Laughing Crab - Cajun Seafood — Restaurant in West Des Moines

If you’ve visited Louisiana and ate at a dockside restaurant, perhaps further inland than touristy cities such as New Orleans, you will appreciate Laughing Crab Seafood. Words like “Cajun” and “Creole” get tossed around quite a bit, and there is frequently some discussion amongst those individuals who identify as either, where their ancestors came from.

In the case of Laughing Crab, the vibe I got was SE Asia folks that perhaps settled in Louisiana in the 1970’s, built up communities and businesses that reflected their heritage, and eventually went on to become successful fisherman. Laughing Crab, it seems, is a means of building on and out of that demographic, sort of a farm to market/restaurant model.

I had the “Shrimp Sandwich”, which to anyone familiar with Southern cooking, equates to a Po’boy sandwich. My wife who is not fond of any (any) seafood, ordered chicken strips.

My shrimp sandwich was average. No seasonings, a drizzle of a Mayo based sauce, a little lettuce and some nice tomato slices. I ordered sweet potato fries instead of regular fries, but received a huge order of both. Guess I should of been more clear. Both types of fries were tasty.

My wife, already traumatized by the odor of seafood, ordered some corn on the cob to go with her chicken strips. Her sandwich came with a huge order of regular fries too. Being suspicious from the get-go, my wife “the flat lander” sent her sweet corn back as it perhaps had been boiled along with shellfish, and had what she thought wash a fishy odor. Maybe from crab boil seasoning. I’d didn’t question her, nor did I try it.

Red bean and rice are not on the menu. I ended up asking, and the waiter was a bit taken back, and replied that the restaurant only serves regular, white rice. There is a “Seafood Gumbo”, though. Like I mentioned above, further north into Louisiana. Less Spanish, African or Caribbean influences in recipes. SE Asian fishing village-esque. No Zydeco music playing, just whatever was on the TV at the bar. Fox News or something.

So overall, and trying to be culturally sensitive, I guess if your tastes are for fried or boiled seafood in generous quantities, this might be your restaurant. If you’re hoping for French Quarter cuisine, it is not. $40 including tip for our meal. Once and done. Laughing Crab’s website indicates four or five stores in separate states including Louisiana, Iowa, Michigan...

A lady name Victoria took my order over the phone for a pick up. while I was ordering my food I was being rushed with my order, and I asked a couple questions about a combo that I didn’t know too much about because it was my second time eating at “laughing crab”, she was talking to me like she didn’t really wanna answer my questions let alone be on the phone with me (cause she was rushing me, I honestly felt like I was at a McDonald’s drive-through when it came to her customer service. And to be honest with you McDonald’s could’ve done better). we were only on the phone for a minute and 30 seconds when it came to me ordering my food, and the question that I needed to ask. Long story short, I came to pick up my order and as I go to the front desk, I see her finishing up an order on the phone. That’s totally fine with me because I’m a patient person, after she finished with the order she was making. She then hung up the desk phone and started talking on her personal phone through her AirPods, and at the time I came in there was no lunch rush or dinner rush. I came in about 12:55 PM. After she pauses her conversation on her personal phone, she then proceeds to process my payment for the food I came in for. For it not to be busy I expect BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE!! Especially when I’m paying $50 for a one person meal. I called in to speak to a manager and guess who was the manager? Victoria, which surprised me even more because if your manager, you should have better customer service then you do the rest of your team/employees. Just with her customer service alone makes me hesitant to go back and do business because if her customer service is lacking. Just imagine what the employees customer service is? (With my customer service experience in my mind. It wouldn’t be any better than hers). Went back to work after picking up my food. ‘cause the order that I made was for all my Verizon co-workers to taste so we can all put in on a group order for the whole store, but after telling them my customer service experience with Victoria we all agreed on not even wasting our money let...

My new favorite place for Louisiana style Seafood & wings! Located on University Ave, where Rock Bottom Brewery used to be in West Des Moines, this place has a shot to be special. I happened to be in the area on a Monday night & noticed a new inhabitant.

Rock Bottom was never very special, drawing on the initial, early brewery rage of a few years ago. But Laughing Crab has the potential to carve its own niche, as there is currently nothing like it in the area. As I entered the double doors, I noticed a sign listing $24.99 daily specials. Monday’s special included Cajun/garlic shrimp, crab legs, potato, corn on cob & a boiled egg. Yes! A boiled egg. A little strange I thought, so I asked bartender about it as I laughed heartily. Molly was working for Rock Bottom when it closed in 2017 & had some location history. She explained that Laughing Crab was SORT OF a FRANCHISE with locations in Shreveport, La & Milwaukee, Wi.

She went on to say Laughing Crab had opened 10/7/2020 & claimed the boiled egg had already become a local favorite, with customers ordering extra ones on the side. If true, interesting. I ordered this special TO GO as I had a beer at the bar. Also ordered LEMON PEPPERED WINGS appetizer, thinking the special (which was for 1 person only), would not be enough for my wife & I.

Well, we had several left-over shrimp for tomorrow! The special was wrapped in a plastic seafood broil type of bag. It was oh-so-messy in medium spicy garlic juice & oh-so-good! The wings were also great, although next time I will try them NAKED. The flavor was very good with light breading, but we imagined it could be even better with no breading (just personal preference).

Service was fantastic & accommodating. The bar area has also opened up a bit since RB days & still has TVs behind bar for folks to follow sports. Finally, there are numerous other seafood items that I will try in the future, but on this occasion the food was fresh & could not have been better. Reasonably priced & seafood focused. And the boiled egg?...