The Crab Shack — Restaurant in North Carolina

Update Since writing the review below, only an hour or two after leaving the restaurant, my wife became violently ill, we suspect food poisoning, since we hadn't eaten anywhere after this restaurant, she was fine all day before this, and she has only eaten seafood at this one restaurant all weekend, we can only assume this is where she got it from.

Several hours later and she still has the same symptoms and is feeling horrible, so maybe give the oysters and shrimp a miss. End Update

We decided to stop in here for lunch today as we had planned to last night, but it was too busy.

We were seated fairly quickly and the server was really nice.

The main reason we came here was to get my wife some clam strips, one of the only places near our hotel that had them on the menu, unfortunately, they said they had just run out which was a bit of a disappointment.

I ended up having the 10oz ribeye steak which was delightful, cooked exactly as I ordered, they didn't have it mentioned on the menu but the baked potato I wanted as a side wasn't being served until after 2pm, sp I went with the mashed potatoes instead, they tasted a little different than I'm used to but in a good way, they were also nice and creamy, unlike back in Michigan where everywhere serves them with lumps or bits of skins in them, which I hate.

My wife ended up trying the fried oysters instead and some shrimp, she didn't care much for the oysters and said the shrimp was ok but not as much breading as she likes.

Service was excellent, the place was busy but we had a decent booth and other than the food taking a while to cook, which we were warned about, everything was great.

Overall it was pricey for what we got, but a nice place with friendly staff and beautiful...

Vacationing on Emerald Isle for the 1st time & the family wanted to go have some fresh seafood, searched the reviews & we went to The Crab Shack and pretty glad we did.

They don't take reservations so ya put your name in, order a couple beers & wait outside on the deck with all the others. We were there on a Thursday around 6:30pm & the wait was around 30-40 minutes, two beers. But you're on vacation isn't that what your supposed to do wait on a deck, drink a beer, enjoy the view & conversation w/your company & wait to get into the local hot spot?

The wait didn't kill us & once our party of 8 & a 7 month old was seated fun began. Our server I think her name was Ashley was on her game. Quick to take the drink order & they bring you out these free hush puppies which are delicious & very habit forming. Ashley would reccomend this dish over that dish, you get more for your money things like that. They basically make the entire menu three ways fried, broiled or butter prepared.

Me & another at the table tried the she crab soup which we called "black pepper soup". My wife tried mine & said she didn't know how I could eat it. She enjoyed her chowder though. For dinner I had the butter prepared scallops & they were delicious my wife enjoyed the butter prepared shrimp which she also enjoyed. One member of the party had the crab legs but I forgot to ask how they were. Mostly everyone else had the shrimp. Assuming a shrimp boat was docked behind the restaurant I'm assuming the shrimp & scallops were as fresh as could be.

None of us had room for dessert & I really wanted to try the Key Lime Pie. Really don't think I'll ever be in Emerald Isle again which is a shame cause I'd love to go back to The Crab Shack & sample other things...

Disappointing, is the one word I would chose to describe every aspect of my experience here. Arrived for dinner and had to wait 45 minutes for a table for two. Which wasn't bad for a Sunday around 5:30pm. However once we were seated, everything went downhill. For another 30-35 minutes we sat at our table waiting to be greeted. We watched as multiple other tables around us, were seated, provided drinks, ordered, and even received food. We attempted to flag down multiple staff memebers but were ignored, as they appeared too busy to bother noticing. It was only after another kind patrone noticed our predicament, and brought it to the attention of their server, did we get any staff attention. Afterward, one server provided us water but didnt take our drink order, before disappearing. Another server came to apologize for our wait before again, disappearing. Finally after another 10 minutes of sitting with just water, our unpleasant server for the evening arrived. She was quick to make excuses but assured us a free appetizer since we were ignored soo long. Our server then proceeded to make snide comments while taking our order and providing service, only ruining the experience further. You could tell, she was burnt out from her job and had no joy to share with her customers. Once our food came, it was alright. I have had much better seafood experiences in-land. What a disappointment for a restaurant right on the water. It certainly wasn't enough to make up for the rest of our less than satisfactory experience. Perhaps this was just an off day for everyone at The Crab Shack, but I'll never return to find out....