The Juicy Crab Columbia Forest Dr. — Restaurant in Columbia

I'm not sure what's going on but someone needs to hear about this. I have frequented the Juicy Crab on Bower Parkway and Forest Drive a few times in Columbia, SC and received exemplary food and service at both locations (where the four stars come from).

However, my problem comes in with the location on Forest Drive. I usually go in at opening time (12pm) and order to go on some Saturdays from the bar area. The first few times there was a manager at the bar taking orders and when I left a tip she told me to cross it out because she couldn't take tips because she was a Manager running the bar. The first time she told me this a red flag raised up but I rationaled that maybe she was salaried and filling in those times, etc. However, this last time I went she was at the bar and after I ordered, paid, and received my check receipt to complete I asked her if they were accepting tips this time and she said sure. While asking this there was an employee standing to the side of the bar and I almost felt as though I had to sneakily ask her. Which then internally I knew something was immediately wrong. I then wrote in a tip. I'm learning that she probably only said yes because the employee was standing there because when looking at my bank balance she took my tip OFF. Let me just state that that is tampering and in know way did she have the authority or permission to do that.

Now stepping back as a consumer of many of restaurants and thinking back to my time in those restaurants I am positive that a manager took my order while ordering or sitting in the bar area. What I left on the receipt upon exit was literally the least of their worries. While I'm under the impression that some managers are salaried, hourly, or receive that plus tips I would only assume that if a Manager was strictly salaried and working the bar that any tip would go to the hostess, cooks, and any restaurant food/supply cost. Which makes sense because they are all directly involved in my order.

I feel as though this manager is doing something really shady at this location and I can't fully deem what it is but there is no way that you should not be accepting tips and making customers change totals or doing it yourself because "you can't accept them."

I really hope that this is looked into. Because of comfortability I won't be frequenting this location anymore and will definitely go over on Bower Parkway. This incident has never happened...

The customer service and atmosphere are fine. Nothing great to elevate your experience, but also not detrimental. Our server was friendly but very busy because he was serving our entire side of the restaurant by himself.

We ordered the Calamari and edamame for appetizers and both were excellent. The Calamari was fresh, seasoned and fried to perfection. It was served with their special house sauce but we found it underwhelming, not bad but definitely didn't uplift the Calamari. I much prefer a slice of lemon and warm, spicy marinara for my calamari but that's just my personal preference. But still, I highly recommend the Calamari if you visit this place. The edamame was simply prepared with nothing more than steam and sea salt and I could eat it like that all day long. We did get a side of hot chili oil to dip the edamame and, WOW! MUST TRY!

For our main course, we both had the tonkatsu Ramen with braised pork belly. Overall the soup reminded me of what you could expect if you ordered Ramen at the mall for around $6 dollars. But at the $12 dollar price point, it's fair to expect a restaurant to use fresh ingredients as much as possible. The flavor was decent, but there isn't much you can do to mask the taste of packaged and canned foods, there was a funky aftertaste and I suspect it came from the fish cake. The fish cake is always a dead giveaway that the restaurant doesn't take much pride in their food preparation and I really wish places would stop serving it.

Overall, the food & was ok, but nothing about the restaurant stood out to make me choose this place over the dozens of other Ramen restaurants popping up everywhere. But if you are close and looking for a decent lunch,...

HOBOPHOBIC RACIST! I haven't been in the building since the manager was murdered! After reviewing all the amazing photos of the seafood plates, I decided to give them a try! Upon arrival, 24 April,25, I exited my vehicle at about 1545hrs! I withdrew $100 in cash from my wallet and placed it in my front pocket. An old habit from my youth! As I entered I noticed two signs,one on each door! "NO PUBLIC RESTROOMS" There was no hostess at the front, I walked foward to the to-go area! I informed the person there, "Im going to sit at the bar after I go to the restroom"! She informed me that I would have to buy something to use the restroom! I repeated myself ignoring her stupidity, and continued to the restroom! To my surprise, she had placed a "drink menu" at the place I had selected by pointing to it! I then was totally ignored by everyone in the bldg! Three females and one new male employee being verbally reprimanded by a manager! After his conversation with the new employee, I waved him over! I asked an he confirmed that he was a manager! I explained the before mentioned! I asked him why the major issue "not being served" was happening? He advised "" We don't have bartenders in the evening"! I asked him could he pour me a beer?? He said I usually have one of the servers do that! I was fed up, got up and left! The only Caucasian in the building, being ignored by the entire staff, manager that 😑 tells me he has no bartender and didn't offer me a beverage or a dinner menu! That's what movies and lawyers are for! My opinion is that they thought I was a hobo and they didn't want to serve me! How wrong they were!!! Hence,...