Storming Crab - Rapid City, SD — Restaurant in Rapid City

Ok, I almost feel bad giving this review because I really wanted to like this place, since we only have this place and Red Lobster so not a lot of competition to up the restaurants game a bit! First of all getting fresh seafood when you live in the middle of the United States is a challenge to say the least. It also depends on what you think is fresh. I pull up to the place and it has a nice looking restaurant that says Storming Crab Cajun Seafood & Bar. I was like ok this could be neat since this is the first time going to this restaurant chain! I walk in and it looks like a LongJohn Silvers but with more Ocean Decorations. There was rope tied around wood giving it a dock appearance, fake fishes hung on the ceiling and fishing nets used as wall decorations. So appearance overall was pretty good. The music however does not match the place at all. It was playing 80's & 90's R&B music from Boyz II Men to Color Me Bad and so on. Loved the music but didn't think it matched the atmosphere at all. Oh and if you happen to go into the bathroom expect the music to be cranked up 5 more levels because it is really loud in the bathrooms for some reason. Maybe to drown out the bathroom noises. Ok onto the nitty gritty. The server was shy, soft spoken but was polite, kind, and accommodating which is why this review gets 2 stars and not 1. I ordered the Cajun Fried Rice, House Salad, while my guests ordered some chicken Po-boy sandwich, and shrimp and Cajun Fries. Ok if you are going to have Cajun in your sign of the place, and scattered all over the menu shouldn't you actually add Cajun spices, or something to your food? Good Grief, the Fried Rice was just Asian fried rice with nothing Cajun about it! The fries had a steak seasoning put on them but still had no Cajun or Creole to it. Just cause you name it Cajun doesn't make it Cajun!! The bar wasn't an option either, no one was manning it. Why advertise bar if you are not going to use it! The Rice, the Chicken, the Fries, the Shrimp and everything else was anywhere from average at best to just yucky. I enjoyed three things that night, the music even though it didn't match, the server who did a decent job, and the Mountain Dew I was drinking wasn't bad. That's it! I went over a lot of other reviews for this place and there was way more positive than I expected. So this is what I will say, If you can't get the cheap easy meals done well, how is the important meals like your expensive seafood going to be? I must of came in on an off night for them. It happens, so I think this place here in Rapid City at least is a hit or miss kind of place. You never know what you really are going to get overall. Could be good, could be crabs who knows:) It really sucks though because it was my first time going there and I don't think I could give the place another try. When paying at least $20 for person at the very cheapest end of the scale with some breaching $100 I would make sure everything is on point because this isn't a casual regular eating place unless you have money. This is an occasionally go to place, but only if your experiencing the same level of quality...

First twenty experiences here were wonderful. Last visit was so atrocious! Waitress was having a bad day ? To start off our experience. We ordered shrimp po' boy, my son didn't eat more than 2 bites. It was not warm, drowning in mayonnaise. Into the bucket it went. First bread x3 pieces. When asked for more she pointed out twice that only the first is free. I pointed out twice I knew and would like an order. (Note-We are accustomed to 4 pc per basket). Not 3. Experience was not what we have seen every time. There was 0 friendliness. Dumped the food and left with the bag still quite full of juice. We ordered a custom dinner 3 meat combo with added eggs. Doesn't look like anything we have gotten used to eating there. Potatoes were all cut up and mush in the bottom of a grease bowl, not whole as we have had every time. The boil itself was unpleasant to say the least. The Dungeness 🦀 was overcooked and tasted awful. I have grown up eating Dungeness, its easy to see when its overcooked. I ate 4 legs off it and put into the bucket. (Added note, make sure the rubber bands are taken off before serving) I showed the waitress it was in our food snipped in half and she was unconcerned. Explained why the use them. (I'm from the coast, not nearly in need of an explanation on why they are used, lets point out the fact that it was cut up in our food!) Walked away back to the group of waitresses chatting and on their phones at the counter 10ft from us) Snow crab was good . That was the only thing at the table that was eaten thoroughly. Sausage was left untouched after 1 piece. I did not complain in person. With a waitress completely disinterested in hospitality what...

This place has a very friendly and charming vibe! The signatures all over the walls was cute! Flavor wise, not so good. The cajun seasoning at a mild (even at the medium) spice level tasted like almost nothing. I’d say the flavor level was 15/100 !! I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything so lacking of flavor. I know it’s possible to achieve a higher flavor level off of more seasoned seafood boil restaurants. The food got cold much faster than I’m used to because they poured the bag out onto an open dish - other places I’ve gone to leave it in the bag for you to pick at so that the food stays hot much longer. Our first waiter Veronica also said that it’d only be about 2 legs for 1 lb of snow crabs and I was like really? 2 legs for 1 lb of SNOW CRAB? (Not in that tone, just trying to clarify) and she said yes. When they came out it obviously wasn’t true but I think the servers should have a better understand of the menu. So a breakdown of what we got: Snow crab: about two halves of a crab, no flavor headless shrimp: about 18-20, overcooked, no flavor mussels: about 20, chewy/overcooked, no flavor eggs: overcooked, no flavor potato: my bfs favorite part of the meal, no flavor sausages (they forgot to include but brought out after we noticed): only thing with flavor, tasty The create your own combo and add three free sides deal is great, but overall the food should have a good amount of flavor even at the lowest heat level. I hope this place can find a way to trap more flavor into their food, then it would...