Crabby's Dockside Clearwater — Restaurant in Clearwater

My husband and I came down for a long weekend for Spring training baseball, from Michigan and while here we decided we were going to try as many local fresh seafood restaurants as we could since fresh seafood is not possible in the great white north (yeah we can get fresh lake fish but not ocean fish 🙂). Our 2nd night here and this is our third seafood restaurant. The place was busy! We could tell from the lot it was busy and we thought we'd have a wait but honestly, our longest wait was getting to the hostess stand. There are three floors, a bar and outside patio seating. We sat on the second floor. Shortly after a party of 6 young ladies came in and were seated at the table behind us. They had already been drinking, one was extremely loud with lots of profanity which didn't bother us so much but it was bothering a few other tables. They were joined, shortly by 3 young men and were 9 to the table. After about 5 minutes with nobody asking, or mentioning it, a young man, whom I believe was a busboy, moved all 9 to a corner table where they were out of the way and not near as many families. I felt the tension in the area relax. Kudos to that young man! Now on to the food! I had been wanting crab legs, and shrimp but not in a boil. So we picked Crabby's Dock side because while in Lakeland for the game everything seemed to be a boil or Cajun seasoned. So we made the trek back to Clearwater Beach (we are staying in Largo) and hit Crabby's Dockside. I got my fried shrimp and bairdi crab. The shrimp were jumbo and delicious! I'd never had Biardi crab before but crab is crab right? Wrong! This will forever be my favorite crab! The hint of natural sweetness was heavenly! Normally I don't like, but will eat, the body of the crab due it is strong pungent flavor. But this crab body was amazing. It taste much like the legs! The only thing I didn't like, and it didn't have anything to do with the flavor, was the Old Bay seasoning all over the legs. It made for a very messy meal. If there were some way to make that a dip or a mini shaker for the customer to sprinkle on the actual meat I would have liked that better, but they were so good I have no complaints. My husband had the Mahi Mahi. He had never had Mahi Mahi before. He said it was so good and meaty! He loved the flavor and it may be his new favorite fish. And let's not forget the drinks! The piña colada was the best I ever had! And that toasted coconut rim?... DELICIOUS 😋

The one thing that I would beg of this restaurant to change or fix is the tile floor. Even in my athletic shoes the floor was slippery in the bathroom (women's) and going down the stairs (the elevator seemed stuck so we took the stairs). For me with bad knees and a hip issue I felt very unsafe in those 2 areas. And going down the stairs I worried about my husband who has an imbalance issue due to cancer treatments. If one of us slipped on the stairs I'm not sure how one would've saved the other. It could be whatever is being used to mop needs an astringent in it or the mop needs to be cleaned or maybe a separate mop for these individual areas. But I for sure will still go...

If I may...step right up, seafood enthusiasts! Let me introduce you to Crabby's Dockside, a culinary wonderland located in Clearwater, Florida, where you'll be transported to the world of delectable seafood dishes that will have your taste buds begging for more!

I've had the pleasure of dining at Crabby's Dockside four times now. On my most recent trip, my husband and I were on a long weekend fishing trip, and we knew we had to stop by this gem twice during our stay. We visited on a Thursday evening around 7pm, and while there was a 30-minute wait, they took our cell phone number so we could explore the beautiful docks while we waited.

But let me tell you, it was worth every second of that wait. From the moment you step in, your senses are assaulted with the aroma of fresh seafood and spices. The first thing we ordered was the Avocado Egg Rolls, which are house-made egg rolls stuffed with chunks of avocado, cream cheese, and chipotle peppers, and then lightly fried and served with a sweet pepper jam. The explosion of flavors, the crispy texture, and the slight heat made for a divine starter.

If you're looking for a wide selection of seafood, Crabby's Dockside has got you covered. The menu is packed with a variety of dishes but let me highlight their Mahi-Mahi. I've had this dish every time I've visited, and they never disappoint with it. I recommend it blackened. It's cooked to perfection, juicy and flavorful, and the accompaniments just add to the whole experience.

The real showstopper this time was the Hogfish Imperial that my husband ordered. It's topped with hand-picked Bairdi crab meat, and a white wine butter sauce that will have you closing your eyes and savoring every bite. This was our first-time trying hogfish, and I'm glad we did because it was nothing short of phenomenal. Hogfish themselves like to dine on crustaceans and this gives the Hogfish mean a somewhat crustacean meat like flavor.

Crabby's Dockside is the only restaurant I know of in the area that will cook your fresh catches from fishing charters. We stopped in for lunch, brought them our fresh Spanish Mackerel catches from our fishing charter with Reel Deal Sportfishing, and they cooked it to perfection. For $10.99/pound, they'll cook it fried, grilled, blackened, or a combination, and the price includes fries and coleslaw. We went half fried and half blackened, and it was a mouthwatering delight.

The staff is always welcoming and attentive, and they didn't seem annoyed that we brought our own fresh catches. It added to the charm of the place, and we left feeling like part of the family. I can't wait to return to Crabby's Dockside in January 2024. I know you'll fall in love with this...

We came to try gator but cut our time short due to the staff working during the time of our stay. Visiting Clearwater after freshly turning 21 seemed to be a fun idea, and it was, outside of this one establishment. I ordered a drink and when asked for my id presented my current license which shows my photo and birthday, I recently moved and all I had on me at the beach was a temporary id from the dmv. Up until this point in the trip it hadn't been an issue, keep in mind I was served drinks on a plane, traveled, and even had been drinking at surrounding bars and restaurants with no issue. The server very briefly looked at my id before declining it and refusing to serve me stating it was against the law to accept the temp. license as id in the state of Florida. I explained that it was valid at every other place, and that I had turned 21 earlier this month. She stated it was against their policy and offered to direct us to the manager of which we declined. The manager soon approached us anyway and reiterated that the id was not valid. We did not want to escalate the situation as I knew I could just be served at a different establishment. At this point, the manager left our table and proceeded to watch us across from the restaurant. We could see him and a man in all black talking and consistantly staring at our table. They might not have been watching us but the entire rest of the space was empty and there were only about two other tables seated on the other side of the dining space. The two were talking and directing attention in our direction but then moved to a different side of the room and continued to watch our table when I pointed them out to my party (my mom and aunt). This made our party uncomfortable and we ultimately decided to cut our time short instead of staying for lunch. After receiving the check we were left waiting for our server to return. We ended up having to approach her and cut her conversation with the bartender short so we could close our tab and leave. Ultimately, we have no complaints about the food but many complaints about the poor service and tension recieved from the daytime staff. To add to the experience, I ended up receiving service from a bartender in the downstairs bar area at the same establishment later that night and didn't even get asked to present my id! I work as a bartender so I understand if there is an issue with policy but this seems to be an issue of staff judgement...