Crafty Crab — Restaurant in Fruit Cove

We were so excited about a new restaurant. That excitement was short-lived after our first visit. The menu is limited, no real appetizers. The calamari was good but very small portion. When you order (by the pound) your selection you then make seasoning choices. I chose Butter-Garlic, then you decide if you'd like that mild, medium or hot. I chose mild. The food is delivered in a plastic bag that you're to open and dump onto the tray provided. Utensils are plastic, when I asked for a knife our waitress questioned and said ok but its only plastic. You're asked to separate their metal utensils from the plastic when you're done eating so the bus boys don't have to search for them. When our food arrived and we donned the plastic gloves provided for your use (seriously plastic gloves as you're expected to eat with your hands) very very unappetizing. My meal had spice to it and was in a red sauce; Garlic and Butter aren't red. No that's the right seasoning our waitress assured me. Well after one bite I learned that despite your seasoning choice there is an additional spice that they add, and for someone who doesn't enjoy spicy food this was not what I wanted. When I pointed to the waitress that I only wanted the Garlic/Butter her response was she'd get a new meal special made but she'd have to pay for it. And it was clear that even getting it cooked that way would be a problem. The meal comes with corn and potato ~ 1 half piece of a very small potato and about 2" of corn. My husband added sausage to his order and it came out in it's own bag. The sausage was sliced and very dry despite sitting in a pond of seasoning. When our bill arrived there was a mistake, as I had one glass of wine not 2. The waitress corrected it and upon return told us she removed one of my husband's beers for the mistake. The new bill didn't reflect that, so flagged her down to point it out. Oh no I overcharged the beers and fixed it. We should have asked to talk to the manager. But I wasn't feeling well from the spice and I knew we weren't going to be returning anyway.

Over-priced, nothing special. If you want steam pot meals make the drive to Joe's Crabshack at the beach or for fried seafood head to Whitey's on 220

We thought this was a small business but it is part of a chain. A bit bummed as we love finding and supporting...

We visited Crafty Crab (Orange Park) on Mother’s Day of 2025, fully expecting a wait, and we were fine with that. It was an hour wait for our party of three (my mother, sister, and me), which is understandable on a busy holiday. We were added to the waitlist and decided to walk just a couple minutes away to Bellas while we waited.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see the message that our waitlist was canceled until it had already been sent—well within the original wait time. As soon as I saw the message that said: “Hi Joy! Your waitlist has been cancelled due to no-show. Wish to see you next time!” —I immediately returned to the restaurant.

Upon arriving, I was greeted by Mel and Ming. Mel’s response was dismissive: “We reached out a while ago.” However, I had only received the cancellation text 3 minutes prior. On the other hand, Ming handled the situation with professionalism and a customer-first mindset, asking, “Is there any table available for them?” and actively trying to help. Mel continued repeating “no” without offering any real solution, which felt cold and unhelpful especially for a guest who had just missed a text by a few minutes and showed up immediately after.

Eventually, once Mel noticed that a table was available, we were seated, but the interaction left a lot to be desired.

If this is how Mel typically greets guests, especially on a high-traffic day, it might be time for refresher training on customer service and communication. The experience could’ve been salvaged from the beginning with a little empathy and flexibility.

I want to sincerely thank Ming for stepping up, staying calm, and doing what great hospitality workers do…finding solutions. The only reason we stayed was because my mother specifically...

I didn't read the reviews before going so I had no idea what we were in store for. My family of four were originally heading to our favorite sushi restaurant Oishi but wanted to try something new. We had seen a lot of traffic in and out of Crafty Crab and figured it'd be a good restaurant to try since we were in the neighborhood. The decor was fitting the name and we were seated promptly. Our two kids were thrilled that they'd get to draw all over the table. However, it pretty much went downhill from there. The menu was very miniscule. There was no kid items so we had to buy overpriced entrees that we thought would be too large for them to finish. Although they were kid sized once we received them. Personally I would have been livid if I had ordered a chicken tender basket for myself for $8 and it was that size. The buttery garlic sauce that came with my raw oysters was just melted margarine, there was no minced garlic or garlic flavor at all. My fiance's gumbo resembled gravy with frozen veggies chopped up in it. And my oldest daughter's wings were extra spicy. I would think they would take into consideration that it was for a child but no. She had a choking fit to the point of tears. We also waited about 20 mins for the kids entrees to come which we ordered with the drinks but some how they came out the same time as our food. The waiter was helpful and welcoming but the food quality and prices did not match. Our meal was $50 but the quality of the food was about $20. We were very disappointed. Needless to say we won't be...