Joe's Crab Shack — Restaurant in Oceanside

Super Mega Fun!! I had no idea that Joe’s Crab Shack could be such a blast.

Impromptu lunch by the harbor today. We had to take a detour, but it just added to the joy of the journey. As we walked with our Littles (ages 8 & 3) under the coaster bridge, we had to be extra observant for the triathlon participants rising by on cycles and walking with emergency foil blankets wrapped over their shoulders.

From the moment we walked up the stairs my kiddos were all giggles and smiles. The lively atmosphere and sugar sweet staff greeted us with an enthusiasm that almost matched the kids. The gift shop tucked neatly to the side, was adorable and I took note of it for later. Definitely going to pick up my swag on the way out.

So the peach strawberry sangria was sweet and pleasant, and the kids got these crazy drinks with sharks toys and blood (pretty sure it was grenadine) and the whole restaurant got to hear about the victims in my 8yr old boy’s drink. LOL It was just too funny with the look on his face.

The music was upbeat pop and of course that boy is like his mom, when he hears that jam he’s got to groove. As we are enjoying our food another wonderful waitstaff member asks if he’d like to dance. Outted for his secret love to dance and being a young kid, he’s too shy to say yes, but when two more staff members step up to boogie down, it was on! Little sister, the bussboy, Mom and the waitresses all got on the floor.

All of the staff were extra sweet and very kind, but our server, Katie (Lol! I know!? Great name, right? 😉), she was the sweetest! We got great pictures with everyone in them, including me! Almost never happens. So incredibly thoughtful. She was also kind enough to pose in the pictures with us and with her permission, of course, posted her doing a smashing job @Joe’sCrabShack!

I love, love, LOVE IT when I can really brag about top level service. You can find excellence anywhere in life, and I appreciate the fact that we had #excellentservice at Oceanside Harbor’s Joe’s Crab Shack.

I was happy with the food. My husband’s on a clam kick lately and this was probably another one of the fantastic surprises for our lunch. Their clams are made with Old Bay, super delicious! 😋 I like that it was a different method than just the old white wine and garlic.

I greatly enjoyed my blackened Mahi-mahi but I opted for Cole slaw and corn on the cob. Neither of the sides were super fabulous but they weren’t bad either. My 3yr old loves 🌽 The sampler appetizer was actually really good, far better than I expected it to be. +1 more great surprise. We order extra to take home, and that’s not mentioning the giant s’mores brownie dessert.

Once we got home, after a walk around the harbor, the hubby and I decided we had just enough room for a single bite of that decadence. Like a millennial dream, the perfect combination of an extra large/adult sized chocolatey brownie topped with one of the most popular inner child’s favorites: s’mores. Mmmm

All in all I would say this was well worth the money spent. I’m happy with the few treats the kids got at the shop and I bought myself a hilarious Tee shirt about giving people you love crabs 😂 I will definitely be back again. The first time I came was when it first opened and it has much improved in the ~15yrs since then. If you haven’t been in awhile, or you haven’t been at all, and definitely if you’re visiting from out of town, this is a great place for families and casual...

I will preface this review with the understanding that in my line of work I am afforded very little time to travel so when my partner took a job in Vista CA every moment, every experience counts when I visit. Seafood was my craving and Joe's Crab Shack was his answer. We made reservations for the latest they had: 830pm. Im not sure if this contributed to what followed but after waiting longer then expected we met our server and placed drink orders and asked for water...Eventually the water came and later the drinks...We both ordered the awesome sounding triple Crab Leg buckets. We added on Mussels and Shrimp.. Waited paitently and admired the view..The 1/2 of my reason for rating a 3 and not lower..we were by a window and as we talked we looked over at the captains cleaning their boats or the gathering of a group having drinks on another. Laughed at the Sea Lion warning signs and just enjoyed the backdrop. The food eventually arrived and the 3rd time we saw our server. I immediately started with the Alaskan Crab legs...The shells were a little flimsy but the surprise would be inside...Nothing...Every leg was void of any meat..Or so little meet clinging to that long piece that runs through the centers...The claw had just a little more then that..I'm not sure how this was possible...I still have no clue. The other crablegs didn't have much flavor..Btw we had the "Old Bay" seasoning...Luckily the mussels were there and filled the void to some degree. My partner enjoyed the peel and eat shrimp addition to his meal The drinks were ok. Side note: He ordered the Shark Bite and it was enjoyable watching the kids at the table next to us patiently waiting to see what the shark on his drink was for..Although when they saw the red hit his drink they were less enthused..I think they really wanted to snatch our shark...Anyways server never came by for the entire meal..not sure I would of complained about the Crab anyways...I'm more the silent type that doesn't return..Besides we were finished with dinner by the time she came back..She grabbed 2 plates and asked about dessert but scuttled off before we decided...At some point a bus person came by and my partner asked for 2 desserts "to go" and the check...I mentioned that it wasn't our server and because there was so little and spaced out interaction with our actual server I couldn't convince him it wasn't. Reason 2/2 why i rated the service a 3 and not lower..that Bus Person didn't reply back with "ill get your server". He said no problem took more dishes and relayed the information accurately to our server..Wherever she was... We received our check and desserts to go. They did add ice cream in a separate container for my dessert and it was appreciated. Either way the Bill was $220. It may not seem like a lot for some people but the value of the food just didn't justify that price and you walk away feeling robbed in some way....And of course we left a $40 cash tip because I'm just not that kind of person. I don't know if the server was busy or just not into people that day or what..But we walked away pretty disappointed...Although we walked around the outside of the Marina and admired all the different types of boats before heading home. If you made it this far congrats..As you can see by my profile I've rated many places..I always try to be fair and weigh the good with the bad and I hope this helps as you decide where to eat when...

Do not come here, seriously. I took my family to this restaurant a few nights ago and had some of the worst service imaginable. We were sat at our table for 10-15 minutes with no acknowledgement before my sister had to go to the host stand to ask if we could have some help. The waitress that was meant to be assigned to our table, which was in a very busy section, had walked by and past us several times dealing with other customers (several wait staff did this, we had no idea it was supposed to be her, anyway) without even introducing herself or taking our drink orders. After my sister asked for help, this waitress approached our table and slammed her hand down on the table between me and my sister and told us she'd be with us in a moment. I felt extremely uncomfortable as this waitress had approached from behind. When she had slammed her hand down on the table, there was a matter of inches between her and myself. Saying that I was extremely uncomfortable is an understatement, especially now that I'm replaying the interaction in my head. When she came back to take our order for drinks and entrees it was the last time we saw her. We ended up being there for a long time. We'll get back to that later.

Our food comes out. Mine and my sister's fish and chips were actually delicious, but they were missing her hushpuppies entirely. If my sister didn't have to flag some other wait staff down she never would have gotten it as our waitress went MIA. My husband ordered a burger and fries and it was the greasiest burger I've ever seen. Grease was soaking the bottom bun and it was making him sick to his stomach. He had to stop eating it because it was that bad. Another random employee (not our waitress) would eventually come by to take it away, and the plate was removed from the bill. And no, the nice lady that did help with this incident did not ask what was wrong with the burger or even try to actually remedy the problem.

My sister and I finished eating, and it was about 30-45 minutes before we were approached by an employee from behind the bar asking if we wanted our bill. Yes, we wanted our bill 30 minutes ago!

So all in all, we were sat down at a table, ignored, potentially assaulted if you want to take into account the legal definition of assault and given inedible food. Then we were charged over $70.

Do...