On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Mon-Fri. 3:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sat-Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Loading...
finger lickin' good!
The first time I went to Boiling Crab was an annual dinner with college friends. Basically, 2lbs of shrimp and 1 lb of crawfish medium with the whole shabang blew our heads off. We also got an order of sweet potato fries which also was not bad at all!!!!!!!!!! I can eat boiling crab any day.
Wash your hands really well. The smell will follow you for a day if you don't.
No guest lists, no VIP line, no cutting in line cuz you're a girl or you're with the DJ. Get there early. Worth the wait, but you better have the time.
People thought this was:
At last, a decent restaurant in the Evergreen area.
My friend and I came here on a Sunday morning at 11:30am because we heard about the long wait at this restaurant. Thanks goodness, we did! We were the 2nd group in line and the line was around the corner by the time the place opened.. Luckily, we scored a booth on the in the corner away from the entrance because I didn't want people waiting for a table watch me eat like a pig.
Here's what we had:
1 dungeoness crab
1 lb of crawfish
1 lb of shrimp
Corn on the Cob
Sweet Potato Fries
bottle of Stella (for me), bottle of Bud Light (my friend)
I forgot what spices we got for the seafood, but the Whole Shabang was awesome! For two girls, this is a lot of food, but we managed to eat most of it. I was so full and went into food coma for about 1 hour and half. Yeah, that 3 mile run I did in the morning didn't do much and I probably gained more calories than I burned that day.
People thought this was:
The prissy girly girl in me came out when we ate at Boiling Crab. Granted, I am not that refined and I will get down and dirty any day in the name of good food and eating! But next time I'm bringing my poncho and goggles! Be prepared to get messy, with seafood juices splattered in your face!
Seven friends and I decided to eat at Boiling Crab to see what the hype was about. After an hour and a half of waiting and shopping at Target to kill time, we finally get seated. We were so excited and ready to tear into some seafood! We ordered 8 lbs of crawfish, shrimp and crab accompanied with Sweet Potato Fries, Canjun Fried Shrimp and two bowls of gumbo. When the food arrived we didn't know what to do with ourselves! Where do we start? Pictures and posing with the crawfish of course!
An hour later, we finally finished our bags of crustaceans. We had piles of shellings and dirty napkins. Oh yea good times! A pound a person was just enough for each of us.
Some con's about the place... there is a lot of waste! Boiling Crab should find ways to be more Green! Serve the seafood in washable containers, no need to give us each a small plastic container of salt/pepper and use washable table wear.
Service was alright, after our food was served we never saw our waiter again.
Overall our visit was entertaining. Definitely a good time with friends and people you're comfortable eating with, as everyone's hands are all up in the bags of food and its all finger lickin good!
I still haven't mastered how to tear into crawfish... so I'm definitely coming back!
People thought this was:
This place has the worst service ever...I had to wait over an hour and when it was my turn to get a table, they freakin gave it away to another party who was complaining about the long wait. Hello I waited for over an hour too...
I am never coming back!
People thought this was:
Little sis says we are going to The Boiling Crab. My heart skips a beat. I love seafood. Boy, was I in for a treat.
After an hour wait, the family is seated in a booth and handed menus. Here's what we ordered for 5 people.
-2 pounds of extra spicy shrimp
-2 pounds of medium spicy shrimp
-1 order of King crab legs
-1 order of calamari
-1 order of sweet potato fries
-1 order of cajun fries
-corn on the cob
-beers all around
Moments later the waiter comes back with plastic bibs for everyone. He plops plastic bags of sauced up shrimp in front of us. Then, points out the extra spicy shrimp and takes off.
I give my sis the "what?" look. Meaning, where are the plates? How do we eat shrimp served in plastic bags?
She gives me a smile and says, "Did I mention that this place is messy?" She digs into one of the bags pulls out a shrimp and starts peeling off the shell.
Gotcha. No utensils. No plates. Game on.
OMG - the sauce on the shrimp was delicious! Buttery with garlic and a delicious spicy kick. I found myself shamelessly licking my fingers. I could have kept eating the shrimp with the oh-so-delicious sauce for hours if my hubby didn't remind me our dog was waiting in the car.
YUM.
Overall: I can't wait to go again. I love the delicious sauce so much that I'm dreaming about licking my fingers on my next visit. The waiter and staff were friendly and cheerful, however, minus one star because they forgot to give us wipes to clean off our hands and were a bit slow on the service. We used lime wedges and paper towels to clean our hands. Worked like a charm.
Tip: The wait is incredibly LONG. Put in your name and go get frozen yogurt at Toppings a few doors down.
People thought this was:
One of my favorites loved writing on the walls and all the delicious choices.
We had:
A dozen raw oysters
Sweet potato fries
Cajun fries
2 orders of Blue crab
1 order of dungeness crab
1 lobster
5 lbs of The Whole Shabang
5 orders of white rice
Then we added 2 orders of The Whole Shabang 5 lbs each to go!
Service was good but the wait was so long took an hour and a half to get our table but we killed time by going to see if we could eat at Crawdaddy's but when we got there they ran out of Crawdads! How does that happen? Does Starbucks run out of coffee does McDonald's run out of Big Macs or Fries?
The Boiling Crab does not take reservations but it was well worth the wait! Our first experience there was quite interesting. On our way on 101 there was a motorcycle accident on the freeway blocking two lanes so it took us an hour to get a 20 minutes. Then we put our name in and left since the wait was so long. When we came back an hour later there was a car smashed into and on top of the phone booth and a female Asian driver was in a cop car heard she was drunk. Oh what a night?
Bottom line I highly recommend the food here and it is worth the wait they have been open since 1.1.09 and still doing great business. I recommend calling to see how long the wait is even though you cannot put your name in. At least you know how long of a wait it will be.
I finally came here last night! I've been to the 2 locations in So-Cal and the ambiance and decor are pretty similar. We walked in and the wait was an hour a half... typical for this place. We killed our time and got giant Fro-Yos a couple stores away from The Boiling Crab. After we got seated an hour later, we knew we are pretty much ordering everything in the menu! God i love to be a fatty!
It was just me and my gf....We ordered the a pound and half of shrimp with the Mild She-Bang Sauce, a pound of crawfish wit the same sauce, and 29 lbs of Dudgeness Crab, which was pretty pricey(market price), but hey, that's how we roll! We dont mess around when it comes to food alright?
So we put on our nifty Boiling Crab bibs, and started peeling away! OH, wait, I almost forgot we got the cajun fries and spicy wings! The bill was $70 plus tip... not bad, right?!
The shrimp and crawfish still had their head intact, so to all you p*ssies out there, this place isn't for you. Man up and eat the shrimp and crawfish anyways! Mmmmm, it was as delicious as I remembered!
Don't forget you have to use you fingers to peel everything and it gets smelly and dirty, but if you just rub lime all over your hands, use the wipes and wash your stinky little hand in the bathroom, then you're golden. It's such a fun experience to go. I'm still hesitant to bring my bf, but he claims he can handle it. We will see! :-)
Our server was okay, he was attentive but not as friendly. Whatever though, it was pretty busy that night and we understood. Just remember when the wait is long, just be patience. Go to the yogurt place next door and call that your appetizer! :-) There's also a Target, too you can kill time while waiting. ENJOY!
PS: THE BEERS ARE ONLY $3 Mmmmm, Stella Artois!
People thought this was:
This place is so cool! An Eastside Vomit Shop cleverly disguised as a TGI McFUNSTERS! I had them pegged at a SOLID 2 STARS before Seven (7) out of Ten (10) of us PUKED.
I could tell right away that this place was COOL. The twelve (12) year old children working the front let us know our group of ten (10) would not be seated for a good thirty (30) minutes. How right those kids were, as we were seated seventy-five (75) minutes later. With no apology. Hey, no need to hurry when you're at a TOP restaurant. All ten (10) of us were just honored to be there - even the toddler - and to have a chance to taste their sublime shellfish, oh, we were just so stoked.
If, by chance, I ever come back here, I'll roll the dice and order their crawfish. I went for the shrimp when I was here, for the simple reason that crawfish were out of season. Bad move, as their "fresh" shrimp turned to paste in my mouth, just like cheap, un-fresh seafood does. Is anything in season right now?
I'm not qualified to answer that question. And neither are they. If I were you, I'd go to that U-Haul truck parked next to the restaurant. You know, the one without refrigeration in the back cab. That's where they keep their "fresh" seafood and produce. That's where the experts hang out, and that's where your five-star food comes from.
This place was a solid TWO STARS before 70% of my party vomited. 70% regurgitation drops them down to ONE STAR. Charging twenty-five (25) cents for a cup of tap water with a cube of ice? Go To Hell, Boiling Crab.
People thought this was:
Very good but way too much work when eating the crawfish or anything that needs peeling! I'm lazy when it comes to eating stuff that requires a lot of work and I knew what I was getting myself into but I had to come here to give this a try.
2 lbs of crawfish
Fried calamari
Sweet potato fries
A dozen fresh oysters
The flavors of the crawfish was so drool worthy. I hated the after part though since my fingers stink! They still stink!
Loved the fried options and so did my friend. We should have gotten fried oysters. I love sweet potato fries and I was so happy to be eating it. haha!
I would definitely come back but not to eat anything that requires peeling... maybe once in a while, which would probably be once or twice a year. Yes, it defeats the purpose of eating here but fuck that. Then I'll come for the oysters!
People thought this was:
HOLY CRAB!!!! The shrimp with the whole shabang *drool* & the Dungeness crab *drool*...SO FRIGGIN' GOOD. I'll drive from San Francisco to San Jose just for lunch or dinner.
Everyone complains about the wait, but if you go when it opens, you won't be waiting long. Just don't go during prime dinner hours on a weekend, people! And there's a Target right there so you can get some shopping done while you wait. Be warned though!! If they call your name on the list and you're not there, then you'll get crossed off and have to put your name on the list all over again!
Make sure you don't wear white and you'd have to be nuts to refuse the plastic bib!!
What I'd recommend getting: cajun fries, corn on the cob, shrimp, Dungeness crab. I tried the crawfish, and it was yummy, but it's a HUGE amount of work for the TINIEST piece of meat ever. I also tried the blue crab, which was incredibly cheap, but after all the peeling, you're left with the smallest little morsels.
Pricing isn't bad either. $9.99 for a pound of shrimp?! $2 for fries?! $0.75 for corn on the cob?! Wash it all down with a soda, and you're in food nirvana!!
They give you lime wedges, which don't complement the food very well, but they do wonders for washing away the seafood smell on your hands!! Although, I don't mind the lingering smell of shabang sauce on my hands, mmmmmmmm....
People thought this was:
shrimp. the whole shabang. mild.
your fingers will smell like the sea for hours.
minus one star for the ridiculous wait and no reservation policy.
oysters, crab legs, clams, sweet potato fries are all great as well.
People thought this was:
WOW..i am addicted!!!!! Wait was actually ok, around one hour. Got seated around 830 and my boyfriend and I were starving!!!
So, we ordered
1 lb of king crab legs
1 lb of clams
1 lb of crawfish (not worth it, it was extremely small and not much meat after peeling the shell off)
Next time I will definitely get shrimp instead of crawfish.
For sauce we had the whole sha-bang, medium and the sauce is quite flavorful. Medium spicy was just good enough for me to actually enjoy my meal and not be downing water. Sauce was so addictive, I was even dipping my sweet potato fries in it!!
Corn was soooooooooooooo good, we had to order more! and I think I could had ate at least 5 more pieces, but I didn't want to be full from corn alone.
I will definitely be coming back more often even though the sauce is full of msg, it is well worth it !!! I will just have to have bottles of water prepared after dinner because trust me, you will be quite thirsty throughout the night.
I KNEW there was a reason why I stayed with my boyfriend despite him living in San Jose (and me in San Francisco). Its because San Jose houses some of the best dining hotspots such as... ta da! Boiling Crab.
Now he has the joyous task of heading to BC first to get in line while I start my drive to San Jose, by the time i arrive about 50 min to an hour later, we are seated. Wah-la-la! Thats what boyfriends are for!
The whole she-bang, corn, sweet potato fries... and we're still together despite the garlic breath the day-after. That is true love.
People thought this was:
Holy shit did we really wait 2.5 hrs for dinner? Seriously? wow I am damn patient....... But when we got our turn it was game over!!!
2 lbs. of craw fish cajun style-medium with corn
2 lbs. of shrimp cajun style-medium
basket of fries cajun style - mild
and a ton of sauces
It was good but the craw fish was definitely not worth the wait, it took forever for nothing.. little tidbits of nothing, but the shrimp was the way to go!! holy moly it was scrumptious!!! Also, the fries were too salty, but next time I'll order them without seasoning, and add some rice to it. They had steamed rice on their menu, and I don't know why I didn't think it would mesh, but I think it would have been better with rice.
As for the meaningless sauces, don't get any extra sauces. No cocktail sauce, no tartar, no ranch, no butter;which was actually margarine gross.... the sauce in the bottom of the bag is freaking amazing!!! so just don't waste your money to pay for sauces you won't even use.
As for the other items on the menu, I think I would stick to the shrimp, and maybe get their fried shrimp basket, it looked so good. I really wanted to order it just to have one bite. But I am forbidden to do things like that anymore hahahahah Now get ready for a long ass wait.
People thought this was:
Yay! It's good to be back in Cali, Cali.
I'm a little torn between three and four stars for the Boiling Crab. I had been excited to try this place ever since my friends raved about it in LA. So when I finally got the chance to try it this time in San Jose, I was stoked. My friends told me to meet her there at 4:30 pm, to which I was like ADUR that's kinda early. She replied, "Trust me, we'll be waiting there for two hours before we eat."
And she was right. We arrived a little after 5, and to my astonishment, there were already people waiting outside. It wasn't until a little after 7 that we got seated (we were a party of 4, on a Sunday night). We had time to go to the Target nearby to do some shopping in between the waits....
So was it worth it? Hmmm... maybe worth an hour wait, at most. I'm not sure if I'd go back knowing that it'd be a two hour wait. It WAS delicious, I just don't know if the wait and hassle is actually worth it. The price is decent, and if you've got some time, maybe it's worth your time :)
People thought this was:
4.5 Stars for Winning Place & Most addicting foods.
Im sorry, this place is awesome. The walls are a little excessive with junk and that makes the enviornment kind of weird but besides the wait the food is great.
Service is great and all the people who work there are pretty nice and all.
This place needs to upgrade their place because the wait is so god damn long.
PROS: EVERYTHING
CONS: WAIT TIME. Get bigger restaurant. Thats the only reason its not 5 star !
I came here with my family and everything was going fine. Our waitress was exceptionally well and the atmosphere was very fun and light.
It was great... until our waitress stopped coming back to refill our water... didn't ask us if we wanted any last minute orders before the kitchen closed.. and then didn't bother to give us our check..
This is what she did instead.. Before she came around to everyone else asking their orders, we stopped her to order another lb. of shrimp. We wait.... time passes... we wait 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes... etc. Finally at approx. half an hour later we stop another waiter and ask him if he has seen our waitress and if she could check on our order.
We see him walk up to her... while she's standing around near the kitchen door. We see her mouthing "oh shit" and run in the back. Too late, the kitchen is closed.
Instead of coming back to us and apologizing herself, she sends the other waiter. She then proceeds to avoid us at all costs and sends the other waiter to give us our check. We asked him if the tip would go to him or her, and he said it would go to her.
We paid the tab and tipped her 50 cents. She would've gotten more if she would've just taken the responsibility to come up and apologize to us herself, it wouldn't have been a big deal but instead she sent him and made this big huge deal because we are a family of no BS, when you do wrong, you fess up, don't avoid it... it's annoying. -_-"
Other than that, food... amazing like always! I wish I would've gotten that extra 1 lb. though! haha
Boiling Crab was a steady 4.5 stars up until that night.
I'd go back! But it has to take a great night to replace this crappy one.
People thought this was:
Well worth the wait. Just ate here yesterday and it was great! we ordered 2lb's of shrimp, 1lb of king crab legs, 2 corn, 2 rice, 2 water's, 1 soda and it came out to $56.__ for seafood?? It's not bad. Our waitress was great, good personality, and interest in our visit. Would definately recommend this place.
Don't worry about the wait, just kill time at the Target next door, or at least that's what we did.
People thought this was:
I came here again with 3 other people on Sunday evening at 5:40pm. We waited in the cold for over 1 hour before we got a booth in the corner closest to the take-out desk. Waiting was well worth it this time.
This time we ordered 3 one pound bags of shrimp except for lemon pepper with medium spiciness, 2 dozen raw oysters, fried calamari, cajun fries, 2 corn on the cob, and soft drinks for everyone. Everything hit the spot. The medium spicy flavor was hotter than what we usually ordered, but it was greatly called for after standing in the cold for over one hour. Total bill came to $90.
This time the service was excellent, attentive, and easy to get a hold of someone when needed. I thoroughly enjoyed my company and the restaurant staff today. Even though the place looked as crowded as a Friday night dance club with people waiting in lines coming out of the restaurant, music blaring, and football gracing the flat screen tvs, everyone looked serious to get their grub on.
People thought this was:
We went back to Boiling Crab on Sunday and we ordered more food this time. I introduced another… Read more »
All the hype and the long lines... I will admit that Boiling Crab is good, but gosh, I can't say it's worth it!
Boiling Crab is one of the better crawdad places I've been to. In fact, it is in the top two. However, my main gripes about Boiling Crab are:
a) The wait is always forever, even on random weekdays
b) My crawdads are CAKED with globs of spices and stuff. I find myself trying to take them off and searching for some liquidy (rather than solids) buttery/cajuny sauce to dip it in.
c) They CHARGE YOU FOR TAP WATER! Grrrrrrr!
What Boiling Crab has that other places don't: sweet potato fries!!!!!
All in all, if you suggest this place, I'll go and I'll even be excited about it. Sometimes, I may even suggest this place. But in the end, I think I'd still rather go to Crawdaddy because my wait is shorter, my water is free, and my crawdads aren't covered in an inch of "she-bang."
*runs away from all the Boiling Crab enthusiasts that will disagree with me*
People thought this was:
This is our second time back. We were going to try crawdaddy but they said crawfish was out of season, so we drove back to Boiling Crab.
We went there on a Thursday night around 6:50pm, the waitress took our name down and said it'll be approximately 45 mins wait. We walked around Target and we got seated around 7:35pm. The person who was waiting table was really nice and she kept giving us reassurance that the our table is coming up.
We ordered the following:
2 waters ($0.25 each)
2 lbs of crawfish ($8.99/lb)
Half dozen of oysters ($8.99)
1 order of potatoes ($1.25)
1 order of sweet potato fries ($3.99)
We had the crawfish the first time we were there and we loved it! I'm again impressed by how fresh the crawfish is and the whole sha-bang seasoning is my favorite.
I'm not impressed by the oysters. Although it wasn't bad, I have much better oysters before and I wouldn't order it again.
The potatoes come in three and in a seasoning of your choice. I chose Lemon Pepper, but I like Rajun Cajun or the Whole Sha-Bang source more.
It's my first time ordering sweet potatoes fries from a restaurant, so I don't have comparisons. However, I really like it and will definitely order it again.
Boiling crab is very impressive! I can't believe the wait is that long on a Thursday night. It's great food, great service at a great price.
Can I just say that this is the best crawfish, shrimp place in the Bay Area? Maybe I can't go that far, but I can for sure say that it's the best in the South Bay.
This place is the original from LA and there have been many that try to imitate....but the flavors here are amazing! Be prepared to wait for a table because this place gets pretty packed, especially on weekends. Last time I was there, I saw a few friends from the East Bay. If they're driving 30 min to eat here, you know it is FINGER LICKING GOOD.
My favorite flavor is the Sha-Bang! Be prepared to get down and dirty and don't wear nice clothes. Your fingers will be smelling like their sauce for days! Well worth it though.
I'm still craving the corn right now....mmmm
Anyone want to go back with me? My husband has a weak stomach for the sauce! lol
People thought this was:
I don't care that I came out with my lips red and swollen. The pain and wait was well worth the meal and fun I had at this place.
For most things being 9.99/lb., I thought the shrimp was the most bang for the buck. It has the most meat so you're rewarded for all the hard work you put into digging, peeling, and sucking those crustaceans. But that is just me. We got "the whole shebang" at medium spicy. It was perfect for us. But from what I am told, it doesn't even come close to the level of spiciness of real Cajun seafood boils; if that's what you're use to. Other things that are a MUST try is the corn. It soaks up all the wonderful flavor in your baggy of goods. Oh, and don't forget to pair it with some beer! YUM.
White shirts not recommended.
People thought this was:
Expect to wait for a seat. This place gets packed and for good reason. The whole-shabang sauce is awesome, make sure to have your corn in the sauce bag. Try the sweet potato fries and the catfish is great.
After reading all the reviews about long wait times, we decided to take it to go. We were given boxes of bags of seafood drowning in sauce. We ordered the crab legs, shrimp, crawfish, garlic fries, corn, and sausage. All of it was very good, less the sausage as it was dry and not very appetizing.
The sauces are awesome, making the food really tasty. My stomach did regret it, however, over the next few days.. =)
Took the super long Caltrain from SF with a friend to visit another friend, pretty much just to go eat at boiling crab and of course visit my friend.
The decor is really different from what I imagined. Went in and asked for a table of three. The person said it would be an hour wait. The people who were waiting told us it shouldn't be an hour. It wasn't. It was like half an hour.
We ordered three bags of shrimp, three different flavors. Also got some sweet potato fries and sausage. It was realllly good! I could have eaten another bag full. Free refills for drinks. Also the service is pretty good.
Would like to come again.
Not the original Boiling Crab in OC-- but close enough! ;P
I am officially addicted to Boiling Crab's mild sha-bang crawfish, fresh raw oysters, and their spicy french fries!! YUMM! The crawfish won't get you full, but it's a great place to have a couple beers and chill with your friends.
I have to admit, the wait can get pretty ridiculous, but understandable since it's such a happening place. The waiters here are always on top of it. They always check up on your table to make sure you got everything you needed. Overall, one of my favorite places to go to with friends and family!
People thought this was:
Fun decor. Simple menu. Great seafood. If you're not a fan of seafood - they only things you'll be able to eat here are rice, corn, sausages & fries.
Get ready to get your hands dirty & get ready to smell like seafood & spices. My friends & I know to wear clothes that we do not mind getting dirty.
I've had The Boiling Crab twice. The first time I came at 245pm (they open at 3pm) & there was a line of 10 people waiting outside. The second time I came here, I had to wait 2 hours..but it was worth it.
i seriously daydream about sucking the whole shebang sauce-filled shrimp heads. this is not a joke. yum.
People thought this was:
All the glorious reviews about this place is SO TRUE !
there is a reason why the line was so extremely long.
here are some pros:
1. the place is warmly decorated.
2. wow service. The waitresses were so nice and catering. They come by all the time to check on us, to see if we needed anything. And they're always smiling pretty.
3. the foods were exceptional! by far the best crayfish place we've been to out of three places.
4. GENEROUS GENEROUS portions of crayfish and shrimps. We were actually full. i ordered one pound of shrimps and i couldn't even finish all of it. if you order one pound, two pounds, or three, The boiling crab gives the actual amount as promised. that's something we do not get at many other crayfish places.
some cons:
1. the line is so freakin long. we came early at three and there were already people lining up outside. the whole place was filled up within 5 minutes. this may be a good sign for the restaurant owner :P
2. after we got in, there is still a line outside !
3. they need to make the place bigger to accommodate newer customers. this place is growing fast and there's no sign it's going to slow down. They are the best crayfish place in the bay area.
for sure we're coming back again!
People thought this was:
[ Ambiance ] - Once you walk past the groups waiting curbside and through the heavenly doors that is Boiling Crab, you are met with a sensory overload. Your eyes don't ever stop wandering as you look at the extravagant decor of sea life, your ears are drowned with the sound of crackling crab legs, your nose sniffs out every oceanic scent, and your mouth is left watering for your chance to share in the experience that is Boiling Crab. [10/10]
[ Service ] - The service here is good, taking in the fact how much chaos is happening 24/7. The staff is always calm and try to reassure you that your party will be seated ASAP. When you are seated they take your order whenever you are ready and (this is the best part) they put your bibs on for you. Talk about being treated like royalty. Another great thing about Boiling Crab is that you can pay for your portion of the meal straight at the counter, which helps avoid the worst part of all meals, paying for the check. Lastly, you can always take your meal to go! Yay! (my first experience at boiling crab I actually took my meal to go since i was too impatient to wait) [9/10]
[ Food & Drinks ] - Their menu is simple, their seafood is delicious, their side dishes are fantastic, and their sauces are absolutely wonderful. You have an array of seafood delicacies to choose from like king grab, shrimp, crawfish, and even specials for the day. On top of that you can customize your sauce by flavor or heat. I don't have a high tolerance for hot food, but their medium flavor is the right amount of heat and flavor. There are so many sides too. Whether you get the cajun fries, sweet potato fries, rice, etc., you are always making a good choice. I just can't stress enough how good everything is. [9/10]
[ Overall ] - I'm the type of guy who doesn't like to make a mess when I eat, but when I come to Boiling Crab I eat like some sort of starved psychopath with sauce dripping from my mouth and bits of meat all over my bib. What I'm trying to say is that getting dirty is part of the experience and you shouldn't hold back. Everybody's doing it! This establishment is a great seafood place. Whenever someone mentions that they are going to Boiling Crab I literally get jealous, then hungry for some Boiling Crab. The only bad thing I have to say about this place is that they need a bigger venue! [10/10]
Over and Out.
People thought this was:
One of my favorite places for crawdads. I love the decorations and how this place is set up! So fun! The crawdads are pretty good themselves! I love the shrimp and the sausages here also. The oysters are really good too! They also have bomb ass sweet potato fries!! I guess everything here is good! My favorite flavor is the garlic butter! I've tried the whole shebang, but still like the garlic butter better! A minor setback, since this place is so good, if you decide to come after 630pm, there's bound to be a wait...up to two hours! Therefore, may I suggest coming earlier, or if you do come after, go shopping in Target or get some yogurt at Toppings to kill some time. What you can also do is order togo and eat in the comfort of your own home! If you do get the sweet potato fries togo, make sure you open the lid to let out the steam otherwise it'll get soggy real quick! Yup, it happened to me! Oh also, since there's a long wait, the staff there comes around to check on you a lot once they see that you are nearing the end of your bag of shellfish...that just means they're rushing you to leave to make your table available the another party whose been waiting for 45 mins plus! Don't take it personal, it's just business! And hey, if that were you waiting, don't you want those people to hurry up and finish eating instead of sitting there chatting up a storm??!! Hehehe
People thought this was:
Yummmmm!!!! This place is awesome. I've been looking for a place like this for such a long time. I'm a huge seafood lover and I love this place. Mostly because I can eat with my fingers and in complete chaos. Just roll out the giant piece of butcher paper, a roll of paper towels, a bunch of limes and I'm set. We ordered oysters (so incredibly fresh), 4 lbs of shrimp with the whole sha-bang seasoning, four corn on the cob, and cajun fries.
I'm definitely going back if the cholesterol in the seafood doesn't kill me first.
People thought this was:
Every time I visit this place, I can't help but notice how they stand out from other crawfish joints I've gone to.
The sauce
Yes I'm a fan of their sha-bang sauce. It's better than other sauces I've had elsewhere. You can't go wrong with a hot mixture of butter, lemon pepper, cajun spices, and garlic.
The water
Paying 25 cents for bottomless water? WTF? The quality of their water is the same as everywhere else that's free. At least they come around often to refill.
The wait
I've never seen this place without one. People are always flocked out in the parking lot or lingering inside around the tables. As we sat in a large center table during our last visit, I felt a little weird when people waiting were almost hovering over us, watching our every suck, and hoping that the staring will get us to eat our crawfish quicker to accomodate them. I felt like the main attraction!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If you're going to dine with a group of people, be 'accidentally" late. Have your group show up earlier (to put their name on the list), run some errands while THEY wait , and then just show up later in time of the sitting....lol.
I usually get their shrimp because of the peel-to-meat ratio. The pieces of crab that I tasted were succulent. Their sweet potato and cajun fries were impressive. But, their corn on the cob, fried catfish, and sausage were just average.
Damn! My hands still smell!
People thought this was:
THANK YOU BOILING CRAB for tasting better since my last visit!!!!
I use to live in Irvine while I was still going to school, and so I was a regular at the Boiling Crab in Westminster. When I moved home last year I was so happy to find out there was a Boiling Crab in San Jo, even if it is an hour away. I knew it was fate. To my disappointment, the sauce and fries did not taste the same. The sauce was more oily than garlicky, and the fries were just...different. I was crushed.
About 2 weeks ago, I decided to give it another try, and went to visit Boiling Crab since it was close to the SJC airport where my friend was departing from. As soon as we got our food, I was in heaven. The sauce had definitely improved and I'm not sure if it's because I haven't been back to Westminster in awhile, but i definitely think the fries tasted good again too!!
Now if only the wait can improve, or they can expand like the cafeteria sized one in Westminster. We decided to go early at 4pm for dinner since my friends flight was at 730pm. It's a good thing we did, because we still had to wait over and hour!! Seriously!?! And on a Sunday too! Who the heck likes to eat dinner at 4pm unless you had too like we did. Did everyone else have friends who needed to get to the airport early!? RIDICULOUS!!! But I guess I'll just have to live with it since I freaking love this place sooo damn much. Sigh.
People thought this was:
Wait! How long is the wait? One and a half hour? Wow... Hope its worth it. When we get there, there were tons of people in line. We go in and find out that the wait is around that long. Disappointed but highly anticipating the food as we werent that hungry. While we wait, we hope over to target to check things out. Get back to line about 1.2 hours in wow, we are in. :) Inside, the decors is outrageously cooL. I really REALLY liked it. We sit at a table and order. Crab, Crawdad, Shrimp, Fries. Food comes soaring out like it was nothing (5 minutes?). Put our bibs on and feasted likes queens! Food was excellent. Nothing bad, all good. ShaBANG! That's what we ordered.
Definitely worth the wait! Definitely recommended.
Pros: Food, Fast, Service
Cons: Waiting...
Rating: 4.75 Stars
2 hour wait time minimum.
It's messy in there, gotta wear your washable clothes.
Between 4 girls: 2 dungeonous crab whole shebang, one XXX spicy one mild. 2 lbs of shrimp mild.
The mild was actually kind of spicy for me! XXX was actually very spicy for my friends.
8pm Tuesday night and they ran out of fresh crawfish, and we didn't want frozen craw fish.
Great experience, I love seafood, would come here again but not for a few weeks.
They need a bigger place! The wait is just unbearable. Always order the whole shebang flavor. I'd recommend Shrimp, dungeness crab, cajun fries and lots of sausages!
Minus 1 star because they ran out of rice when we went there and they charge extra for fries dip.
Next time I'm gonna order takeout, I heard it was faster than waiting in line.
My sister and I went looking for Boiling Crab because we kept hearing good things. Service was ok, meaning they served us, but didn't look like they were happy about it.
We ordered a pound of the shrimp, 6 pieces of the sausage, and an order of the sweet potato fries.
The seasoning in the shrimp was too overwhelming, they were sooooo salty as were the sausages. The sweet potato fries were the best thing we ordered.
If I'm craving the shrimp, I'll continue to patronize Crawdaddy. Sorry Boiling Crab, I wanted to like you, but there were enough reasons for me not to come back (including you forcing me to go get cash when your "system" went down). However, I did like your decor.
People thought this was:
hmm ate here three times so far and must i say, each time seems to get better and better but also bit crappier.
Foods great - whole shabang sauce. shrimp, crawfish, oysters, crab are a must get. the fried oysters..seem a bit small..CAJUN FRIES A++. each fry u eat just keeps gettin spicier i swear. These are the better parts.
the reason i marked 1 less star is because of the wait that is involved especially on friday and saturdays. Seems like the only time to go without waiting is right when it opens. Anyways...this past time i went, the wait was 2 freakin hours long..TWO. The list went on and on..and this place is just way too small for a list that long.
Luckily for everyone, they are opening one right across the street.
And i strictly advise people who wanna eat there on the weekends that you go to write your name on the list then leave for an hour and do whatever floats your boat and come back.
Scotts very own Tarp Fund!
San Jose, CA
Buy 4lbs of Crawfish, Get 1lb…
San Jose, CA
San Jose, CA
Category: Cajun/Creole
San Jose, CA
Category: Men's Clothing
San Jose, CA
Category: Seafood
Milpitas, CA
Category: Cajun/Creole
San Jose, CA
Category: Vietnamese
I absolutely ADORE seafood...it makes me super…
Restaurants, bars, lounges, studios.. what have…
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
Bring me to one of these places if you want to get…
The experience was so bad, I think it killed 1/2…
If it weren't for yelp and it's yelpies, I would…
It's no secret that I love food. If all…
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
