Cap't Loui Seafood boil — Restaurant in New York

The ONLY reason I’m leaving a 5 Star review is literally the impeccable service from Ian. I follow this place on Instagram and have been so excited to come finally try this place since moving to Sunnyside recently. I came on Tuesday, for their $1.50 oysters and ended up ordering 2 dozen, great value! I ordered a bottle of wine after trying to order a martini, haha, bummer, no bar here, and NO BYOB… yikes. So $35 for a bottle of cheap Chardonnay, ok, that’s still pretty great value. (Just don’t come alone as a single woman) hopefully you have someone to share it with because they don’t sell wine by the glass here. Now, to the big order! I ordered 3 lbs of seafood… or did I? I’m a southerner, so I was looking forward to this seafood crawfish and seafood boil place since that’s my favorite, their competition is LITERALLY Nextdoor at the weirdly titled ‘Mad for Chicken’, that has the best fabulous seafood boils, tasty, and at great value. I say this because it took me awhile to come in here with the atmosphere from the streets looking in, always bright lights (like a cafeteria) and empty, if there is people, it’s usually small children in addition. Now that I finally came in, I love the soundtracks of music, all the best songs you want to sing along to!

But let’s get to the food: I’m including a receipt and pictures of food. I ordered 3 lbs of seafood. I DEFINITELY DIDN'T RECEIVE 3 LBS OF SEAFOOD, BUT I CERTAINLY GOT THE BILL. $243.11

The King Crab that I am paying $115.47 for 1 lb. What is a good price for king crab per pound? As of 2024, the king crab price per pound typically ranges between $30 and $60, depending on the size, quality, and where it's purchased. These prices reflect the costs for the red king crab variety, which is the most commonly consumed and highly prized. My $1115.47 came out in shreds and at parts were so discolored; that is telling of EXPIRED OLD VERY OLD FROZEN KING CRAB, the only reason it could be that old is because not everyone comes in here and orders a pound of the ridiculously pricey crab, I did, and unfortunately it was a complete disappointment. I grew up on the gulf, so I hope you can understand my palate and love for seafood and its value is expert. I LIVE FOR SEAFOOD.

Moving onto the half a pound of clams that only came with four in the bag! Again, FOUR CLAMS to equal half a pound! It was a bad note. The half a pound of scallops were absolutely incredible, thank goodness! Finally, I ordered 1 pound of crawfish. 🦞 They were so old and barely had any meat in them. They were shriveled up, and I can tell you that was not a whole pound of crawfish, not even close. I feel jipped and absolutely robbed by the greedy owners of this place. Next-door when I order at the Mad Chicken, I can have leftovers from this kind of order of 3 lbs of seafood!!! So I can tell you, I enjoyed what I enjoyed here, and I made it very thorough with my feedback and clarified what that was here, so now I know one day a week of when to come here and who to ask for and what to order.

My total with $50 tip to the incredible IAN who should be working in a Michelin Star Restaurant, he’s superb! Total: $243.11 + Tip= 293.11 NEVER AGAIN.

Management: DO...

We were really looking forward to dining at this seafood restaurant after reading so many positive reviews, but unfortunately, we left very disappointed.

We ordered one of the combo meals, which clearly stated it includes corn on the cob and potatoes. For our order, we chose broccoli as the side, along with 1 lb of headless shrimp, 1/2 lb of clams, and 1/2 lb of crawfish.

Shortly after, the waiter came to inform us that they didn’t have enough clams and offered to replace them with more shrimp, which we were totally fine with. But when the food was served, things quickly went downhill.

First of all, the corn and potato portions were laughable. We received half of a mini corn cob, literally smaller than my pinky finger, and half of a tiny potato – and I mean tiny. We politely asked the waiter if this was correct, and even he couldn’t hold back a smirk when he saw the portion. But then he said that’s how they always serve it – one potato and half a corn. When we asked again, pointing out that it wasn’t even a whole mini potato, he simply repeated that this was their standard.

He didn’t offer to bring us another piece or make up for it in any way, which was really disappointing. We’re paying good money for seafood, and they’re cutting corners on potatoes and corn? That felt like a bad joke.

From that moment on, the service felt off. The waiter avoided us, never checked in to ask if we needed drinks or anything else. We were polite the entire time, so this treatment felt even more disrespectful. It was like we were no longer welcome.

As for the seafood itself – it didn’t meet expectations either. The shrimp were small, definitely not what 1 lb usually looks like. We’ve been traveling the East Coast from Key West to New York and had this exact type of dish multiple times, so we know what to expect in terms of portion size. Here, it felt more like a starter than a full meal.

He had promised us 5–6 extra shrimp to make up for the missing clams but only brought 3 head-on shrimp, even though we ordered head-off shrimp. The 3 clams we did receive were actually tasty, but just 3 pieces is hardly anything.

The broccoli was bland, completely unseasoned – not even a hint of salt.

Now to the only positive note: the sauce. It was actually delicious, full of flavor and spice – but sadly, we had nothing to enjoy it with. The portions were so small, and the sides almost nonexistent, that the sauce ended up being wasted.

After all of this, we even wanted to order some noodles to try to salvage the meal, but the waiter was nowhere to be found and clearly ignored us. At that point, we gave up.

In the end, we shared our concerns with another server, as the original waiter never came back. Thankfully, she was kind and at least understood our frustration, but the damage was already done.

We were truly looking forward to this meal, and sadly, we left disappointed – both in the food quality and the way we were treated. Not a place we would return to...

My husband and I are so happy to have a legit seafood boil spot in the neighborhood! We've been here twice already and the quality has been good.

The first time we came, we ordered the Pick 3lbs combo (hot) with crab, and crawfish, sausage and garlic noodles, and the fried shrimp basket with lemon pepper fries.

Everything was really good but the lemon pepper seasoning has a sweetness to it, which I didn't expect. I probably wouldn't order that again. The heat level was solid and it does build.

The second time we came, we decided to try the $1 oysters as well as the Pick 2lbs combo (hot) with crab, headless shrimp, and the garlic bread. We also tried the lemonade and mango Cap(t)risuns, which are non-alcoholic.

The oysters are pretty big and had a light flavor, not too briny though I love a briny oyster. The only issue I had were the bones in the oyster, which I'm not used to having to pick out after slurping one down. Not a fan of that and will probably not get the oysters again. Though if you don't mind this, $1 is pretty solid.

The seafood boil was great as usual and the drinks were great. My husband thought the lemonade was too sweet but I thought my mango was just right.

The overall service is great and our servers have always been friendly and kind. You can tell they're still working out the kinks of a new place with new staff (i.e. not receiving flatware after our food arrives, a little slow taking away finished dishes).

I wouldn't say it contributed to a bad experience at all though. Our server tonight was Cho and she was as attentive as she could be. There were only 2 servers this evening and there was a good amount of people tonight.

I will flag that they need to refill the soap bottle in the bathroom with actual soap vs. soap + water. Given the fact that it's a seafood boil, your hands get really gross and dirty. The first time I was there, it was legit soap. Tonight, I had to pump half the bottle to get a good suds and even then my hands didn't feel clean. Please refill with real soap.

Definitely stop by this place and try their delicious food! I'm looking forward to stopping by for lunch as well since the prices...