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Port Angeles Crab House
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- Paid
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Very Loud
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
16 reviews for Port Angeles Crab House
16 reviews in English
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Review from Scott B.
Ford, WA
2/9/2012
We ate here 5 breakfasts in a row. The food was consistantly good with the only problem being the service. The food not part of the buffet is pretty good but I was rather rather upset that the eggs in the buffet were cooked with onions. Scrambled eggs should not be cooked with onions unless you request it that way. The real problem was with the service. Our first 2 days our server was 'Shelly' and she was bright, cheerful and very courteous. We felt like valued customers. Te next day she was apparently on vacation and all the the rest of the staff seemed to be comfused about how to do their jobs. They were openly arguing with each other quite loudly and confusing every customer there with how thing were to be priced on the menu. All in all it seems that this could be easily fixed by a manager reminding everyone about customer service.
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Review from Laser Ivan A.
Seattle, WA
8/22/2011
NO CRAB AT THE CRAB HOUSE
I'm on the Peninsula and I realize that I must have whole Dungeness crab. I call two different restaurants to find out what time they close.
Three Crabs in Sequim closes at 8:00 PM.
The Crab House closes at 9:00 PM.
I arrive at the Crab House at 7:45 PM and get seated right away. The seating is arranged so that everyone may look out the front windows at a fairly decent water view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
I get a big table in the front row closest to the window. In the next row back, there is a married couple in their seventies sitting in these crimson red wraparound lounge chairs seated on either side of a very small round table. These two have obviously had this place staked out for several hours. Between them is an anthology of various sized glasses with an empty bottle of wine standing tall and proud as a testament to the early evening's high-water mark. The man has sunk way low in his chair so that his arms now extend directly out from his neck and his legs are sprawled out in front of him like a frog who's been flipped over on his back. He keeps murmuring something to his wife as she methodically pecks at her phone, and not once has he taken his eyes off of me.
I start reading the menu but I've been to the Crab House before and I already know that I want a whole Dungeness crab. At this point I'm just holding up the menu as a shield from the old couple staring at me. It looks like they have beef selections, and chicken, and some fish, but I'm just not seeing the crab. There are five things on the entire menu with about an ounce of crab, stuff like crab & artichoke dip, crab cakes, but no sign of whole crab.
Ten minutes later when the server approaches I ask about the lack of crab on the menu. She began a well-practiced speech, as I would hear again later note for note.
"We are under new ownership and the new owner feels that if we cannot get fresh crab then we just won't serve crab at all. You see, there is an art to flash freezing crabs and since suppliers can't consistently flash freeze their crabs, then we just won't serve them until we can get them fresh in season."
The season in Port Angeles is from July 1 through Labor Day.
Apparently, the "Crab House" only serves crab two months out of the entire year. They don't even have some other kind of crab. How can they call themselves the "Crab House"?
I look at the time and it's now 8:00 PM and I can almost picture the scene over at the Three Crabs restaurant after a slow Sunday night the door is getting locked behind the last few happy diners to leave. Then suddenly I find myself back under the glare of this annoyed looking woman lurking over my shoulder. It was the sound of her voice that brought me to, as if she knew that I was visualizing myself at some other restaurant in the area smugly enjoying a whole buttery Dungeness crab.
"We've already called around to all the other places in town and they don't have crab either. Would you like some more time to look at the menu?"
I ended up getting this sorry excuse for fish and chips. I'm not sure if I trust these people mixing my liquor. I ordered double shots of Grand Marnier because it's hard to screw that up. I took some time to completely reevaluate the situation and pretty soon I was raving out loud about how this place shouldn't be allowed to call itself the "Crab House" if they don't serve crab. The old couple couldn't get enough of it!
"There are plenty of places around the peninsula where it is in season. Have it shipped in fresh. It's not too far to go to West Port. You're already charging a premium anyway. Or just mark it on the menu as frozen. I'll understand." I wanted more to drink but the server had vanished and hadn't been seen for a half hour. I had to get up and top off my own water. When I sat back down I started to become aware of the conversation at the table to my right.
"That's the car ferry from Canada." (It was actually the 2000 passenger cruise ship Oosterdam.)
"If you only take the ferry to Seattle, not from, and drive around, you never have to pay."
Then later we see the Black Ball ferry pulling in and you're able to see the giant doors on the side of the ship for loading cars.
"Oh, that must be the ferry from Canada, but it doesn't take cars."
I turn to look and see a humble midwestern family who appear to either have been taken hostage or be getting the grand tour of the Pacific Northwest from their slob of an adopted son who happens to be wearing a Huskies sweatshirt. These poor people have been dragged all the way to the Port Angeles "Crab House" where they don't even serve crab and this kid will probably make mom pay when they get back to the Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal on their way back to Seattle.
The old couple had got up to leave and I did the same not long after. Without crab for most of the year, how can you call yourself the "Crab House"?Listed in: Ivan Food
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Review from Ginger P.
Bothell, WA
1/31/2012
Coco and Dana are the best part of this place. Don't go Tuesday if you're female and alone because you'll be bothered incessantly by Marvin. It's too bad about this place. Some great employees... Poor resources, only one item on the menu I will order and I now go only if everything else is closed.
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Review from Timothy C.
Sequim, WA
6/18/2011
I went to the Crab House hoping for decent American menus that my visiting Grandmother would enjoy. The best thing about the Crab House was the beautiful view of the ocean and pier.
We ordered lunch consisting of a crab sandwich, three bowls of clam chowder, a salad and two fish kids meals. It took a little over 20 minutes to get our food and when it arrived EVERY order had french fries even though only one person at our table of five had ordered them (they did give of the fries without extra charge). The kids meals were available with fries or the soup of the day. My son asked if he could have clam chowder instead of the soup of the day and we were told that was fine but there would be a small additional charge. The small additional charge turned out to be the cost of a separate cup of clam chowder bringing the price of his kids meal over $11.
On the up side the clam chowder was actually fairly good, it tasted like it was both fresh and not a box mix. The rest of the food was standard Food Services of America quality that is available at any number of other American food restaurants on the Olympic Peninsula. -
Review from Emma A.
Jerome, FL
9/19/2010
I knew this place has subpar reviews, but I remember eating there once 5 years ago and they had crab legs that were really good. My first clue to stay away was that 5 years ago, I didn't make it but 5 minutes out of the place and had to run back in with horrible runs.
Our second clue was that one of the waiters told us that if we didn't like the menu, he could suggest some other places in town to go. Third clue was that there really wasn't that much on seafood on the menu and the whole point for going was the seafood aspect.
Fourth clue that this place sucked: we were really hungry and probably relatively easy to please. I ordered the crab sandwich with the soup of the day which our server said was turkey rice-great a nice replacement for the fries that the sandwich came with. My boyfriend got a salad with salmon, wild rice and veggies.
The food was so disgusting when it came! First the waiter got my order wrong. He brought me clam chowder instead of turkey rice-I'm lactose intolerant. He also brought me fries. I planned not to touch those since my diet of avoiding fries has worked for the past year. The sandwich was disgusting-cheddar cheese and crab is a gross combo. My boyfriend was served cold steamed veggies and underdone salmon.
Fifth clue when the only thing that was good was the salad and the fries-that's when you know something's wrong. Sixth clue, I got a horrible MSG induced headache from something I ate, this time only 5 minutes after walking out into the parking lot.
Awful awful awful...bad food....bad service...disappointig seafood, it's awful. We went to Bella Italia's for dessert afterwards and THAT was heavenly and saved the evening. -
Review from Chrissy F.
Lynnwood, WA
3/21/2011
Service was friendly but painfully slow, but there was only one server when our table of three stopped in for lunch around 1 PM on a Sunday and a few tables hadn't been cleared. I got the feeling there was supposed to be more staff that handn't shown up for work yet. Keep in mind, this place is part of the Red Lion hotel, so you're getting hotel-restaurant food.
That being said, we all ordered the halibut fish and chips. We were a little concerned at $14.95 what we would get and when I saw other tables' food being brought out, it look a little on the over-done side... BUT, our food was DELICIOUS! The halibut was fresh and fluffy and thick, panko breaded, golden and delicious (2 pieces and a good amount of fries). That with an ice tea, tax, and tip came out to $21 (an average price in WA state for lunch at a waterfront seafood restaurant)
We may have lucked out because we all ordered the same thing and all agreed it was GREAT food, mediocre service. It's on the pricey side, but we had a waterfront view. I would actually give the fish and chips 4 stars, but the service was slow enough and they had 4 or 5 large tv's on with basketball in the restaurant which lessened the ambiance, and it brings my rating down to 3 stars. -
Review from Elaine K.
Verona, WI
8/5/2011
NEW MANAGEMENT
When my husband and I read all the poor reviews, we ate elsewhere although we are staying at the Red Lion Hotel for a few days. Then when we were in a hurry for breakfast before catching the ferry, we decided to try the restaurant! Food and service were great!
When we returned from Victoria, we also had excellent food here, My husband had gourmet quality Steelhead,moist and flaky on garlic mashed potatoes topped with julienned fresh veggies! I wasn't very hungry so had a burger - very tasty with crisp fries. The service was prompt and knowledgeable. The restaurant manager explained that he has recently arrived from Seattle and taken over and knew the food had been bad in the past. Judging from our experience, diners will get excellent food and service here now! -
Review from Charity H.
Everett, WA
7/28/2010
To call this place a crab house is a stretch. I'm pretty sure you have to have crab on the menu to be considered such. We had the fish and chips, which were over breaded and had a burnt oil taste to them. As did the fries. The clam chowder was okay. Bland, but I've definitely had worse. It was a real disappointment seeing as how it we were so close to the ocean. We were expecting something fresher and a wider variety of seafood choices. (I think they had maybe three or four seafood items on the menu.) The restaraunt had an odd, oily smell to it and don't even ask about the "decor". Bleah.
We definitely won't be going back. -
Review from Walt W.
Ashburn, VA
7/27/2008
I've only had breakfast here a dozen time. Quite frankly I feel Denny's can do it better. Yeah. That's right.
For a mere $9 plus tax + tip, you can have 2 eggs, hash browns, 3 pieces of soggy bacon and toast. Coffee is an extra $2. Juice, $4.
I had never realized it was possible to cut fruit wedges so thin until I had the $6 continental breakfast.
Eggs Benedict, don't even bother. -
Review from Maui H.
Wailuku, HI
6/2/2011
The smartest thing the owner of this place did was to buy a cool looking sign that every tourist can see. They definitely are only surviving off ill informed tourists. No local in their right mind would consider eating here twice. This place makes dennys look like five star dining.
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Review from Chuck W.
Grand Forks, ND
4/22/2011
This place truly sucks. The chef walked out, in the middle of our meal. They try about as hard, as a denny's, after the bar rush. The buffet breakfast, tasted like prison food. Dinner was far worse. We all got sick, and vomited, off our room patio. Recommend fasting; rather than spending one minute here. You have been warned!
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Review from Greg F.
Seattle, WA
11/14/2010
Dropped in here with my family for lunch on our way home. Didn't double check yelp. Any other restaurant within 300 feet would have been a better choice. Very friendly service but the food was terrible.
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Review from Mark P.
Chicago, IL
9/7/2011
This was our first time eating Dungeness Crab and it was very well presented, well-cooked, and accompanied by healthy and tasty side items. The staff were friendly, and the atmosphere was relaxed and enjoyable. Also had a great view of the harbor!
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Review from Karen P.
Blacksburg, VA
7/20/2011
We rolled into our room at 10:00PM at night and didn't feel like going out to find a restaurant. We were actually pleased with our meal. My husband had the fish and chips and I had a burger, both were good. Service was good, view was great, meal was a little overpriced, but it was very convenient for us.
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Review from Tim F.
San Diego, CA
7/15/2009
For a place named "Crab House" it's a little funny that they barely had crabs on the menu. I had to order the crab-stuffed salmon to get a taste of dungeness crabs. The food was really good and the atmosphere in the lounge was nice with a great waterfront view. The main restaurant is very dated though, circa 1970.
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Review from Nikii B.
San Francisco, CA
8/25/2010
eww. First I agree that for the name crab house they are seriously lacking anything in the menu with crabs. There were four of us whom ate here 3 adults and 1 child. And the only thing we received that was even edible waS an order of fish and chips. 6 of 7 items were wrong. Wrong drink. Wrong side dish. Forgotten icecream. No sauce. No dressing. My meal was crab stuffed shrimp. I.believe it was close to 20$ looking at my meAl and tasting it. It seriously could've come from a lean cuisine microwaveable meal. The sauce was gross and my crab stuffed shrimp were crouton stuffed shrimp. My god baby ordered MAC and cheese even that was cold and curdled. My.boyfriends salad was wilted and we had to ask three times for.dressing. this is seriously.one of the worst meals I have EVER had. Even the ambiance is lame. It's an old Dennys with a crab house rug in the front. Stay away. I would reccomend eating ANYWHERE but here. Afterwards I didn't even feel well after the little I ate and it was expensive. Ugh.
