The Boiling Crab — Restaurant in Alhambra

This was the first location of Boiling Crab I tried and it blew me away! It combined all my favorite flavors in the Sha-bang sauce (lemon, garlic, and cajun). The sauce at this location is much thicker and flavorful than the Koreatown location (more watered down, and less spicy).

DON'T have anything planned afterwards and try not to burp because people will be able to smell your stench a mile away. Couple of my friends burped in the car and it smelled like death.  I went to a boba cafe and the worker straight up asked me, "did you guys just eat boiling crab?"

Food: To get the most bang for your buck, I suggest ordering the shrimp. Many people order crawfish or blue crab, but there simply isn't enough meat to warrant the price.  You can get much more quantity for the shrimp for $10.

Here are my recommendations:

1. Shrimp - FYI, they're full pieces of shrimp, so you have to take apart the head, skin, and legs. Suck out of the juices from the head. Sounds disgusting, but it's actually delicious.
2. Corn - $0.75 for each and drench it in the sha-bang sauce. It's like crack.
3. Fried catfish basket (comes with cajun fries. AMAZING!!)
4. Oysters - Even though the oysters are just like those of other restaurants, the sauce that comes with the oysters is unique and definitely worth ordering.

Service: The service is great! Despite the hour long waits and crowds of people during peak times, the hostesses are on top of getting tables cleaned and bussed, and find way to reduce wait times by regularly checking on the groups.

Ask for lemons or limes at the end of the meal and rub them on your hands. It'll help more...

First off the wait was ridiculous as usual. Secondly the staff was not courteous at all. My husband had my 1 year old asleep in his arms and i had my 4year old asleep in mine. My husband was told he can wait inside but everyone else had to wait outside that included my daughter, my 4year old & I, which was understandable. My mother showed up and came inside as I was coming back from the bathroom and we began discussing whether we wanted to continue waiting 1 hour and a half and the staff told us about 4 times we needed to go outside because we were a fire hazard where we were standing. I explained that we were discussing the wait situation and we didn't want to have the baby out in the cold. Then the lady said we were blocking the entrance which was not true the doors opened up widely, both of them. Then she said if she lets us stay inside EVERYONE else was going to want to come in. Then they came again about 4 MORE TIMES, back to back to tell us the same thing at that point I felt pretty harrassed. I didnt think that was professional or welconing at all. Regardless, we were already inside and were in the midst of deciding whether we were waiting or leaving but didn't even get a chance so I just left and my family followed. Sadly I'm never going to any Boiling Crab ever again and my experience has been shared with friends and family who feel we were also treated unfairly and they most likely will not be dining at or from the boiling...

3 stars overall I'd have to say.

First star reduction.

Hostess at the front was rude. We already had a table reserved and were on the waiting list to be seated, as we were waiting outside it began to rain so naturally we came inside to wait, my friend had a baby with him and was told he could not wait inside and had to wait outside. Of course he got upset and told the hostess he wasn't going to wait in the rain with the baby. He asked for management who was nice enough to accommodate us by allowing us to wait inside away from the door.

Second star reduction.

When we were finally able to sit down, instead of the booth we reserved we were told no booths would be available (by the same hostess who was rude) and had to sit at a normal table. (Those of you with kids will understand this part). Only did that because we weren't dealing with her attitude and asked for management or so it seemed. After ordering the food, I ordered Snow Crab Legs and it only came with one bundle of legs. First time I've been to a boiling crab where I only received one bundle instead of two.

The waitress was outstanding, my 3 stars for service was solely on the hostess. 3 stars for food was because of only receiving one bundle of legs. Di that one bundle just weigh more? Didn't seem like it, but it is what it is. I'll be sure to go back to the other locations rather than here next time....