loves the muscles and he gets his own scallops. The loaf of bread is amazing with food. This year we only got the local lobster twice, early Oct.
this is the best seafood in town, and it makes me happy that my 10 year old is all in yo seafood now.

I went here because an out of town relative insisted. I liked my food & so did she, but the clam chowder wasn’t as amazing as reviews hyped it up to be. I also don’t like eating on paper plates & with plastic silverware. Especially at a nice seafood place like this. I also prefer not to for environmental reasons, but anyway. I won’t be going back even IF a visiting relative insists.

After eating at Crab Cooker in Newport a handful of times over the past 20 years I found myself reluctant to try the Tustin establishment. You see I am that person that goes to a crab restaurant and orders skewered scallops, finds herself disappointed, and never comes back. I don’t like eating on picnic tables and I really don’t like wine glasses the size of a shot glass.
Tonight I took a walk on the wild side. After all it’s Son’s Birthday and he wants crab. So crab it was.
OMG is all I can say! The King crab legs were the biggest, freshest crab legs that I have ever had! The flavor was amazing. I was so full and just could not stop eating. The sides are boring but with all that crab you don’t care. The service was spectacular but with all that crab you don’t care. The wine glass was still so very small but with all that crab… you get the point.
I will definitely return!

Very simple food. Nothing spicy. Everything is fried or grilled. Paper plates, plastic silverware & cups. The crab meat is delicious, the fisherman’s bread is crunchy on the outside, super soft inside. I love the rice pilaf side. The Cole slaw or sliced tomatoes are meh.
You can buy seafood from the counter, too. Sometimes I’ll run in & buy fresh crabmeat & loaf of bread to eat at home.

Combination plate ($ 17.50): fish of the day, scallop, shrimp & onion. It was kinda bland…
Crab cakes ($ 19.95): better than my combination plate for sure. The tiny crab cakes were semi tasty.
Free breadstick if you don’t mind eating them from a communal jar.
Friendly, attentive service.
3 stars!
Crab Cooker is almost yummylicious!

When you are comin’ here you NEED to know what to do… it’s straight forward and simple… but oh so satisfying. It’s pretty much everything you want in sitting, and after finished you will realize why this place has been around since the dawn of time (well the original Newport Beach one).
1) Order the clam chowder even if you do not like clam chowder… this is RED clam chowder, and I don’t care what anyone says but this RUNS LAPS around all other clam chowders… white or red. All others are second-​clam I mean second-​hand. The clams here also look like little thin tongues they are so perfectly sized and amazing in the soup… it’s a french kiss in a bowl and you are going to love it, trust me. It’s so good you will take quarts home with you no matter how far away you live. Also inundate that bowl with the free bread balls provided… ridiculously good!
2) Order the smoked albacore appetizer… douse it with lemon or tartar sauce or both… get a large or two for the table. You will dip chunks of this white gold in tartar sauce and drizzle it with lemon if you so choose… so refreshing and nourishing in that tummy.
3) Get a side of the scooped mashed potatoes (has their seasoning on it)…and yes very decadent and flavor packed… just like the people-​watching of the peninsula (but since you are at the Tustin one… the potatoes are likely better than the people watching).
That’s it… no need to even dabble with the entrees most of the time… load up on all the stuff above, and you will leave a happy clam every single time, and not clammy, just perfectly clam packed where you aimed and paid to be.

First time at this location with my boyfriend and this place served their food on paper plates and plastic fork and knife and paper plastic cups. My boyfriend he order a combination plate which is salmon that he like and I order a oysters platter on a half shell which I love and a fisherman bread while we wait for our meals. Bread is good our meals is perfect and the service was great.
This is a casual place for «fine dining» quality food without the long lines, I recommend that combination plate and if you like oysters on a half shell I’d recommend that too :-).

I’m addicted to the Manhattan Clam Chowder, along with the sourdough bread it’s a must! You can also bring some home!
We also ordered the large shrimp (I expected Larger) and the crab cakes, the shrimp was tasty and the crab cakes had such flavor, amazing! Everything is served old school on paper products, great service.
First time at this location, bigger than Newport Location, we will be back!

The 5Star is for the service.
Lizett our service was friendly and nice.
Food was not interesting.
We had our coffee and left in search of more
GMO free. Organic fare. :)

This is the type of seafood restaurant that you either love it or hate it. Why, because it cooks its seafood the way it has been for the last 64 years to be exact. So if you know a little bit of history, we didn’t use much spices back in the days. So unlike these days, you couldn’t cover up any unfreshness by adding STUFF like they do today. You want to come here to taste the real unspiced seafood, not spiced up crap, if you know what I’m talking about! That being said, CC has to provide only the freshs fish and among other seafood dishes for the last 60 plus years! That’s right, it started in 1951 in Newport Beach, CA. The Tustin one was opened some times back in the early 1990. I like this one because Newport local is too touritsy and when I do my biz in OC, I make sure I go to CC for LUNCH. Why lunch, you ask? Well, because with the same menu some dishes are cheaper for lunch then dinner, that’s all. Besides, I like to get my biznes done and eat and head back home before that NASTY LA traffic starts. All dishes here are great! Our regulars are their Manhattan (yes the red kind) claim chowder. BTW, it is not cooked from Campbell soup can. They make them daily from scratch, and the chunks of claims are BIG! Absophuckinglutely THE best RED chowder we have ever tasted. We also love the cracked crab, and the best part is the Lighteater meal with cod fish for only $ 8.95 (the light eater is plenty for me cuz I gotta watch my beautiful waistline). All dishes come with 2 of the 3 side orders of slices of tomatos, coleslaw and/​or mash potatos. Since its in season, we also ordered the 1 dozen of half shell Eastern Blue points for only $ 14.95. OMG, it just does not get any better!!! Though I’d gain weight just by watching my food, my gf can gobble down everything and wash it down with some white wine and still weighs less than 100 lbs, SICK!
We love CC. One of THE BEST seafood places hands down with fabulous prices. However, if you are into all the spices and STUFF to cover up the fresh taste then this is one place you should avoid. Thank you CC for being in OC for our tummies all these years. Keep up the GREAT work!!!

I always get great meals here, lunch can be a bit pricey on the budget. Take time and look around, look up and start reading. They have some pretty hilarious signs and art type stuff that you might not ever see if you don’t look up.
Service is top notch, the ladies are solid and the food is always fresh and tasty.
I like Balboa a bit more because it has that «Sea Food» feel to it being next to the water, but this location is a great inland option.