Juicy Crab — Restaurant in Fayetteville

I was excited to see we were getting a seafood restaurant closer to home (Raeford), but wanted to wait a while before going and see some reviews accrue. Last night we needed to grab dinner while out shopping and saw they had 4.6 stars, so we decided to give it a shot and stop there on the way home.

For $31, my son got two small snow crab leg clusters, two potatoes and a half ear of mushy corn that tasted like sausage water (so obviously it’s cooked with the other parts of a “boil” whether you order those extras or not). The crab legs were cooked well and enjoyed. But the accompaniments got thrown away.

I originally ordered the flounder basket but then saw at the register that they had Alaskan Pollack new on the menu so I decided to give that a try instead. I love fish and chips, but this was awful. The portion of the fish basket was very good for the price ($14 I think?)… three large triangles of fish on top of a basket of fries. But the fish was VERY heavy with grease, the batter tasted and smelled so strongly of grease and what I assume was a beer-heavy batter. (I am a beer drinker and love beer battered fish…but this batter, whatever it was, was not good. The fish itself wasn’t bad but the batter made it inedible. The batter has a strong odor. I can't explain it.) I was hungry so I thought I could blot it with some napkins and cover up the taste with the tartar sauce…but that was odd tasting too. Almost sour, like vinegar...none of the sweetness of relish and the brightness and freshness of lemon. Just weird and sour. The fries were crispy and hot, but not seasoned or salted and there was no salt and pepper on the table. I pushed through eating about ½ of one piece of fish and some of the fries.

Maybe my expectations were off, but I expected it to be a place where you were seated and waited on, not an “order at the counter” type of place. And when I pay $60 (for 2 people) to sit down in a restaurant for dinner, I expect actual cutlery – not a plastic fork. There was a steady stream of people coming in to pickup take-out orders so maybe that is the bulk of the business and the dining room isn't used much.

I am giving 1 star for the cook and flavor of the crab legs – they were small but good and not overcooked like some places. And the other star for customer service from the nice lady who took out order, brought our food and did check on us once. When I told her the fish was not good, she did ask if there was something else we’d like. But at that point my son was already done with his crab legs and I just wanted to finish my beer and go home.

I’m still baffled as to where all of those stars came from… I can’t see us...

This review is from someone who eats out a lot. This review will be put on both Hook N Reel and Juicy Crab. I have eaten at Hook N Reel 4 times and Juicy Crab just today June 5, 2023 Monday. I am comparing both. Hook N Reel uses REAL butter and real garlic pieces and the food is tasty because of that. Juicy Crab uses MARGARINE and real garlic pieces. Hook N Reel tastes much better because of that. Margarine is like eating salted oil. That's basically what it is anyway, soybean oil. Hook N Reel will make your mouth happier. Lobster at Hook N Reel is $18. At Juicy Crab $17. A dollar cheaper. However, and this is a biggy....you get ONLY ONE King Crab leg at Hook N Reel for $65. You get TWO King Crab legs at Juicy Crab for the same $65 price. When I dipped the meat into the margarine garlic, it was good but not great. To make it great and tasty, it needs REAL BUTTER. As soon as I tasted it I knew it was margarine. To make sure I was right, I called Juicy Crab when I got home and asked. They said it was indeed margarine. If you don't mind that, then go to Juicy Crab so you can get the TWO KING CRAB legs for $65 since Hook N Reel only give ONE leg. So, at Juicy Crab, you save $65 cuz you get 2 for the price of one comparing them to Hook N Reel. The fried cheesecake at Juicy Crab, I give it a 7. It would be a 10 if they gave whipped cream and/or a strawberry or raspberry syrup to dip it in, or even caramel sauce. The desserts at Hook N Reel are redundant meaning, it's the same for most restaurants, you know a cheesecake, a chocolate cake, a key lime pie (do not get that at Hook N Reel, it's too thick, like eating paste). So basically what we have here, is taste vs more food for your money....

I went to the Juicy Crab and ordered just like anyone else. Near the end of my meal, I found a long black hair in my food. I went to report it respectfully and the woman working the front took my food back. They did not tell me what was being done about the situation. So after a few minutes of waiting I went and asked what was going on. She stated she did not know what was happening and went to go check for me. She came back and told me that they were already preparing the food, however I told her I don’t want more food, just simply my refund. She then brought a manager out because she said that he said, “it wouldn’t be possible”. The manager at the time was Brian Lee. He came out and I explained the situation and how I just wanted my money back. He claimed that because I had eaten too much of my food he couldn’t do a refund. This is absolutely not right, it shouldn’t matter when I found the hair, it’s the fact that it was in the bag of food in the first place. We sat there and disputed the issue, while he talked about how their cleanliness was rated a 99 and everyone wore hair nets. All of which is very irrelevant, being that the hair was still found. After going back and forth, I told him don’t worry about it, because he couldn’t see the point of view I was attempting to explain. I will not be back at this location and will be contacting their corporate about this incident. Very...