Ben's Crab Uniondale — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

Grab a drink, this review is going to be longggg. Yesterday we had a reservation for dinner during Valentine's Day. This was his idea and honestly with COVID and some of the reviews I have seen regarding the lack of social distancing at other restaurants, I was not excited about eating out. Boy was I wrong. When we arrived at the restaurant there were several things that I noticed that added to my comfort level. First, at the reception desk, there were bags and bags of take orders. Good sign, the food must be good here. Secondly, the hostesses moved quickly to get people in and out so that there was not a bottle neck at the door. Thirdly, I noticed the decor. No it was not dark, candle lit and romantic but despite the bright lights, the whimsical Valentines decorations coupled with the upbeat music lent itself to a very vibrant but relaxing vibe. Kudos to the restaurant team for ensuring the energy was just right. The most important thing I noticed as I scanned the room was that everyone that was seated was social distanced.

We were seated at a high table near the window and across from the bar. Our waiter was very pleasant and asked to get us started with our drink order. While we ordered our drinks another employee brought water to the table. He ordered the Frenchman and I ordered the Saint Mojito. Imagine a mojito with all of its wonderful lime and mint-ness paired with a lychee martini. It was heavenly and at only $10 this manhattan-ish signature drink is a must! His Frenchman had a few dark liquors in it and some pineapple. He really enjoyed it. The drinks came out so fast, we were not ready to order our appetizers. Eventually we decided on the pan seared scallops and the fried calamari. It seemed as though as soon as our waiter walked away from our table with our order, the appetizers came out. The scallops were cooked perfectly. They had a beautiful brown sear on both sides and were soft and juicy on the inside. The scallops were slightly draped in a light brown sauce with green flecks and the calamari were crispy on the outside and fresh with a great consistency on the inside. After we finished the scallops we dipped the calamari in the light brown sauce left on the scallop plate and WOW. The calamari came with a metal shot glass of a pinkish, reddish sauce that was a good compliment to the calamari but that scallop sauce took the cake.

For our main we got the king crab legs in garlic butter sauce with medium spice. Once again, as soon as our waiter took our order, out came our food. It was hot and fresh and I am now wondering if the waiters can read minds or what kind of magic they are using to get your food to you as quickly as they were. I would say they must just cook a big batch, warm it and bring it to the table as its ordered but that would not explain the freshness of the food. Especially on a busy dinner night like Valentines Day dinner. The king crab legs were heavenly. The meat was flaky, full of flavor and richly delectable. The red potatoes were soft and I encourage you to take a bite and then dip it in the sauce. Oh myyy! All in all this was a great experience to have during COVID.

The pros in addition to everything I stated above is that our waiter kept checking on us. Our drinks were never empty for any real amount of time and the manager made rounds in the restaurant a couple of times to make sure everything was good as well.

The cons, I wish they had paper menus vs. the laminated menus. Yes they can be sanitized but there is a comfort level associated with disposable menus in our current climate. The corn in the king crab legs was extremely small. Would've loved to have a nice sized piece of corn to dip in that wonderful garlic butter sauce.

I am definitely a fan and...

I had a friend from out of town visiting so I called another mutual friend of ours to come out and they suggested this place. This was the 1st time for all of us. Its located pretty much in the middle of Hofstra University. The parking lot was packed and we found street parking nearby. My friend and I waited at the bar for our others friends to arrive. We ordered beers, one on tap called Abita, which was not bad and I hit a Guiness in a bottle. The bartender, Staci, "with an i" took our orders. She is very friendly and slender sexy tall, and with a friendly attitude. She may seem overwhelmed but she handles the drink steady and does not forget her customers orders.

Our other friends finally arrived and we asked for a table. I ordered a shrimp basket for the bar at that time. The table was supposedly ready and we were paying our bar tab. By the time we finished, looks like our table was gone. Oops! The manager saw our disappointment and he said he will call us when another table opens up. We went back to the bar and he came to get us in 5 mins. We sat at a communal table that had plenty of room for both parties seated. It took Andrew mins for our waitress to come. She was very nice.

You noticed I gave them a 3 star? It was not for the food nor for the friendliness of the staff. They both were excellent. The staff, I mean all of them seem to try to please their customers. The shrimp basket I had ordered 20 mins ago, we were still waiting for it. Our waitress went to check, it took another 10 mins for it to arrive. The music is so loud, we could barely hear ourselves talking. The place was pumping. We ordered more drinks and ordered the crabcakes sliders which were quite good. We also got some breaded catfish, chicken fingers, and the lobster mac and cheese. The mac was pretty loaded with lobster and it was a good sized portion! If you have patients and like to dance in your seat while eating good comfort food, this is the place to go. Yes I would come back. Even as we were leaving, almost the entire staff said goodbye to us in a very friendly manner.

The calories will be busting out since its seafood and lots of fried foods. It...

This place is really a 4.5, but the two star is for what transpired while we were there on a Friday night. I’ll leave a positive review for our other experiences but we really wish this gets handled differently in the future.

Fridays and maybe weekends, there is a more upbeat energy, the DJ is live at around 7pm. It’s nice, but not for everyone. Especially when the music gets louder and you can’t enjoy your conversation or food. Which is fine, we can work around that and still enjoy our food on the weekdays.

The issue is this: We had an elderly couple (around 80’s) that sat next to us and ordered plates of food while enjoying their glasses of wine when the place turnt up! The couple had asked if the music can be turned down a bit (they were super elderly) to the waiter but was told it would”offend” the DJ if they asked. By the time they’ve asked the second time, we were about done with our food and it looks like they were about done too but just wanted to spend some time together with another glass of wine. But instead the waiter made up all sorts of reasons as to why he can’t ask the DJ to turn it down and refused to even ask management or the DJ. It was so sad to see their cute date ruined like this! This could have been handled differently and a good opportunity to ask what music the couple liked and perhaps play a few songs for them since it’s obvious they are on a date. Picture this… “hey, these next couple of songs are for the couple on at the corner, we appreciate you coming out tonight! Here is a couple of songs for you to enjoy and end the night with us”. Instead it was loud and a flat out refusal to address any of their concerns.

Your customer service and the waiter’s service has always been top notch, it was just sad to watch this whole situation played out that Friday evening. We love the service and will be returning. But not on Fridays and...