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Red Crawfish
Categories: Restaurants Asian Fusion Restaurants Cajun/Creole Asian Fusion, Cajun/Creole [Edit]
611 Larkin St(between Eddy St & Willow St)
San Francisco, CA 94109
Neighborhood: Civic Center/Tenderloin
(415) 771-1388
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 11 am - 10 pm
Sat-Sun 12 pm - 10 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage, Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
Nicole W. said: "Came here because I bought the Living Social Deal. Customer service: 5/5 Our waiter was awesome! I don't remember his name but he chit-chatted throughout the entire dinner service and was HILARIOUS. Also really honest in his menu…" read more »
595 reviews for Red Crawfish
Review Highlights
"The Garlic Noodles are sooo yummy and flavorful."
(in 260 reviews)
"Boiling Crab does seafood very very well."
(in 135 reviews)
"the beignets were off the chain as well."
(in 93 reviews)
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595 reviews in English
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Review from Denny P.
San Jose, CA
1/27/2012 1 Check-in Here
I came here mad famished with a good friend of mine. We ordered the garlic noodles w/ shrimp and the BBQ short ribs. Both had a serving size of about two people and we were most definitely satisfied with the taste of everything. Next time I will actually order some seafood seeing as how this is a restaurant that specializes in seafood. haha
Service was good and we really didn't have any problems with our waitress. -
Review from Binh H.
San Francisco, CA
1/22/2012 1 Check-in Here
We came here Saturday at around 6PM and it was empty. Lucky us! This place is comparable to Boiling Crab except it's a few dollars more expensive.
Raw Oysters:
Not so fresh, I rather go down the street to Mayes for oysters.
Soda:
It's 1.75 for a can. Really??
1lb of Shrimp:
I ordered the original seasoning and the spicy level. Their sauce is delicious but the spiciness was a bit too hot for me. My nose was dripping half way through the meal. I love sucking the head of the shrimp, mm brains! The shrimp shell is kinda difficult to peel.
1lb of the Combo Special (clams, mussels, shrimp, crawfish):
The clams tasted fresh but the mussels were dry/old. It was my first time eating crawfish, not a big fan. There's barely any meat and I wasn't a fan of the flavor.
Garlic Noodles:
I ordered this because it was recommended on a lot of Yelp reviews. It's good when it's hot but it gets cold fast. It's a good side dish to eat with the spicy food. Balances out the heat.
Overall I would come back. But beware your tummy will burn! -
Review from Golda R.
1/15/2012
Some of my bridesmaids took me here for dinner just before jetting off to see a drag show (not a very good one). This was the high point of my night.
I haven't yet tried Boiling Crab and I assume this place is similar in the way you experience the food. Food comes in a bag. Choose the seafood, then the sides, and then pick how many pounds of it you want.
I'm not a big crawfish fan so I didn't care too much for it. But the drenched corn, potatoes, and shrimp were gooooood!! I think the corn does the best job in soaking up all the juices from the bag, and it ended up having the most flavor.
It was a fun and messy meal. You gotta just use your paws, tie your hair back, and dig in. Make sure you don't rub your eye either - won't be a very good feeling.
This place gets pretty crowded because it's such a hole in the wall. There is nothing fancy about this place. It's all about the food and you just have to ignore how very small and confining the seating can be. -
Review from David C.
San Francisco, CA
2/5/2012
Great restaurant, I went here with my cousin. Came here around 7pm and got seated within 10-15 mins. We ordered the Dinner Special #1 which came with Garlic noodle(tasted great), Garlic bread, sweet potato fries, and 3 pounds of Crawfish, all for $39.99. Great price, great food overall.
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Review from garvin l.
San Francisco, CA
2/8/2012
so i had the cravings for some crawdads oneday and my friend recommended "red crawfish" coco's crawfish had been closed for some time now, and being the only crawdad spot left in the city, i decided to give it a try. WORSE MISTAKE EVER!!!
i orderd 1 lb. of crawdad, 4 corn, and six pieces of sausages. $20
crawdads:
- FROZEN bite size miniature versions of what appeared to be a sorry-ass excuse of crawdads! HOW DARE THEM!!!
- the tail was blan and mushy!
- the gills and guts were discolored and still had the odor of the swampy cesspool they pulled these suckers out of !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
corn on a cob:
- what can i say? not bad. but not good either.
-and besides, no matter how good the corn is, its still not gonna be able to salvage their reputation!
sausages:
-sliced so thin that even 6 pieces don't compare to 2 pieces from coco's crawfish!!!
-way too salty
SO DISAPOINTING!!!
NEVER AGAIN!!!
EVER!!! -
Review from Harry L.
San Francisco, CA
2/4/2012
Got to red crawfish at 7:00pm. Had to wait 10 minutes before we were able to get a table. We ordered the 39.99 dinner special. Had garlic bread, fries, garlic noodles, and three pounds of crawfish. For 39.99 thats a hella of a deal. Crawfish was big sized. Ordered medium spicy with cajun flavor. It was the perfect flavor that you can get. The garlic noodles were delicious. It was a tasty meal. Gave them a fat tip for refilling my water. I love water with spicy food. Its just perfect for the night. Me and my cousin got some good cajin food.
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Review from T L.
Union City, CA
1/31/2012
S.Heart and I went here on a Saturday night at 8 p.m. We waited 30 minutes to get seated. Their waiting list is one where you write down your name and party. Red Crawfish staff didn't honor the First Come, First Served general rule of thumb; another couple who arrived after us got seated first, simply because they were waiting inside the restaurant, but S.Heart and I were waiting right outside the door. No room to wait inside. I would have been peeved about this, but the food gods were shining down on us, as we got seated very soon after sneaky couple.
I went in ready to compare RC to Boiling Crab because I love BC. In short, BC is better. The RC Special Seasoning is similar to BC, but more water-y and less flavorful. My shrimps had a hard time holding onto the flavor. I didn't expect my 1 lb. of shrimp to come in a bowl. Not a problem, though. One perk is that RC offers garlic noodles which were tasty.
If I'm elsewhere, I'd choose BC. If in SF, I'm glad to know I have RC to turn to. -
Review from Emily T.
1/6/2012 1 Check-in Here
What a sweet place. You don't need to drive down to boiling crab anymore!
2 lbs of combination spicy crawfish with sausage (you have to get the sausage!!!) They are not huge, but with the sausage, it was plenty for 2 girls.
Sweet Potato fries and garlic noodles (I'd recommend you stay away from anything with a nose for 48 hours) are right on the money.
Love this place, will be back fo mo! -
Review from Jason B.
1/1/2012
So much work. So little reward.
We'll agree to disagree Yelpers. You've given Red Crawfish an average of four out of five stars from almost 600 reviews. Maybe you like seafood sitting in oil disguised as a special sauce? Or perhaps you enjoy making a complete mess to open up a trademark crawfish only to find a speck of meat inside.
Did I just pay $13 for a pound of frustration?
My dining companion was smart and suggested our second dish be tofu and vegetables. Almost half the price and double the amount of food. Still plenty of oil and sodium.
Service was nothing more than taking our order, delivering our food and slapping down the bill. Indifferent at best.
Consider me one of the few that doesn't like New Orleans. Also consider me one of the few that doesn't like this version of Louisiana cooking. More crawfish for the rest of you. -
Review from Mike V.
This place is a lot of fun and a total mess but so long as you are not planning to talk to anyone apart from your friends who also dove head-first into either the spicy or the garlic shrimp and crawfish (which come in bags...yes, BAGS, to your table) you should be fine.
We ate here Friday night, and I think the last of us stopped smelling like garlic around 12 noon SUNDAY (four showers and multiple Sonicare/Listerine runs later).
Worth it? Completely. There's nothing quite like watching your friends ask your girlfriend to re-tie their lobster bibs or save them from destroying their clothes with well time paper towel rescuing... such a keeper.
(and if you don't try to eat 30+ pounds of food like our little group, i think this place is a really good deal) -
Review from Dr H.
Oakland, CA
1/28/2012
Our visit to this restaurant wasn't planned. We attempted to eat at another popular restaurant nearby, but the wait was over 2 hours long. So, we walked the streets in search of food. We stumbled across this unalluring place and decided to eat here after reviewing the menu. We were pleasantly surprised and satisfied with everything we ordered including the catfish and crayfish. The portions were ideal and the food was seasoned just right. Customer service was excellent, probably because we were the only patrons in the restaurant!
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Review from Anita C.
Rockville, MD
12/22/2011 1 photo
Came to Red Crawfish last Saturday night with friends, and was pleased with this Boiling Crab substitute. The sauce and the food is OK, but not as mindblowingly amazing Boiling Crab. Then again, you don't have to wait 1-2 hours for the food.
Situated in Civic Center/Tenderloin, this restaurant has Boiling Crab-esque shrimp in a very oily, garlicky sauce. I think the sauce is greasier than Boiling Crab's, and its' pretty evident when you pick up the bag. It gets pretty gross, but the shrimp is pretty good. Their special sauce has more of an Asian taste to it. I prefer shrimp to crawfish because it's easier to eat and there's more meat. We also ordered their salt and pepper shrimp, which was pretty yummy.
The prices are a little more expensive - I think $11.99/lb of shrimp.
Tip: Squeeze lime into your fingertips and fingers to neutralize the garlicky and seafood-y smell of your food. Then, wash your hands and you won't be able to smell anything!
Bottom line: A good choice if you don't want to make the drive or wait out to San Jose, but definitely not as good as Boiling Crab. -
Review from AhLin C.
San Francisco, CA
12/21/2011
We had the set dinner menu that had a bit of everything.
Crawfish - Not bad. Varied in size, the spice level was good. The crawfish itself was good.
Shrimp - Eh, it didn't seem too fresh and it was just ok. Maybe it was cooked/simmered in the sauce for too long.
Garlic Noodles - It was surprisingly good.
Yam Fries - How could it not be good?
Forgot the other stuff we had that night, but everything seemed good. Service was not bad either. They were busy but still gave us refills of soda, water and napkins.
It's definitely a place I will come back to. -
Review from Ben B.
North Beach/Telegraph Hill, San Francisco, CA
12/5/2011
Being from the Gulf Coast, just next door to Louisiana, and having worked at a cajun restaurant as a waiter, I can't bring myself to give this place 5 stars. I feel like to earn a perfect score, we really need to be outside, sitting at a picnic table covered with newspaper, crawfish piled high and shells scattered on the ground, but for San Francisco, I imagine this is about as good as it gets.
I originally suggested Red Crawfish selfishly for a friend's surprise birthday dinner because I really wanted to try it out and get my crawfish fix. Conveniently, I also thought it would be a fun, novel social experience for a lot of the people in attendance not fortunate enough to spend time on the Third Coast. I was so right that we cam back again next year for the same birthday celebration, and my guess is we'll be back still again this crawfish season.
One tip - don't mess with the shrimp. I don't know if it's the quality of the shrimp or the way the shrimp are prepared, but deshelling those little buggers is way more trouble than it's worth. It's like getting a hardboiled egg that just doesn't want to give up its shells. So much more satisfying when it all comes off at once. The shrimp entice you with their larger size relative to the crawfish tails, but if you know what you are doing, I promise you can get through 10x the crawfish in the time it takes to get through one shrimp (and this is based on more than one visit to Red Crawfish). -
Review from Stella B.
San Francisco, CA
1/26/2012 1 Check-in Here
Very spicy, I love spicy!!! Need to go back and try more. Crawfish was tasty,
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Review from Kevin T.
11/28/2011 1 Check-in Here
Where is the hype about this place?!
After getting my ear filled with all the garbage about boiling crab and the "Cajun" places around San Jose I was kinda reluctant to try this place. But, this place is as good as it gets if you're trying to enjoy seafood in a bag without walking out with stained red fingers and smelling like a mess.
The seasoning and sauce here is done just right, unlike other places that overkill you with garlic like you're twilight or something...I digress. Ordered the Seafood Combo - catfish, shrimp, calamari, and oysters (de-shelled). The best word I've ever seen on a menu: de-shelled. Thank you for understanding that sometimes people might have plans for their hands afterwords, forever grateful.
Big portions, good service, and chill atmosphere. I used the sauce and mixed it with some white rice for a snack later that night, so good.
In short, this place shits on boiling crab. I said it, boom! -
Review from Chris V.
Honolulu, HI
11/24/2011 1 Check-in Here
Woohoo is RIGHT!
I was fortunate to have dinner here while on vacation. What a great treat.
Our dinner spread consisted of:
1lb. of crawfish in mild sauce
1lb. of crawfish in hot sauce
1lb. of shrimp in hot sauce
oxtail stew
Chinese broccoli in garlic sauce
Garlic-butter noodles
Everything was AWESOME!
The three of us destroyed everything. Nothing left for takeout. We were full but still mobile and my hosts and I walked all over the Tenderloin and surrounding areas.
Thank to FirstContact S. for suggesting this great place. -
Review from J-Nine d.
Daly City, CA
11/14/2011
I've been here twice with my BF. This place has great food!
Must try the ox tail, crab, and SHRIMP.
I guess the crawfish is good, but I hate working so much for so little reward (meat) haha.
Garlic Noodles are good. Service is great.
I want crab now!!! -
Review from DeathandFood b.
San Francisco, CA
11/13/2011
SO very very good. I love any place that serves seafood by the pound and doesn't mess around. Can't wait to go back once the commercial crab season starts. After trying to have dinner next door at Bodega Bistro and leaving there still hungry, Red Crawfish was a godsend.
We got the salt and pepper crawfish, the seafood combo boil with the red crawfish sauce medium heat, cajun fries the garlic noodles. Everything came out quick, was super fresh and was so delicious. I think it's some of the best crawfish I have had outside of South Carolina and Louisiana. The seasonings were more like the ones I was used to in Malaysia and Indonesia than in the US south but they work well and I don't expect anything like authentic (hate that freaking word) southern crawfish in San Francisco.
The clams were ok but not as good as the prawns and other shellfish in the mixed seafood boil.
Frankly we ordered too much food and took home most of the noodles which taste great the day after too.
I also think reviewers knocking it for being in the Tenderloin should just stay the heck out of the Tenderloin if it scares them that much. No one is forcing you to come here so step off.
I'm planning on going back with 6-8 people so we can try all the dishes. -
Review from JORGE R.
Covina, CA
11/21/2011 1 Check-in Here
My second evening in the City I hit the street and went for a walk not far from my Hotel. I had read about the Red Crawfish and I had been craving Cajun food before I left home on this business trip. I had skimmed over Carlie's reviews to get an idea of new places I wanted to try on this trip. So I took a closer look and decided tonight was a great night for Crawfish. I haven't had Crawfish since I was in New Orleans for the Heritage Jazz Festival last year. I liked the spin of Asian Fusion thing going on with Cajun. I took to streets crossed Market and went into the tenderloin. I cut over a street to avoid the street people who wanted every last penny I had in my pockets. No change.... sorry plastic only..... Holmes.
I made it into the small restaurant, menu dishes blow up into poster on the walls but best of all white butcher paper on the table tops. Simple, effective and telling me this is not a first date kind of place perfect for my wife and I tough. A new one for the baby I have a place for us to try tonight next time we are in the Bay Area. Eating alone you can get everything you want but I did my best.
Papaya beef Salad, refreshing tart incredible
Garlic noodle with shrimp....Hmmmm good
Seafood Combo med heat, clams, mussels, shrimp and crawfish 2 lbs never enough but satisfying
Cold Tsingtao to wash it down
Good Eats -
Review from Heather B.
San Francisco, CA
11/18/2011
Omg....it's so good. Prawns, clams, crabs. Everything is so tasty. But $40 for a small size of a crab, I think it's over priced!!
If u go there, order something else, not the crab! -
Review from Diana H.
San Francisco, CA
11/14/2011 1 Check-in Here
Everyone always talks about boiling crab, and we go all the way out to Man Jose to wait for it. But Red Crawfish is just as good! The crawfish here are a little smaller, but I like the sauce here better.
I usually get shrimp and/or crawfish. (Make sure you mix the bag before you open it up to get all that sauce on top of your shrimp!) Sweet potato fries, garlic noodles, and a watermelon drink or two to cool my taste buds. Just skip the clams. It's not worth it. -
Review from Tom P.
10/25/2011
I must say, I'm pleasantly surprised after having lunch here. I wasn't expecting much after ordering one of their rice plates, because I mean, this is a Cajun/Creole place right?
After helping myself to the Five Spice Chicken with broccoli and a fried egg over rice, I found myself extremely satisfied and filled up. That fried egg! It was so perfect. And though my taste buds couldn't really distinguish the 'five spice-ness' of the chicken, the food was thoroughly fresh and that goes a long way in my book.
I often pass up Red Crawfish and head in to Pho 2000. But not anymore folks. Not anymore. Now about those crawfish... -
Review from Arlene Z.
San Francisco, CA
10/1/2011
Tonight was my daughter's b-day celebration and she chose this place for a group of 8 of us plus two baby toddlers. We didn't have any reservations, but they still took us all. That's awesome for a Saturday night. OMG! I just love this place.
Four of us started out with a pound of the crawfish appetizers and wow is there sauce delicious! Then when everyone got there, we ordered more crawfish appetizers, a combo of their prawns, mussels, and clams.
Most of us were into the appetizers, but some of us ordered their chicken wings which were very tasty, as well. Some cajun fries were ordered and some corn on the cob. Their garlic noodles and their mixed vegetables with tofu was delicious, too. We topped it off with a chocolate mousse cake I brought and we ordered a tray of beignet.
They had excellent service. We didn't have to wait long for anything. The only thing was it did get warm in the restaurant, but not sure if it was because we were all stuffed with eating so much food.
I definitely will go back again to dine at this restaurant. Thumbs up! -
Review from Y L.
San Francisco, CA
9/17/2011
When I can't make it to San Jose for crawfish, this is the next best option.
For being in the TL, this place has awesome crawfish. I highly recommend you getting crawfish in the original red crawfish sauce, and the garlic noodles. You won't be disappointed.Listed in: Good for Groups
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Review from herm p.
San Francisco, CA
12/24/2011
I was here last week with a a bunch of photographer friends for dinner. What a place! Cooked red crawfish and or shrimp in a one pound plastic bag and a plastic bib to keep the mess away. It was good if you like to use your fingers to crack the shells... a little on the messy side haha! Not for those who like to use their forks and knives. But to bring a date here, I don't recommend it. It's too messy. But we did pick up two girls to go out with us afterwards.
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Review from Rob G.
San Francisco, CA
11/7/2011
I tried to go to Turtle Tower on the next block up (that place is ALWAYS full, it has GOT to be good) but it was busy as usual. Next thing I know, I'm lookin at David Alan Greer hop out of a Subaru with a kid and an older fella. "Oh shit, that's David Alan Greer," I said predictably. I tipped my cap to him and he returned the gesture. I am now, by proxy a celebrity for the day.
He and his fam went into Red Crawfish. Although I had to question the authenticity of a cajun place run by asian folks, that sort of thing is pretty common in SF.
They get it done right in there. R&B playing on the radio. TVs had the Raiders game on. Food was reasonably priced and tasty. I got a pound of crawfish and my sister got the calamari and cajun fries meal. We shared, crushed crayfish and left content. -
Review from Jen T.
San Francisco, CA
9/27/2011
This is the closest you're gonna get to Boiling Crab. The service is great and the food was delicious. I actually prefer this over BC because the seasoning at BC could be very overwhelming.
We ordered the combo (crawfish, shrimp, mussel, clams) and also a separate order of shrimp. I do wish they gave us more garlic in the sauce but it was tasty, nonetheless.
Definitely a gem to check out when you're in the Tenderloin district. Just be careful when you're getting in and out of your car. -
Review from Mason W.
San Francisco, CA
1/27/2012
If you're looking for fresh, authentic New Orleans crawfish in SF, don't waste your money here. Maybe it was due to the January pre-season, but I bought 5 lbs for a dinner party and not one of the crawfish were fresh. The tail meat was complete mush, obviously the crawfish were dead before the boil. None of it was edible. They don't even use authentic spices, nothing like you can get if you do it yourself with a fresh delivery from New Orleans! For the price I paid for 5 lbs of dead crawfish I could have ordered 10 lbs of live crawfish the next day from NO, including spices, and boiled them myself. My mistake!
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Review from Alex L.
The trek to Red Crawfish was exciting from Union Square. Along the way, we walked by so many homeless in the TL. Some were on wheelchair, some were laying across the sidewalk, and some were bundled up so well they looked like a couch. I certainly hope this isn't the "Last Supper".
We walk in (still alive) and ready to eat some seafood! Among the 4 of us, we ordered a total of 4lbs of clams, 4 lbs of shrimp, a dozen oysters, a pound of crawfish, corn, and sausage. The food came out in bowls. Not what we expected since the standard issue are bags.
The clams were ok. Not as big and juicy as Boiling Crab. Prawns were blah as well. The corn tasted like it was frozen and rethawed. After paying a total of $152 between the 4 of us, we were still hella hungry so we had to trek thru the TL some more in search of "dinner after dinner". The jokes were on the muggers. We aint got no mo dough bro!
For the money, head to Boiling Crab. The mood is much more festive there and your sphincter will remind you how delish their red sauce was the night before :) -
Review from Jane A.
9/12/2011
DELICIOUS LITTLE CRITTERS
(3.8 stars)
To welcome crab season... it was definately a crustacean kind of night to end the weekend.
Friends from work and I have decided to meet up Sunday evening and go for dinner. They've been to this restaurant but I have not. The HIPSTER in me has been discovering the tenderloin aka 'loin' and been finding some suprises.
HEFFER-STYLE STATUS.
SET DINNER SPECIAL #1 ($39.99) - Sweet Potato Fries, 3 Pounds of Crawfish, Garlic Noodles, Garlic Bread, and Beignets (2 pieces). We substituted the sweet potato fries for cajun fries and garlic bread for corn. Cajun fries came out first, yummy - but a bit spicy. Garlic Noodles were next, delicious. bag of the 3 pounds of crawfish came out - crackin! Where's our corn? They put the corn inside the bag of crawfish. that's cool but wish i had my corn on the side to eat instead of fetching it out of the bag drentched in sauce. We had the crawfish cooked in orginal sauce which had a very strong taste but was very tasty. Love eating and dipping my crawfish meat in the lime/salt&pepper dipping.
ALASKA KING CRAB LEGS (seasonal price/$28.99 per pound) - had this in the galic butter sauce. king crab legs is popular in the pacific northwest, my friends here in cali never had it. wow, seriously?! I wasn't too thrilled with the preparation - it was OVERLY drentched in the garlic butter sauce which really took away the taste of king crab legs. You can literally just steam the king grab legs and be happy with that because the meat is sweet on its own. Portion wise, we got pretty good size legs but for the price we paid and how it was prepaired, i can make it better at home. AND the shell was soft by being soaked in the sauce and they give you the crab crackers that don't even work. Common sense, either you crack them for us or you give us tools that work. Save your money for a better experience on the alaska king crab legs.
VANILLA ICECREAM & BEIGNETS - this dessert comes with the Set Dinner Special #1. It was SO good. We were lucky to receive 3 pieces and two scoops of icecream. The beignets were the size of donut-holes, freshly prepared, drizzled with powder sugar and chocolate, and the icecream definately went well together.
LEMONADE ($2.50) - The taste of the lemonade was subtle and sweet but not overly sweet. usually lemonade is tangy but not this one. Quenched my thirst when gulping down these crustacean.
Will I be back? Yes, i definately can see myself coming back to this place.
Until the next review... -
Review from Tina A.
San Francisco, CA
10/15/2011
came in a party of 8 for dinner
FYI for big parties they tack on 18% gratuity, even if you do split the bill so look at your reciept carefully before you accidentally tip 30%.
we had a fairly large group but luckily the staff allowed us to do separate checks
this is my second visit to red crawfish, i was not too impressed with the crawfish (dry, old, mushy meat) or the shrimp (salty but otherwise tasteless) my first visit. so this time i decided to get garlic noodles with shrimp. it was alright. the nooodles were salty, but there was an abundance of fresh fried garlic, which i really liked. there were a decent 7(?) shrimps...not to outrageous for the price. this plus an arnold palmer, which was an extremely sweet mix of lemonade and iced tea. all this plust 18% gratuity came out to be $15. at least i was full by the end of the meal. i also had a little headache so maybe there was some msg in that garlic noodle, or maybe because they only gave us 2 glasses of water when all 8 of us needed some halfway through the meal, or maybe it was just me.
overall a decent place to have dinner, but i would just go to the boiling crab. -
Review from Roy C.
San Francisco, CA
8/17/2011 1 Check-in Here
Boiling Crab has set the bar pretty damn high for Vietnamese-owned Cajun joints. In SF, I've only found two restaurants that are similar to Boiling Crab: (1) Craw Station and (2) Red Crawfish.
Craw Station, in the Sunset, is a pretty good contender to Boiling Crab.
Red Crawfish is definitely not.
The main problem with Red Crawfish is that it tries to be fancier than it really is. In an establishment where you're eating with a bib, with red sauce all over your face, and hands that look like Dexter's -- it's obviously not a fancy place. Boiling Crab and Craw Station know that and so they create an environment that feels like a family BBQ on a large fishing boat. It's an ambiance that encourages a fun time with your friends and family, throwing shells on the table and squeezing ketchup onto the parchment paper. Red Crawfish, however, takes all the fun out of it. Sure, serving the crawfish and shrimp in plates is fine, but there's something so satisfying about having a big piping-hot plastic bag of your goods plopped onto the table.
Eating at Red Crawfish is like when you're at a school dance and you have chaperones come warn you that you and your date are dancing too close. You feel like you can't be too messy or too loud. Boring.
And to make matters worse, the food isn't even that fresh. The shrimp was so difficult to peel, because the shell was superglued to the meat. By the time I finished peeling, my shrimp looked like it'd had already been chewed and spit out. The corn was too soggy -- nothing compared to the wondrous corn they serve at BC. Everything else was mediocre from the fried catfish to the salt & pepper shrimp.
Service takes forever as well. Our table ordered a Vietnamese coffee, and I kid you not, it took about 30 minutes to get to our table. And to top it all off, it's more expensive than both Boiling Crab and Craw Station. I mean, it's not a bad restaurant -- the food was okay and nothing was really that horrible. It's just that BC and Craw Station are so much better that there's really no reason to ever come to Red Crawfish. That is, unless, you're in the mood for some Tenderloin crackheads peeking in the window.Listed in: Overrated in the SF/Bay Area
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Review from Celly A.
San Francisco, CA
8/3/2011
For the dude's bday, we came here to get our grub on for crab....
We ordered garlic crawfish, crab, noodles, and salad. I loved it all! All the way to the beignets!
I hate opening crawfish, but its was good. The crab wasnt that big, but still I enjoyed it.. unlike Boiling Crab, Red Crawfish cuts up your crab for you. I couldnt stop eating the noodles... my weakness.
It was a weekday so there was no wait or hassle. It is a very small place, and up in the TL, where I got my car broken into back in the day. FYI, they are opening a Red Crawfish in San Mateo. I do prefer Boiling Crab bc they offer more.... but still it is a pleasure eating here without the 1-2 hour wait and a hungry stomach growling. -
Review from Tiffany U.
San Francisco, CA
7/8/2011 1 Check-in Here
Tell me there's good crawfish and I promise to be there in a heartbeat! I swear.. crawfish is like an addiction-- I can't get enough of it's buttery garlic taste.
I was excited to give Red Crawfish a try since many people say that it channel's the original Boiling C. I was unimpressed by the decor of the restaurant; just your typical Chinese/Vietnamese place but who cares what the place looks like. We want to know what the food tasted like!
Between the four of us we ordered:
1 lb of seafood combo (shrimp, mussels, crawfish, clams)
2 lbs of crawfish
3 lbs of shrimp
Garlic noodles
1/2 and 1/2 sweet potato and cajun fries
While i loved the sauce, I had to dock a star for the shrimp. I felt that they were not fresh and the shell was soft and stuck to the meat. The mussels were good and the two clams I found in my bag were decent too. Mr. W. said some of the crawfish were super red meaning they were cooked after they died. Ick. The garlic noodles were nothing special-- if you're looking for noodles to die for, I'd go to Perilla instead!
Would I say I had the best crawfish at Red Crawfish? Probably not but it's definitely enough to satisfy my crawfish craving. -
Review from Megan L.
8/17/2011
The website's menu is a little confusing and makes it look like there isn't any seafood during lunch, but there is indeed seafood served by the pound.
Seafood combo comes already de-shelled and in a bowl. Pro: No mess or effort needed. Con: No shell to act as a barrier, so the meat is drenched in saltiness. The catfish pieces were the worst because they absorbed the most sauce. Rice/noodles + lots of water are definitely needed to eat this. -
Review from Stacey L.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 8/13/2011 1 Check-in Here
I came back for my second time yesterday with coworkers to celebrate all the Aug BDay's in the office. This is a much needed review update since this was complete different dining experience from a year ago.
If you're going to come here, come with a large party and be sure to order one of their Special Menus. This way you get to try a little bit of everything on the cajun/creole menu. Yesterday 11 of us shared the following and still walked away with leftovers for dinner:
Special No. 5 ($169.99)
2 Sweet Potato Fries
Cajun Hot Wings (12)
2 Garlic Bread
8 Pounds of Crawfish
4 Pounds of Shrimp
Fried Shrimp & Cajun Fries
Garlic Mixed Vegetables
Garlic Noodle
Shrimp Fried Rice
Beignets (8 pieces)
We also added an extra plate of garlic noodles & the fresh watermelon juice drinks. It beats driving down to the South Bay for Boiling Crab.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/19/2010
My coworker suggested this restaurant as she heard it was like the boiling crab. I must agree with… Read more »
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Review from Holly G.
San Francisco, CA
7/29/2011
To list this place under Cajun/Creole just because it serves some boiled crawfish or few other crustacean is like saying my apartment is Paris because I have a souvenir Eiffel Tower in my livingroom.
Nothing I had at this restaurant remotely resembles Cajun/Creole food that I used to have in Louisiana. In hindsight, I guess it was ridiculous going to a restaurant known for their "garlic noodles" expecting an authentic Cajun experience; however, nothing prepared me for the sad meal I had at Red Crawfish.
The boiled crawfish was absolutely awful! It was smothered in some sort of oily garlic sauce ... perhaps leftover from the garlic noodles ... and they were so tough that I could barely peel the shells off of them. The so-called gumbo was entrenched in thick Schezuan sauce ... hardly a soup like gumbo should be; however, the little pieces of crawfish that were in the gumbo were actually better than the boiled ones.
Then, just when I thought the worst was over and ordered beignets as dessert ... against my better judgment, mind you ... we got a plate of 4 cheap donut holes reminiscent of Little Debbies I used to have as a kid ... but DANG, for $4.99, you could get a whole box of them!
By far, one of the worst dining experiences I've had in SF! -
Review from jason y.
8/4/2011 1 Check-in Here
Vietnamese Cajun food...watta combo!
I have pictures of this crazy amount of food...three of us ordered the set menu that came with something like 3 lbs of crawfish, 2 lbs of shrimp, fried calamari, fries, sausage and beingets. plus had to get a side of garlic noodles, just because. I think it was a total of $72 for all that.
Everything was delicous! but a little heavy on the garlic and butter. definitely a meal that needs to be had with some hot tea. One thing i will say, the beignets were a bit of a disappointment. It was more like an andagi vs a new orleans beignet. It was really tasty, just wasn't quite a beignet.
Way too much food to finish, but totally worth it, just go with more people so you don't waste food.
5 stars for food and value...one drawback, bit of a sketchy neighborhood, and parking is luck of the draw on the street. But chance it...you'll like it -
Review from Stacy T.
8/1/2011
Not a bad place to get your Cajun Crawfish fix. Upon entering you smell lots of garlic goodness. Great sign!
The crawfish was fresh and nicely seasoned in a medium spicy pool of what looked like minced garlic, old bay, and natural juices. Not too heavy or oily. All in all very tasty but a lot of work. The corn was the best part since it soaks up all the delicious flavor.
Service was quick and efficient too!
