Urban Crab Shack — Restaurant in Maryland

This is not the place you want to come for a seafood boil. This was our second time here. The first time was meh, but the service was really good and they had just opened, so we gave them the benefit of the doubt. This time our group returned and we should have just left. First, they were out of some varieties of alcohol so our cocktail options were limited. Because of that, only two of the six of us ordered drinks. The portions of appetizers were bigger than the last time, so we figured cool, they are trying to improve. Our platter of seafood was enough to feed the 10 of us that came last time, it was entirely too much food, but we said we won't complain. We ordered sauce on the side because again, the food wasn't seasoned in the boil style we selected. We had snow crab legs, so we asked for crab crackers. The waitress went to get us some, but they didn't have any, so the waitress brought us out butter knives. We then asked for metal forks to help us open the crabs. She want to check on those and guess what? They had metal butter knives, but not metal forks. Some of the seafood was cold, some was overcooked, but we couldn't order anything else because we had way too much food and couldn't get through our first platter. The first time we came, they let us take the remainder home, even though the menu says you have to pay $15 per pound for leftovers. We asked this time could we take the food and was told no. Mind you, we had the exact same waitress as last time and she remembered we could take the food home. We asked for the manager, and the same manager who was there our first time, who also remembered us, said she would call the owner and see what he says. She came back over and said the owner told her to tell us we would have to pay to take the food, or they would get the police involved. Very off-putting as the situation did not need to escalate to that. We just paid and left. Over the weekend, several of us endured some horrible stomach issues and bouts to the bathroom. Basically, we paid almost $500 for stomach aches. Now we know why the restaurant is always empty, even on a Saturday night, and we will not be giving them...

Avoid this place at all cost and just go somewhere else that does a real seafood boil!! This was only our second time visiting this establishment, and it will be our last. The very first time was ok, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt because they were newly opened. The seafood does not taste like the flavor they walk you through selecting. That's the first issue. The second issue is that some of the seafood had a weird taste. We looked past it because the waitress was very apologetic and corrected things as she could. This last time, though....a mess. It was 6 of us for the all you can eat, and they brought out 1 platter with enough food to feed 12 people. We didn't think much about it, but that was weird if the point was to be able to order multiple rounds of different things. We began eating and talking, and the food was tasteless again, so we ordered bowls of the sauce it was supposed to be in. Again, it was entirely too much food for 6, so the photo you see is what was left of the 1st order brought to us. We didn't order anything else. 1 of my friends asked the waitress if she could take the food since this was the first order and we didn't quite finish it. She was informed she would call the manager because she had been "getting in trouble for letting people take their food." Cool. She returned and delivered the following message from the manager: "There is no take out of leftovers per the menu, and if that is a problem, we can get the police involved." Did I mention this was our snd time at this establishment. The first time, we didn't ask to take what was left from a party of 12, and they offered and brought is boxes after we had ordered several rounds of food. It makes you wonder if they are recycling the leftovers. Mind you, the photo of the place was taken at 8 pm on a Saturday night. It was empty in...

I decided to try a new restaurant over Labor Day weekend, driving nearly two hours from Philadelphia after seeing it gaining attention on TikTok. While the atmosphere was pleasant, the overall experience was extremely disappointing.

To begin with, an automatic 18% gratuity was added, which would have been acceptable had the service matched the charge. Unfortunately, our server provided very poor service throughout. It took over an hour for our food to arrive, and when it did, the first round of crabs contained hair. No one from the staff or management came over to acknowledge the issue or attempt to make it right.

The second round of food was also problematic. Despite specifically ordering crabs, we were served pork, boiled eggs, noodles, and mussels—completely incorrect, not once but three separate times. At no point did the server clear our table, check on us, or apologize for the repeated mistakes. We had to repeatedly ask for drinks, which also took an unreasonable amount of time to arrive.

When the crabs finally came out, they were overcooked and severely under-seasoned. To make matters worse, the bathroom facilities were unclean, which only added to the negative impression.

Overall, the combination of poor service, repeated order mistakes, subpar food quality, and lack of cleanliness made for a very unpleasant experience. I would not recommend...