Red Crab

In my never ending quest to find a decent scallop in the Dallas area that won’t cost me an arm and a leg, I found myself in this place. I was going to have only the scallops but I had a combo plate with 3 jumbo shrimp that wasn’t jumbo, 3 oysters that were a bit funky tasting, 3 small scallops, and something called crab sticks which was basically deep fried fake crab.
They gave me 2 itty bitty containers with tartar sauce and a few tablespoons of coleslaw.
I was the only person in the place and can see why.
I have had some pretty bad seafood in my life and this place serves some pretty bad seafood.

I will be back. A little greasy, but perfectly acceptable for what it is. A crab house in Garland, priced right and no wait… I look forward to returning
Best part BYOB!

I was drag into this place by my sister in law! I am extremely picky with restaurants. Let’s review the place smell weird but I try to give it a chance. We took our own beer, gave it 2 stars for that. The spicy shrimp is good and there are bigger then boiling crab! I wish they had different seasoning like boiling crab. The seasoning is made with garlic and spices. The crawfish is big and good. The owner mess up our order but he gave us a free ½ jumbo shrimp. I wish they would clean up place because the food is ok. I will be back!

It always pains me to do these reviews, especially when things are just right. First let me say that the fried shrimp was pretty good. A little strange (made in circles like onion rings) but good batter and seemed fresh. Also ordered what they called a crab cake. Reminded me of my mom’s Salmon patties in looks only. I tried to like it. It just wasn’t there. The cole slaw was ok but in the smallest cup. Are they afraid we might like it or saving money? It was 6 p. m on a Wednesday night and we were the only diners. And no other guests arrived while we were there. Really thought the early reviews were harsh due to the newness of the place last year. But aside from some tasty shrimp that’s about where it stopped. The cleanliness of a place is the first thing that I notice and I should’ve left early on. But I wanted to give it a chance. I sure hope they can learn to serve up larger normal portions and fix the place up some and remove the food warning banners from the front windows! Sorry for this, but true.

Not sure what the bad reviews are all about but I had a very different experience. First off the bad reviews kept us from trying this place for months until one desperate Friday nite after seeing every other place was packed we decided to just go for it. How bad can it be we thought? Well it wasn’t bad at all! First off they do have regular iced tea. As far as the Old Bay goes they no longer cook with it. Instead it comes on the side. We tried a steamed combo deal that had crab claws, shrimp and blue crab as well. Everything tasted fresh and delicious. The blue crab is however a mystery to me as to how to eat it so we sorta gave up on it. Later we found out the owner loves to educate people on the various seafood and how to eat it. Too late for us. We also had the fried shrimp. I will admit it is shaped funny but that is how they butterfly it. Otherwise it was hand battered and fresh fried. Served hot it was wonderful. Our waitress explained everything in detail and was very attentive to us but they weren’t busy either. She did have a dirty shirt on which wasn’t great but she was just as sweet as can be. We have since been back and the food has been good each time. The only real knock is that the portions are kind of small. But it was good and the décor is clean and nice. The owner seemed very nice to us and with all the nice notes written by customers on the walls, they seem to have a local fan base who have also discovered this little seafood gem.

This place is absolutely terrible! Do not go! I’ve visited about a month ago, and I will never ever ever ever visit this establishment again. The food was awful and the service was a joke. I believe the owner has a mental illness. Either that or he is just crazy. I felt sick a few hours after eating the food. I will definitely not be recommending this to any of my friends or family. If you have a lot of enemies and are a particularly cruel person, you should suggest that they dine at this restaurant. So to sum it up… DO NOT EAT HERE!!!

Tried this place while visiting Dallas for family. The main attraction here is the quality of seafood vs. the price. If you are looking to get a quick, cheap bite then then give this a place a shot. Some items on the menu are a steal compared to others (like the lobster tails) so scan thoroughly. Try the homemade iced tea (sweetened), tastes pretty good.
Other quick tips:
— Lots of seating, so good for larger parties
— Can BYOB
— Has TVs w/​sports channels for games

Was visiting family from New York who lived around the area, so decided to give this place a shot. Didn’t realize this place had such bad reviews till I decided to come and write one myself. So here it goes…
If you’re expecting a place like boiling crab, you will be disappointed. They don’t have bags of spices with your seafood. It’s more direct and to the point. However, this is a seafood joint that is trying it’s best to meet its demographic.
Pros: decent food, owner tries to educate you on seafood, which was nice. I liked the french fries and surprisingly gumbo soup (wish there was a stronger spicy kick, but I was still pleasantly surprised), My boyfriend tried the catfish fillet and I tried the Tilapia fillet, which was good, nothing extraordinary, but we both enjoyed it. Also — try the ice tea sweetened!
Cons: service wasn’t superb, I’ve noticed that many customers come alone. This is a type of place that you get in, get out, which I appreciate to an extent, being from NYC, I sometimes enjoy just eating my food in peace and getting out.
Overall, this isn’t a bad place to give a shot if you’re looking for healthier seafood options (assuming you don’t get everything fried)!

We stopped by there for lunch. YIKES, the place was completely empty… should have been my first clue that this place sucked. WE seated ourselves and I ordered the gumbo and my friend got the crab cake. Waitress came by and asked my friend if she wanted the plate or the platter, she chose the platter… she got one thin crab cake and about 5 fries on her plate for about 7.99. what a joke. my gumbo was tasteless and nasty. could hardly finish it. Dont go here. It will be out of business soon anyway.

Horrible food with horrible service.
When we asked for regular tea after trying the lemon tea, we were told we would charged for another drink since it wasn’t a refill. We refused and said «refill» from the other pitcher.
Did not bring all the orders together and had no idea who ordered what. The food did not seem to be fresh — as advertised.
The waitress was bad mouthing the owner/​operators and then totally messed up the check — charging us for a complete different combo. The cashier had solve the riddle.
Don’t waste your time going here — I certainly won’t.

I was in town visiting a friend in the area and we decided to give this seafood spot a try. It was a good choice… For seafood, the food here is very affordable and really tasty. We ordered crab cakes, tilapia and scallops, plus several of the side items and were not disappointed. I’m all about supporting small businesses, so I was happy to learn that this restaurant is family-​owned. I wish I had this kind of place back home!

Ok so I’ve seen all the reviews and decided to try this place anyways.
I personally feel you have to know what to expect when entering a place like this. It’s a family owned business ran by an older Asian couple.
This place just opened so I’m not surprised at the lack of service and the missing menu options. I’m actually glad they didn’t have some of the crab legs in just yet because that means they would have been sitting there in the freezer for quite some time.
We had the raw oysters, which were good sized and with great flavor. The waitress did bring lemons and horseradish out before the oysters so there was no issue there like others posted. We also go a pound of crawfish… which I don’t recommend but was my own fault for ordering them out of season. We also had the fried catfish plate and the grilled tilapia plate. All the fish was great, the shrimp that come with them were good (they are round because they are butterflied), crab sticks were good and that’s coming from a crab lover, fried scallops were great, cole slaw was good, fries were battered and then fried which gave them a good crunch, and the steamed rice was decent… more like an uncle bens rice.
Overall I am happy with this place and will be returning anytime I want some close seafood. Pricing was good considering how much we ate. Service was ok but expected with a place like this opening up recently. It’s BYOB so I might bring some friends with me next time!
Also, they are preparing to have fish market inside as well where you can buy whole fish and have it prepped/​sliced how you want to take home and cook yourself. That in itself will make me return later on.
I’m confident that once this place gets settled in, people will come and the food will rotate constantly.

Despite the negative reviews, gave it a try, not too bad!
We tried: crawfish boils, blue crabs boils, fried scallops, fried oysters, crab cakes, fried catfish, lobster tail boils. I absolutely loved the fried scallops, they were a steal too! The blue crabs were good, kinda high-​priced though but i guess they weren’t in season. The crab cakes and oysters were alright, i enjoyed them. I was not a fan of the crawfish however. The lobster tails were good, i liked them, they were also a steal, $ 15 for 2?
Overall, decent place, BYOB if you like to have drinks with your seafood.

Last review is confusing. I hope she’s not confusing Boiling Crab with Red Crab. Red Crab not good or tolerable! The food and service was horrible.

The place seems to have had some teething problems but we went on a Saturday and found the hostess to be prompt and friendly. The food was not 5-​star restaurant quality but, and let me emphasize this, it’s a bargain for the price. Everything was very tasty and there was lots of it. The only quibble I had was the crab sticks are imitation crab. Edible, but I think I’ll go with something else next time.
Edit: I’ve since eaten at this restaurant four times and twice have taken ill afterward, the same unpleasant middle-​of-​the-​night bowel evacuation. I’ll not be returning.

If i could give negative stars this place would earn at least 2!
Like another reviewer stated, the place took forever to open, and I was very excited to have a place to get «fresh» seafood in the neighborhood. Little did I know what was waiting.
My first experience was a day or so after they opened, pop’d in to order some crab legs to go. Walked in and started looking over the «menu» and inquired about the crab legs and was informed that out of the selection of 5 or 6 types of crab legs they have on the menu that they currently only have the «snow crab» legs as they were the only one in season. So I ordered 1.5 lbs of those to go and a fish meal.
I asked if they had any sweet tea and if so i’d like a glass to go to drink while i waited for my order. The waitress said that they did have sweet tea, however she warned that it was sweetened with pink lemonade. So I passed.
Food was prepared, I paid, took the food home and opened the bag of crab legs… HOLY OLD BAY … It was caked on everything! I actually like old bay seasoning on my crab legs, but holy smokes this was caked on there so much that it had turned into a paste by the time i got it home.
Crab leg’s were «so-​so», fish was «so-​so», fries were in edible.
Trip #2
Few days later I decided to give them another shot, I hadn’t gone «all the way» in the last trip as i just ordered take out. This time I was prepared for the «full» experience, the décor is a bit 70’s and lackluster, but i wasn’t put off, i was in it for the crab legs and wasn’t going to let the lack of any sort of «ambiance» or «atmosphere» deter me.
Come to find out they do not have fountain drinks and only have the Lemonade Sweet tea, or a selection of canned or bottled drinks (which they charge an arm and a leg for). It’s Pepsi products, and the selection is limited and doesn’t look to be restocked very often.
I order another 1.5 lbs of snow crab legs as that’s still the only type they seem to have at the moment. Ask for them to leave the old bay seasoning off this time and that i’d like to try a half pound of their spice jumbo shrimp.
Food eventually comes out, with the old bay seasoning caked on just like I asked them NOT to do, not feeling like making a big deal out of it i mention that i had asked for the old bay seasoning to be left off however it was fine and i’d eat it as is. Then i notice that the «spiced» shrimp is actually steamed/​boiled shrimp just «covered» in old bay seasoning. So here i sit, a «tray» with 1.5lbs of crab legs, 1 plate with about 12 – 15 «jumbo» shrimp on it. No garnish, no lemon wedge, no butter, no presentation what-​so-​ever, no napkins, no nothing. The food was dropped off and then the server just left. I eventually got some «semi» melted butter and was able to finish my meal and get out without any other incidents, the crab legs were «ok», shrimp was over cooked and tough. I figured i’d give them one more shot before writing them off completely.
Trip 3:
Got there around 7:45 pm. Entered and was told to seat myself, so i did. As i seat myself the waiter follows me to the booth and promptly sits down with me to take my order. Which he get’s completely wrong. I ordered 1.5 lbs of crab legs and an order of 8 pc jumbo fried shrimp, again this time asking that the old bay seasoning, or any seasoning for that matter be left off.
Food comes out, guess what, WITH the old bay seasoning on it. This time I tell the server that I specifically ordered the crab legs with no seasoning and that i would like the order redone. He takes the order away and is back within 3 – 4 minutes with the crab legs now «rinsed off». So as he’s walking off, i take a cluster of crab legs and pick them up out of the puddle of water that is now filling the tray and hold the cluster over the others as I watch the water run out of the legs, it was pretty bad, not only were the legs now water logged, they had been cooled off to just past lukewarm. Needless to say I wasn’t interested in eating them at that point.
During checkout I had to explain to the owner that I wasn’t paying for the crab legs and why, as he had never bothered to come to my table when i had complained. He didn’t seem to care that I was not happy, nor did he apologize. I promptly told him that this was the 2^nd time this had happend and that I wouldn’t be back. He didn’t seem to care, at least that’s what I took his turning around and walking back into the kitchen after he took my money as.
Poor service, No standards, No Good. As another reviewer said, save yourself the headache and go next door to Norma’s and treat yourself to some really good Mexican food, where the owners actually care about their customers! And you’ll get service with a smile.
I really wanted to like this place as well, I am a huge seafood lover, however I too will be surprised if this place last through the summer.

I had such high hopes for this place because I love seafood and it’s close to home. Now, having eaten there, I’m convinced the owners haven’t even ever eaten in a seafood restaurant.
We sat ourselves and the only server in the place brought us menus and took our drink orders after she took the the order of the people who can in after us. This was my first sign. My sweet ice tea was horrible and when I ask for something else, the server told me it was tea mixed with pink lemonade. Who does that??? Our oysters were brought out with no cocktail sauce, horseradish, or crackers. I had to ask for all those items that come standard in most seafood joints.
For entrees, I had stone crabs (because they didn’t have king crab — for their grand opening???) and my husband ordered the «jumbo» shrimp. Neither dish came with any type of side or veggies. Nothing. Both were smothered in Old Bay seafood seasoning, and not in a good way. No bowls for shells, no small forks for the crab, no «cracker» to crack the crab shell, and the butter for the crab was extremely salty. My husband said his shrimp was overlooked, rubbery and hard to peel. Also it was 22 pieces to make up a pound of «jumbo» shrimp.
Needless to say, we won’t be returning. Which is a shame because it would have been nice to have a decent seafood restaurant close to home.

First of all the booths r tiny. They did have tables in the back but I didn’t see them til after I squeezed into the booth. The only tea they have is sweet & lemon. I think the waitress should have mentioned that. They say their seafood is fresh but what I had was not. They have an item called crab sticks which tasted like the fake crab you can buy at the supermarket. The fries were the wedge variety and looked inedible so I didn’t try them. On the up side the coke slaw was really great. The waitress overcharged me for my meal but that wad fine because i considered that her tip. Overall I’d say pass this place by. I suggest going next door to Norma’s and enjoy great service great Mexican food and a great atmosphere.