Joe's Crab Shack — Restaurant in Dr. Phillips

As a lover of seafood and a connoisseur of dining experiences, I embarked upon what I anticipated to be a delightful evening at Joe's Crab Shack. However, what unfolded was a calamity of epic proportions, leaving me utterly dismayed and regretful of ever setting foot in that establishment. Prepare yourself for a harrowing tale of abysmal service, repulsive food quality, and an overall dining debacle that I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. Let me set the stage for this gastronomic nightmare. Upon entering Joe's Crab Shack, I was greeted not by the inviting aroma of freshly cooked seafood, but rather by an atmosphere of chaos and disorganization. The ambiance was lackluster, reminiscent of a poorly managed cafeteria rather than a reputable dining establishment. Despite the initial signs of trouble, I optimistically took my seat, hoping that the culinary delights promised by the menu would salvage the evening. Alas, my hopes were quickly dashed as I waited a staggering twenty minutes before a waitress even deigned to acknowledge our presence. Twenty minutes may not seem like an eternity in the grand scheme of things, but in the realm of restaurant service, it felt like an eternity spent in purgatory. During this interminable wait, I watched with growing disbelief as other tables around me grew restless, some even abandoning their meals and exiting in frustration. It was a clear indication that I was not alone in my suffering. When our waitress finally sauntered over, her demeanor was as lackadaisical as her tardiness suggested. There was no hint of apology or remorse for the unconscionable delay. Instead, she took our orders with all the enthusiasm of someone punching in numbers at a cash register. It was evident from her indifferent attitude that customer satisfaction was not a priority at Joe's Crab Shack. Now, let us turn our attention to the pièce de résistance—or should I say, the pièce de répugnance—of the evening: the food. Oh, where do I even begin? The dishes that emerged from the kitchen were an insult to the very concept of culinary excellence. The seafood, purportedly the highlight of the menu, was nothing short of revolting. The crab legs were overcooked and rubbery, as if they had been boiled in a cauldron of despair. The shrimp cocktail was limp and lifeless, a sad excuse for a seafood appetizer. Even the side dishes, such as the coleslaw and French fries, lacked flavor and finesse. It was as if the kitchen staff had collectively decided to sabotage every dish before it reached the table. As I forced myself to choke down each bite of the abomination masquerading as a meal, I couldn't help but feel a sense of profound disappointment. Here I was, expecting a culinary voyage of epic proportions, only to be served a plateful of mediocrity and misery. It was a betrayal of the highest order, leaving me questioning the very foundation of my faith in the restaurant industry. To add insult to injury, the service throughout the meal was nothing short of abysmal. Our waitress, who had already proven herself to be woefully incompetent, disappeared for extended periods, leaving us to fend for ourselves like shipwreck survivors adrift at sea. Requests for condiments and drink refills went unanswered, further exacerbating our growing sense of disillusionment. It was abundantly clear that the staff at Joe's Crab Shack were more interested in clocking out than ensuring the satisfaction of their patrons. In conclusion, if you value your sanity and cherish your taste buds, steer clear of Joe's Crab Shack at all costs. Save yourself the anguish and heartache of a dining experience gone awry. There are plenty of seafood restaurants out there that value customer satisfaction and take pride in their culinary creations. Joe's Crab Shack, unfortunately, is not one of them. Consider...

TL:DR: 25-minute no greet followed by a 45-minute wait time. Left with no food and no apology from the manager on duty! 0 stars. Would NEVER recommend.

For background, I was dining with a pregnant woman and 3 y/o toddler. We were seated on the patio on a hot evening.

Issue #1: 25 minutes, no greeting. To begin, we were immediately sat upon arrival, which seemed to be a plus on a Saturday around 7pm. We were sat outside and 15 minutes passed without a single greeting. We flagged the nearest server asking for service and she said she would help figure out who our server was. About 5 more minutes passed and no news was given but we saw the manager on duty (we did not get his name, but he was the front of house manager on Saturday (4/20/2024) night). We grabbed the manager's attention, explain we haven't been greeted for now 20 minutes and he said he would figure it out. Not a single apology was given and he was extremely short with us. A few minutes later we finally received a server (empty handed I might add, no water on a hot evening, outside, is absolutely ridiculous). I want to mention, our server was not the issue, she was friendly and tried to pivot us by expressing enthusiasm when we stated we were ready to order everything. And we did just that.

Issue #2: 45 minutes, no food. 15 minutes after we ordered I finally received a margarita I ordered. Which by the way was absolutely terrible, I honestly only took about 4 sips of it in total. It was very watered down and not that great. I took a picture of my drink at exactly 8pm, at 8:30 on the dot we realized, hmm, a LOT of time has passed since we ordered. And it's worth noting that all of us dining have all worked in restuarants doing various jobs, hostess, server, bartender, kitchen, and even front of house management. We very much understand the inner workings of what can happen at a restaurant on a Saturday night on I-Drive. But with that being said, 45 minutes for a KIDS MEAL is something we all know is absolutely unacceptable. Children, at the very least, always need to be prioritized. So we were able to get the manager's attention one more time. Which brings me to my last and final issue.

Issue #3: The WORST manager I've ever spoken to. When the manager approached us his attitude was very "what do you want?" One of us calmly asked, "is a 45-minute wait time normal?" His response immediately was "It's normal tonight." Taken extremely aback, we all chimed in making it known that's ridiculous and quite frankly unacceptable, He kind of just shrugged which incited a bit of anger in one of us. And for context, she's the mom of the toddler and 20 weeks pregnant, her angry was pretty granted. So yes, a few curse words slipped out, but she is the guest. Instead of de-escalating the situation, the manager decided it be better to start arguing back with her. So then one of us said, "sounds like it'd be better if we just left" to which the manager happily agreed with that sentiment. So we did just that, we left.

We wasted a total of an hour and a half of our lives getting absolutely nothing out of this expereince. We left the restaurant with ZERO food, a hungry toddler, and a crying pregnant woman....

Heartbreaking. My biggest excitement about my recent Orlando trip was being able to visit one of my favorite all time restaurants where I discovered my love for crab legs. I was shocked when they closed their Ft. Lauderdale locations years ago and have been to many different crab restaurant’s since, developing a true passion and appreciation for great quality crab legs from MANY trial and error experiences, but that’s how it is when you’re a crab leg hunter like myself. Crab legs are a true delicacy that are either going to be on the money or NOT. There’s a fair amount of grey area where they can still be good enough to eat but when you consider the prices of eating crab, which are never low costing, you really shouldn’t be having to eat them in a grey or bad level of quality. For what you’ll be paying for these types of dinners, all I can say is that it better be worth the money because otherwise you’ll be looking at a very expensive disappointment and who wants to end up like that, right? Well, unfortunately this time around, it was my turn to strike out. Very surprised by how disappointing my experience was. I ordered the king crab legs with 1/2 lb. Shrimp and let’s start with the shrimp that was so bad I couldn’t even eat it, and I really like shrimp a lot. So if I couldn’t make myself eat it, then yea there was something very no bueno going on. Now to the legs, first bite from the knuckle was pretty decent but from there once I started getting into the legs it was going downhill into that grey zone that you’re hoping to avoid. It was edible, so-so, but definitely not good enough to get that wonderful crab experience that your excited about when you know your going for crab legs and I hate to sound too harsh but there sauce flavors that the legs were in was a complete flatline, no flavor whatsoever. More disappointment not so much yum yum. Very sad. Fortunately, the saving grace was the world’s greatest dessert of any restaurant anywhere, and yes Joe’s is the only restaurant that has it, the crème de la crème, the holy grail of the desert world, the SMORES BROWNIE WITH MARSHMALLOWS AND ICE CREAM. No other restaurant makes this desert like joe’s, and it NEVER FAILS. Even after a letdown experience, that desert is so great it can bring the dead back to life. Absolute success every time, thank goodness. The manager did speak to us at our table and showed sincere concern and effort to try and fix the issues but it was already too late. Eating crab is great but you definitely don’t want to over do it cuz then it stops being great. Hopefully the next time I’m in town I’ll have a much better story to...