On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Category: Restaurants [Edit]
Neighborhood: Mission Valley
Loading...
Wow, what an interesting place.
I've never been to a clambake, chain-style, but I've been to plenty of fundraiser crabfeeds, and Joe's is something inbetween.
I came in during dinner and when I told them I was alone, I was immediately shunted to the bar. There seemed to be plenty of tables but well, the bar can work. 1 star down.
The bartender was nice and immediately helpful, especially after finding out I'd never been to one, and helped me with the menu and helped me with specials, even giving me some money saving tips. Awesome service. 1 star up.
I waited awhile, and it seems to be common for this place, but who knows? Their casual beach interior and their casually dressed servers give you a feel of relaxing, but after awhile it was difficult to relax when you're very hungry and waiting for food for awhile. 1 star down.
The food came, a fat hot pot of nothing I would have expected, except maybe the crab I ordered; new potatoes, corn cob and a fat sausage in the pot along with the crab legs. The bartender outfitted me with an ill-fitting bib but gave me all the tools necessary to eat. The crab was great, the sausage was great, the seasoning was great, the potatoes and corn mushy, and it was all a very manual experience. Different, enjoyable, but by itself not so amazing that I couldn't have gotten as good or better elsewhere. 1 star down.
I left full of crab and sausage and interested in trying things here again. I liked it well enough despite the inconsistent service and inconsistent food, but overall enjoyable for my first.
Last time I came here, we ate in a rush before a movie.
My stomach was tied in knots during the whole damn movie thanks to all the grease.
This outing turned out a lot better.
Wife and I tried the Crab dip appetizer which we took down pretty damn fast.
I ordered the King Crab legs pot thing with the BBQ flavoring, they were huge and very filling.
They came with potatoes and corn on the cobb that I couldn't finish.
For $28 I had my crab leg cravings filled.
Joe has let me down, big time!
I can count the times coming here. Probably no more then 5 times in a decade and a few other times at other locations. One of my greatest friends treated me here for crab cakes. Oh man, I still remember how well it tasted for my first time experiencing such a delicacy.
My friend stopped coming to Joe's because they started to skim down on their crab cakes. I am not sure what happened here, but recently coming here to enjoy a decent dinner I admit I am a fool for trying their crab cakes again.
It must of been a month ago coming here on a Sunday. Some had their Chargers jerseys on after a home victory. I recall an older couple with the same jersey number on with a tall dude at their table. But I had my back to them, however wifey paid attention to them.
Upon leaving, another table of 3 dudes wearing Seahawks, Giants and Chargers hats stopped the family of 3 on who won the game. "We won. Tore them up by 30 points or so", said the father. Their son was smiling and was sporting a rimstone hat. After they were walking out, wifey pointed out he was a Charger!
Too funny. That guy is an idiot for wearing a Charger hat in the first place and not even knowing the score? Bandwagon! Anyhow, my food sucked monkey balls, the service was blah and I want my money back.
The fat: Random dancing to "YMCA" for the work crew is a bit odd.
The skinny: Fried shrimp tasted better then crab cakes.
I MUST HAVE BEEN THERE ON A GOOD NIGHT...
I read the reviews from other yelpers and wow! At first, I didn't know if I chose the right Joe's Crab Shack to review but it's the one on Hazard Center!
I hadn't been to this location in a while but it was the same old Joe's. Just like an old pair of sweats in your closet, when you just want to be comfy and don't care what you look like or eat, you come to this Joe's Crab Shack!
My most favorite part is when your waitress has to stop you from ordering so she can line dance for your entertainment! "DANCE FOR MY PLEASURE!" Wait....that reminds me of another type of place....
I always have a great time at Joe's and the food is Ok! I'll be back for sure!
Food is not that Great. WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. WAY too loud inside. Too many kids. It wasn't a fun dining experience if you ask me.
Did I mention it was WAY TOO expensive?? And they didn't give you enough food either!!
Hadn't been here a couple of years and decided to pay Joe's a visit last week. I did think it was pretty good a few years ago. My conclusion now? Eh, it's alright. Kinda salty and over-priced.
It did start me on a streak of craving crabs, so I tried out Crab Hut a few days later for the first time and liked it there better.
May be a few more years before I stop in to Joe's again.
After seeing the commercials for their 'Steampots,' the boyfriend and I decided to visit and wow :[
We were quickly seated, given 1.5 minutes to look at our menus and were asked if we were ready to order...uh, no, we're not ready.
We eventually ordered the crab stuffed mushroom appetizer and 2 Steampots.
20 minutes later the waitress came out to tell us they're out of lobster for one of our steampots. LAME. So we decided on one with muscles and clams instead.
And then what seemed like an entire century later we got our appetizer and it was terrible! It wasn't even cooked all the way through; the cheese on top wasn't melted and the bottom was completely cold. We asked the waitress to take it back and it took another 15-20 minutes for her to bring it back out, but at least it was cooked this time.
We finally get our steampots and although they look impressive when she put it down, that quickly faded when we tasted it. WAYYYYYYYY too much salt/seasoning. The muscles and clams were dry and shriveled and not really edible. The crab was delicious though. The sausage that comes with the steampots was also very, very good.
It took nearly 2 hours for us to get out of there. The food took way too long and basically, I would not recommend this restaurant. You can find MUCH better sea food at similar prices in PB or even Red Lobster.
Ok. This is just about the worst food I've ever had. I could've gone to Vons and bought a microwave crab dinner and would've been much happier and only out $5 opposed to $70.
First of all, we need a bit more time to look over the menu. The 2 minutes we got at first was not even enough to absorb the strange decor. Disco balls inside a seafood joint? Strange. Honestly, we almost got up and walked out before ordering and I REALLY wish we did. I need to listen to my wife more often, but in my mind, I was thinking she was just thinking about me since I don't really care for seafood too much. My trying to be nice, decided that we should stay. DUMB ASS me!!
We ordered the New England something bucket. It came with clams, lobster, ONE piece of Corn, and a sausage. We had to pay an extra $10 for Crab. I thought this was Joe's CRAB Shack??
When the food came out, we were extremely hungry after walking around the outlets all day. The sausage was decent, but how can they screw that up? It's made in some factory and all they have to do is boil it. Then we tried the crab. It was on the salty side, but it would do since we were stricken with hunger. Then came the lobster. The poor lobster tasted like it was in the boiler for 30 minutes on top of being previously frozen. My wife made it through one lobster. We got to the second and couldn't even cut through the tail with the knife. It was like trying to cut through one of those bouncy balls you got out of the gumball machines when you were a kid.
Oh,...let's not forget about the Line Dance that happened about half way through the meal. Yep. That's right! All of a sudden, the place breaks out in "Cotton Eye Joe," some redneck song with a Techno beat behind it. (check it out on YouTube) All of the servers got in a line and did a Line Dance. Was that supposed to be entertaining? Now I know what the disco balls were for,..
This place is horrible. I would never recommend it to anyone and I will never be back.
I haven't gone in some years now ...
But, I remember my food was pretty good the very first time I went. The second time I went, I simply got some crab and butter, and it was meh, and I never came back.
Maybe I'll try it again. Third time's the charm, right?
Salty, salty salty. ( to me)
It's OK if there is nowhere else to eat some seafoods.
Is there anything that's NOT fried on the menu?
I always leave this place drunk and greasy. I'm not a big drinker, actually I hardly ever touch alcohol and when I do I only take a few sips of it, but when I go to Joe's Crab Shack I turn into a raging alcoholic all because they have the prettiest drinks! Yes, that's right I'm a woman who likes pretty drinks!
Shark Bite: Blue liquor (vodka & rum) that comes in a large glass with a shark attached to the side with a 'blood' like liquor in his mouth. Every drink comes with a shark and an announcement 'Can I please have everyone out of the waters, there's been a shark attack!' and then pour the blood into the drink. This is my favorite drink.
Frozen Swirl: A frozen margarita that comes with a bag of pop rocks. Another one of my favorites. Caution: try not to sit too close to the glass while you're pouring the pop rocks or you could loose an eye.
Mudslide: A yummy drink, but I don't think that it's better than TGIF's and with the great drink list why would you want to drink a boring 'ol mudslide?
Pina Colada: Yummy. I've never had a pina colada until now, and I wasn't disappointed. ($5 happy hour special)
Mangotini: I could down 5 of these easily these are SO good! ($3 happy hour special) What I like most about this drink is that it's not too strong, and I can't taste the alcohol (plus!)
Strawberry Daiquiri: A classic. A yummy treat that's hard to mess up ($5 happy hour special)
I'm all about the drinks here, besides the crab it seems that everything I've ever had has been fried:
Coconut Shrimp: shrimp covered in coconut shavings, has the perfect balance of sweet and savory.
Popcorn Shrimp: not too bad, can't go wrong with popcorn shrimp
Crispy Shrimp: It's fried..of course it's good.
I come back for the drinks, happy hour is well worth the money.
I went to Joe's for a happy-hour birthday celebration and split a bucket for two with a buddy. The bucket was loaded with disgusting quantities of crab, shrimp, sausage, potatoes and corn. These items ranged from run of the mill to sickening in quality. At the end of the day I wanted to barf everything I ate back into the bucket where it belonged. I got to admit that the shrimp was cooked to perfection - and then cooked for probably an additional 50 minutes thereafter. Worst shrimp ever.
On the bright side, there are good happy hour specials on bud-lights and well drinks. The servers also try really hard because there are hardly any customers inside. The alcohol had everyone in our party so drunk that people were daring each other to pound shots of melted butter - and one guy even pounded a melted butter shot with a slice of sausage in it.
If you're thinking about going here to take advantage of the drink specials and then going to eat somewhere else nearby - think again. Hazard center could just as easily be called barf center with all the awful food options here. In addition to Joe's Crab Shack, Hazard Center has an Applebee's and a Trophy's. Yeah so next time I think about eating at Hazard center I'm just going to stay at home and barf - it's cheaper and you get the same experience.
Highly over rated! I have had much better if you want to just rate the food alone. And really they are not "THAT" kid friendly. And the restaurant overall....well
I first experienced this place about 3 1/2 yrs ago when my youngest son was about 12 mos old. They had no high chair for him and no kid cups. Funny, but they had plastic bibs and even hand wipes for the adults but none for my 12 month old???
I know the place is called a "Shack" but for real does it really have to be one?? Yea, Yea, I get the whole decor thing and the design of the setting of the restaurant but for real this place really was a "SHACK". It was very dirty and there was crap all over the floors. Our table was disgusting, the chairs had some old sticky substance on the seats, and the salt and pepper shakers where greasy from previous users...ugh...GROSS!!!
That was my first and last time I ever went to this place. Just plain nasty!!
i dunno what people are talking about here...i had a great experience, i went yesterday ( friday night) at around 830 and it was empty, we got sat right away and service was good, waitress left us alone and did try to fill our "emotional banks" like some places do, very annoying. Ordered the stuffed mushrooms ( AWESOME!) and the dunginous crab bucket BBQ style ( super good ) ill definitely be back.
p.s. its not expensive at all 40 bucks for 2 people is a great price!
Unimpressed by Joe's. I would put this in a category with Applebee's, and TGI Fridays. It's has the same aura as those; average priced, family fun place. The service was good but the food was ehhh for what we paid. I shared the Long Islander. It was okay, but the mussels tasted funny. I hope I don't get food poisoning like Stephanie D.
A friend ordered their margarita and asked if they were big because we heard they were and they looked that way in the menu, and the waitress said "they're a pretty good size." Sure enough it came out and looked nothing like the picture. It was in an average water cup with a lemon & lime. It also tasted too sweet. We also got some fried calamari, which they claim to be the best in town, but it was less than that. We will pass on this next time
My very first time here this place looks great. It's right on the dock of the beach, lake or whatever it is. The food here is soooooo salty wow like wth. Esp the seasoning in the Steampots!!! There were 13 of us and when we got there we didn't wait too long about 10mins. On our side there was 9 people we ordered a shit load of Appetizers: 2 Double Dip, 3 Great Balls of Fire, 2 Crab Stuffed Mushrooms, 1 Chicken Tenders, 1 Crispy Calamari, 1 Garlicky Mussels, and 2 foundo or whatever it was called I forgot. They were all very good, but after eating so much of it you get sick of it because all of them were really cheesy. We also ordered 2 Steampots: Sunset Fire-Grilled and The Bean Town Bake. It was good but I had to wash it down with water.. It was so salty I couldn't even eat it. But rubbing it with lemon and butter was way better!! The drink Shark Bite (has Alcohol) was good It doesn't have a strong alcohol flavor and Category 5 Hurricane (has Alcohol) was very very very strong.. yuck I did not like it at all.. If you're not a drinker you wouldn't like it.
Overall the service was kinda whatevers. But than again If I were him I'd be pissed off too having to please 13 people let along the other tables too. So everything was cool. But the steampots were way to salty. I think Its better off getting it plain and just rubbing it with lemon and butter. :D
&ohhh It takes a while for the steampots to come out so if I were you and you are gonna order appetizers too I would order all together so they would bring it out faster.. We order the appetizers first than the food later and it took forever to get our food and we were all very very hungry. Coming home from swimming in the beach all day you know how that feels..
Once again, another great experience at Joe's.
Our server was really nice. She was attentive and friendly. I can't complain.
The crab dip/spinach artichoke dip appetizer combo is delish. My fried shrimp were perfect. And the crab! I got the huge-ass combo that gives you all 3 varieties of crab - get it Chesapeake style (with the Old Bay Seasoning! YUM!) The included corn on the cob was juicy and sweet, and the new potatoes were HUGE. Seriously, GINORMOUS. Frozen drinks are still fabulous.
Yeah, so our total came out to just over $100 - but we ordered a lot of food and a lot of drinks. I was buzzed and full when I was done. I got home and passed out.
Sunday Funday indeed.
Whoa. I'm kinda boggled by the bad reviews for this place. I've been here several times since I… Read more »
The selection of food and the taste was alright. The price was pretty high compared to other restaurants but we expected that going in. The problem was the service. It was very poor and we were there nearly 2 hours during the process of waiting for the food, the check, and, of course, drink requests. Finally, the girl tried to take a $40 tip by not returning our change, and then gave an attitude for my buddy asking about it. Summary: The food was good, the beers came in an icey bucket, and with a group outside, the conversation went way south to where we were making up themes for bad sexual experiences - good times. But the service can't justify any higher than a 3 score at best.
Their crab cakes are actually fairly satisfying. Why? Because there's more crab than cake.
Want more? How about crab stuffed shrimp, which is just shrimp with crab cake on top.
More? Well, if it's your birthday, prepare to do some impromptu hula.
Lastly, you gotta give props to a place that sells buckets of beer.
Also, my favorite item of the night was Joe's Trash Can Punch! It's their idea of jungle juice, served in a plastic trash can, which you get to take home! And for 5 bucks all the time, it's happy hour any hour you want.
But all pluses aside....
...It's a tacky Red Lobster. 'Nuff said.
Screw Joe's Crab Shack...and let me tell you WHY. Those assholes wont serve me a kid's meal. I love ordering a child's chicken finger basket. More often than not, thats my dish of choice at cheap, casual places such as this...the kid's meal is the perfect portion (and price!) for a little lady such as myself. I understand that I am 22...not 12, the age limit for said meal...but so what? Im a paying customer...and I am much more likely to leave you the 20% tip youll want than those little brats that youre willing to serve. I just dont think it makes any sense to irritate a customer and risk our party leaving you pennies and/or never coming back, all the while bad mouthing you because I had to order something else. I have NEVER been refused a kid meal, until Joe's Crap Shack. Your slightly amusing t-shirts and not-half-bad crab dip cant get you out of this one, Joe. Youre a jerk.
**UPDATE: I just realized I called it "Crap Shack" and I was about to change it...but I actually find it amusing and fitting, so I will leave it.
F*ckin joke. This chain is probably one of the reasons why certain people dont like shellfish or seafood, because they make it taste like crap and it makes people break out, get sick or develop an allergic reaction !
Dont tell me its some medical condition, its the freakin decor ! What is the deal with all the sh*t on the walls ? Stop with the fishing paraphenilia, I know you guys dont catch your own fish. Idiots, who do you take me for ? A tourist ?
Last time I went , they made the birthday boy get on the table, bend over, shake his ass, while they sang to him. Poor bastard. I wouldve told them to get the f*ck away and only come around when they have either food or booze or unless someone from my table is asking fo some napkins or barf bags.
I cant believe I'm saying this but I prefer Red Lobster. However, thats like a saying a Hyundai is better than a Kia.
Talk about crap.
Don't go here. The food is expensive and the service sucks.
There is no reason for anyone go here ever.
They do a stupid dance which is so gimmicky and lame that I think they inflate their prices to pay for the special lighting that goes into that production.
Poor.
I was actually pretty excited to come here. Some people call it tacky version of Red Lobster, some call it overrated, but I personally just saw it as a fun place to eat seafood (I guiltily admit that I formed this perception from watching Laguna Beach season 1...). So lucky for me, I finally went with some friends to try it for myself.
It's a fun environment. It's decorated with tons of pictures and crazy stuff, they have a bar area, and the play pretty good music :) Our server was really nice and helpful, too. I was opting to get the bucket of crabs, but I didnt really want to work to eat my food after being so tired from my REAL 9-5 so I just got the crab cake meal. It was decent, but not the best crab cakes I've tasted. They put TONS of old bay seasoning on it, so it was a tiny bit spicy (keep in mind that I am the most spicy intolerant person in the world...) and the crabs tasted not so fresh, but it was still pretty good. I admit that I can't really give any crab cakes a good grade after eating the ones at Ruth's Chris... mmmmm :) BUT, as Joe's Crab Shack IS a seafood restaurant, they should have their crab cakes down pat. Crazy enough, the crab cakes tasted better when I reheated them the next day... ? haha
I also ordered fries and hush puppies with my meal. Hush puppies are basically fried balls of corn bread. They were okay, but not as great as I expected. It was my first time trying them, so I would definitely like to try them at another restaurant to see the comparison.
I didn't order any of their specialty drinks, but Wilmar D. ordered the trash can (think JUNGLE JUICE) and he LOVED it (hence, him ordering two). I tried some and it WAS pretty good, but not very consistent. His second drink was much stronger than the first. There may have been a bartender change, but I think a drink such as that should taste fairly the same each time.
I think the not-so-great thing about this place is the prices. Granted, it's a seafood restaurant and those are never cheap, but this doesn't FEEL like a normal seafood restaurant... it FEELS like it should be at least a little cheaper...my crab cakes were definitely not worth 18 dollars... and my friend's dry-as-death-valley mahi was not worth the price she paid either...
It's a decent place. I want to come back and get the bucket of crab (especially since I will get a free bib =D). They also give you a free hula skirt and make you dance the hula to happy birthday if it's your special day. Although, I don't think I'll be coming back on my birthday ever.... it's just fun to watch other people embarrass themselves :)
Coconut shrimp was pretty tasty and those suckers were HUGE! I was full!!!
I wanted to order the crab, but it was $30+! This place is really expensive! Now I know why I go to Puerto Nuevo for seafood dinners...
Tip: If you want to try this place, but you don't want to spend a lot of money on the dinner items, go for lunch! They offer lunch portions for certain items = less money!
Ok more like Crap Shack!
I hate to have to dis one of the happy hours destinations that we subject ourselves to, but come on. I have been to Joe's before and it seems that if Aaron is not your bar tender, well then expect to have craptastic service. I never thought that I would say that this low price during happy hour is what brings me back for more crabs.
I have to say it was an overall weird experience that night and let me mention that our waitress came to the table and asked for our ID's and then walked away. I thought well hey maybe she needs to go and bust a move on the dance floor, and that she would be back in a mere moment, but it was about 15 mins before she even acknowledged that we were there again. So we ordered a beer and a martini, and the beer came right out, but the martini was about 10mins out. On top of that it was served in a large shot glass WTF??? I looked like an idiot. I asked for a menu three different times and never got one. I was over it. This chick must have a case of the crabs, occupying her mind otherwise she just sucked big time.
Also when I went to use the bath room some mom was in the large stall scolding her little child and when she came out and noticed that there was someone else in there, (me) she gave me a look of death as if she would give the the smack down too, if I mentioned how out of line she was to her child in the bathroom.
Geeze I guess that crabs really are a bummer!
I was hoping to have a good dining experience from this place and it was everything that's lackluster. I was expecting a whole lot from their food especially that it's seafood. The food proportion was small. I would've been better off going to Red Lobster and get a lot more for my money.
Never mind that they have a silly dance that the waiters do while you're eating. After a good hour from dining in here, I developed an allergic reaction.
If Joe's Crab Shack is your thing: cool. Just not for me.
I've been roped into this shit hole several times with groups and have always been disappointed with both the food and service. Just an all around substandard dining experience no matter how you look at it.
There was some sort of crab leg special going on once and although the price was right they were dried out and over-seasoned. Obviously left under a heat lamp or just terribly overcooked. The jacket potato I had with it was the same story- dried out, starchy and as appetizing as a hockey puck.
Another time I ate here I got some sort of shrimp special that boasted 3 types of cooked shrimp. The only one that wasn't completely dried out and tasteless was wrapped in bacon so at least some of the moisture was intact. Then again, you could wrap a cat turd in bacon and it would taste good to me.
The decor is a jumble of different memorabilia and was fun to look at, but the place is loud as hell. At one point all the waiters stood in the middle of the dining area and did a little line dance to a blaring Cotton Eye Joe, I assume because it was some jack ass' birthday. This was supposed to be entertaining, but the music was too damn loud and in the end it was just annoying. A few kids started crying, which I found humorous, so I at least got some enjoyment. Are you getting the picture that I don't like this place?
My brother, who usually has better taste than this, still goes here when they have specials, as he says it's a good deal. I know others that go here for the drinks alone. I think this establishment sucks ass no matter what the price and it's criminal to jack up perfectly good seafood.
With so many great restaurants in San Diego to choose from, spend your money somewhere else. Hell, Red Lobster would be a better choice then this obnoxious and poorly done excuse for a seafood restaurant. I would rather chew wharf scrapings off of the pier than eat this crap again.
The food is expensive but I'd be worried about a crab leg place that wasn't in Alaska or Mexico that wasn't a tad pricey.
They had a new fire roasted spicy crab leg the night I visited with my wife, it reminded me of the spicy blue crab I had as a kid in D.C.. Hopefully they keep that on the menu.
You have to like crab to like the crab cakes because they actually taste like crab, unlike the cake with "crab seasoning" you get at most places. It was good.
My big complaint about this place was the selection of beer. The only Mexican beer they had was Corona (bleechh!). I'm a strong believer in having the right beer with the right food. I resorted to ordering a Guinness Draft, one of my favorites but not with Crab legs.
The service was good, the waitress was warm and friendly and actually looked like she liked to dance, not like a TGIF server forced to sing crappy Happy Birthday jingles.
"Got crabs?"
We were surrounded by waitresses who had that slogan emblazoned on their work shirts. Unfortunately for us, our waitress seemed to have a bad attitude. After taking our orders, she left and never returned. Waters never arrived, appetizers were forgotten, and when we asked for the dessert menu, she brought us the check.
It would have been nice if our crabcake appetizer would have come out.
So no, we didn't get crabs.
I would give them Zero stars if I could. I ordered the crawfish/shrimp "pot" on Monday, 4-20-09. I still have food poisioning...I guess I deserve it for going to this dump. I will never, ever go back.
I love seafood, and maybe I'm just lazy, but really I prefer to have it come to me already out of the shell and all happy ready to hop into my belly.
We got a steampot for two, garlic & herb style, and it was pretty good. The bibs are humiliating but necessary for clumsy people like me. The crab was tasty but not worth the fight to get it out. Same with the shrimp, blech I just don't like shrimp legs. The potatoes were tender, but the best part of the meal by far was the sausage. Holy slavic goodness, take me back to the motherland the sausage was great.
All in all, overpriced for seafood I had to harvest myself, but the company was good and our server was ok. A bit slow in bringing the beer but whatever. At least I can say I ate here once and didn't fall prey to any digestive issues, you know what I mean?
I don't like it.. I had crab cakes which I usually like, and some fried calamari, that I usually like. Taste cheap. It's a cool atmosphere but the food isn't good..not for me atleast!
Sorry JOE!
WOW! We went for happy hour and had $1.50 beer...I know right...REALLY CHEAP. The other drinks ranged from $2.50 to $3 probably the best happy hour prices i've found in awhile. We also had CRAB Nachos, Joe's Classic Steampot, and the Orleans Steampot. Nothing like CrabHut but had fun getting messy anyway. Definitely recommend the happy hour if you just want to have cheap good drinks. Otherwise the food is just "OK".
Went for lunch with a friend, I wasn't sure what to get but fortunately our server Katrina was… Read more »
I've eaten here three times, and been mostly disappointed each time. (Disclaimer: I'm not big on seafood but enjoy a few things here and there.)
Fries, crab-cakes, BBQ chicken come-out cold.
Annoying when they start blinking the lights and singing in the main room.
Fun atmosphere but the food is just not that good.
Joe's Crab Shack has a great sound system.
I walked into Joe's with "Jane Says" by Jane's Addiction trumpeting my arrival
Halfway through the appetizer "Iesha" by Another Bad Creation had me harkening back to the days of yore...."Chris, Mark, Red, Da, Ro!"
Finishing up with lunch Chris Martin with his Coldplay bretheren serenaded me out the door with "Violet Hill".
Remembering a restaurant for the music instead of service and food is never a good sign.
Love the buckets! Plus the new clams are great!!! I love the BBQ flavor. Try it and you'll be hooked!
I love the decorating style of Joe's Crabshack. Make reservations for large parties ahead of time, and even if you have a small group, the place tends to fill up for dinner and the wait can be long. They offer a large and varied menu, occasionally throughout the year they have 33 shrimp for 12.99 which isn't too bad.
During dinnertime, at random times, their disco ball will start spinning, the restaurant will dim and the servers will dance for you. Free entertainment with a decent meal. Crab there is pretty good and they have these whimsical crab sayings all over their shirts such as "Got Crabs?"
Meals now come with complimentary house salad and bread, not a bad deal for the prices. During lunch they offer lunch specials and their crabcake sandwich is pretty good. Pretty good family restaurant to bring the kids to. Bananas Foster dessert is also first rate!
Joe's Crab Shack is located in a small shopping mall next to the Doubletree Hotel in the San Diego - Mission Valley area.
It is part of the "eat at Joe's" chain....
It was nice, not supurb, but nice.
(It seems that I am into nice right now)
We went on a monday night and the crowd was not huge.
We got table right away and the service was really quick.
Our server was friendly and knowledgeable.
I went Coastal and tried the East coast sampler - the crab trio - a crab cake, stuffed shrimp with crab and fish and chips ....
very good, but the stuffed shrimp came in a butter filled dish that was just to much butter ....
I tried the perfect Patron and we sampled the Schooner Mai Tai and the Tiatanic tea.
All in all - a "nice" place to eat, but I can not see making a habit of eating at the shack.
Disclaimer: This review is based on Happy Hour Alone
Cheap cheap cheap! Three of us ate and had at least three drinks each and our bill was $23! Great drink and food specials. Food specials are ala carte (i.e. $0.25 for a buffalo chicken strip, $0.50 for a coconut shrimp, etc, etc) and drinks are $1.25 drafts and $2 wines and wells! Service wasn't very prompt but bartender was friendly. With no bar back he was overwhelmed. Would definitely return for another happy hour.
When I came here, this place was so empty. I guess it was because we came on a weekday. The service was ok, and so was the snow crab. I prefer Crab hut way better because of the price and it just seems more fun there. The inside of the restaurant was clean and creative, and I like how they have shirts that says "my waitress gave me crabs". Classic.
$10 Off - Mention YELP
Neighborhood: Hillcrest
Join us for Yelp Drinks!
Neighborhood: Gaslamp
San Diego, CA
Category: Seafood
Neighborhood: Kearny Mesa
Category: Cajun/Creole
Neighborhood: Normal Heights
Category: Barbers
San Diego, CA
Category: Seafood
Neighborhood: Old Town
Category: Cajun/Creole
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
People and places that could lead to me punching…
Little restaurants and stores that have delicious…
This is Bar and Restaurant I been staying in San…
