The Original Sand Crab Tavern

Escondido, United States

2.8

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 760-480-2722
Website:
www.sandcrabtavern.com
Address:
2229 Micro Pl, Escondido, CA, 92029
at Opper St
Escondido
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
600 ftNordahl Station
1.7 miCal State San Marcos Station
2.2 miMTS Rapid
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Dinner
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
Yes
Dogs Allowed
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
No

Today

Today 11:30 am – 8:30 pm
Open now
Local time (Escondido) 15:48 Tuesday, 1 July 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday 11:30 am – 8:30 pm
Wednesday 11:30 am – 8:30 pm
Thursday 11:30 am – 8:30 pm
Friday 11:30 am – 9:30 pm
Saturday 11:30 am – 9:30 pm
Sunday 11:00 am – 8:30 pm

Description

Specialties

The Original Sand Crab Tavern is a northern San Diego County seafood institution — 25 years in the same, obscure location. This little crab shack specializes in every kind of shellfish and seafood you could ask for, including; King, Stone, Snow, Blue & Dungeness crab, as well as Maine lobster, clams, mussels, shrimp and crawfish. Our Alaskan halibut fish & chips is legendary, and our homemade clam chowder and seafood gumbo will knock your socks off. Our assorted Po’ Boys are wonderous creations prepared fresh when you order them. The Sand Crab bar serves ice cold beer and a selection of wines in a warm and inviting atmosphere. take a seat on one of our well-​worn barstools and watch the game on TV. We serve our full lunch & dinner menu at the bar, too. Our waitstaff is top-​notch; some of our servers have been with us for over 20 years — and they all aim to please. Bring the whole family for a seafood feast you will never forget. Call for directions

History

Established in 1988.

The Original Sand Crab Tavern opened in January 1988 in an obscure location just off Hwy 78 at the Nordahl exit in Escondido, California. The nautical artifacts collected over the years are displayed all over the restaurant and are enjoyed by everyone who has a little pirate or sea captain lurking inside them. We love getting to know our customers — both the locals and guests who visit us from all over the globe. And how cool is it to see second generation Sand Crabbers now coming in for dinner with their families? Very cool! The Sand Crab’s Captain Rick has set a determined course to continue the tradition of providing the best seafood in all of southern California served in a fun atmosphere by our professional waitstaff. The Sand Crab has plenty of room for large parties, cold beer, reasonably priced wine and great seafood specialties. We hope to see you soon!

Meet the Business Owner

Rich C.

Business Owner

Hello Friends…

My name is Rick, and I am the proprietor of The Original Sand Crab Tavern.

Besides are wonderfully fun and delicious crab and lobster feasts, our Black Pearl Oyster Bar offers the FRESHEST oysters on the half shell in the County, flown in from the Pacific northwest every Friday afternoon. If you’re an oyster lover, you’ve got to stop in to The Black Pearl after 6:00 pm any Friday or Saturday night.

Voodoo shrimp is one of our must-​try specialties; large, peel & eat shrimp in a delicious, buttery, garlicky, New Orleans style sauce. Try it! You’ll like it! And as always, our Alaskan halibut fish & chips remains the BEST in southern California.

We are the original crab shack in San Diego — before Joe’s, before Auggie’s, before Crab Hut., before Crab Shack. Want the best? Come to the original… The Original Sand Crab Tavern!

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20 reviews of The Original Sand Crab Tavern

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Place rating: 2
San Marcos, CA
Been a couple of times. Seafood is WAY over-​boiled and mealy. Prices are not cheap. This place has the right idea… just lacks in the execution. I’d pay even more if the seafood was cooked properly. Not a lot of seafood options in North County Inland, so I wish they would improve. May give them one more shot before I break out my Zatarains and a big pot and just do it myself at home.
Place rating: 3
Oceanside, CA
We love the «Deadliest Catch» & 4 of us looked forward to the treat last night. Unfortunately the price jumped $ 20 again so now it is $ 140 for 2 people! Note that their website still says $ 120 so you might try to get that price if you are so inclined. We decided on another restaurant for dinner but next time we’ll try brunch here…
Place rating: 1
Escondido, CA
I was looking for fried oysters. If you are this is not the place for you. They have them in a taco but not separate as an appetizer or meal. They advertise fresh oysters on the half shell. We wanted cooked. Not on a poor boy not in a taco. They have changed their menu and don’t have fried pickles either. Be forewarned. Very small place in an industrial complex. Hard to find. Brought us water and menus and we looked and left. Not what we were looking for.
Place rating: 3
San Diego, CA
Very unique spot. Didn’t expect to find a seafood restaurant in an industrial area of Escondido. I ordered a bowl of Lobster Bisque and a shrimp salad. The flavor of the Bisque was fine. No detectable lobster at all. The shrimp salad was also fine. Plenty of shrimp which seemed fresh enough. Neither dish blew me away. Service was a bit on the slow side. I think this place is probably best for the deep fried seafood baskets, sandwiches, and cocktails. I will come back when I have some time to drink and possibly add an additional star.
Place rating: 3
Golden, CO
The food was good but DO NOT order any extras. We got the basic boil for two. I asked them to add king crab. I was not expecting the king crab to add $ 80 to our bill. Definitely feel they should have told us it was such an exorbitant amount… I have been to plenty of places and added king crab where it was NEVER more than another $ 20-​$ 40.
I would return here, but definitely would NOT order extras without asking for specifics on the price.
Place rating: 1
Escondido, CA
Overpriced, awful food!!! Service horrible, if you can find a server…
Place rating: 1
Chula Vista, CA
Worst food ever!!! I visited this restaurant for the first time with a friend who brought here expecting some good some good authentic Louisiana seafood. First, we waited over ten minutes to get someone to take our order. I ordered the appetizer shrimp po’ boy, the crab cake entrée and an alcoholic coconut drink. The waitress told me how good the food was and for the prices on the menu, I was expecting some great food. Boy, was she sooooo very wrong. The crab cake which was advertised to have Dungeness crab meat contained an enormous amount of peppers and onions condensed together with extremely small amounts of crab meat (or what I assumed was crab meat). My fries were cold and I don’t know why as we were the only two people as customers in the restaurant at the time. I paid over $ 45.00 for a meal I could not eat at all. The owner, Rich sent a totally inappropriate, misguided and insulting text message to my iPhone basically stating that I had been there before (I had not) and they serve very good upscale seafood and their food was meant to be eaten at their restaurant. If only I had I known that before I ordered my food to go as they do have take-​out services nor was it explained by the waitress who took my order. The owner, Rich further stated that they were not Long John Silvers. Well, Rich, I was aware of that. In fact Long John Silvers would have tasted so much better than the food that was served at your restaurant for the prices that your customers pay. Simply, your food was AWFUL as proof to the emptiness of restaurant while we were there!!! I lived in Louisiana with my husband at the time who was stationed there for two years and you are false advertising as well as ripping customers OFF!!! Your food is NO WHERE close to the elegant tasting, mouth watering seafood of that state and you know that!!! You would rater insult, bully and cheat your customers than to do the right thing!!! YOU NEED TO CLOSE IMMEDIATELY AND YOU SHOULD BE ASHAME!!!
Place rating: 3
San Diego, CA
We hadn’t been here for quite a while, but it used to be a good place back when I worked near there. The first surprise were the prices — typical of a high end restaurant. Service was great, drinks arrived quickly, food also. My wife ordered crab cakes, got one small one and a soft shell crab. Food was not as warm as desirable. I ordered the jambalaya, plenty of it, but it had obviously been sitting for a while — the rice was turning into paste. Also it was supposed to come with coleslaw, which never showed up. Definitely not a match to the pricing.
Place rating: 4
Glendale, CA
Clam chowder. Skip everything else and get two bowls. Everything here is fried and unhealthy without options to make any changes. I’ve had a few things during my visits but I always leave thinking I just should’ve had two bowls of chowder. This spot is two plus hours from my home but I’ve driven down more than once just to scratch the chowder itch. It’s creamy and full of herbs and always delicious.
Place rating: 1
Sandpoint, ID
Went to dinner after hearing people talk about it. Forget it!
I had to go get a carne asada burrito after it because I was so hungry.
For $ 50 for two we shouldn’t of been hungry. And I’m not a big eater either.
Place rating: 4
Los Angeles, CA
I would have never expected a restaurant to be hidden in an industrial looking area. When I first walked in, it felt like I was walking into an old ship. Surprisingly, they had a good selection of brunch items on their menu.
The highlight of brunch was their bloody mary’s. In addition, their three course meal for brunch is a pretty good deal for $ 25. I decided to try their three course meal with clam chowder, scrambled egg jambalaya, and some french vanilla ice cream. The clam chowder was on the thicker side, but pretty tasty. I also sampled some of my friend’s lobster bisque which was a bit sweeter than expected. Then, my jambalaya came out. I think the combination of eggs with jambalaya doesn’t work. I ended up removing all of the scrambled eggs from my dish. I thought the jambalaya was ok but nothing really special. Finally, our dessert came out. I was already extremely full from our main entrée, but having french vanilla ice cream was a good way to end a good brunch.
Place rating: 2
San Diego, CA
Let me start by saying this place has a lot of potential. The décor is fun and the location is off the beaten path. Located in the industrial area of Escondido. It seems to have a consistent flow of people coming here so they’re doing something right. But I don’t know what. Is it that Escondido is so desperate for seafood? I’ve come here 3 – 4 times and walk away disappointed every time. The service doesn’t seem to care or maybe they’re stretched thin? The quality of seafood isn’t worth the price. This place is pricey for a hole in the wall Escondido restaurant.
All in all, I’ve really tried to like this place. It’s family owned and quaint. But I feel they are relying on being the only seafood «shack» in town. So they don’t have to try that hard.
Place rating: 1
Escondido, CA
We were celebrating my daughter’s birthday with 7 of us. What a shock to find the prices had risen so steeply. $ 32 for fish and chips? nobody’s that good! We usually order the fisherman special, but it had gone up to $ 70. My daughter did order it and split it with her friend. The crab was so boiled that it was too soft to crack. On top of everything else the waiter could not keep our water glasses full. The mandatory 18% tip seem like robbery. No wonder the place was less than half full on a Saturday night. Your prices are way out of line. Come on Sand Crab, your better than this
Place rating: 2
San Diego, CA
This review saddens me because this place used to be so amazing! The 2 stars that I’m giving are for the service which was amazing, such a friendly waitress. The prices were ridiculous so we went with more lunch option price. I ordered the catfish Po boy, you could tell the fish was not fresh and it was underdone. We also ordered the jambalaya which tasted like it came out of the microwave, the rice and sausage were hard and a gloppy mess as if it had been a frozen food meal. We didn’t complain as it looks like our waitress was on her own and like I said she was amazing and didn’t cook our food. Please management Talk to your chefs and get some fresher ingredients. Hopefully things will come together and we will be back in a few months with better quality food!
Place rating: 5
Santee, CA
Wow! So we found this place on a whim, by googling seafood, crab, and escondido.
Coming up on the venue, there is nothing else around but industrial businesses. It has a very hole in the wall feeling, but what a diamond in the rough… or hidden gem. Either are very accurate descriptions of this place!
It was a bit pricier than expected, but well worth it! The clam chowder soup was unlike any other I’ve had. The consistency and taste had a very homemade and down-​home feel. It was a very soothing and comforting soup to ingest. The lobster po’ boy was fantastic, as was the crab dip. My favorite part is ordering the bucket, they dump it onto your table and you get a mallet for a cracker!
I will definitely return when I’m up in Esco again!
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
This place is cool and fun and unique !!!
A fun place for everyone to go including the kids ! — 5 Stars for the food and the décor !
Place rating: 4
Fallbrook, CA
Rick,
Thanks for bringing this place back from the brink of extinction…
The personal service is gone from days gone by but that may build back up.
I will do a new review again in a bit and see where you go from here.
Its all on you.
Place rating: 4
San Marcos, CA
«I want crabs and lots of them!»…said no one ever, unless they’ve been to the Original Sand Crab Tavern.
Tucked away in an industrial part of Escondido is this hidden gem. It’s been around since 1988… and the tsotchkes prove it!
The menu is a bit limited BUT if you like seafood you’ll be happy with it. It is a bit pricey, but it’s worth it. This isn’t a once a week place… two adults, one appetizer, two drinks (non-​alcoholic), and tip.90-ish dollars.
They have specials, music on some nights, and a back private room.
Four stars from me.
Place rating: 3
Oceanside, CA
I’ve been going here for years now. And I’m a bit ashamed that it came to the cliché having a bad experience to leave a review. My past experience is what boosts the stars. However, it seems there is new ownership and it shows. If I were to review on my last few visits, it would be one star.
This last visit took the cake and probably sealed the decision not to return. The food is decent, but greatly over priced. The crab was meh. We, 2 people, bought the King and Dungeness crab for two AND mudbugs combo for one and still left hungry. The king crab shells were soft making it a pain to open. I’m glad this visit they had the crab forks back. But its ok, we only had to deal with a couple legs and a knuckle of Dungeness crab. $ 135 and 2 hours later we were looking for somewhere to eat more food.
I really wish there were other options for good boils like this somewhere local.
Place rating: 3
Vista, CA
Ok the food is good, not the greatest seafood, but good none the less. I did not think the prices were out of wack for the portions of seafood you get. My fiancée and I had the Fisherman’s Platter for two. The crab was fine, however the lobster, shrimp, and crawdads were over cooked. That also happens at good old fashioned Shrimp Boils in LA. The beer prices are really a good deal in a seafood restaurant and you are not drinking wine at an old fashioned Shrimp Boil. Get the bucket of beer. I thought the service was good, but it wasn’t super busy on Father’s Day.
I did have issue with them not taking a
certificate. It’s not a coupon and I paid for it. I save the money any day and the certificate says it is good everyday, regardless it pissed me off. So, I probably won’t be back for awhile, but I will be back, cause it was a good experience. Get your act together at the register Sand Crab!!! Stupid to make a customer angry over $ 4.