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Bucket O' Crawfish
Category: Restaurants Seafood Seafood [Edit]
1980 W 3500 SSte 104
West Valley City, UT 84119
(801) 419-0900
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 4 pm - 9 pm
Fri 4 pm - 10 pm
Sat 12 pm - 10 pm
Sun 12 pm - 8:30 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- No
36 reviews for Bucket O' Crawfish
Review Highlights
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"About the sides, recommend their sweet potato fries." In 6 reviews -
"Oh my goodness the garlic butter sauce was so good." In 3 reviews -
"Love the fresh crab in lemon pepper flavor sauce." In 9 reviews
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36 reviews in English
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Review from Emma L.
HOLY @#^%$%@#^ LOVE THIS PLACE!
For a place like Utah, in the middle of America, no ocean in sight, you do not expect to find a seafood place let alone a GOOD seafood place. Great atmosphere, awesome service, seamless business plan. Love the wood table setup and true to a true seafood joint.
We got 1 pound of crawfish, 1 pound of dungeness crab (takes about 18 minutes to cook) and an order of bread. Pretty damn cheap and 1 pound is plenty, I promise you. Sadly, the dungeness crab that day was not fresh (aka mushy) - our waiter Jason made sure to take care of it and instead I got 1 pound of shrimp. We tried the cajun sauce + hot for the crawfish and garlic butter + hot for the shrimp. Hot was pretty damn hot and we do eat our foods spicy.
I wish they would open a place like this in NYC. Can we go into business together? I'd love to open up a joint like this here. -
Review from Kim R.
Boise, ID
5/14/2012 1 Check-in Here
Had an early dinner here tonight with my Mother-in-Law, and we had lots of fun.
We ordered 2 lbs. of dungeness crab (they said this was the minimum), one basket of calamari, and a side of corn.
The calamari itself was SO good. Really nicely-seasoned light batter. Tender rings & tentacles. Yummy! I'm very averse to anything spicy, so I was surprised & disappointed that they were friend with jalapenos and served with a jalapeno sauce on the side. Yuck. And the waitress didn't come back for quite a while to see how everything was. When she finally did, I asked to substitute the jalapeno sauce with some tartar sauce. She did so, for 35 cents.
Then the dungeness crab came. We ordered it with butter only. It was stellar! Very fresh and perfectly cooked.
We took pieces of red velvet cake and carrot cake back to the hotel, but I haven't tried them yet.
I appreciated the nice, tall drink glasses. Soda was kept full. I was thankful for the plastic bib. I'm notorious for having food on my shirt, and this kept it clean. -
Review from Joe S.
Springfield, MO
5/9/2012
We went here because I LOVE crawfish.
The service was friendly not quick nor smart. I ordered 2 lbs of mud puppies and sausage combo and 1 lbs of shrimp. The waitress was lost as to what I ordered and then corrected me saying the name is crawfish. Ok I get you are from California and have never seen one of these, let alone eaten one of them before you started working here but some of us have been eating these since before we could walk and everyone should know the term mud puppy or even mudbug (yes it's one word get it right Yankee).
We ordered a couple of different seasonings and we were not impressed with any of them. The crawfish were small and the shrimp was overcooked. The sausage was really good and possibly the best part of the meal. The beer selection is a little light. I give them props for opening up in an area like this and I hope they stay around if for no other reason than to show people a different kind of Southern food (Cracker Barrel is not Southern).
I will go back and try them again but it will be a few months to see if they have worked out the kinks. -
Review from Ashley U.
Salt Lake City, UT
4/20/2012
Imagine eating too much, your stomach hurts...literally cramping, you can't stop eating (because the food is soooo good) and you have to unbotton your first button from your jeans just to let your gut hang out....and then afterwards when done eating you say to your friend....please help me up and roll me out the door!! Well that didn't quite happen to me at Bucket O' Crawfish. I was still hungry! The flavor is amazing however...whatever you get...catfish and chips, prawn and jumbo shrimp with a side order of corn and potatoes! That I have established...the flavor is there! 1 lb of shrimp or crawfish with two side orders is not filling for me. Last time I was there, I ordered 3 lbs of shrimp and that was just right. Yes, I love to eat...a lot!
The atmosphere is good, the decore is decent and I would go back there again...and again and again! The only negative thing I don't like is....they charge you for every little thing...even the green sauce (which is my favorite). I don't want to be nickled and dimed! I'd rather they raise the menu price to a $1 to off-set the difference! -
Review from Jenna W.
Salt Lake City, UT
4/14/2012 1 Check-in Here
Bucket O' Crawfish offers the best seafood that I have had in SLC thus far. We ordered the clams and crawfish in the Cajun sauce and the shrimp in the garlic butter sauce. I definitely preferred the Cajun sauce because it reminded me so much of New Orleans.
My major complaint is that the meals do not come with any type of bread - you have to pay extra. If you come super hungry like we did, you will have to order something to help fill you up (bread, fries, rice, etc).
As some of the other reviewers have commented on, Bucket O' Crawfish is really an affordable option for seafood. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but we ordered 1 pound of crawfish, clams, and shrimp each with sides of fries, rice, bread, and corn for less than $50. It doesn't get much better than that! :) -
Review from Ken C.
Salt Lake City, UT
4/1/2012
I have been eager to eat here as it is right across from our favorite restaurant since moving to "the wrong side" of the valley. Unfortunately their hours are a little strange - not a choice for lunch. Also, I wasn't sure if it was family friendly - it is!
Having grown up on the east coast, I have found the Salt City's seafood offerings to be rather horrible. But the yelp reviews were intriguing. I followed the yelpers advice and it was of course perfect. We ordered: 1 lb. shrimp, 1 lb. mussels, corn, french fries, rolls, drinks, dessert.
WOW!
We chose the mild garlic butter sauce. It was spicy in the most wonderful way. The shrimp and mussels were simply perfect! For an hour I forgot that I was completely landlocked in a desert. The sides were great but a la carte and next time I think I will drop the sides and just get another pound of shellfish deliciousness. The dessert was probably from a package but it was hard to tell - I've had much worse and would be happy to have that dessert again. It was called a "happy ending" - perhaps ironic but I will leave it at that.
I also want to mention that the interior was a huge surprise. Very nice, very casual, the bathrooms were immaculate and nicely appointed. Despite the many beer signs, it is absolutely a place for family.
Once again, West Valley City hits a gastronomic home-run with family owned, casual, affordable, and excellent dining. Don't know why people hate the WVC so much because the eating over here is excellent! -
Review from Bud H.
Sandy, UT
5/3/2012
Certainly doesn't compare to the Gulf. Didn't enjoy the experience at all. The crawfish were tiny, the blue crab were fishy, and the dungeness crab and shrimp were not cooked well (think mushy). Spent the rest of the day trying to get the taste out of my mouth - not because the flavors were bad - they were quite good - but to erase the memory of the poor-quality seafood.
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Review from Darcy G.
Updated - 2/17/2012 3 Check-ins Here
They listened! We went there last weekend with my folks and, lo and behold, on the menu were (delicious and fresh baked) dinner rolls and on the table were wet naps. AND the corn was no longer measly in size and overcooked.
Marry me, Bucket O'Crawfish.Listed in: My favorite SLC eats
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/8/2012
One word: Heavenly. Two more: with caveats. Keep reading.
I was super excited to try Bucket… Read more »
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Review from Monica V.
Salt Lake City, UT
2/16/2012 8 Check-ins Here
When I heard the Green Papaya owners were opening up a Crawfish joint similar to Hot N Juicy, I was so excited! I've now been a regular customer of Bucket O' Crawfish since they first opened in July, and I keep coming back because I LOVE seafood and this place knows how to make it SPICY! Plus there's something about their sauce that's just so addicting.
I've tried everything on the menu, (except desserts) and my favorite thing to get is the snow crab ($12.95/lb) with the garlic butter sauce in hot with an order of bread ($1) to dip in the sauce. Everytime I've ordered the snow crab, they've always been fresh, cooked perfectly and soo good! I also get the shrimp ($9.95/lb), crawfish ($10.95/lb), clams or mussels ($9.95) and switch up the sauce to lemon pepper or crazy mix from time to time. I stay away from the blue crab just because they're a lot of work for not much meat. The dungeness crab can be a bit fishy/gamey tasting at times and they're usually about 2.5-3lbs a crab, but a lot more meat than a blue crab.
If you have a weird friend who doesn't like getting messy or peeling their own seafood, they do offer a calamari basket and a fried halibut basket which are both decent. They're cajun and sweet potato fries are also pretty yummy, and they also have a good selection of bottled beer for $2.95 each. Oh, and shoutout to Jason who's the best server there! =) -
Review from Chris P.
Azusa, CA
4/7/2012
Great food, not a bad atmosphere. Kind of loud and lively. Had calamari, that is a must! Besides the squid you get fried jalapeños, onions, catfish nuggets. Very good and tasty. Besides that we had shrimp and snow crab legs in mixed medium sauce, and mussels in mixed hot sauce. I'm just visiting SLC, if I ever come back I'm going here again! I wish there was one of these places back home.
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Review from Joseph M.
West Jordan, UT
3/20/2012
The valley has been hurting for good Cajun food, and now we have it. This place rocks! I took my wife there last night, food was great, service was awesome, and the prices are very reasonable. Where else can you get a pound of snow crab for $12.95
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Review from Jeffrey S.
Midvale, UT
9/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
With absolutely no comparison, baseline, or experience in what a place like this should be, let me offer my simple observations at what I like about Bucket O' Crawfish.
First of all, there's the ambiance. It's a new (remodeled?) place with a kind of gulf coast theme. Wooden pier pylons, lots of autographs on the walls, and plenty of seating to accommodate groups. The bathroom was kinda tiny, but it served its purpose. You'll probably have to wait in line to wash your hands. And you should totally wash your hands before you eat and probably after.
Second, this place is all about expectations. If you've read a review or two before mine you'll have figured out that they don't serve any utensils or plating. Your meal is served in a bag. Basically, you order a kind of seafood (snow crab, dungeness, shrimp, crawfish, etc), select a flavor (cajun, lemon pepper, garlic butter, etc) and select how spicy you want it. You can also choose a few add-ins that show up in your bag like new potatoes or corn on the cob. Then they bring it out, plop it down on the plastic covered table, bib up, and dive in hands first.
Is this the way its done in the Gulf Coast? I dunno. But it's how they do it here. So if you know that going in, you won't be surprised. Just be careful when you snap the little suckers that you do it in an outward motion. An inward motion can lead to cajun juice in your eye. That would hurt. Like, a lot.
It's a little spendy, even for seafood. The sides seem quite pricey, but I must admit that the sweet potato fries and cajun fries were both fantastic. Shrimp give you the best bang for your buck, and crawfish the least. But the flavors are pretty dang good and despite being served in a bag, the texture is good. One word of caution on the shrimp: they aren't de-veined, so if you're squeamish about poop veins then you may want to avoid.
They also offer a few other menu items like fried catfish and the like, but stick with the bag of goods unless you really don't want to make a mess.
It's a fun experience. If you're not into prissy guys/girls, bring your next date here and test them on the concept. If they'll dig in and bite the head off of a shrimp, you've got a keeper.Listed in: Strip Mall Surprises, Go With A Group
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Review from Yiching P.
Salt Lake City, UT
11/14/2011 5 photos
I believe Bucket O' Crawfish opened in July, and I started going a couple weeks after it opened... and I've probably been going there too often since then! Can't believe I waited until now to yelp about it.
I think I've had all their seafood varieties over the too-many visits... crawfish, Dungeness Crabs, Blue Crabs, clams, shrimp, you name it. I think I've tried them all! My favorite sauces are the original (cajun) and garlic butter. Oh my goodness the garlic butter sauce was so good. I usually like it with medium spiciness. Yum.
The tables are covered in thin plastic so I can be as messy as I need to be when I'm eating my seafood, and the bibs they provide are of great help to keep my shirts clean. I'm really enjoying this restaurant! -
Review from MC Free W.
Salt Lake City, UT
8/23/2011
I planned my first trip to Bucket O' Crawfish two weeks in advance. I took the day off work in preparation for this event. I arrived just as the doors opened at 3:00. I had the whole place to myself. The waitress, Mara, was a wealth of smiles, attentiveness, and knowledge. She informed me that all the seafood at Bucket O' Crawfish is flown in live, mostly from seafood farms on the west coast, and cooked to order. "Everything you are about to order is alive right now in the kitchen," she said.
Oh man, I was so stoked.
I was awestruck at the quality, quantity, and fair price of the seafood. Each order is brought to the table piping hot, served in a plastic bag bathed in whatever style of sauce and heat level desired. I'd recommend corn on the cob and new pototoes, cooked right in the bag along with the meat, as traditional accompaniments.
The crawfish were simply beautiful. The whole lower half of my face was on fire from sucking the incendiary cajun style hot sauce from the heads of the two dozen or so that came in my order. A glass of perfectly sweetened iced tea was a splendid foil for the piquancy of the mud bugs.
There were four whole blue crabs in the next bag, swimming in a silky butter/garlic sauce, It's hard work getting all the meat from a blue crab, but well worth the effort and the mess.
The fifteen or so head-on lemon pepper shrimp in my third bag were incredibly plump and juicy, some of the best tasting shrimp I have ever had in my life.
I used an empty crab shell to slurp up the leftover sauces in each of my three bags. Unbelievable.
No plates, no bowls, no utensils. Just your hands, a metal lobster cracker, a plastic tablecloth and bib, and a roll of paper towels. Perfect.
When I finished, I sat there in a blissful stupor, sweat on my brow, hands dripping with juice, staring at the virtual graveyard of crustacean remains piled up in front of me. Empty shells, shattered claws, crab gills, decapitated crawdad and shrimp heads, dismembered tiny legs, all picked clean of every morsel of meat and orange crab roe, and sucked dry of every drop of natural liquid, and succulent sauce. It was a moment of pure satisfaction.
There will be some people, mostly timid females with no sense of adventure, that will be turned off by Bucket O' Crawfish. Some will be perplexed by such a messy, hands-on style of eating, where you truly get up close and personal with your food. Such people are misquided, unenlightened souls. But for those of us who crave genuine and authentic food, and don't want to have to travel to a shack on the outskirts of Lafayette, LA to eat fresh crawfish, then this restaurant is a godsend. In fact, I feel the opening of Bucket O' Crawfish is one of the most profound and important events in the entire history of the Salt Lake dining scene.
Don't miss out.Listed in: Messiest Meals
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Review from Jeff G.
North Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA
10/2/2011
It is really, really hard to write a review that differs from my buddy Matt W. He's the maven, I'm the raven. He's the shepherd, I'm the flock. He's the bat, I'm the ball. You get the idea.
But I'm going to take my chances and give Bucket three stars.
There are some five star aspects to it. the decor, with all the raw wood, neatest graffiti in history, and flat screen monitors showing the live NCAA football was pretty cool. The beer was ice cold and astonishingly low-priced. Three bucks for a Modelo is a steal. They've also got pitchers for reasonable prices too.
I was good with the way they served -- the no silverwear, no plates, not nothing low tech approach you can read about in other reviews.
Then why the reservations taking it down to three stars? Simply, the food. It was okay. It wasn't brilliant. Sampled were mussels, shrimp, and king crab claws. Had with lemon butter and garlic butter, both mild and medium spicy. It was all just...okay. The mussels weren't the plumpest, the shrimp not the most flavorful, the king crab not outstanding. And it wasn't that the servings were so copious as to make up for it.
Don't get me wrong. It was a very pleasant outing.
Two suggestions: First, wet naps at the end of the meal. Wouldn't cost but two cents and everyone would be happier. Second, sell a small loaf of French bread for a couple of bucks. There's all that sauce that can be mopped up, and I don't think it would cut much into ordering.
Oh yeah. It's ten bucks a pop per order.
Nice addition to the SLC dining scene. Now let's find some really succulent, really plump mussels. -
Review from Monica T.
7/31/2011 1 Check-in Here
Finally, you guys! FINALLY!
If you know me you know that I heart seafood so, so much and that I love crawfish above all other seafoods. Now, SLC has an awesome dining scene, but one thing it was lacking was crawfish. Yeah, you can get that super buttery etouffee or those fried ones that don't even taste like crawfish at The Bayou, but that's just not enough.
So I recently heard that the owners of Sapa (one of my favorite SLC restaurants) and Pho Green Papaya had opened up a seafood place. Not just any seafood place, but a hardcore, get messy, put-on-a-bib-and-get-down seafood place. This was amazing news. See, I'm from Texas, and that's how we like to do seafood in Texas. So I made it a point to get over to Bucket o' Crawfish ASAP.
This past Saturday night I strolled in with my boyfriend and two other friends, with expectations set ridiculously high. They were all exceeded. We walked in. Wooden tables, permanent marker writing on the walls, plastic wrap on everything. Promising.
We got the menu: crawfish, shrimp, clams, crab, OH MY! Three different sauces and four different spice levels to choose from. We got the crawfish and snow crab cajun style, the shrimp in the butter garlic sauce, and the clams in the lemon pepper sauce, We also got a couple of baskets of the cajun fries.
Shortly after, the waitress came by and tied plastic bibs on all of us. It was a beautiful moment. Shortly thereafter, she showed up with a big bucket and plastic bags filled with our seafood. Yes, as ManAboutTown Z. stated, there are no plates, there is no silverware. They are not needed. You reach into the bag, take out a delicious morsel of seafood, remove the outer covering, consume, and throw the remains into the large bucket. You will get dirty; that's the point.
So let's talk about the seafood. Everything we got was super fresh and perfectly cooked. You can especially tell this with the crab, because when you pop a section of leg in half, the meat is waiting for you (instead of in the part of the leg you just popped off). That's key. The sauces were rather complimentary. We liked the cajun sauce best, followed by butter garlic, followed by lemon pepper. We got everything medium but would probably opt for hot next time, cuz we're like that. The fries were perfectly crispy, and very well seasoned. I highly approved.
The service was very good, and the prices weren't too bad. Yeah, it's more than you'll pay in Texas (or another water-bordering state), but they're the only game in town, so they can do that. (For example, crawfish was $10.95/lb, which is $3-$4 a pound more than you'll spend at the peak of the season in Texas). Still, I thought it was well worth what we paid.
My only complaint? No wet naps, but I put that on my comment card.
I will be back here many, many times, for I am in love. And Mai Nguyen, you sure know how to make a restaurant. I am now a fangirl. -
Review from Jacqueline M.
Salt Lake City, UT
9/3/2011 ROTD 3/24/2012
A messy but delicious time is what Bucket O' Crawfish is. I didn't know what to expect but the one thing I did expect was great seafood. And as Utah is currently a landlocked state, it was pretty dang good. Oh one thing, if you are not a fan of small tiny sea creature with their heads still intact and their cold black beady dead eyes staring at you as you rip their tiny heads off, this may not be the restaurant for you, OR you should just order the crab legs (that makes more sense than missing out on the deliciousness).
I really enjoyed this restaurant. One of the first things that happens is that you get all bib-ed up with a handy pouch bib by a nice server (I seriously don't know why I have never seen a pouch bib at other seafood restaurants because they catch everything). You decide on your seafood of choice and heat level-- I picked the Cajun Shrimp medium level. You wait a bit, the server brings out a big metal bucket with a steamy hot bag of seafood. Be prepared to go through a lot of paper towels because the only utensils you are able to use are your hands. Then you dig in. AND it shall be a delicious experience. The broth/sauce is like a warm blanket coating the large shrimp in yummy. This is a food experience you will want to share with others.
Now, go. Go and eat here. -
Review from Alanna L.
Salt Lake City, UT
10/5/2011
I absolutely love this place! I eat there at least once a week! lol. The clams and shrimp are a must have. The crawfish depending on the week can be big or small, just all depends on where they get the crawfish from that week. I love the lemon pepper seasoning. Try the crazy mix! I'm not a big spicy person and can only handle "medium" which my lips are almost numb by the end lol but I don't eat spicy much so "medium" might not be that spicy for some that can handle it.
The fried cat fish and cajun fries are pretty good as well and the calamari! Everything is a must try at least once.
Don't forget to write your name on the walls (if you can find a spot :D) -
Review from Alan B.
8/1/2011 ROTD 8/18/2011
Before I begin I should disclose a conflict of interest: I am in a long-term relationship with delicious food. Consequently it is difficult for me to remain completely rational when I am confronted with tastiness of this magnitude. But I will do my best to remain objective.
Anyplace that drapes its patrons in protective plastic sheets is going be either awful or awesome. Bucket O' Crawfish is the latter. You have your choice of seafood type, sauce flavor, spiciness, and volume of food. Your food will arrive in a saucy boiler bag alongside a bucket for the inevitable inedible bits.
Your utensils are your fingers, and your plate is the plastic-clad table-top. If you feel the need to request more traditional eating implements, you are doing it wrong. Our group shared batches of cajun crawfish, cajun snow crab, garlic-butter shrimp, and lemon-pepper clams; all at medium spiciness. All were excellent, as were the cajun fries.
The sauce does manage to migrate a bit, but it is surprisingly unsticky, so the bibs and napkins can hold back the saucy tide until a more robust washing apparatus becomes available. Naked forearms are recommended.
It would be nice if BoC offered wine as an alternative to beer, though it would be difficult to prevent wine glasses from becoming coated in sauce. Perhaps some nice opaque goblets would do the trick.
Ask your server for a marker and they'll let you contribute to the monochrome pseudograffiti adorning all of the walls.
Note: My original rating was six stars, but I reduced the score by one star to counterbalance my aforementioned conflict of interest. -
Review from Sam V.
8/8/2011 3 Check-ins Here
I think I died and went to seafood heaven, seriously. No, it's not a fancy seafood heaven where you are served lobster tails on a silver platter, or a seafood heaven with crab cakes and pan seared scallops, but it's one where steaming hot bags of crawfish, crab, clams, shrimp, and other goodies come to you on your very own plastic covered table. One where you don't have to worry about looking silly when you eat, because you're immediately dressed with a plastic bib (minus the tacky lobster, mind you), and everyone around you is focused intently on prying that sweet, sweet, crustacean meat from their previous owners, while also looking silly.
Yes. This is my idea of heaven. Except. It would be better with bacon. But that's just my opinion.
Bacon aside, I thought my dining experience here was a wonderful one for my first time eating in a crawfish restaurant. My boyfriend and I ordered snow crab two ways, once in a medium garlic butter sauce, and once with lemon pepper, also medium. Both were phenomenal, and had just the right amount of kick and spice, so that I was satisfied and my dining companion wasn't dying. Amongst the massive table I went with, we all shared crawfish, shrimp, and fries, which were also quite delicious. I will say that even though everything I had was amazing, there's one outstanding thing I have to mention. If you've ever had sweet potato fries, and loved them, (I'm talking to you fans of the Bayou), you NEED to have the sweet potato fries here. They will blow your mind. Literally. Anyways, back to the rest of the restaurant.
The servers here are fantastic, they are super friendly, great at answering questions, and very professional. Every need at my table of 14-15 people was accommodated with ease, not to mention, they were spot on with splitting checks at the end of the evening with no hiccups or even having to ask who to split checks between. We were all also provided with sharpies at the end of the night to mark our territory on their wooden walls. If you head to the bathroom, you might see a sign to the right of the doorway that I drew (Hint: Elite related, next to the porcupine love I share with my guy), and if you find it, I'm very glad you gave this amazing new find a try! -
Review from Nancy M.
Denver, CO
9/17/2011
Wow! What a great place to have fun while you eat. Too bad it isn't open for lunch. This place will not disappoint you and the food and atmosphere is fun.
They have a limited menu of shell fish to serve and lots of different styles and sauces to change your order up. This is just a beer only place with sodas too. We had shrimp with the Cajun sauce at medium for the spices. In minutes we had our bibs on and our shrimp came out in a plastic bag with a bucket. Shelling our own shrimp was fun and messy but made it even more delightful. We ordered the sweet potato fries as a side and enjoyed every bit of it.
The fish is sold buy the pound and it is a fun place for friends or a quick bite to eat. You will not be disappointed. The staff is great and helps you through the process if you are new. Try it out and you'll have fun! -
Review from Holly N.
South Jordan, UT
9/19/2011
This place is fantastic - from the decor, to the food, to the options and to the staff.
The menu is simple but yet offers a wide variety of options. It's priced per pound and you can mix your seafood in one bag if you prefer. I had the crawfish in lemon pepper seasoning with mild heat (cause I'm a wuss). It was delicious!
Our waitress was very nice - she was quick about refilling our drinks and making sure that we were doing ok.
I would highly recommend this place to anyone who loves seafood! -
Review from Justin W.
Salt Lake City, UT
1/18/2012
It would be nice if we have more restaurants like this. It's casual relaxing, fun, and with fresh tasting food. Nothing beats refreshing beer and a bucket of crawfish with a friend.
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Review from Kyle F.
Pleasant Grove, UT
1/21/2012
If you've ever been to Vegas' Hot and Juicy, this is comparable but not the definitely not the same. We got a lb. each of shrimp and crab with the combination sauce (I cant remember exactly what it was called.) With medium heat after being talked out of the hot by our waitress. It was really good, but not as hot as we would have liked it. (and not as good as Hot and Juicy) The lb. of each was just enough food for my husband and I.
You will get messy, and I mean messy. The latter of eating this meal with merely your bare fingers is smelly hands for the evening. I scrubbed, and scrubbed but still smelled like fishy garlic sauce the rest of the night. But its totally worth it! -
Review from Shara B.
Bonanza, UT
12/30/2011
Cajun & Sweet potato fry's suck!!! Mix of everything-medium shrimp awesome. Fun atmosphere, do try!!
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Review from Gina H.
Salt Lake City, UT
12/10/2011 1 Check-in Here
Sweetest server! Good food but I was freezing! Turn up the heat so I can actually use my fingers to eat with, or I guess I could wear a parka and mittens! Fun times with the fam!!!!
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Review from Scott S.
Riverton, UT
11/13/2011
Living in Utah, where places like Olive Garden and Applebee's are packed every night of the week, it's really nice to see some culture infused into the area and be successful. There was a good-sized crowd for a cajun restaurant in Utah on a Sunday night.
Had the snow crab in garlic butter (medium), the shrimp in cajun sauce (hot), fries as corn.
The snow crab was snow crab. Better than other local places, but still snow crab legs. I wasn't feeling adventurous enough to go with the whole blues or dungeness crabs this time, but I will next time for sure. The garlic butter seasoning was great, but I'll probably go with mild next time. Garlic butter and heat just doesn't mix for me. I'm intrigued by the lemon flavor. Maybe that'll be my next pick.
The shrimp were amazing. Head-on, legs in-tact and definitely the freshest-tasting shrimp I've ever had in a land-locked state. I'll definitely be ordering these again.
The cajun fries were okay. Not bad, but nothing special. An unnecessary filler that I probably won't bother getting next time. The fries were served with fry sauce... Which served as a reminder that I was, indeed, still on Utah.
The corn was great with the garlic butter seasoning on it, but a little soft. Probably prepped much earlier in the day. I'll give this another chance. Still well worth the .75 it cost.
Speaking of cost...
3 lbs of seafood, fries so big we didn't finish, corn on the cob and 3 Tecates. Grand total: $47 (before tip). That, my friends, is a bargain. The Tecates were only $1.75 each.
Great service from a waiter named Jason, who was kind enough to educate us one where the crawfish were coming from this time of year, that is was mating season there, and that they'd be coming out of another place in a few weeks. Obviously very knowledgable about the menu. The service was also fast. I will definitely be going back. No doubt about it. -
Review from Laurie R.
8/26/2011 ROTD 10/23/2011
I finally made it to Bucket O' Crawfish. I thought that there was no way it could live up to the hype and buildup... but it did.
The service and ambience were terrific on this early Friday night. It wasn't too crowded yet and we were immediately seated. Three different people asked if we were doing okay through our visit. Craig commented that it was almost too much checking up on us, but I thought it was great.
Now the food. I knew that I was getting the snow crab in garlic butter sauce and the sweet potato fries. I had the medium heat and Craig had his crab mild with potatoes. Those sweet potato fries are what a sweet potato aspires to be if it can't be my Thanksgiving sweet potatoes with caramelized onions and bacon-- but I digress. Those fries were awesome. The crab was fantastic and the sauce was positively delectable. My tip would be to skip the fry sauce (I can't believe I said that) and dip those fries in that saucy crab bag. You could bottle that stuff and sell it. It's that good.
Craig said that the mild heat was great but it was still hot enough to make him a bit concerned about his acid reflux so if that's an issue for you, just make sure you're prepared.
My big question was can Bucket O' Crab replace Joe's Crab Shack? For me that's a resounding absolutely! For Craig it was more of a question of whether he wanted plain old steamed crab and a cocktail or not. Price-wise Bucket O' Crawfish is a bit cheaper, but that could be because we usually end up getting drinks at Joe's.
If you visit I hope you like my artwork.
~DarthlaurieListed in: Best Things I Ever Ate
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Review from Nick V.
9/7/2011 ROTD 1/3/2012
Pretty dang good. Service started off slow. Waited for about 5 minutes just sitting there wondering if we were going to get service but once we did the service was good. We had sweet potato fries, farm raised shrimp with cajun seasoning and lemon butter snow crab. The fries were good but the portion was small for $5. The shrimp and crab were excellent with great flavor. In the end I had a huge pile of shrimp heads to stare at. I wasn't brave enough to suck the heads and eat the little shrimp brains but maybe next time when I am feeling more zombie like. I'll definately go back but I would suggest going with a group so you can order a bunch of stuff and share it.
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Review from Shirley G.
Salt Lake City, UT
8/24/2011
Not bad if you've never eaten crawfish anywhere along the Gulf Coast.
They were smaller than I've ever seen, maybe because they're currently coming from CA rather than Louisiana.
Also, I think the flavor came from the sauce rather than the actual boil. Having grown up on the Florida panhandle, this was disappointing.
At least the crazy hot Cajun style sauce that I ordered had a decent amount of heat.
Not even going there about the catfish nuggets not having a cornmeal coating...again an offense to my southern roots. Good thing we're not in the south I suppose!
The snowcrab legs in the lemon pepper sauce were pretty good.
I am worried that maybe I detected a bit of MSG, so those of you who are really sensitive may want to ask prior to ordering.
Overall a pleasant, casual experience and friendly service. The portions were pretty generous as well. -
Review from julz p.
Draper, UT
8/2/2011
obviously all these people have never ate at Hot n juicy in Vegas! PEOPLE the plastic bags is how they serve it that is their trademark! maybe you should investigate the places you eat before you walk into it not knowing how to prepare yourselves...... 1st off you will be wearing a bib unless you want to get dirty! 2nd its seafood in a bag crawfish you eat with your hands! what did you expect????? 3 be open minded! its different and step out of the Utah box and enjoy the change that comes here! for God sakes its food its new and its its YUMMY!
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Review from Robin B.
Salt Lake City, UT
8/23/2011
The greatest option for being able to crack open your own dinner! Great options of sauces and spices. Everything is served in a bag, and you get a legit bucket to toss the scraps in. Our waitress placed bibs with troughs on us and we knew we were in for something good. Bucket O' Crawfish won't let you down if you have a hankering for real, actual seafood. Delicious!
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Review from Jessica M.
Salt Lake City, UT
8/11/2011
Love the fresh crab in lemon pepper flavor sauce. About the sides, recommend their sweet potato fries.
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Review from Chloe T.
Salt Lake City, UT
1/2/2012
3.5 stars. But I am going to mark it as four because it looks happier. This is a fun little place! Went in for dinner on Saturday and ordered the shrimp with everything sauce and extra spicy, mussels in lemon pepper medium, and crawfish cajun style, hot. The mussels were our winner! The lemon pepper sauce was excellent! The shrimp were delicious as well, but the extra spicy sauce is SPICY. And we love spicy... my husband came in third place at the Wing Coops recent 11-11-11 challenge (swoon), so he can handle heat, and the shrimp had him sweating. There are signs everywhere and a note on the menu that they're spicy is hot, but we are so used to asking for things 'spicy' at places and usually ending up with something in the 'high mild-medium' zone. Shame on us for doubting you, Bucket O :) Our server, Jason, was absolutely spectacular. He explained the menu and ordering system, made excellent suggestions, and was very attentive to our little two-top table, even though he had a large party next to us. I don't know when I will be back, as I don't live in the area, but it was a great experience, and I hope to try their sister restaurant, Green Papaya sometime in 2012!
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Review from ManAboutTown Z.
Denver, CO
7/30/2011
Take your own bowl....seriously.
I popped into this new place that opened up in a spot across the parking lot from Pho Green Papaya. I was dining solo so I chose a spot at the bar and had a nice chat with the son of the owners. Turns out they started the Green Papaya (recently turned over to the young man's uncle) and another restaurant downtown whose name didn't stick with me.
I made it through the ordering process with his guidance. First step was to choose between crawfish, shrimp, and several other options. Second step was to choose a flavoring. Third step was to choose mild, medium, or hot. I opted for a pound of crawfish for $10.95, traditional cajun flavor, and medium heat.
A few minutes later the friendly son draped a big plastic cover over the bar where I was sitting, saying the crawfish get kind of messy. I lifted my glass of Cutthroat to help him out. He also passed me a plastic bib. Minutes later my dinner arrived in a plastic boiling bag, plopped unceremoniously onto the bar in front of me. It LOOKED good. I opened the bag a bit and, by George, it SMELLED good. The mystery, however, was how to approach this delicacy with any form of decency or manners. The problem was that there was no flatware, chopsticks, plate, or a bowl....just the boil bag sitting there on top of a trash bag on the bar, with a roll of paper towels handily within reach. No problem, I asked for a plate and Mr Friendly provided a tiny little Styrofoam plate. I proceeded to lift my boil bag full of goodies and pour a bit onto the plate. Within seconds it was clear that the delicious smelling sauce was quickly going to overwhelm the small plate before any of the crawfish came out of the bag. So I asked for a bowl. After a chat with owner/mom, Mr Friendly announced that I should use the galvanized steel bucket designated for waste crawfish shells for my bowl. I don't think so.
I suggested to Mr Friendly that this situation might be acceptable for a hog eating from a trough, but not so much for me sitting there wearing one of my favorite shirts. He apologized and said "That's how they do it in Vegas.", whatever that means. I asked him how much I owed him for my beer and departed quietly and politely.
I WILL go back WITH my own bowl. I really want to taste the flavors I was smelling. If it's any good I might just set up a cart out front to rent bowls... -
Review from Bert A.
Salt Lake City, UT
8/16/2011
I took my son here for his b-day dinner as a surprise because we both love seafood. It reminded me very much of sitting on the dock in Maine Avenue in Washington DC which to the uninitiated how it works is you choose which vendor to purchase crabs from yeallout haow many pounds you want and they throw it in a garbage bag with an extra pound of Old Bay and you sit on the dock pick apart the crab and throw the shells into the water... That's a pretty good approximation of how the Bucket of crawfish works. You can order chrimp, blue crabs, crawdads fresh steamed and coated in some kind of butter sauce with garlic, creole or a few other sauces I don't recall and then select a level of spiciness. What you get is a garbage bag of seafood dropped off on your plastic covered table with a empty bucket.for the carcasses and a roll of paper towels. Simple. Now to be clear eating here is work you are cracking a picking and slurping and you are going to get messy which is why you are supplied with a bib. Additionally you are dealing with the guts of seafood including the green yucky parts of a crab and the egg yolky ovaries (with the latter being quite tasty IMO). A truly tactile eating experience that one wouldn't expect in Utah. Really my only complaint is the complete lack of Old Bay seasoning instead of the heavy butter creole and garlic coatings ... it's good, darn good, but for my money, Old Bay by the pound applied liberally to the seafood would make this place awesome.
