The Crab Plant — Restaurant in Crystal River

I’ll start by saying the food was good but that’s where the positives end.

We arrived at 6:30pm and was told it would be an hour wait for our group of 6 adults and 4 kids. Not bad considering it was peak time with a large party.

Our waitress took our orders along with 2 appetizers. After a bit of a wait we were notified that one of our appetizers was no longer available. Then the wait began. We started to notice that tables around us that were empty when we arrived were finishing their food and leaving. After over an hour three of the meals arrived. At this point we have been at the restaurant over 2.5 hours two kids are so hungry they’re crying. Everyone’s drinks are empty, the 3 meals are finished, and we can see our server arguing with the rest of the staff. At some point in time, just shy of 3 hours after we arrived, someone came to the table to ask what food we received and what was missing. He then disappeared without apology or explanation. Finally after over two hours since we sat down at the table the remaining seven dishes were delivered.

After finishing our meals we went to speak with the manager (who happens to be the owners daughter) about our experience. Her attitude and treatment of customers was absolutely embarrassing. She took zero responsibility for the experience we just had in her restaurant and explained that she would be willing to take our drinks off the bill. We had 3 drinks so we told her that after the experience we just had it was unacceptable. She then told us that was all she was authorized to do and she would have to make a call with would take 5-10 minutes to see if more could be done. A few minutes later she came back and said she received approval to offer us 10% off the bill. ($17.50) Our response was that $17.50 was an insult after the experience we just had. We suggested she get back on the phone with whoever it was and let them know that we were offended by their attempt to resolve the problem. Her response was…”they told me that if you were unhappy with 10% off the bill to have a deputy come to the restaurant.”

At that point we were just done. Kids were exhausted and it was obvious not a single person would take responsibility for our experience. We paid the bill and left. I will never go back to...

This was the worst experience I have ever had at a restaurant. My family and I are frequent travelers who enjoy trying new restaurants and having new experiences. We had parked about a half mile away near another restaurant that had just closed and they recommended The Crab Plant as an alternative, so we walked there. When we arrived we saw the sign that said “Cash Only.” There was an ATM machine in the foyer, which I thought was a bit tacky. I asked for a menu and told my wife what I wanted to order and that I would run (literally) back to our truck and grab some cash and bring the truck back to park in the parking lot. When I got back she texted me to hurry because they wouldn’t seat my family without me. Why not? I made it inside where we waited for a few more minutes standing there with our enormous water bottles (containing water that we brought from our home - we have a well with fresh water and filter it through our Berkey water filter, which we always bring on our frequent travels). No one mentioned anything until we were ordering drinks and our waitress informed us that they did not allow outside drinks and that they could provide waters, but that we would have to take our water bottles back to our vehicles. I asked her to give us a minute and we all got up and left and went and ate a wonderful meal at Norton’s. We were hit with three of their unbreakable and ridiculous rules before we were even able to place our order. I have no idea how good or bad the food here is and never will. I would rather pay 10 times the $$$ and drive 10 times farther for lower quality food and a good experience. I felt insulted three times before we even ordered. The fact that they serve food was overshadowed by their horrible customer service. By the time we finished eating, all of the stores that we had come to Crystal Springs to visit...

Came in with some friends and was majorly disappointed. I ordered the seafood boil. The potatoes and corn were completely undercooked, hard as rocks and were inedible. I picked around and ate about half the dish before coming to the worst and most concerning part, the crab. It was gray and CLEARLY rotten. I took one bite of it and immediately stopped eating. I was wondering why they dumped a whole bottle of old bay seasoning on the top of the dish and now I’m wondering if it was to mask the suspicious seafood.

I let our server know, and she asked what we would like her to do, as cooking another crab would take 20 minutes. I was kind but I said I would expect a discount after having just taken a bite of a rotten crab and had inedible vegetables. When we got the bill, they had taken a grand total of $2 off the price of the boil. I asked them to at least take half off, given I hadn’t even eaten 1/2 of the dish.

Instead of sending the manager over to apologize, our server accused me of eating the rotten crab and when confronted by my husband, management became argumentative. He actually argued and tried to haggle with my husband over $10 instead of listening or trying to make things right. The entire experience from the food to the customer service was a disaster.

My friend also never received a side that she ordered, and instead of simply correcting it, the waitress asked, “Do you want me to take that off the bill?” Of course. That’s not optional. No apologies given.

My husband’s Alfredo had a hair right on top of his dish prior to the crab fiasco but he had let it slide because we understand accidents happen. However, rotten crab at a restaurant with crab in its name just should not be acceptable.

We never even received a single apology. Customer service is terrible. Food is terrible. Stay clear away from...