Crab Landing

I came here back in Jan 2011 on one of the rare gorgeous days in Half Moon Bay that was clear and sunny. We wanted to try this place out because it had such a beautiful view of the bay.
Our Order:
Raw Oysters: Fanny Bay (British Columbia), Kumamoto (Washington), Blue Point (Long Island), Miyagi (British Columbia)
Crab Sandwich: served with tomato and lettuce with a side of fries and a cucumber salad
Escargot: served on a bed of Shiitake Mushrooms along-​side a Puff Pastry
Crème Brule Trio: Grand Marnier, Green Tea and Pineapple Coconut
The food wasn’t anything spectacular so I’m not too surprised that they are now closed. I did enjoy the fresh oysters (with the Kumamto and the Miyagi begin my favorites). The escargot were decent as they weren’t overly cooked. The Crab Sandwich was under-​whelming as you can get better crab sandwiches around HMB for less. The Crème Brule Trio had about two spoonfuls so they were pretty much palate teasers. Service was good as we were periodically checked-​in on but wasn’t too hovering.

Came here on a Saturday. We were told it would be a 30 minute wait, which was strange because there was no line and the restaurant was less than ½ full. I asked if we could sit at the (literally) empty bar to grab a drink and appetizer while we waited. We were told no. We were seated approximately 5 minutes later. We sat at a table for about 10 minutes before a busser finally noticed us and alerted wait staff.
I ordered the seafood platter, which is fish and chips with a couple shrimp, scallops, crab cake balls, and scallops. The entire dish tasted burnt. The fish was soggy, and the shrimp and scallops were very mushy on the inside. I’m not a picky eater at all, but I couldn’t stomach it. For $ 26 it was way over priced.
My girlfriend had the crab louis, which she liked and had plenty of crab.
It has a great view, but I doubt I would go back again.

We were there in May (sorry for the late review) however we were a large party I think 8 adults and 7 kids and they got us right in on a Saturday night, we had a great dinner. My husband had crab sandwich it was so good, I had the seafood pasta and it was very good, full if lots if shell fish. The kids loved their clam chowder and all our friends seemed happy with their food.
Good sized portions also
We will be back:)

For lunch, the idea of going somewhere that is relaxing and won’t rush me makes me pretty happy. My last lunch time visit found me with the hot crab sandwich was good — but not great. It was salty. I want to try the crab salad next time. Maybe its a Louie — one of my favorites. I saw other tables getting that and it was huge. .. what more can you ask for? I love big cold crisp salads! The service was excellent. Very friendly and accommodating. The view was excellent and no one rushed me.
Date night dinner was a mess. Service wasn’t as good as lunch, and sadly, nether was the food. I was told we will never come here as a couple again. If I want to come here again — I have to go alone or with my friends. Yikes!
The positives:
The wine list is respectable.
The view is nice whether it is day or night.
Plenty of parking right outside (the lot to the side of the restaurant)

Oh boy, oysters on the half shell followed by baked Halibut with lemon and capers. Our young waitress was the hit of the night. Such a personality that we will definitly be coming back.

I ate here again shortly after the new owner re-​opened the restaurant as I was a fan of this place, so much so that my husband purchased a gift card here which the new owner would not honor. Okay, guess that is how they do business. Service wasn’t very good, not many people eating here and service was still slow. The menu had a lack of crab dishes, unlike the previous menu. The food was just okay at best. I won’t be dining here, miss the old Crab Landing.

This is your spot for a sunset meal and a drink. The sweeping view of Princeton harbor and the pacific ocean make it a gem! The friendly staff give the extra touch to make me feel welcomed. All my menu questions were answered!
Seafood is solid! Well seasoned, cooked and presented. Bread served WARM!
Veg not over cooked. House wine was delightful!
Noise level not too bad at all! If you have out of town guests this is worth the stop.

Post-​kayaking candle-​lit dinner here on a Sunday night. Live band, dim lights, pear cheesecake.
Really hit the spot for me.

The new version of CL is quite good.
Food is improved and consistent and the manager/​people that work there are pleasant and knowledgeable.
The place is too big, that is not their fault but they sure care.

This place has a nice view of the marina at Half-​Moon Bay. The food is decent.
One thing though: the place is called «Crab Landing» and there’s hardly any crab on the menu! The only whole crab is in the appetizers section, which means it’s $ 30 for a crab with no accompaniments at all.

Fishy — very fishy! We were the only two people (there’s a clue, Sherlock!) and we felt invisible to the 5 waiting staff. Fish and chips was ok, clam chowder passable. But two different music selections playing at once drove us bonkers.
Avoid — don’t waste your money. Go to Princeton over the road.

I didn’t Unilocal this place before I stopped by with my boyfriend a couple weekends ago for lunch, but I’m glad because these reviews aren’t so great! Luckily we had a great time.
We were in Half Moon Bay for my birthday weekend, just a lil getaway. So we were in a good mood when we got here — this was our first stop! It was pretty empty at around 2pm, so we had an awesome window seat upstairs. Beautiful views! Our server was a super sweet girl; she let us know we were her first table EVER. So cute. And she did a wonderful job! Maybe because we were her first, she was on high alert, but we were never ignored and everything came out in a very timely manner.
My boyfriend got the burger, which he thought was just okay. I got the crab melt, which I really liked! The crab tasted really fresh. I thought it could use some more seasoning, or just something extra, but it was still good. The fries were also yummy, but in my opinion it’s hard to go wrong with fries.
They also have a full bar, so my boyfriend got a beer (some kind of IPA, he loved it) and I just got a glass of white zin. I’m easy to please, haha. The bill at the end seemed a little pricey for the amount of food we got, but nothing too crazy. Overall, lovely experience and a perfect start to our weekend getaway. :D

Row, row, row your boat… gently down the drain…
520PM
Amit — «Hello, we have reservations for 4 at 530PM»
Hostess — «Umm…hmm»
Hostess #2 — «Yes…»
521PM
Amit — «…er…ok. Can we be seated since the place is empty but if you’d like, we can wait until its 530PM, no worries»
Hostess #2 — «Whisper, whisper, whisper… we’ll show you to your table»
Hostess #1 and #2 — «Whisper, whisper, whisper… right this way»
535PM
Amit — «Nice view from our table, eh hubby dearest?»
Hubby — «Yeah, pretty nifty. I like»
Amit — «Decided what you want to order?»
Hubby — «Yup! Ready as I’ll ever be»
540PM
Amit — «Wonder when our server is?»
Hubby — «Dunno»
Amit — «Oh look! They seated that cute elderly couple behind us»
Hubby — «Oh yeah. Totally adorable»
545PM
Amit — «Ah! There’s our server… oh she’s taking the order for the cute elderly couple. I’m sure she’ll come to us nex… and away she goes to the other end of the restaurant»
Hubby — Starts tapping fingers… not a good sign
550PM
Amit — Starts tapping fingers… definitely not a good sign
555PM
Amit — «Ah! Here she com… oh great! She’s giving the cute elderly couple their iced tea… aaaand away she goes… yet again»
556PM
Amit — «Hon? Let’s just do Outback Steakhouse in Daly City ok?»
Hubby — «YESS!»
557PM
Amit — «Ma’am, I’m so sorry to leave this abruptly but we waited close to 20 minutes for someone to take our order and still no one came»
Hostess — «I’m sorry???»
The staff right from the hostess to the servers seem to be a mix of kids doing summer jobs who don’t give a damn, and kids who think they work at the French Laundry and act like they’re towing the velvet rope.
I’m sure the food is great for it all smelt wonderful and the views were spectacular but the service and responsiveness of the hostess left a lot to be desired for. Pity.
P. S. Oh! Also as we we were leaving a couple who are locals and frequent the establishment walked out in a fury saying they won’t visit this place anymore for how inefficient they are, and all the hostess could do was look back at them with a «O-​M-​F-​G SO rude!» Cali-​gurl look.

During the week I called to place a reservation for a larger party, I was placed on hold by a girl named Romey. After being on hold for 5 minutes I decided to hang up and call back. Romey answered the phone, I let her know that I had been waiting over 5 minutes. She said she was sorry and placed my reservation for 20 people. I let her know that I wanted to be seated upstairs where we could see the ocean and have space for wheelchairs and walkers. She said that should be fine.
We arrive to the restaurant and I ask to view where they had us seated. Our seating was out looking where the trucks parked with trees and a little view of the ocean. I asked if we can move to where they set up a 12 top table, and we could break the tables to get more seating. She said she had to check with the bartender to see if another party requested that view. When she asked the bartender if we could change our seats to that area with the tables turned to make more room to accommodate he immediately said no because the tables were to heavy. When she came back to let me know she said that the other party requested that area. (I also requested that area and I brought a group of seniors we rarely get to view the ocean)
Instead I asked if we could be seated downstairs away from the bartender who does not know how to be professional when a customer is 4 feet away.
Our server was a young man named Jason. He did an amazing job handling our group of 20. He was prompt in getting us our drinks and giving refills. He checked to make sure everybody had everything they needed at all times. It’s sad that they charge you a 20% gratuity and make one person do all the work.
The food was mediocre at most. I ordered a crab melt with a side of fries. I did not care for the sauce with the crab melt. The clam chowder was thick, and had a notable taste of bacon– not my preferences.
Personally I think they need better customer service all around. The bartender and the hostess should take some tips from Jason. Jason was accommodating from when we wanted to move the tables upstairs to paying the check.

Ate here a few weeks ago. The food and drinks were pretty good but they were very slow coming out of the kitchen and bar.
The food:
Free bread with butter was tasty, but the little packets in foil you have to unwrap reminds me of a Denny’s, not a dinner spot.
The portions were just enough, maybe a little pricey for what they were.
Misadvertised saying it was peas with the halibut, but it was really asparagus (which are not bad, but the truth would’ve been nice!)
The halibut was perfectly cooked and the mashed potatoes were fabulous.
The pasta was good but not knock-​your-​socks off. There was something a little odd about the texture of the pasta. Maybe a little too rubbery?
The drinks:
Nicely made, reasonably strong. I had a mai tai and the friend had a Meyers and tonic.
The service:
It took a fairly long time to get menus and order, then ages for our drinks to come out and quite a while for the entrees too.
We too got the sweet but inexperienced server. Maybe she could shadow a more experienced server for a bit? I’m guessing the slowness was the kitchen & bar, she just seemed like she could use to work on some of her skills (water, etc.).
The ambiance:
Very cruise-​ship like. Not my cup of tea, but clean and had lots of windows.
They let us hang around for a while after we paid, talking, though. So it’s not half bad. Just bring someone you can talk a lot with, I guess!

We had dinner here with family about a month ago, and fortunately we had a better experience than a lot of recent reviewers.
Our server wasn’t the best, but it was her first day. I cut her a lot of slack on that. She was young, inexperienced, very sweet and obviously really trying to do a good job.
I have only been here since the Ketch Joanne owners bought it, so i can’t make any comparisions. My husband and I love Ketch Joanne, so we figured the food would be similar.
Although the space is much nicer than Ketch Joanne, the food prices weren’t any higher. I was pretty surprised by this. It’s a huge space, and I thought they’d charge a bit more.
I had the fresh local salmon. As always when i order salmon out, it was overcooked. I sent it back, and it was much better. I also requested the pat of butter I saw on the salmon on the next table be left off. In my opinion, there’s no need for huge pat of butter on salmon.
I wasn’t blown away, but it was pretty good, and very reasonably priced.
I stole a few of my husband’s fries, and they were delicious as well. Drinks were more expensive than at Ketch Joanne, but perfectly made.
Everyone liked their food, and the manager brought out a free appetizer as well. Unnecessary, but still a nice touch.
The staff was pleasant, the food was good, and prices were reasonable. If the wait at Ketch Joanne is too long, or you’re a whore for opentable points, I’d recommend this spot.

I believe we’re currently in the third incarnation of Crab Landing. May I suggest, rather than continually reopening as Crab Landing, why not scrap it completely and start over?
This hasn’t been a good spot in the past, and things haven’t gotten better.
On my latest visit, things got off to a rocky start. We sat, ignored, for a very long time. I wanted to bolt, but we had some hungry people in our group. Finally, our server came by. He was cheerful and friendly. He brought our first round of drinks very quickly. I started to relax a bit, thinking I was going to have a nice dining experience. Our group of five ordered lunch: burgers, fish, and a salmon sandwich. The food took a while to come out of the kitchen, but salmon dish was quite good. My dining companions found their dishes to be okay, nothing spectacular.
We were enjoying a beautiful day on the patio, having such a nice time that we ordered a second round of drinks. And that’s when disaster struck. Our server disappeared. He was gone so long, we were sure there had been a shift change or something. One from our group went inside to look for him, but no luck.
When he did resurface again, we decided to seize the opportunity to ask for our check so we could free ourselves from this place. Skip the second round of drinks, please, since they never arrived. But our server was confused: he was sure he’d brought us our drinks. We asked three times for our bill to be redone, because we did not want to pay for items we’d never received. Each time a bill came, it was wrong. After the third time, our server was pissed off at us, and sent the manager over. The manager was very pleasant, and finally gave us a correct bill.
I appreciated the manager’s efforts. However, after being severely disappointed by this place about 5 out of 6 times, I’m definitely done.

Hoooo boy. The owner emailed me a month ago asking me to remove the restaurant from my «Evil Businesses from Hell» list and asking me to come back because they’re under new management (again?). I messaged her back saying that I’d consider it and asking how to make arrangements with her for our visit (she offered a discount and I wanted to make sure we’d be able to get that on the books for when we came in). She never responded to me, and after my first two experiences, I wasn’t exactly excited to come back for another try… there are so many way better restaurants in HMB so why would I make the time and effort to come back to a place that was absolutely horrendous not once but twice before?
Well this morning I got another email from the owner, this time accusing me of being «biased.» Uhh, okay. Damn right I’m biased. I’m biased against wasting my hard-​earned money on a crap restaurant. WTF.
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Robin O.
Block User
14 hours ago
You are totally biased. They are under new management and for you to base your opinion on last years visit is ridiculous.
Heather K.
A moment ago
You have got to be kidding me. I based my opinion on ACTUAL EXPERIENCES. Two experiences. I gave them two chances and they blew it both times. My reviews were truthful and relevant and I posted them around the times of my visits. What am I supposed to do, monitor when businesses change hands and remove reviews when that happens? No. That’s not how it works. And last time I was there, I was told that it was under new management. How many times has this restaurant changed hands in the last couple years? Three? I can’t keep track.
Also, you emailed me previously asking me to remove Crab Landing from one of my lists as well as inviting me back for another try. I told you that I would remove it from my list only after I’ve been back for another visit in order to prove to me that things really had changed, and I asked you how to arrange for that next visit. You never answered my question. I was willing to give the restaurant one more chance but you ignored me, which doesn’t do much to convince me that the management has changed at all. And after my previous awful experiences, I’m not going to go out of my way to come back again.
So…am I biased? Of course. But justifiably so. The two times I’ve been to Crab Landing have both been absolutely dreadful. The only thing that’s ridiculous is your assertion that I should change my opinions when nothing has been done to try and convince me otherwise.
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Sorry, no, You aren’t winning my business back. And from the looks of some of the more recent reviews, I’m not missing anything… seems like not much has changed, new ownership or not.

My husband and I had a $ 100 gift card or this restaurant. We live an hour and a half away so it’s been over a year since we got the car. We were so excited to finally be able to try this place out. After reading prior reviews I was a little nervous, and rightfully so.
When we arrived, the hostesses carried on their conversation with each other without even acknowledging our presence. Do I really need to clear my through to get noticed around here? Ugh.
Prefacing my disappointment with food: My husband and I have been on a very strict workout and diet plan. Yesterday was a celebration and, therefore, a cheat day.
We both ordered a caesar salad to start. It was WAY over dressed. The leaves were soggy with dressing. Easily, my starter salad was a good 1,000 calories. Blech.
My husband ordered the NY steak and I got the crab ravioli. His steak was just ok; nt worth the $ 30 price tag. Much like my salad, the raviolis were way over sauced with this borderline chunky cream sauce. I ate half and then my stomach hurt for the rest of the night.
We were a little disappointed with the service. We felt rushed. Once our server took our full order I ordered a cocktail and told her I’d probably switch to wine with dinner. Well, no time to finish your cocktail, bc here’s your soggy salad! My bellini martini didn’t taste so good after the salad so it was still there when they whisked my plate away only to drop off my entrée immediately in it’s place. She offered wine then but I’m not speed drinker so I declined. I was surprised that it was never offered again after I did finish my drink. We were out of there in about an hour… tops. There went our romantic leisurely evening.
At the end, we tried to pay with our gift card and the manager let us know the restaurant is under new ownership and they don’t accept gift cards anymore. What? I drove 90 minutes to eat an $ 85 mediocre meal that may have made me sick? You’ve got to be kidding me. Without much fuss from us, he comped our food but we still had to pay for our drinks. Fine. Understood.
Bottom line: disappointing food and service. Don’t bring gift cards bc they cause issues.

If you have a craving for seafood with a nice view, this is the place. Neatly wrapped around the pier of Half Moon Bay, lies this very spacious place for the crustaceans’ lovers in all of us.
After a weekend trip up north, we slowly settled downward the coast. We made way to this place that one of my friends recommended we go to for our late lunch early dinner. Given of the time, we were able to be seated literally anywhere to our liking. We got the upstair dining area where the views are. Unfortunately for the couple that was with us, the view was blocked. Bummer! The shade was not compliant that day so they were left without a view. Luckily the food offset the disappointment.
We started out by ordering a few appetizers. I got the Tom Yum seafood soup, while my other dining companions ordered the House special clam chowder and of course, the raw oysters in a half shelf. Then came our warm, toasted french bread galore. Not to mentioned the butter that just melts in your mouth. Oh my, it is so delish! So far, everything were scrumpitous.
Our main entrees were the followings, More oysters!!! Can never get enough of these little suckers. Or are we the suckers!!! We ordered the clams and mussels in a very seasoned and flavorfuled sauces, the roasted crabs, and artichoke hearts in garlic butter. Went well with nothing better than a coke or a cool refreshing ice tea to end a nice weekend.
Services was a little bit lacking in since that we kept repeating ourselves with more bread, water and food! But other than that, so worth coming for your seafood fix.