- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
CoCo's Crawfish - CLOSED
Categories: Restaurants Cajun/Creole Food Cajun/Creole, Food [Edit]
2333 Irving St(between 24th Ave & 25th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94122
Neighborhood: Outer Sunset
(415) 665-6033
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
209 reviews for CoCo's Crawfish
Review Highlights
"Add some corn and sausage and you're good to go."
(in 22 reviews)
"...to you in a plastic bag with yummy goodness, garlicky juice."
(in 27 reviews)
"Mmmmm Boiling Crab how i love you."
(in 18 reviews)
Loading...
209 reviews in English
-
Review from Crys B.
Cupertino, CA
11/6/2009
Wow! Can't believe I never reviewed CoCo's!!
Fun, with great service, really strong drinks and SPICY shrimp, sausage and crawfish, even the mild servings are spicy. My favorite is the sausage, it has nice complex flavors and textures and isn't as messy as peeling the shrimp and crawfish. Definitely order corn to go with your meal, it's going to be spicy, too, but so yummy!! -
Review from Donna H.
5/24/2008 ROTD 3/29/2009
Tastes like burning!!....
If you can't handle this, you're not passing the Donna test!! Don't be a wuss!! Rip off his head and suck it!!! Don't make me come over there and smack you with this tiny little claw!
4 people + 2 lbs of crawfish, 1 dungeness crab, clams, 6 corns, 3 sausages (size of your thumb), 4 bibs, and tons of water.
Order mild if you want it nice light spicy.
Order spicy if you want botox lip injections and a runny nose!
I was seated immediately and I waited for the rest of the group to arrive. They didn't actually know what they were getting themselves into, but eventually, even the girliest girl gave in to the crawfish. bwahahahah! The plump clams and the crawfish were excellent. If I had rice to go with it, I would soak my rice in that sauce.. It was that good. I almost took that bag of leftover sauce with me.. I'm asian.. it's ok.. :P You definitely need to be prepared to work for your food though.
how to eat crawfish:
1. pop off the head
2. suck it good
if step 2 fails, continue on to step 3.
3. "i sucked the head, but the stuff didnt come out, so i licked it instead" (and this is coming from that girly girl ;) hi liana!)
4. rip off the shell and eat the body, and dig out the meat from the claw
5. repeat
Amanda B suggested the Dungeness crab since there was a $20 special, so we waited for our next round patiently. The two flat screens are a good touch, but the place gives off a very cafeteria-style feeling. Most of the utensils are disposable. Understandable for convenience, but I wish they used the potatoware. At least it would be bio-degradable, but I'm guessing it would be costly.
I left feeling satisfied, but not overly stuffed, while a friend left feeling hungry still. That's what is difficult about seafood and not many other carb options. Oh, the only thing on the menu for vegetarians is corn.. and beer. corn is 60cents.
Other menu items: oysters, shrimp -- I'll have to try those next time.
The corn was really sweet, and if you ask for the spicy sauce on the side, you can drizzle it on the corn. Soaks it up real goooood... and Holy CRAP, my lips are burning off... Hells YEAH....
It was pricey, but sooo worth it. Next time I might not share.. ;P Oh, and we ran into one of my berkeley roommates, I haven't seen in AGES, and my friend ran into a middle school classmate, all within 2 hours.. Coco's must be the place to be!
Warning: This may not be the best place for the girly girls or the squeamish. Legs, heads and shells will fly around the table, so get ready for saucy, messy mayhem!Listed in: fun stuff, tasty tasty
-
Review from Janney B.
San Francisco, CA
8/1/2008
So, you like a guy and it's time to test him a little.
Karate? Too physical. Karaoke? Nah, that involves serious drinking (and you are already secretly wondering if he needs a couple drinks to deem you kissable).
So you... Take him to messy food. How does he react at the sight of your polished nails elbow-deep in grub, wearing a bib that says "crab," and screaming "bring me more sausages!" with your mouth full and a ring of food around your grease-covered lips?
Let's find out: Coco's Crawfish in the Sunset.
Not from the South? Unused to ripping the heads off your dinner? Coco herself will give you a lesson when she brings the food to your table. Everything you order is jumbled together in a big plastic bag. Reach in and go for the jugular, those crawdads won't know what hit 'em! Your corn and sausages are hiding in the bag, so the more shellfish you behead and eviscerate, the closer you will get to the small $.60 items you ordered to accompany your own personal 'Crawdad Massacre of '08.'
2lbs of crawfish, 2 sausages, and 2 ears of corn later, he passed the test with flying colors, especially when he felt bad for squirting me in the face with crawfish guts.
If you're unsure what to do with crawfish, go here: http://www.wikihow.com....
Why should you research this beforehand? Let's just say that I kept sucking on the little black sack, until Coco told me that wasn't the head I was sucking. -
Review from chum L.
Oakland, CA
6/29/2008
Hello boys....
Can I tell you something? I love sucking head, I swallow and I don't mind getting a little dirty . I can handle a lot and I like them BIG.
So if you want to see me sweat and you don't mind the mess on my face, take me to Coco's Crawfish where I'll suck and swallow all the crawfish, shrimp, and sausage I can muster. YUM! BTW, BYOB (bring your own bread, or beer ... it's up to you).
P.S. CoCo's will provide protection in the form of a bib, if we need it...Listed in: Places that I have gone to get…
-
Review from Bobby L.
12/9/2008 ROTD 12/29/2008
I've been here a couple of times and Lisa and Manda have never let me down. They're extremely fun and inviting, and their service is remarkable. Major thanks go out to both of them for making sure we had a good time. I'll also have to give some praise to their honorary waiter who's not on their payroll, the one and only Ron L. When the SBC visited, he did a good job waiting on us, and everybody else. Boy was he working hard!
Pound for pound the crawfish and shrimp had a stimulating and addicting effect on me. The crawfish, shrimp, and corn were drenched in some intense flavors. Both the sausage and crab were juicy and flavorful as well. At first, we opted to go with their medium Cajun style sauce, which was just right. Their spicy wasn't as overwhelming as I thought it would be though. Meaty oysters were perfect appetizers with my Sapporo. It would've been nice to have rice, but the corn was just fine for me.
Drinking beer and soju with a bib on is uncommon for me, but I find it necessary to protect myself from splattering shells and dripping spicy sauce. Making a mess is the only way to eat here. I definitely enjoyed the experience! Even though the South Bay has a handful of crawfish restaurants, I would still make the trip out to Coco's. I find them irresistible.Listed in: ROTD-Mania
-
Review from Walter P.
12/16/2008
I am begging the owners to PLEASE SERVE STEAMED RICE!!!
I will pay up to $10.00 a bowl for rice! The corn, sausages, and lime don't cut for me! Rice is a commodity when you're having delicious spicy crawfish and Dungeness crab at Coco's!
I'm so ready to go Kamayan Style up in this bitch!
http://www.netguard.dk...
This is so painful.... Imagine Filipinos eating Chicken Adobo with no rice!
Better grab an umbrella if the owners start serving rice!!!
Highlights:
Cash Only. WAMU is directly next door.
Bring change of clothes in case your going to Durty Nelly's across the street afterwards.
Parking is great at night. However, I'm not sure what the lunch time rush is like. -
Review from Nobu K.
San Francisco, CA
5/15/2008
I wanted to have Crawfish since when I saw a movie in late 80's.
The movie was No Mercy ('86), Richard Gerr and Kim Basinger.
There was a scene that 2 of them, Richard Gerr and Kim Basinger, were running away from bad guys in woods, no food for a couple days and found a cage for crawfish by lake. And they started eating the crawfish.
Crawfish.
It's a cockroach for lake.
There is not much meat to eat.
But, too much work for too little meat and make a big mess.
That's my GF said.
I agree. I can't imagine that eating crawfish with small children would be a nightmare.
I do like kids but I don't like to see small kids and baseball cap in a restaurant.
As a Japo Sushi eater, I don't like to make a mess, not even a drop of soy sauce on the sushi counter, period.
I hate to see a Jive Ass Gai-Jin girl eat sushi next to me and dropping sushi rice all over. FXXX! I hate it.
I took my GF to Ino-sushi long time ago, we sat by the counter right front of the Sushi Nazi chef, she asked me what is etiquette?
My GF, as a most Americans, respect the other culture, has a right attitude for sushi eat by counter. She was very quiet and let me order.
There was a Asian American couple were sat right next to us and the man was constantly asking questions to the Sushi Nazi chef even it was full people at the counter.
The chef was pissed off, I could tell by the way he answered to the dumb ass Asian American dude.
Some Asian American men are missing Asian culture etiquette so badly sometimes.
I do understand that it's difficult being Asian American man because they are right between Asian and American.
They have to have 2 faces, 1 for their dick headed parents, and the other face to their friends.
When you sitting at the sushi counter, you don't get to order, the chef will ask you what do you want 1st, then you order. You have to wait till he asks.
Except not so busy at the counter.
But, some native Japos are more rude to the other culture.
How many native Japos are still disrespect Chinese & Korean?
How many native Japos are still disrespect Black people?
How many native Japos are still disrespect Gay?
( Congrats on that supreme court over ruled the gay marriage! Today, SF made a history. Good job Gavin.)
How many nanitive Japos are still disrespect Hapa?
How many native Japos are still disrespect Women?
Oh Yeah, I was talking about crawfish.
And about the mess.
I was at Co Co's for 1st time last night around 9 PM.
This place is pretty big, but It was empty except there was a couple.
There were doubled paper tablecloth and Paper plate and lots of industrial type napkins on the table.
I didn't know anything about crawfish but the movie but the waitress help me what & how.
There are 3 different kind of crawfish,
Mild, Medium, Hot.
I said, " medium?"
She said, " I think, mild maybe hot enough."
I said, " OK. mild please."
So, I ordered,
1 lb of crawfish, mild, she was right, it was hot enough. but 1 lb was too much but I finished them all.
2 corns. Nice & tender corn I've ever had.
2 sausages. I usually don't like boiled sausage but it was really good.
1 corona. Shit, hit the spot!
= $21.-
She brought 1 plastic bag full of crawfish in it, and 1 empty plastic bag for wast.
In the crawfish bag include 2 corns and 2 sausages + many pieces of garlic.
I was like a pig in a mud.
I didn't care anything but cracking the crawfish's neck off nicely.
The waitress came back to check me out and said, " Bring your friends next time!"
I just smiled at her because my mouth was full but I was thinking, " How can I bring my friends here? I will NOT be talking but eat. That's really rude to my friends."
It sounds funny but I enjoy very much having a nice dinner at a nice Italian, French and Sushi with my GF or my friends but also I do like eating all by my self, by my fingers and crouching my back constantly making sounds out of my mouth.
eating 1 lb of crawfish + corn + half cooked garlic made me go to bathroom 3 o'clock in the morning, in a hurry, I Thanked God to wake me up. I felt like a balloon but soon after all air got out.
I think I like to order to go for half pound next time.
Cash only by the way. -
Review from May T.
San Francisco, CA
5/31/2008
ok, so the crawfish and the sausages and corn were tasty...
BUT.....SHIT!
i expected more. like bread or rice or something else to soak up the savory juices or fill up my tummy. my dad muttered "shit" twice during the meal, of which, in our family-speak, means he was not very happy with the restaurant.
and what's up with the service?
it was sssslllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww, disorganized and clueless.
that's what's up.
however, the crawfish were pretty tasty. not $12.99 per pound worthy, but definitely a good, one-time, experience. also, 10 steamed clams for $8.99?!? i'll walk down the street to the supermarket, buy myself 3 lbs and then make it at home with some black beans, ginger and scallions.
SHIT!
(like father, like daughter) -
Review from kevo m.
East Bay, CA
3/31/2008
Are you ready kids?
Aye-aye Captain.
I can't hear you...
Aye-Aye Captain!!
Oh! Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
SpongeBob SquarePants!
Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!
SpongeBob SquarePants!
If nautical nonsense be something you wish...
SpongeBob SquarePants!
Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish!
SpongeBob SquarePants!
Ready?
SpongeBob SquarePants! SpongeBob SquarePants! SpongeBob SquarePants!
SpongeBob.... SquarePants! Haha!
The Krusty Krab has nothing on Coco's. While there are no Krabby Patties at Coco's, their formula is pretty simple. Boil up everything in a simple buttery sauce with garlic and special spices. Check your pretension at the door. You're gonna get messy. You're gonna remember how wonderful a simple seafood boil is...like you used to as a kid with newspaper spread out over the table, littered with exoskeletal carnage. Yup, except at Coco's you don't have to clean up or go get your dad another beer.
In case you missed it, here's the cast:
SpongeBob - euge l.
Gary - j. m
Patrick - Fong
Sandy - tifinie m
Mr. Krabs - kevo m
Pearl Krabs - Bella W
Squidward - ???Listed in: The 'Set
-
Review from Bart F.
Mountain View, CA
1/29/2009
This was the site of my first UYE.
Everyone was hammered; it was great. I couldn't get enough of the ginormous clear bags that were stuffed with crawfish, corn on the cob, spicy sausage, and one of the most delicious sauce/broths ever desired. In fact, due to the many generous shots of vodka, I was contemplating disrobing and going skinny dipping in said bag. However, my swan-diving desire relinquished because after living in Downtown San Jose for 5 years, I'm done with swimming in a sea of sausage.
Anywho, it was a pleasure meeting all you whom I met. Everyone was very warm, entertaining, and inebriated - my kind of crowd. -
Review from Huy D.
San Jose, CA
3/8/2009
This place is horrible. It doesn't even satisfy my crawfish craving, I think because it's one of the few places you can get crawfish in the north bay, people think it's good. You really need to try southern California or even the places in San Jose.
We got a crab and it was over 40 bucks for a 3 pound crab that was just steamed!! I expected it to be cooked Cajun style, but instead it was just steamed! What a crock of crap.
The crawfish was crap as well. Not enough flavoring, sauce that didn't even stick to the crawfish. Sausages were ok, but 60 cents for a piece? You have to be out of your mind.
And who the hell charges soda by the can in this day and age? Know your competition; this place does not deserve the stars it got from other reviewers in my opinion. Again, probably because they have not experienced other crawfish boils. I travel quite a bit across the country and ate at various crawfish restaurants, well below average.
And to top it all off, I got food poisoning the next day that left me running to the restroom every 30 minutes!
I am never returning.
**EDIT**
After this review was posted, I get a message on yelp from another member, Manda Amada Bear, saying I am bashing their place!! Wow talk about insecure. If you firmly you are giving the best food out there, then you should have no concern. Now looking at the pictures on yelp, they're all from her. Creating bias here on yelp are we?
From Amanda:
"...I would appreciate that you had an honest reivew than bashing our place. You could have asked, and we would totally explain & take care of you, but you chose not to..."
This not only infuriates me, but now I feel the one star is even too much.
Bashing? this is now a bashing, before was a review, a critique. Now this is a bashing.
I fell in love with crawfish in the Louisiana when I first visited; this place is well below what I would expect. They're almost as bad as that place on Winchester Ave in San Jose that closed down because they were so bad.
And a quick review of the recommendations for business owners shows this:
"DON'T lash out at the people who have written negative reviews about you. Tempting as that may be, we see that backfiring in some cases as the Yelp community may up the ante and even engage in "vigilante justice" by spreading more negativity. Try to remember, "the customer is always right".
And who doesn't take credit cards these days? Not many people carry that much cash around, I bet you they have a lot of unreported income because they only take cash.
Not only can they not make crawfish, they don't even understand the basics of business etiquette. -
Review from catherine b.
El Cerrito, CA
6/29/2008
If restaurants had ratings, like G and PG-13, then Coco's would be XXX-rated. Why?
1. Very hot and spicy;
2. To enjoy the entree, you have to suck real hard to get the head off and then you are rewarded with a warm gush of spicy goodness right into your mouth;
3. If you get into it, you'll be sweaty and dirty; and
4. You have to wear protection.
Speaking of protection, the love fest started when Coco brought me my bib. What I said: "Thank you." What I was thinking: "Oh, HELL yeah!"
Next the plastic bags appeared, each filled to the brim with hot and spicy shrimp, crawfish, corn on the cob and sausage. The massive, tasty crabs came on their own separate plate. Coco and Amanda kept the beer and wine flowing, but you need to BYO-bread to sop up the flaming, buttery broth.
*slurp!*Listed in: Fast, Cheap and Out of Control
-
Review from Jaime C.
5/28/2008
Last night was interesting. Around 430, I start having this undeniable psuedo-pregnancy cravy for crawfish. In my mentally crazed state, I texted about 20 different people saying I had a car, will pick you up, drop you off, and all have a great time.
Out of that 20, only two responded with a "yes". I got a few, "who is this" (apparently I take numbers but don't give mine out), and "where is that?". The rest of you bitches know who you are and I'm not speaking to you right now.
So this is a thank you to AMANDA C and AARON for coming with me, for being so gracious enough as to honor me with their presence as we dug into some of the most delicious seafood I have ever had in my life.
First of all, I had absolutely no idea how sexual eating these things are. Note to self, do not bring little kids here as they will learn what sexual innuedos mean and that's just not a good idea. Every 5 seconds one of us was saying to the other, "JUST SUCK IT. JUST PUT YOUR MOUTH ON IT AND SUCK IT. HARDER."
"I'm not getting anything!"
"WELL KEEP SUCKING THE HEAD, DAMMIT."
Also, who knew that eating their sausage was equally entertaining?
"Oh my goodness, this is the best sausage I've ever tasted. MmMmMmMmmmMMmmmMMmm, man I could just eat this all day."
Of course, it probably didn't help that we pointed out how sexual it was, and made it even MORE sexual as we continued eating.
No shit, though. Best sausage ever. I could have eaten like, 8 of them. Myself.
And those crawfish? Damn. Seriously. Damn. As in, Jaime wants to go to New Orleans now.
Next time I go, I'm eating an entire pound by myself.
Oh and Amanda, yes, that IS the weirdest thing we've ever done. We're totally doing this again.
And I'm sorry Aaron for forgetting you're allergic to shellfish :| -
Review from Patra B.
4/21/2009 6 photos
Be prepared to get down and diiiiirrrrty!
This was my second time eating crawfish, so I was ready to get my hands dirty. It's a lot of work for such a tiny amount of meat. There were six of us, and we ordered three pounds of crawfish( http://static.px.yelp.... ), three pounds of shrimp, and 12 corn on the cobs. We finished all that and ordered three more pounds of crawfish and 3 more corn. They were originally get everything SPICY, but I whimpered, and they changed it to medium. The crawfish weren't that spicy, but when you eat the corn on the cob, the juices get on your lips and burn like hell! That's one way to get those Angelina Jolie pouty lips!
It's a lot of work for such a tiny amount of meat. The shrimp give you way more meat for all the effort you put in, but the crawfish are juicer and tastier. If you're really hungry, and want to eat right away, this is NOT the place to go. But if you want to try something new and fun, give it a whirl! You can even request a bib, so feel free to rip those heads off and suck out the guts!( http://static.px.yelp.... )
**aftermath http://static.px.yelp.... -
Review from Tetsu N.
Dublin, CA
12/7/2008
Though many of the South Bay Crew make it up to San Francisco for events pretty regularly, I haven't been up very often, so it's especially surprising that I went to SF twice in the same week for events.
This time it was to Coco's Crawfish.
And what a place this is.
Coco's is special, and it's not just because of the food, which is great. It's because of the people. MB and "Coco". They are two of the most fun people around and make sure that customers always have a great dining experience, not to mention they're energy, humor, and sheer hawtness make any party ten times better with their wild antics.
But on to Coco's Crawfish. This place is large, rectangular, with 6 and 8 person tables that can be easily moved, and accommodating 60 persons. This place is almost perfectly designed for big group dinners, complete with messy finger eating, bibs, and guaranteed good times.
The dinner menu is fairly simple, with a few choices of food. For each of these, there's a choice between mild, medium, and spicy flavoring, though frankly the spicy is anything but. One problem is a complete lack of carbs. There's no rice, bread, or noodles, and that's a cryin' shame, cuz the sauce is perfect for being soaked in some bread or noodles. That Lousiana style sauce is yuuuuummy.
The food is served in large, clear, plastic bags filled with the food you ordered and tons of sauce. The bags are placed on paper plates. You get paper plates, plastic forks and knives, and bibs....The bis are something you definitely need, because apart from the franks, everything else is pretty messy.
On the menu is shirmp, sausage, crawfish, oysters, clams. and a few others. Most are charged by the pound, like the shrimp at $11.99/lb, with the sausages being at roughly $0.60 per half piece. The sauces are nice and strong. The shrimp was my favorite of the crustaceans, though the shell stuck to the meat a little, which happens from cooking them a while. The crawfish was perfect, and the sausages, which are like oversized franks and sliced diagonally into halves, tasted great and surprisingly went really well with the sauce. The oysters were just fine, but we didn't get any clams.
I'd give this place 5 stars for the fun food, fun open space, fun staff, and excellent location, but the lack of any carbohydrates is a real bummer, and I wish they had soapy towlettes or some other wet wipe type things to make cleaning up after eating a little easier.
[EDIT] MB just let me know that they do have towlettes, my bad, must have missed them. [/EDIT] -
Review from tiffinie t.
San Francisco, CA
3/30/2008 4 photos
UPDATE: 4/3/08
Stop the presses!
After much reflection, and based on the really nice service we got at CoCo's, I've decided to bump my rating up to 4-stars. Thanks for taking such great care of us!
...now get to work on the ambiance and lose the little up-charges, will ya? ;P kthxbye!
************************
I've been a big fan of NOLA eats for years. Having spent a few good long extra weekends for New Orleans Jazz Fest, and most recently, have worked with 2 great chefs who have brought the spirit of NOLA's flavors to SF, I feel like I have a fairly firm grasp on that particular style of cooking.
CoCo's has too.
Only, with styrofoam plates & cups, plastic forks, and bottled water (served instead of Hetch Hetchy when water was requested)... also the blandest decor I've ever seen. Stark. Butcher paper on the tables (necessary, I assure you). Plastic ramekins of salt & pepper aside styrofoam plates of freshly cut limes -- the only splash of color in the place besides the big t.v.'s playing the Warriors game (thanks for that!). Clear plastic bags for crustacean debris. Paper towels for napkins.
While I was not a huge fan of the decor and their environmentally unfriendly choice of table service, I really enjoyed the food & service at CoCo's Crawfish. In addition to the fact that they doted on my BF (in honor of his b-day) by giving him free beer, the staff ensured that the food was served hot (in the same aforementioned plastic baggies) and in a timely fashion, and that the beers were plentiful & chilled (though, not at first... thanks for the ice bucket!)
When you order (everything is by the pound or the piece), you have a choice of mild, medium & hot for the crawfish and shrimp... crab, too, I think. So, as a warning, I gotta say that the medium was SPICY! Oh, mama!! So ,much so, that when I went to suck the head of a crawdad, all I got was spice at the back of my throat... *cough* indicative of the need for a technique change, yes? Hmm.
We ordered shrimp & crawfish with sausage and corn on the cob, 2 ways: Mild & Medium. We also ordered dunnie crabs (4), but they only had 3, so we made due (they were HUGE!). This style of service dictates an "every man for himself" approach to eating, so hands were flying into the bags of critters and sausages and corn. Shells were being cracked and peeled and sucked. Sauce and garlic dripping from the perfectly cooked shells, aching to be mopped up by bread or rice.
But where was the bread? Oh, it's $1.00 a loaf extra? Um. okay, can we have some? That was another issue. The nickel & dime charges. $1.00 for bread, 0.60 for extra sides of butter and garlic...
Regardless, by the end of our feast, our plastic bibs and laps were covered in sauce and shells. Fingers, spicy and sticky. It was all well-worth the mess, and the BF had a finger-lickin' great time! Our tummies were beyond full, though, sadly, the Warriors lost.
Would I go back to CoCo's? Yes, probably. Though, I hope that by the time I do, they spruce up the place a little and skip serving bottled water when it's not requested (I'm not cheap, I just prefer the local tap, thanks!), and using styrofoam plates & cups. I'm not an environmental fanatic, it's just good to do what we can.
Also, I would suggest that the beer is served cold without needing an ice bucket. That's some hot, succulent food y'all are throwin' down, and mama likes her beers cold to ease the burn. Hot lips are only sexy for so long.Listed in: Something's Fishy (part 2)
-
Review from Wilhelm Y.
San Francisco, CA
6/29/2008
Fabulous! Thanks to Euge L I experienced crawfish the way it should be experienced, surrounded by Yelp friends new and old.
The experience was fabulous. This was my first time eating crawfish and everything that I had previously read was absolutely true. Much of the fun of eating crawfish is ripping off the head, sucking the soft tissue inside, ripping off the tail and cracking away the shell just to get to that sweet little piece of meat inside the tail.
The feast at CoCo's was fabulous. We got the mildly seasoned mixture of crawfish, head-on shrimp, corn and sausage to start. I think I enjoyed ripping off the heads of the shrimp and sucking the juices of the head as much as I did the crawfish. The fat meaty pieces of sausage were wonderful in soaking up all of the spicy flavors, and the soft steamed corn was delicious. We had the dungeness crab also. The big chunks of sweet, succulent meat fell right off of the shell. It was so fabulous. We moved directly to the spicy stuff right after the mild, so when round three came out with the medium heat the spice actually seemed a bit tamer than the mild.
Cold Corona and a very good hefenweizen that I tried for the very first time helped to wash down the delicious food. The beer...also fabulous. I have limits though, and I'll admit that shortly after beginning round two the spicyness of the spicy overcame me. Thank you Bella W for that cold cup of ice water when I really needed it; you are fabulous!
Kudos to Marian G and JeFF T/Tiffinie M too for bringing bread to soak up the juices. Of course I was too busy concentrating on the shellfish I didn't even discover this was what folks were doing until all the bread was gone. Another thank you goes out to Bella and Jen D for running out and returning with more bread. Yay and yum! It was great until a whiff of the spice shot up into my nostrils and brought a tear to my eye. Not fabulous! That was a sign for me to stop.
To Coco and Amanda, thank you for the fabulous service. To the fabulous Yelpers on hand (Euge, Anthony, Art, Bella, Catherine, Chum, JeFF, Jen, Junie, Kevo, Luis, Marian, Natasha & Tiffinie), thanks for being a part of my memorable crawfish experience.
Just thinking about the meal as I write this review I'm ready to go back to CoCo's. Well, some day soon I will. Five fabulous stars!Listed in: A Seafood Odyssey, Yelptastic!
-
Review from Ron L.
12/10/2008 1 photo
Making a road trip to San Francisco with the boys is pretty easy...give them booze, give them good food, give them great company. At CoCo's Crawfish, we got all three.
Food alone does not make a restaurant. I look for that certain electricity in the atmosphere, and Coco's delivers high on that. The employees make everyone feel like family, to the point where I jumped in and even took my turn at clearing tables, serving water, and taking orders. It's that kind of place.
Although the place is called Crawfish, I enjoyed the shrimp and crab more. Ordering corn is important, as it is the cooling agent to counteract the spiciness of the seafood. Everything comes to the table in a plastic bag - seafood, corn, sausage, and broth. And the broth...I just wish they served rice or bread to soak up all of the broth.
Road trips will be plentiful, now that we have a regular place to hang out. -
Review from jason g.
San Francisco, CA
11/13/2008
Well.......in San Francisco there aren't that many choices for craw dads, mudd bugs, crawfish, or whatever you may call it. It's all about the base. If your broth is good then everything should be good. We ordered two pounds of mild crawfish "to go" earlier today, November 12, wednesday. It was around 4 pm and we wanted to try it. Never get to come around to the sunset anymore now that I am in the richmond district. It may just be a few blocks over but it seems so far.
The spice to this broth was incredible. I got the mild and trust me I can eat spicy and this thing was burning. My lips were numb..........in a good way. The crawfish had a good bite to it. I really enjoyed it and trust me I don't eat crawfish that much. I think it would've been fun if we would've eaten there instead..........sorta like a clam bake. Get down and dirty and just order a whole bunch food and just grub. Might have to try that next time.
The last place I went to was Red's crawfish in the Tenderloin and it was no comparison to this place. I think Red's crawfish still have that early bird special where you buy 2lbs and get 1lb free. You get what you pay for.
The decor of the place is very simple. Nothing too extravagant. This used to be the old Ha's back in the days, a chinese fast food restauarant. That restaurant was terrible. Lucky they didn't have yelp back then. The flooring is cool but they have to fix that hump right near the front of the cash register. Felt like I was on a trampoline. hahahah. I am overexaggerating.
Saw a bunch of pics of Manda Bear near the stairs. You still owe me a shot for my birthday by the way..........ahem.
Keep up the good job. I'll be back -
Review from Quinn S.
2/18/2009
Irving is the street for first dates. Eating family style with your hands is the true test of a potential partner (in crime or otherwise).
Start off at the De Young to show how cultured you are and so you will be sure to have something to talk about, and if you still want to hang, go up to Irving for dinner.
If you don't want to risk riding public transportation, take her to New Eritrea, where you scrape spicy delights off communal platters with spongy bread.
If you are feeling very brave, take her on the N-Judah to CoCo's where you are served fantastic NOLA-style seafood, corn and sausage in the plastic bag in which they were boiled. There is beer and wine on the menu, but on a good night, the owner will stop by with free vodka shots. -
Review from Marti L.
3/16/2009 4 photos
It's quite difficult not to compare Coco's to Boiling Crab if you've had both. Especially if you've had Boiling Crab first. But I will attempt to write an unbiased review.
Food~
-Shrimp: $11.99/lb. (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) It was the tastier seafood of our meal. The shrimps were plump and had decent flavor.
-Crawfish: $12.99/lb. Sooo tiny. (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) Look at them! Compared to the corn cobs, (which were probably 1/3 of one corn) they were miniscule!!
-Clams: $9.99/lb. (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) First of all, they used some heavy-shelled clams. So with our order of 2 lbs, we got around 16 clams total. Secondly, they didn't taste very good. My friend said they probably weren't fresh.
-Fish&chip: $7.99/order. We wanted some carbs. The fries were not seasoned much and were not crispy. The fish had a thick layer of batter that appeared to be uncooked. Gross.
Complaints~
-Super limited menu. We probably order half of their menu, and we only got 4 things.
-Cajun sauce: Why was it clear?? There was only a hint of orange color. I don't think its real cajun sauce. Look at the picture of the shrimps.
-I asked for water and they gave me a bottle for a $1.50. What a ripoff.
-They ran out of Sapporo beer when we were one of the first ones to eat there.
-Tiny tables. Definitely not big enough for food and shells, let alone elbow room.
-The girls bathroom didn't have a ghetto sink as Jimmy N has described for the guys. But it did have a janky heavy door. I didn't want to get seafood juice all over the handle, so I had to kick the door, then use my knee and elbow to get inside.Listed in: You suck! So you ain't getting…
-
Review from Heidi C.
San Francisco, CA
1/5/2009
I would give Coco's 2 stars but it says "Meh I've experienced better" but I can't because this is the first time I've had crawfish and shrimp prepared this way. 3 stars it is...
Half the party I went with kept talking about Boiling Crab...
"This is just like Boiling Crab."
"Boiling Crab serves it in a bucket."
"Boiling Crab has better sauce."
"Boiling Crab gives more food."
"Boiling Crab is way better."
"Boiling Crab...(Heidi C. tunes out)..."
I wouldn't blame them since they either went down to school in so-cal or live there now. But they kept saying how this place pales in comparison with Boiling Crab. I wouldn't know since I've never been there...
After spending $25/person on 1.5 lbs of crawfish, 4.5 lbs of shrimp, corn, and sausages, we still were NOT full. I felt like I just had an appetizer and needed to fill my belly with more food. The crawfish they gave us ranged in sizes. We had about 5 big ones and about 2903840239 little baby ones with about a sliver of meat. The shrimp is definitely more worth it.
You can pick between three sauces: Mild, Medium, and Spicyyy. The mild was way too sweet. Didn't even have a kick of hot sauce in it. The medium was done just right -- the right amount of sweetness and spicyness. Dip your crawfish or shrimp into a mixture of their salt/pepper/lime juice and it's pretty tasty.
Is it wrong that i think the sausages (hot links) were tastier than the shrimp/crawfish? What was puzzling about the sausages was when we first ordered, we were served with pieces roughly 3 inches in size, then when we ordered them again, they were cut about 1 inch. I felt as if I was royally jipped here. What's with the change within 10 minutes? Sigh.
I don't think I'll be returning to Coco's Crawfish anytime soon. The place was dead empty on a Friday night but I wouldn't blame them. Their location somewhat sucks! Plus, they need to put up an awning above their Coco's sign because it sits right above the doorway, and pigeons seem to chill out there on the Coco's sign. I wouldn't want to be pooped on before stepping into Coco's and/or after stepping out of Coco's. AND their bathroom smells like China. They have about 2 air fresheners in there but they need about 20 more. It stankkksss... -
Review from Ellen C.
2/18/2008
The order: 2 lbs of shrimp, 2 lbs of crayfish, 4 cobs of corn, 4 sausages, 4 pieces of bread.
The shrimp was okay, a little on the rubbery side. The crayfish was tasty but small -- I guess it's because it's February and it's not the season as others have mentioned in these reviews. The cobs of corn was overcooked but it had definitely soaked up the spice. The sausages were great. The bread was good -- crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside.
The staff was nice -- they checked in with us frequently. Besides bringing us bottled water when we asked for water, they waited on us like everywhere else.
But I wouldn't come back. The ambience of the restaurant, well, there is no ambience. It feels very empty and even if it were filled with people it would still feel strange. Also the location is a bit strange -- the Sunset for a restaurant like this? The short menu is easy enough but without some explanation and some familiarity with how they do things there, it takes some time to figure out. It also irks me that half of the items are priced as "seasonal" which usually means to me "I'm-charging-any-price-I-want-night" not that they do that.
All in all our meal for 4 people cost about $65. We got mild, the sauce wasn't too overpowering unless you drank it straight or if you let the bread soak it up for a minute or two -- it gets pretty intense, flavor-wise not spiciness-wise. It was an experience for sure but not an experience that I'd revisit. -
Review from Kenneth F.
Cambridge, MA
6/9/2008
I might be spoiled from my experiences at Crawdaddy but I was a bit disapointed in the food, especially because they were a bit pricier than their San Jose competitors. Now don't get me wrong...until another one pops up in SF, this is THE place to get your crawfish place. But it definitely wouldn't draw me out from another city the same way Crawdaddy in San Jose draws me out from Emeryville!
They were very accommodating to our large party tho (so props) We ordered 4 pounds of shrimp, 4 pounds of crawfish, and 2 crabs. Half was at "mild" and half was at "medium." What really annoyed us was that there was no difference between the two spiciness levels. I feel like I could have switched the bags around and ended up tasting the same thing. Actually, at one point we were convinced they had switched the two...until 5 minutes later we were convinved that the original setup was right. Our waitress said "mild" would be spicy enough, but we were actually craving something a little more spicy than both of the ones we had. They also need to put MORE sauce in their plastic bags! The shrimp was also overcooked. It was weird to me that they served both shrimp/crawfish in the same bag..I would think they would want to maintain different cooking temperatures for them?
The two crabs came out in plastic bags also, but with no sauce in it. I thought they would come out in the same sauce as the shrimp/crawfish, so was disappointed because it wasn't as flavorful Definitely the most meat here though, and we scarfed the crabs down like no other.
Most of us left the dinner half-full. However, ordering anymore probably would have pushed our bill past what we were expecting to pay at a crawfish restaurant. They should add some cajun fries to their menu..that's a sure-pleaser. :)
Last thing that kinda ticks me off is: I hate it when prices are misrepresented. They handed us business cards that also had prices on the back. The menus they had in the store were all priced higher than it. For example corn/sausage were 50 cents each on the biz card, but 60 cents on the menu. Clams were 9.99 on the biz card, but 10.99 on the menu, etc.
If you haven't tried the cuisine yet....make your way over there! -
Review from Aaron I.
San Francisco, CA
6/12/2008
Anytime you have a meal with Jason A, beware:
#1. I hope you are hungry because he will order everything on the menu. It can be good because you get to try everything, luckily Coco's menu isn't too lengthy. Crawfish good, shrimp good, corn good, sauage good, beer good, overall mmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#2. I hope you like seconds, thirds, fourths? If he likes a certain dish, let's take corn for example. I hope you can eat corn unitl you die or have corn coming out of your ears!!!!!!!!! In his defense, the corn is saturated in the seafood juices and is quite tasty.
#3 If you ever want to come back to a restaurant, think twice about going with this guy that is always remebered for ordering possibly 4-5 orders of a dish, if its good and then coming back like 3 -4 days in a row. You can also use this to your advantage if you want to be remembered.
#4 How do you use wifi at a crawfish place where you use your hands to eat and an optional bib?
So back to Coco's, seafood is mmmmmm, sauces are spicy, but mmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!! This is not a place to come all dolled up, but come to have fun, get down and dirty and smelly, garlicky. Coco is very sweet, service is super friendly ,its like you're eating with family. You can be loud, dirty, stinky, and drunk, so don't come thinking you're going to be sexy. Kind of reminds of one of those places they might have that blind date show on, whatever happened to that show?Listed in: San Francisco
-
Review from GIR ..
San Francisco, CA
4/10/2008
Mudbugs were flying, sauce squirting - protect your eyes!
Lotta work for minuscule crustaceany tidbits but that's the fun of it. Wish it was more of a whole multi-ingredient crab boil thing, crawfish might have been a bit more succulent that way too - bread for dipping would be nice as well.
Only downside is no amount of hand washing there stopped my hands from smelling like garlic tinged chum - next time I'm going armed with hand wipes and a slip proof beer cozy. -
Review from Tracy C.
Los Angeles, CA
6/21/2008
I was quite disappointed with my meal here. Just last week I had dinner at Crawdaddy's (in San Diego), and it was great. I came here and expected at least a similar standard but it just wasn't the same.
We ordered 1lb. of dungeness crab and 1lb. of shrimp with a side of 4 corn on the cobs and 6 sausages. The bill came out to $64! The most I have ever paid at a crawfish place just between 2 people.
The shrimp was $11.99/lb. and the crab just said "seasonal" on the menu but we didn't expect it to be more than $25. It wasn't. It was $40! That is so overpriced for crab. That's the most I have ever paid for a 1lb. dungeness crab at a casual restaurant. It comes out just sitting on a plate, staring at you, sitting in a sauce, so it's nothing fancy worth $40. It doesn't even come in a bag cut into pieces to make it easy to eat or enough juices to marinate the crab longer in.
My shrimp was okay, except I am very unimpressed by their marinade. It has little chunks of garlic here and there but where's all the spices?? It just looked like a cioppino broth or something.
At Crawdaddy's in San Diego, we ordered a lb. of Alaskan king crab legs and a lb. of shrimp, drinks and Cajun chicken wings and fries for just about $40. Crawdaddy's also has various marinade options including the Full House, which includes all of the marinades mixed together. Even though I left full, this meal wasn't satisfying and it felt like such a rip-off.Listed in: San Francisco
-
Review from Christina L.
San Bruno, CA
3/25/2008
Lucky us the crawfish is now in season (March & April)! So, it was about 2 quarters instead of 1 quarter in size. I was a neophyte to this crawfish eating thing, but the first time was delish.
Sadly, the shrimp was overcooked, and they didn't have any bread :(
We got 3 pounds of crawfish and 1 pound of shrimp for $56.
Note about spicyness: I'm known for my high tolerance with spicy foods, but the spiciest one is too much. My lips were burning for 1/2 hour afterwards!
Clarification about rating: After getting a bunch of crap for giving Coco's a 3 stars from some of my friends, I felt compelled to add this caveat: Coco's would have gotten 4 stars IF the crawfish were their in-season size of 2 quarters all year round. But, since they're usually about 1 quarter size most of the time, my lazy butt doesn't think it's worth the work or as good when they're that small, so thus the 3 stars to accurately reflect their rating all-year round. -
Review from swys -.
San Francisco, CA
2/2/2008
A bag full of Cajun-Asian love...
Since I was exhausted from pulling money form Wamus belly to feed my landlord. I stop by the Boiling Craw fish last night for a quick pick me up.The place was slow for a Friday night but what the hell - I love Craw fish.
I've been making these little critters at home for some years now and let me say I love them but they do get messy. So the idea of a messy meal at some else place- great why not. I love that T.B.C. menu is limited to messy eating love that they do well- which is great , focus on what you know girls... I also like the simple decor of this place, I hope they keep this way. The half pound of critters i ate was simple and perfect tasting.
T.B.C. is def- a new gem in this neck of the hood. -
Review from Jen D.
8/4/2008
I can't really say that I had the true Coco's Crawfish experience.
1. I hate eating things that get my hands really dirty.
2. I love shrimp!!
3. I hate crawfish. Where I grew up, we called them mudcrawlers and used them as pets or bait for fishing.
4. I LOVE shrimp!!
5. I hate peeling shrimp...
6. I love spicy shrimp!!!
So for me, there was no sucking of heads. Um... No way... Eugy was nice to peel the shrimp for me and put them on my plate. I sound like a really spoiled bitch right now don't I? I promise, I'm really not. I just hate getting my hands dirty.
So he peeled and I ate. Everything was really good. The best part is dipping the bread into the sauce. But if you have time, do yourself a big favor and get some really good bread beforehand to bring to the restaurant. They don't serve bread there and there aren't any bread places on that block. -
Review from Diana M.
Oakland, CA
6/26/2008 1 photo
I'm conflicted about this review. The service was great - fun, friendly and attentive without being overbearing. I'm always leery about places in San Francisco that claim to serve Cajun, Creole, or Louisiana style cuisine because the further you get from Louisiana, the less authentic the food becomes.
I ate here with 7 other people and we ordered shrimp, crawfish, oysters, clams, sausage, and corn. The crawfish were teeny weeny and way too expensive, but what do you expect when they're flown in from New Orleans in the off season. $12.99 a pound is just a crime - if you've spent any time in Louisiana you know how cheap crawfish should be. Crawfish boils usually have corn and potatoes cooked in the same boil, but at CoCo's potatoes are no where to be found and corn is .40 per piece when it's usually thrown in for free.
I didn't try the oysters, but everyone at the table seemed pleased. The clams were steamed and fresh - good, but nothing super special. The shrimp in my opinion were great. They were super fresh and substantial.
About the boil seasoning they use...the flavoring is not cayenne based, but I can't quite put my finger on the seasoning.
Will I go back? Yes.
Will I order the crawfish again? Nah.
What should you order when you go? Shrimp, corn, and [ossibly the crab. I saw some on a nearby table and it was massive. I will definitely order it the next time. -
Review from Sam T.
8/6/2009
I made the mistake of wearing my work clothes to CoCo's for my first experience with crawfish. Like, two pieces in I already had chunks of meat and dabs of juices decorating my shirt. I wish I had a bib or at least wrapped one corner of the plastic table cloth around my neck.
Anyways, I orders 2 pounds of crawfish with a corn and sausage in medium spicy broth, which was served in a clear plastic bag. Love it! A meal in a bag! I also had extra butter and garlic because that just sounded tasty and artery clogging. What really made the meal was the broth. I made sure to soak everything in my bag before I started working.
Eating crawfish is a lot of work and the rewards can be minimal if you get tiny little pieces. Pretty much you are having the tail meat and some of the crawfish butter from the head. Just avoid the black sac that is filled with bitter juices when you are working the head!!
I like this meal enough to come back. Next time I think I will just go with a pound of crawfish and go with more corn and sausage.
Note -- my buddy did end up hitting the can 3 times that night and another 3 times that morning. I had a minor episode in the morning but I was fine. -- End Note -
Review from Xandria S.
San Francisco, CA
5/28/2008
I wuz fixin' for sum craw-dadz and daddeh an I dacided ta git sum. An I fixt it. Mmmm mmmmm!
Seriously, this is the best after work surprise ever! I've had Coco's on my radar for some time. I've read about the lackluster interior on Yelp so I was well prepared for it. My entourage, was not. Meekly standing in the doorway, gawking at the nearly empty restuarant, "are you sure you wanna eat here?" was their response. "yes, yes, it's four-starred Yelped." Of course it's good!
Side note: Corona with these suckers washes down real nice like. You're welcome.
Remember "Night of the Living Dead?" Lemme tell ya, as soon as those crimson suckers hit the table we made made like zombies and went to town. Conversation slowed. The less than inspiring decor all faded away as the Habanero soaked buttery juices infiltrated all mucous membranes. Everyone is right about getting the medium spice... I lika da spice, but I fear that the Spicey option may actually kill off my nerve endings, which made me extra glad that I yelped this place beforehand. I navigated this place like a pro!
Someone joked about how this sauce gives you DSL's... and no, they're not giving away high-speed internet here.
My only complaints were the oysters - the shells were not washed, which sucks when you touch your mouth to them and you get that gritty grimey feeling on your tongue. They would be soooo much better if they were cleaned beforehand!
Also, I know they just started, so hopefully they'll work on the ambiance a little... also, it coulda been a little cleaner in there; the place looked like they opened before they were completely ready to.
Otherwise, for the price and quality of food, hot damn, we're bringing a small tribe of zombies next time! Can't wait to try the crab. -
Review from Rosalynn D.
San Jose, CA
4/18/2009
We wanted to try this place so we came in here around 6pm. It was a lil foggy outside with that outcast weather. And inside they had the lights off, saving energy, yeah cool, but its 6pm....its a lil dim don't you think? Took them a while to realize it was dark.
I agree with the previous review about how you have to ask for everything. We didn't have napkins, so we had to ask about that.
When we ordered our crawfish, she didn't ask us about the spicy level we wanted, so i figured she forgot to ask. I came up to the desk and asked if we can get our crawfish spicy and she said "sorry we don't have spicy today, only mild" WHAT? haha wow. okay, thanks for letting me know now.
We also ordered their "cajun" fries and it took sooo long to come out. We asked a few times to remind her that we ordered some fries and when it finallly came out, we were pretty disappointed because they were frozen fries w/ sprinkled on spices. ehhh
Overall i thought the portions were smaller than usual & the flavor was just okay. I've had better.
*i forgot to mention that their bathroom is disgusting! -
Review from Katherine C.
San Francisco, CA
1/21/2009
I really wanted to like this place, especially after reading all the raving reviews about the delicious food...However, my experience was just not up to par...
Only taking the food into account I would easily give Coco's 5 stars. I shared one pound of crawfish, 1 pound of shrimp, one crab, sausage and corn. The shrimp were definitely the highlight of my dinner, they were large, meaty and flavorful. And the sauce...so good! We had the medium and it had the perfect amount of spicy kick. The corn and sausage were also delicious but on the sausage pieces were smaller side.
I don't usually complain about service, but seriously, our experience was ridiculous. We had a party of five and from the get-go our waitress was neither friendly nor polite. However, the thing that was the most upsetting was that we all felt that the service was a bit shady, for two reasons.
First, both my friend and I ordered "one pound" of crab as the prices are listed by pound on the menu...the waitress however, neglected to tell us that you cannot order only one pound of crab and that you instead are purchasing an entire crab, which of course weighs more than one pound. Had I known this I would not have ordered crab. To me, it just seems like a common courtesy that the waitress should explain this fact as the menu is very unclear.
Second, because Coco's does not serve any starches (i.e. rice or bread) we brought some french bread with us, as was recommended by other reviewers. However once we arrived, we saw all the signs warning about outside food so we asked the waitress if it would be alright to eat the bread. She explained how the signs were meant to protect the restaurant and waive their liability if any patrons were to fall ill from outside food, etc. My friend asked about the charge for bringing the outside food, however the waitress neglected to tell us what it would be and led us to believe that it would be alright to eat the bread with our meal...so we did.
So, after our satisfying meal we get our bill...$185! For five people! The crab ended up being about $28 each and she tacked on an extra 10% for bringing in bread. I feel like we were kind of cheated and had our waitress been more clear about the prices and extra charges we would have made different decisions that probably would have led to a better experience and a more favorable review.
That being said, I probably won't be coming back, but for those of you who are thinking about going - just make sure that you're clear on what you are getting... -
Review from Susy C.
San Francisco, CA
2/11/2008
So good, so good, i got yoooooooooooooooooou babeeeee
and i don't have to drive to San Jose for crawfish anymore, w00t w00t!
P.S. I live here.
just kidding. kind of. -
Review from Adolfo L.
5/27/2008
Finally, someone opened a crawfish joint in San Francisco. I thought I would have to fly to Louisiana to indulge in these mini lobster look-a-like crustaceans. Instead the girls at CoCo's fly them in daily to save us the trip.
Now if you've been here before, you have to GO BACK... NOW! And if you haven't been here before, you have to GO... NOW! Why? It's MAY and it's crawfish season!!! Those critters are HUGE right now. Check out the pictures! They're about 3-4 times bigger than they were a month or two ago when I first visited.
Pinch the tip of the tail, pull it off with the vein. Rip off the head, and go to town on the brain and innards if that's your fancy. Then rip open the tail to expose the meat. So okay it's a bit of work to get to the meat, but it's well worth the savory and spicy flavor of the Louisiana style crawfish. Add some corn and sausage with a beer and you've got yourself a great meal. I would suggest you do the crawfish and shrimp mix to add some variety. They also serve steamed Dungeness crab, steamed clams, and raw oysters. But yes folks, no carbs. My only gripe is that there is no bread or rice to be found. Atkins' diet anyone? Oh wait, there's beer. Good enough...
MUST HAVE: duh... -
Review from Anthony L.
San Francisco, CA
6/28/2008
I would like to go on record to say that sucking head is not gay at all. You heard me, America! Sucking head is not gay at all!!! Of course, I didn't suck too many heads today because I had to remember my caloric intake. Can you imagine sucking all those heads and the calories you will ingest if you swallow?
Crawdads, crawfish, mudbugs, whatever you wanna call them. They are tasty little beasts. It's easy to separate them but getting to the tail meat is a chore. First you gotta squeeze the tail shell to crack it. Then you have to slowly rip the shells off to get to the little nugget of meat. But the flavors it pops out at you is like a little treat for the hard work you did to get there. So definitely not a lazy man's food. And the shrimps and corn and sausages that were in the bag along with the mudbugs...Soaking in all the aromas and juices...SOOO happy that someone brought some bread. Really awesome to all the bread bringerers...
Thanks go out to Euge for setting this up. Glad you did! You are awesome in your own awesome way! And to Bella for helping our side of the table break bread in a non religious type way. I hope you made it home alright! And of course, many thanks to the two lovely ladies that run the place...Just can't remember your names...Amanda and Coco? I think so...Oh well...The important part is the food was awesome and you guys were great! Just a minor thing...Maybe think about making some fried stuff like fritters or hush puppies to add to the New Orleans experience. But if not, it's cool. I will still come back for more crawfish. They ARE the main attraction!!! -
Review from Jade L.
San Francisco, CA
5/2/2008
I cannot stress enough how much of a lady of convenience I am, so much so that I rarely leave the three block radius around my house for anything once I'm home from work. So when my friend was like, "can we please go somewhere outside of your neighborhood for dinner?" I thought, it's only fair since I always make you come out towards me. That and it doesn't take much convincing when shellfish is involved for dinner.
The day of, I look at the address and not only was I dead tired but when I yelped it, I saw that it was out in the boonies! Double whammy! and it was cold out!
When we showed up, it was totally dead and didn't get much busier the time we were there. But it was pretty early still so no biggie. The menu is simple. We had to order crawfish of course, and then we ordered a pound of shrimp. I was a bit weary of the cajun sauce because I'd been to other places like this that tend to go crazy with the spices so I ordered one plain steamed. The cajun sauce ended up being absolutely delicious! It made getting it all over my hair, clothes and fingers worth it. (along with making me stink for days)
The decor leaves a lot to be desired. There is absolutely nothing on the walls except for a plasma TV but the food makes up for the lack of ambiance. Sometimes when you eat crawfish, they still have the taste of dirt, but these were sweet and succulent. I will definitely go back. And I'll bring my own bib next time. -
Review from Dennis L.
San Francisco, CA
1/6/2009
Boiling Crab (SoCal) is better because _____________.
-they have more than one sauce option.
-they can serve you their sauce with no spicy-ness without you having to get your seafood plain steamed
-the place is crowded and always bustling with fun and noise.
and the list goes on...
CoCo gets 2 stars for effort and convenience. The next closest option is in San Jose, I think. It didn't help that our server said the crawfish was fresh, in season and bought earlier in the day. This lead me to believe we were going to get ginormous meaty crawfish, but almost every piece was tiny. If I had known, I would have stuck to the shrimp.
