The Spice Sea — Restaurant in Phoenix

Fantastic! We absolutely loved everything about the place & it's now one of our top 5 favorites. My husband found The Spice Sea Crab online. I read some reviews & it seemed that the biggest complaint was the cost. I find that to be a ridiculous complaint because you're going to a restaurant that primarily serves seafood. Of course it's going to be more costly than a burger joint. The prices were fair & better than what we would pay in a store & we didn't have to cook it. The decor is fun & clean. There's a really nice patio area for dining ourdoors when the weather isn't slightly cooler than hades. The staff was friendly & helpful. The menu has something for everyone & everything we had was fresh, perfectly cooked & delicious! We started off with mushrooms & zucchini as apps & they were fresh & hand breaded. Not frozen, tough, tastless garbage purchased from a restaurant supply, fried & resold to us. We had a traditional crab boil that was dumped on the table just like it is in the South. Super messy & absolutely delicious! (don't worry, they provide you with bibs, gloves & all of the tools you need to bust open the scrumptious crustations.) You can order the sauce that suits your taste & spice it up to your liking as well. They have a nice selection on their dessert menu but we were too stuffed to taste test that. There's a beautiful bar with a wide selection of beer & spirits to choose from & several TV'S to watch as you feast. An excellent date night, family-friendly gathering or hangout with friends destination. Highly...

We're sadly disappointed. 🙄 All the rave reviews seem they were coerced/paid to leave a review of this place.. Not fully accurate. First and foremost what was good. The staff are nice. So we don't blame them for the negatives about the food.

If you decide you want to blow 80$ we highly recommend saving your money for somewhere else, like 50+$ places. So here's what we were not happy about; The "calamari" was Not real.. er it was the kind that you could buy from the market freezer (onion rings at a fast food place are better). They were "burnt", as in freezer burnt, And they were over cooked. The "gumbo" wasn't appealing.. so much that they served it in a "To-Go" cup. (They must not have a dish washer). The "dumplings" were okay, but cooked a little too much (again like something you could buy from the market freezer). These three items were over priced.

IF you decide you want to order something here the only things we ordered, that were good, were; The Chicken Tender strips (which IMHO were worth the money). We had two orders, one for me and one for our child. and The Oysters were good.. (Amazingly they were served appropriately in an actual dish that was also worthy of the money). They nailed it with this dish IMO.

NOW if the owner(s) could actually put a little more into a "quality" serving, meaning a "real" calamari and have actual nice "dishes" to serve items on, they might see a full house VS. an...

With the current attention towards seafood boils brought on by a certain lobster chain, my family decided on coming here. Our choice was made because the lobster chain was inconsistent and lacking in ingredients for a proper boil. The Spice Sea was everything we hoped for. We got to the restaurant as soon as it opened. We each ordered a pound of headless shrimp, red skinned potatoes, corn, sausages, and their house seasoning. Their seasoning was available from mild to higher temperature flavors. We were quickly attended to, and our orders were served quickly, and the bags were very hot. The boil had a beautiful color and reminiscent of what a genuine seafood boil should look like. The taste of each shrimp was incredible. Cooked to perfection. The corn was sweet and flavorful. The red skinned potatoes were larger than expected and went well with the seasoning. The addition of sausages was a must and enhanced an already savory meal. Drinks were generously refilled, and the service was exceptional. The atmosphere and music only enhanced the experience. It was our first time here and certainly not our last. We wanted a meal with great value, taste, and atmosphere. The Spice Sea delivered above and beyond and well...