Volcano Crab & Bar — Restaurant in Chattanooga

Pretty cool seafaring atmosphere but I wouldn't advise going here to actually eat. At least not on a Sunday night (walked over from hotel, not much else open at 9:30). Big place, a few other tables occupied. Helping my landlubber dining companion choose her non-seafood meal so I told the waitress I need a minute to look at the mostly seafood menu I was mistakenly excited about lol. She returned to ask if I was ready when she delivered the 1st meal. To be fair she was correct in assuring me that whatever I ordered, it wouldn't take long -- not exactly a harbinger of great cuisine but we were in this far already; she was also right to say she prefers the rice over the noodles. We got volcano fried rice w/ steak & chicken 50/50 & a cajun noodle thing with shrimp, egg, sausage "extra spicy" (I'd have called it mild heat) + hot (actually mainly just salty) sauce added gratis (nice of em, yes) at $16/dish. Detected a worrying hint of underconfidence in the hush puppies (I make excellent cornbread myself so I steered clear -- waitress might have helped me dodge a bullet on that one?) We probably could fit all the vegetables from both mains into one teaspoon: a sprinkle of chopped onion hiding in the rice. I mean... veg is not that expensive nor difficult to grill... would it kill ya to throw in a cup or so for health as an automatic norm or would most of the clientele just leave it untouched if offered something green that they hadn't specifically requested? The chicken & steak was OK. Bland implacable sauce - signature blend I suppose. Noodles were indistinguishable from the insta-ramen a hungover 1st-year college kid thoroughly overboils (reboiled unknown # of times I bet), served drowning in a pool of oil. From that & the sausage I guess I got my week's worth of sodium & fat. The shrimp was actually decent. But human trashcan that I can be when hungry enough, I ate it all -- win some lose some. Judging from other reviews maybe they do justice to some of their way more expensive meals but I'd say you can do better at home on your 2nd try for a couple of dollars. Talking to you, hungover 1st-year college kid....

My experience was AWESOME the first time I went, but unfortunately this last time wasn’t so great due to the Manager Alex Sanchez not being professional. I’ll say it was due to miscommunication, but how he handled the situation with my order being wrong, made me feel that me being a customer expecting an understanding and making things right wasn’t on the list of priorities. I live a hr and a half away from Chattanooga, TN. I ordered my food over the phone for my pregnant friend and myself, before we head back home. My friend noticed the order was completely wrong when she opened the containers to eat. We were on the road heading home so we made the call to the Volcano Crab & Bar, and Alex picked up. He told me he’s the only manager and he knew he took the order and asked me to bring the food back that’s aImost a 2 hour drive I told him I could send pictures he said that wouldn’t suffice told him about the order and he started being rude, hanging up the phone , and taking it off of the hook so calls wouldn’t come through. I waited hrs later to call and speak with someone else, but he answered again so I waited and tried a day later and he answered, I waited weeks and called again, and he answered. Here I am a month later finally being able to speak with someone other than Alex who actually took the time to assist with the issue. I spoke with kate(THANK YOU) last Tuesday who told me to call on Tuesday to speak with someone if I don’t receive a call first. I called today and spoke with Ashley (Manager) who was amazing and understanding. I am very grateful for her taking the time out of her day to listen and understand, and not just hear what I was saying. Thank you Ashley...

So I read the reviews on Volcano Crab and Bar and was completely baffled. Half the reviews said it was a nice chill place with good food. The other half said it was loud rap music and everyone's being frisked. I was at the hotel across the street and shrimp sounded good so I went over and checked it out despite my reservations.

I went on a Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m. and the place was almost empty. The facility, chairs, tables etc, are in really nice condition. I got a pound of peel and eat shrimp which came in a big plastic bag with Cajun butter, gloves and wet wipes The shrimp was excellent and the draft beer was cold. It was calm, pleasant, I watched baseball in the big screen TV and I would absolutely come again.

So I asked what's with the other reviews. I was told that Wednesday through Saturday they get a DJ starting at 8:00 or 9:00 p.m., it varies. Apparently the restaurant gets very popular with the crowd that wants to go to a bar with a DJ and there really is a significant security presence to make sure that everyone behaves. I'm told the line is out the door and it's full until 2:00 a.m. so yeah, when the DJ's up they're probably will be security searches involved. If you're wanting that atmosphere, it sounds like fun and security seems like a good idea.

So in short, if you go before the DJ starts (8-9pm) or on non-DJ nights, it's a nice clean place with good seafood and the usual light pop music played at a low volume. You won't feel out a place and you won't regret trying to bring your kids. They do take out too, which I imagine can be fun outside on a picnic table. Just a thought. I like it and will...