Crafty Crab Alexandria — Restaurant in Alexandria

If I could give this place no stars I would but the only way to leave a review is to at least click one. My first time eating here today and the service was horrible. I am a crab lover both snow and blue crabs and I love trying out different crab boils in the Northern VA area but the customer service is bad I will not be coming back. First, our server took our order and left for 15 minutes and we saw him come back with McDonald’s. When he comes back in and puts his food away he comes back with the order we placed and the snow crabs were not even hot it was already warm like if they were sitting and waiting. The spice level was wrong and it took us another 15 minutes to catch his attention because the server never came back to check on us after the food came. The place was not even packed. When we finally get the servers attention and tell him about the order being warm and by that time cold he literally said “well what do you not want them” not even a sorry or a I’ll bring them back and give you a new order to fix it. So I had to ask him please to warm it up he took them back and still no sorry I’ll talk to my manager. He brings them back within 5 minutes way quicker than the order itself. We then realize he didn’t give us gloves or a bib and we noticed everyone around had one. I asked him for bib and gloves and he said “well you didn’t ask” I told him that we shouldn’t have to ask places automatically give you it when you order seafood broils. What’s worse is the people around us were getting bibs and gloves upon seating they didn’t “have to ask.” I literally had to ask him if he was having a bad day because he was being rude and he didn’t have a response so I just asked to speak to his manager. The manager came and was just as uninterested in what we had to say but at least she apologized and all she offered was a discount on the tab. What finally did it for me after he brings the food we see the server walking around on his phone and no he was not on his headset. He literally had his phone on his shoulder holding it up with his cheek and the manager was watching him too and said nothing to him. I’m not sure if this server was new but management here clearly doesn’t care which says a lot about this place. I appreciate all the food workers that are working during these times but as a paying customer rude customer service is not the way to hold a business. I literally saw it all today and will definitely not be coming back. I’ll stick with HotNJuicy Crawfish and CrazyCrab that’s what I get for trying...

On 12/4/2021, I went to this location as an impromptu birthday celebration. It was just a friend of mine and I so I thought things would go well. They absolutely did not. While waiting for a table, we sat at the bar. The bartender (who I later found out is the manager Melvin) asked for our drink order. I excitedly tell him I would like two shots of Jameson for my birthday. He says okay then walks away. Five minutes later, another bartender comes up and ask for my drink order. I tell her and she walks away. This then happens for a third time. How many bartenders does it take to pour two shots? Apparently all of them. My table was finally ready and we met our server. I had to keep asking for water because we never got any. I ordered the steamed oysters and they were not even hot. The drinks took a really long time to come and it seemed as if no one cared about our presence. While there, I see two other tables celebrate a birthday so I assumed I’d get the same treatment. No, not at all. My friend had to ask our server if they did anything for birthdays (after we had already been given our checks and paid) and when our server brought me my birthday dessert, it was just a piece of cheesecake in a plastic to-go container with a candle in it. I’m assuming putting this on an actual plate would’ve been too much to ask. I then asked to speak to the manager because the entire experience was horrible. The only good part was being greeted by the hostess. The manager comes over (Melvin) and I tell him how they single-handedly ruined my birthday outing to which his response was “I gave you a shot for free and I was not supposed to do that.”. Such a lazy excuse for terrible service. Being that I ordered the shot, I had all intentions of paying for it so it’s not like he did me any sort of favor by not charging me for it. I also didn’t assume the shot would be free so I’m not understanding his logic there. All in all, I would never return and I’m quite frustrated with the fact I spent my money at a place that didn’t even attempt to make my birthday some...

Spending our last night in Alexandria and we wanted a Seafood Boil. We almost went to a different place that we found first and was closer to our hotel but the customer service reviews was bad and I didn't want to spend a big amount of money to be treated like crap. So I chose Crafty Crab. We were there during supper time on a Monday night (and the place was packed!). Boy was I glad I found this place! Our Boils were fantastic. Now I was a little surprised when I ordered the boil with butter & garlic and mild level, and when it came out it had the Cajun seasoning on it too making it slightly spicy. I don't know if that was a mistake or all their boils have the seasoning on it. Now this is why I gave our service a 3 star rating. Our waitress was really nice and she showed a lot of attention to my son-in-law (BUT he wasn't the one that was paying for this meal), she just wasn't a very attentive to her customers (not just us). I was going to ask her about the Cajun season on my boil, if I would have waited to ask her, my food would have been Luke warm. Would I go back there? HECK YES! The food was so worth it! Service might have been slow, but the food was sooooo worth it! NOTE: DO NOT PARK IN BACK PARKING LOT. You could get towed. The restaurant has signs all over warning this. Our waitress said you could register for a parking spot and the first two hours are free. You will get charge, but in a "day or two" you will get your money back. When daughter went to go register car, the cheapest fee was $35 for a 3 days pass. So she took a chance and she didn't register. We got lucky. Breakdown of our meal prices: 2-Daily #D specials $49.99 each, 1 Large Seafood Platter $79.99 with Shrimp heads removed-$6.00. Pepsi products $2.99 each. Their prices on regular meals are...