Capt Jacks Family Buffet Front Beach — Restaurant in Panama City Beach

We ate dinner here twice, both meals (2 adult & 2 children) were nearly $300. The adult meals included all you can eat crab legs and several orders of alcoholic beverages (this impacts price) They have a great selection of different drinks, buffet choices and a dessert bar.

This place stays packed, if you want to be seated promptly and not wait in line after the building fills then prepare to arrive a little early and get in line at the door. The food is hot, delicious and abundant. Both times we ate here, no one ate quickly, so if you are stuck waiting outside it could be a while.

The service is on par! We had different servers each time, they watch you like a hawk. Empty plate? ..it’s gone before you can find a place to put it. There’s enough staff in this restaurant for a broadway show!

The rules: if you do not order the all you can eat legs and wish to sneak some crab to someone else you can think again. They may be a buffet on the outside but secretly it’s a security firm for crab meat. Watch out, your on camera! 😉 Don’t worry they won’t make a fuss, they just adjust your bill accordingly. We watched a nearby table enjoy their experience Lol

The food, entirely enjoyable! Of course there’s all you can eat crab legs and the juicy butter to go with.

Their buffet offers a section for fresh salads with all the fixings. The main entrees (more or less) Mashed potatoes, gumbo, jambalaya, seasoned green beans, loose corn, whole potatoes, sirloin steak, hush puppies, fresh baked & buttered rolls, corn bread, cheesy grits, whole boiled shrimp, fried shrimp, cooked carrots, whole corn on the cob, crab cakes (very good), Cole slaw, macaroni salad variety, seasoned & cheesy spaghetti w/ meat balls, fried scallops, baked cob, and probably ten or so other dishes I just can not recall!

Desserts! Ice cream is probably the most popular, they have vanilla, pineapple and a vanilla and pineapple swirl- no chocolate people! #1 most popular question asked while we were there. They also have Chocolate Oreo chunk pudding, banana pudding, brownies, banana nut bred brownies, cookies (large variety), cheese cake(s), and several fresh fruits.

The second most commonly asked question is where is the butter for the crab meat. If you find yourself reading this review then save yourself the trouble of asking. It’s on the small wall stand to your right when collecting your crab legs at the buffet.

Fun fact from waiter #1., Capt. Jacks is the second largest consumer of crab legs in the world. The first is the whole country of Japan. 🥈

Overall our experience was great, the food was perfect and the service was...

My husband and I went in to get crab legs all you can eat. We ordered and went to buffet and both got a salad to start with and ate that. Our server was wonderful. I went and got me some crab legs and started to crack them and eat. I really had to work for the crab meat to come out. I went ahead and ate several. My husband goes up and gets him some crab legs and he was very disappointed in the quality of the crab legs, in which the meat wasn't sliding out like they were supposed to. He wasn't happy about how hard you had to work to get the meat out. He's a pro for getting crab meat out of the shell, he taught me. Just about every crab leg that he cracked/broke he just threw on the garbage plate because he said to have to pay almost 60$ for a buffet and the meat wouldn't just slide out isn't worth the money. So, the waitress came by to see how we were doing and he discussed this with the waitress and they both decided to get a fresh batch from kitchen to see if that made a difference. My husband still wasn't happy and needed to talk to the manager, TJ. TJ came over and talked to my husband about the price of buffet and crab legs weren't doing what needed to be done to pay 60$. The manager, TJ, agreed to discount our bill to just a salad bar. Meanwhile, the manager, TJ, comes back to the table to what appeared to be crab legs off the plate that was from kitchen with fresh crab legs (the same ones that were brought out fresh from kitchen). TJ stood there and proceeded to state that if you were to crack/break them as you're supposed to that the meat would just slide out. Ohhhh...she was very rude about the whole deal and was very sarcastic about showing that the crab meat would come out. She was like poking my husband to the point where she wanted to start a fight! The manager was NOT in the right to display this in front of us under NO circumstances!!!! I will tell you that we did go the Wharf buffet the night before and paid 60$ for an all you can eat buffet with crab legs and Lobster claws were excellent in quality. The meat slid out with no problems and we enjoyed it very much! Beware of the choices of the buffets you decide to go to in Panama City beach if you're looking for crab legs. The vendor they're getting these crab legs from needs to be better for the price you are paying!!! Capt. Jack's needs to rethink about the vendor they're getting them from and maybe train their managers better in customer service because TJ was VERY rude in her...

I have been to the location on Thomas Drive and, both times, the food, service and atmosphere were amazing. This time, we tried the location closer to our resort on Front Beach Rd. I love crab legs and both locations have very reasonable prices. Both locations have EXCELLENT service with very friendly and happy wait staff. This review is SPECIFICALLY for the location on Front Beach Road. While the service was great, I was extremely disappointed with the food at this location. Firstly, the ambience is nice but nothing like the setup at their Thomas Dr location. It has the feel of a very plain restaurant and does not have outside seating. Crab legs are the main draw but I was extremely disappointed with the legs. They were overcooked, soggy and the shells were not crisp enough to break. I found myself struggling to get the crabmeat out. Many legs were not even bright red, rather a dull dirty red and those were the worse. It did not look like there was spice or salt added to the steamed legs. They also did not have the smaller forks to help get the meat out. The other items were mediocre with very minimal choices. The dessert offerings were very poor. The soft serve machine gave me liquid instead of ice cream and, when I did get some out, it was grainy. The coconut shrimp had too much breading. The seats were not the most comfortable. Anytime the person behind me got up or got into their booth, I would get a nice little jolt. The price at this location is the same as the location on Thomas Dr. However, I will definitely go to the Thomas Dr location next time. On the plus side, the wait staff at BOTH locations are EXCELLENT. I suggest that the menu and quality get reviewed for the Front Beach location. Overall, Captain Jacks is a great choice for all-you-can eat crab legs but I will recommend the Thomas...