Crabby's — Restaurant in Joplin

First off, we will dine here again, but we’ll be reserving special occasions for the steakhouse.

This is our second time eating here. This first time was five stars, easy. Food was cooked perfectly and service was great. So, we thought, what a great place to go on our ten-tear anniversary. Well, I wouldn't say it was a mistake, --but on this night-- they were only --*--three stars--and not--four (we averaged their first score and tonight's).

Like our first time, we made a reservation for two. We were seated at a table despite requesting a booth. We requested a booth at the time of seating, but they said we had to sit at a table since the booths were not available. People were sitting at and being served at the booths, but half of them remained empty during our two hours there. So yeah a little frustrating, since it was our anniversary, we were on the fence about going somewhere else with a more private table. Not the biggest deal, but a disappointment. It was pretty obvious many of the booths were being seated as first come first serve, too. So yeah it's a little disrespectful to be blown off like that and not even given the option of the notice when making a reservation for a special occasion.

Okay well we decide to make the best of it. We order the mussels as an appetizer and they are not good. Very stringy, almost meatless. We tried to eat a few but it was obvious they just were not fresh. Our server asked how they were, and we showed her. She understood--brought us new ones, and those were excellent. Plump, cooked well. Which just begs the question, why serve the first ones?

Entrees were good. They cook scallops perfectly here, both times that we've been. Even fine restaurants screw scallops up. Hasn't happened to us here.

Deserts were great, two of them, but served ten minutes apart. I think our server helped redeem a tough night, especially making sure we had...

Sweet baby jesus, where do I begin. I've lived in Joplin now for about 8 years and I have avoided Crabbys like the plague. It's right across the street from a not very nice neighborhood. Last night my wife and I decided to try it out, and I experienced such rage over that fact that it took me 8 years to go there. Lets start with the atmosphere. We were seated relatively quickly, as in about 15 seconds after we walked in. There is local art all over the walls that is quite pleasant to look at. While the restaurant was relatively full when we arrived, there wasn't any excessive noise and my wife and I could have a conversation at relatively low volume. The service was incredible. Our waiter was Steven, and his wit and banter had me debating on divorcing my wife and marrying him. He was an absolute treat to deal with, and easily one of my favorite waiters ever. The food arrived in perfect timing. Some restaurants bring the food out too quickly, so you're still eating the appetizer, and then your salad and the main course are brought out. Everything thay we were served was paced out so that we didn't feel rushed to eat, or the table being over crowded. And the food, oh my god. There was not a single thing that we tried that I did not like. There were things that I preferred more, but everything was delicious. The stand outs for me are the calamari, the lobster truffle Mac n cheese, and the ribeye. Everything was cooked perfectly and melted in your mouth. This is easily my new favorite restaurant, and we will definitely be coming back. Also, crabbys, if you're reading this, Steven...

Being from Texas, I have high expectations for seafood and Crabby’s just didn’t make the cut. I appreciate that the seafood was fresh and the service was a little slow, but the food was not impressive. We went for dinner for my mom’s bday and, luckily, she liked her food. I ordered the Tilapia and Jumbo Shrimp. The tilapia was super, super salty (like I was chugging water after almost every bite), but cooked well. The jumbo shrimp were great. The risotto was honestly the reason I ordered this dish and it was good and flavorful. My dad ordered the bacon wrapped chicken and said it was good. He also ordered a crab cake side that we all split. It would have been a really good one (it had plenty of crab meat), but there were too many green peppers and they completely overpowered the flavor of the crab cake. Last, my mom ordered the Chilean sea bass and said it was good along with the mashed potatoes. The seafood chowder I received before my meal was okay, but not as creamy as typical chowders. Last, they brought bread out with the salads and soup and it was Sister Schubert’s frozen rolls (something you can buy at Walmart or Sam’s) which was weird and definitely not what should be served at this pricey of an establishment. Again, I’m glad my mom had a good time. But just because you’re the only establishment that serves fresh seafood doesn’t mean your seafood is good. I’m honestly surprised how unimpressive this place was since the Chef owns Blackstone Gastropub that actually has delicious food. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone that is actually familiar with...