With its prominent tourist location and bright signage, I
wasn’t expecting superb seafood at Joe's Crab Shack. Being a cold evening, we
wandered into the restaurant to escape the wind … before researching the
establishment. After being seated, it seemed rude to leave so we stuck it out
despite the restaurant’s 2.5 star rating on Yelp and 3.5 stars everywhere else.
The cup of clam chowder ($3.99) was lukewarm, a big pet
peeve of mine, mostly filled with potatoes than clams. You’re better off
ordering the bowl ($7.29) and sharing. Since they add bacon bits and small
clams into the mix, the soup is cooked again and my friend’s bowl arrived
piping hot.
Since most reviews warned against Joe’s steam pots, my
friend and I opted to split the Dungeness crab bucket ($37.49) instead. The
crab itself was decent, seemingly fresh and not overdone; the Old Bay seasoning
used in the “Chesapeake style” option complimented the crab well giving it a
salty seasoning without being too strong.
Yet, its shrunken size amongst a large pot was
disappointing, especially when compared to our friends’ voluminous orders of
steam pot and assorted crab legs. Unlike what most reviews proclaim, not
everything is good for sharing, the Dungeness crab being one, since I could
have had the whole dish to myself.
Each entrée is accompanied with French fries & hush
puppies or an ear corn & baby potatoes. Despite not regularly eating hush
puppies, I’d imagine they shouldn’t arrive cold and the texture of stale
Timbits (doughnut holes for Americans). The fries were only a step better, at
least warm, but lacked seasoning so I had to resort to dipping them in the crab
juices.
In the end, I kept my expectations low. After all, it’s a
chain restaurant and the menu has pictures on it. All in all, at least the
seafood was fresh and cooked nicely. But, if sharing, I’d stick to the larger
steam pots, because a few crab legs isn’t nearly satisfying enough.
How To Find Them
Location: San Francisco, USA
Address: 245 Jefferson Street
Address: 245 Jefferson Street
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Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
Is That It? I Want More!
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