Angry Crab Shack — Restaurant in Texas

I was hesitant to write this review because we have frequented this establishment several times before and I’ve always been thoroughly pleased with everything. However, the visit on Thursday night July 24th was very disappointing. We were greeted by an older lady hostess, and she seated us. She was very kind and energetic. I’m not sure if the gentleman that was supposed to be our waiter was on break or late coming in, but when he did come in and our host had Alreadyserved our drinks, he had a strong smell of nicotine. He was friendly and made good suggestions explaining the menu asked had we’ve been there before and we responded several times. My son wanted to take me to dinner And because we had such a great experience on the visit back in March when I took him there for his birthday and we had the“ Boil for 2”. My birthday is Sunday so since he had gotten paid, he wanted to take me there so I said sure. I’m giving background information because it’s important to the context of the review. The boil back in our March visit was absolutely delicious. The trifecta seasoning, the fried pickles that we always get when we go there we absolutely amazing. But this visit was definitely below par. I ordered the garlic noodles because I hadn’t had them before so I said let me try them. The boil came out and he poured it into the pan for us. I noticed that it wasn’t steaming, but I didn’t think anything of it and then a minute or two later, he brought out the garlic noodles.When they came out and I tasted them, they were lacking any flavor at all as if they were just boiled and put into the bowl which I thought was odd. We had to wait a bit for the utensils to crack the crabs and such and we had asked for some extra sauce and also a refill on my son’s drink because he accidentally tipped it over but I guess the waiter forgot and we had to ask another gentleman who was bringing out food to bring it for us. I could tell that the seafood either had been sitting too long and maybe it was overcooked because when you went to crack it or break it, it was very hard to break. It didn’t just snap easily and cutting the legs open was like cutting through maybe thin cardboard or some type of vinyl I don’t really know how else to describe it with the scissors or cutting the lobster tails open with the scissors were very hard And when we finally did get them open, the food was cold and the lobster didn’t separate from the shell easily I had to dig it out and it came out shredded like so I knew that it wasn’t freshly cook. The sausages in the boil were really dark and hard and the corn even with the seasoning on it just was not flavorful. The fried pickles had good flavor, but they were a bit doughy on the inside when you bid into them.I thought about sending it all back, but considering that my son was spending his hard money at a place where he had frequented several times and really enjoyed the food and the kindness of The staff. I didn’t want to disappoint him. After we left, I considered the $178 tab and the $20 tip my son left thinking that we spent pretty much about $200 to celebrate my birthday that I regretted even allowing him to spend and when we got in the car, he admitted himself that it wasn’t Like it usually is when the owner and his wife are there. I don’t know what happened this time but it was just really disappointing. I hope that the owners read this and make the necessary changes to where there is consistency because I really want to continue to support this...

Hello,... I have been here many times and absolutely love it. I guess today wasn't our day. We usually come in the evenings but wanted to come for lunch. So disappointing. Today will be the first time that I have to complain and we were celebrating husbands bday.. 1st We called to reserve in the morning for a table of 12 for 2 pm. We got the ok that it was settled only to arrive and be told there was no reservation. Good thing that we were basically the only ones there, and they were able to seat us. But if not, it would have been a problem. 2nd Eric was the one to wait on us. And he was pleasant until he was the only one waiting on all other tables when things picked up and we constantly had to try to get his attention for refills or anything because if we asked someone else, we where told, I'll get your waiter. Poor guy. No help when there were plenty of other staff just standing around. Our appetizers were sad. We got a total of 4 appetizers. Our clams where extremely fried to dry practically another 30 secs from tasting burnt, (both orders) along with the hush puppies, our grilled oysters where grilled to perfect dryness and hard to take off the shell to eat. My seafood boil was not at all what I was used to getting. It lacked sauce. Like really lacked. I had to order a pint of sauce on the side just to get what we are used too and I usually order the pint to go not for in-house use, but not this time. Liken i said I've been there multiple times, and this was the first time we looked bad in front of the guest we invited after we bragged. Told them next time it would be on us. I think in total, our table nearly dished out at least $500, including tip. Which was a bit confusing since we where told if we wanted to add additional tip, it would go straight to our waiter but the tip that was already added to our bill goes split between all who helped, especially when he was the only one waiting the tables. IDk. But we didn't add additional tips. I thought even thought the tip added was too much for the service that we didn't get, or better yet, partially got. And we do not have a problem giving great tips, especially when you've done a great job. But overall,...Angry crab you disappointed me and my family today on this special occasion. Better be happy that I know this is not the usual cause it would have been my 1st and last time. I'll be back, but not during the day. Hopefully, you can bring back the great 5 stars in me. Catch...

Went to the Angry Crab and came out angry about the experience.

1. DO NOT ever let them sit you in the booth that’s around corner against the wall in the bar area. If they do insist on sitting you there, take booth next to the paper roll. Why?…. because its hidden and they will forget you’re there, especially if you get a waitress who has more than 1 table.

We had Jess as our server. She was very nice the 5 times she tended to us for the 90 minutes we were there. I watched her tend the booths that were directly in front of the bar way more frequently because they were very easy to see, much unlike ours located in Baby’s Corner (Dirty Dancing for you Gen-X folks). In fact, we sat for almost 15 - 20 minutes before I decided to approach the manager at the bar to order our beverages.

On the other hand we saw the waitress who had the family next to us way more often even though they arrived 45 minutes after us. I understand they maybe understaffed but we were there for the same reason as everyone else.

2. The food…. We had onion rings ($6) and a 1/2 dozen small chargrilled oysters ($12) for appetizers. They were average.

For dinner (which was ordered another 20 minutes after our beverages finally arrived) was the po-boy basket for me, soft shell crabs w/ sides for my daughter and fried shrimp basket for my wife.

The first dinner to arrive after we had already been there for about an hour was my wife’s fried shrimp. It really wasn’t golden brown but more like 5 minutes before being well over done. That sort of that over cooked orange color on the batter. Her side of red beans and rice was either from the bottom of the pan or just slightly under cooked rice with cannes red beans dumped on top. Popeye’s has better than that.

15 minutes after that was when me and my daughter finally received our orders. Catfish filet was on point but the crabs were a little over done like my wife’s fried shrimp and the yellow grits had this weird cream of wheat texture. Mind you that our waitress did not deliver our food to the table.

Now everyone else around the place who ordered to boiled or Cajun style food looked like they got the better deal when compared to ours. We actually left the tasteless, partially eaten beans and rice that was served in a paper boat on the table when we packed up our leftovers.

Needless to say we didn’t think the bell deserved to be rung when we finally left around 9-pm after arriving...