Aristacrab Seafood Restaurant — Restaurant in Salem

TL;DR: Five stars simply isn't enough. I don't know that 10 stars or even 20 stars would be enough either.

I cannot believe I haven't done a review for here yet. AristaCrab has become the standard I hold all crab plates to. I am born and raised Oregonian, spending most of my summers and winters on the coast. I am very familiar with crab and yet, it took my twenty-four years to find the best crab of my life.

Nothing compares to the freshness, the flavor, and most importantly, the AMAZING staff here. I wish I could give just the staff alone twenty stars. They are so friendly, kind, and informative.

I usually get some combination of 1-2 crab clusters, corn, and potatoes, whereas my friends will get the same plus egg and sausage. There are different butters you can pick from and I usually get the garlic butter. Every. Single. Item. Is. Amazing.

The crab is warm and delicious. The legs are easy to crack and get those giant pieces you dream of, which then you dip into the pool of melted garlic butter, and enter a dreamy food haze of amazingness. The corn and potatoes sit in happy puddle of garlic butter, adding flavor the longer you wait to eat them. The corn is perfectly seasoned and cooked to the point that it's easy to eat off the cob but still firm. The potatoes literally melt in your mouth.

Man I was there just last night and I'm sad I'm not eating there right now. It is more expensive but quality, quantity, and experience are so...

If you have not tried them yet I highly recommend! I went on Wednesday, I got to the yard and they had a sign saying they were closed till 6, so I waited the 15ish minutes for them to open and I am so glad I did. I have been wanting to try their food for a while now but it is a bit more pricey but it was my birthday so i decided to go for it(fair pricing it's just seafood which tends to cost a bit more) I wanted to get both crab and shrimps, but I personally love shrimp more. The best value was getting a crab plate with one cluster and adding on some shrimps, which is what I ended up doing. When I got my food I realized he gave me a few extra shrimps and it just made my night! I hadn't even mentioned being slightly let down that I was going for the less shrimp option, or that it was my birthday. The owner(or worker) really made my night by doing that! I highly recommend stopping by, you will get some good food and even better...

Under new owners, and it shows. I went in to get some of their great crab and very quickly learned that they have a new owner....i even asked to make sure that's what was happening. Plastic packaging, no more baby reds, quality of the crab is less meaty, less for the money and the spices.....sigh, barely notable. I hope they revert to what it was before, fast. Untill then, I will seek elsewhere for my crab and shrimp fix. New photos are the plastic take out containers.

Old review..... Great spices and super friendly service. The wait time was reasonable and the money is worth it. You can select your spices (I adore the garlic butter and the creole). Recommend for me

Note: still great service and great crab or shrimp or lobster comboes. Deals offered for under $50, they just don't have a category for...