Tasty Crab Cajun Seafood — Restaurant in Niles Township

Less than mediocre experience. Went around 5pm and it seemed pretty quiet.

We decided to create our own bag (which was a minimum of two selections at 1/2 lb each). We asked for the garlic butter to be on the side as someone in our party couldn't have a lot of dairy and for the spice to be mild.

It did not seem like we even got the 1.5lbs of food that we ordered - and it only contained 2 corn cobs and maybe 4 small potatoes

the iced tea was pretty weak tasting, even 4 sugars didn't help

the boil bag came out before we even got any plates, bibs, wipes or anything

-there was no spice on the food at all, it was just boiled with a container of melted butter on the side (and even that wasn't that garlicky)

started eating a crab leg and it was a bit squishy, so I decided to take a whiff and it smelled like ammonia (which means the crab had gone bad), I had told the server and she did take it back to have the staff steam a new one. I took a whiff of the new one and I could still smell the ammonia. I had asked another staff member to smell it and he did, but he said it smelled fine. I didn't want to risk eating it

Pretty disappointed overall. The waitress was very helpful and accommodating, albeit a little confused when I was explaining why I didn't want to eat the crab (because it smelled of ammonia). She did get the staff kitchen to boil a new set of legs, and when I still said they smelled like ammonia she apologized and removed it from the ticket.

Again, all very nice and accommodating, especially since they have it listed on the menu 'no refunds on food' - which I get, people can be scammy. But please check the quality of your seafood, because that could be very dangerous, especially with those with compromised immune systems.

The two positives I can say were about the waitress being understanding and the seafood gumbo (which didn't have that much seafood and was mainly rice and...

I eat out more than five times a week, for one meal or another. I hadn’t had a good experience at the Tasty Crab in Skokie the last two times I went, but I decided to give it another try since I was in the mood for shellfish. Good seafood is hard to find around Chicago as we are so far from the oceans and known as butcher to the world.

The first time I went, I tried their house special seasoning, which completely overpowered the delicate taste of the shellfish. The second time was for lunch, and apparently there was only one server working who had a big table and who never came to my table for ten minutes—so I just left.

This time, I went on a Friday night during the prime dinner hour. They were only about 25% full, which was telling, since most good places around here have long waits on Friday nights. My waitress came right away and took my drink order. Five minutes later, she returned to take my dinner order—still no drink. Five minutes after that, she brought my food. I asked about my aperitif, and she said she would bring it right away, which she did a few minutes later, by that time, I was eating my entrée.

I ordered the “build your own” with clams, green mussels, and snow crab, with garlic butter only. The clams were very small, and four or five hadn’t opened. They were hard to taste because they were so tiny. The mussels were a good size but tasted pretty generic. As for the snow crab—the most expensive item—I was given a nutcracker but no pick. The shells were very soft so the nutcracker was useless, and without a pick there was no way to push the crabmeat out of the legs. I don’t know if they even have picks, since my waitress never returned until she brought my check. Other tables had servers who checked on them so I probably got a dud.

I’d give the seafood a C- and my service a D. It’s obvious to me why they’re so slow on a Friday night, and I will...

Absolutely love a surprise like The Tasty Crab. We live in Chicago but had to come out to Skokie three weekends in a row for suit tailoring for an upcoming wedding. Kept eyeing this place and once I saw the reviews it gave us the boost we needed to try this place.

Totally putting this in our rotation of reliable and delicious restaurants. Service was excellent, our server made us feel like we were her only table but she had like 10 she was managing like a freaking wizard.

We opted for the 1lb of dungeoness with the potatoes and corn and for seasoning we did the “all of the above” mix of all the seasonings with a medium spice/heat level. IT WAS SO GOOD. Flavorful without being too much somehow. You know I was dipping everything in that bag sauce. No shame. It was decadent.

We also tried the catfish and wow wow wow was it tender and juicy and flaky and just heaven. If you’ve never had catfish and have wanted to try it, do it here. This should be the standard. Even the fries were remarkably good.

Our server preemptively put everything we could possibly ever need on our table, we wanted for nothing. The quality of the crab was superior and we had all the tools needed to enjoy. Totally coming here again!

This place is massive, the restrooms were very clean, the staff were super chill and friendly and the drinks were great. My husband had a Mai Tai and I had an iced tea. This is going to sound silly but I’m an iced tea fiend and amateur connoisseur and this was top notch tea. Like, I would drive out there to get an iced tea from this place. Take that for what you will.

Love this place and...