Poppy’s Crab Shack

This place has not been in business for nearly a year. Don’t look for it on the coast

Limited menu and not the cheapest food truck around, but oh so delicious and worth every penny! Got the Poppy’s crab roll served up by Poppy herself. Made our day.

I will preface by saying the only reason I am giving ³⁄₅ is due to the lack of menu. I realize it’s not crab season, but the menu was whittled down to the Poppy’s Crab Roll and the Naked Crab Roll and not much else.
That being said I was VERY happy with my Poppy’s Crab Roll. We were spending the July 4^th morning/​afternoon at Montara State Beach and grabbed a few rolls to enjoy on the sand. The rolls were absolutely fabulous! Crispy, freshly toasted bun and just lightly tossed in dressing (for the Poppy’s). The crab really shone through.
If/​when we go back to this beach we’ll absolutely look for the Poppy’s truck again!

Amazing crab! I got the plain crab roll, can’t wait to go back.

We came across the truck for Poppy’s driving north out of Half Moon Bay. They had set up on a wide stretch on the roadside with sandwich boards announcing them as we drove up. Then drove by. The bf saw the crab longing in my just woke up from a nap eyes, and we made the turn to go back. So glad he did. This place was yum.
Went with the Poppy roll with fennel slaw. So good! The roll was toasy crunch on the inside, soft and awesome on the outside. All of the yum mixed with the crab, delicate and balanced. And the slaw was a pickled cabbage crunch with just the right amount of tange.
Sitting on our truck tailgate, looking over the foggy ocean view munching down crab. Very good day.

Sorry to say but Meh!
It was a cold and rainy fall day and I was craving crab. I came upon this cute little shack and spoke with the owner. I loved how they started and what he was doing and how they were being locally conscious.
I ordered at first the Naked Crab Sandwich ½ order. It came out completely drenched in mayo — so I gave it back and asked them to remake it as a Naked. Well it came out pretty tasteless, lots of white center cartilage in the roll and really it was so small, I would’ve paid more for a proper ½ sandwich but that slider was like 2 bites full.
Next I ordered the Chai whom his wife makes at home and unfortunately it just didn’t pass the test. I love Chai but this just wasn’t something to hit the spot on this rainy day and just fell short of wanting more.
I may try it again and try something else, but I don’t think that they’ll be a huge hit.
sorry…

Very light, pure crab. We had
1) Whole Crab, resteamed
2) Poppy Crab Roll
3) Crab Chowder
4) Chai
Everything was delightful. Take it and run off to eat at the beach.
Only thing missing might be a few logs to sit on to enjoy the view.

How lucky we were to find Poppy’s Crab truck. The crab soup was succulent and rich… so much better than clam chowder. The crab roll had us swooning. Even the chai tea was freshly homemade. Tom was friendly and energetic. This made our day in Half Moon Bay!

Well we tried another crab roll after we received an email from the owner, Tom, stating they improved their process to remove shells. Well, the sandwich was shell free and very good. Also got a cup of crab chowder that was very good as well. Thanks Tom for doing a much better job. We’ll be back.

I really, really wanted to love Poppy’s Crab Shack… I was so excited to try them, I loved their story of how they got started, I loved how they are only using local ingredients, and buying their crab straight off of Pillar Point! Maybe I was too excited…
We hunted Poppy’s down when they were at Surfer’s Beach in Miramar. My wife and I ordered 1 Poppy’s Crab Roll with Fennel Slaw ($ 15) and 1 Naked Crab Roll ($ 13).
Poppy’s Crab Roll was described as having a «boatload of sweet crab, dressed with shaved celery, chives, lemon, and a hint of housemade aoili then drizzled with Strauss Creamery butter and sprinkled with Maldon sea salt on a buttered and toasted Acme torpedo roll, that’s right, butter twice.» Well I have to admit, when I first got my Crab Roll, I was a bit disappointed in the size of the roll itself, don’t expect to get a Sam’s Chowder House size roll or a Old Port Lobster Shack size roll, here, it is small, and with my appetite is considered almost an appetizer! The Acme roll was lightly toasted and I’m not sure how buttered it was, as it was a bit dry, not really buttered twice as advertised. The most disappointing of all, my crab roll unfortunately had pieces of shell still in it, which means you had to eat with caution, no offense, but I’m not a fan of Dugeness Crab Shell, no matter how it’s cooked.
I was hoping the crab shell incident was just my roll, but my wife’s Crab Roll had the same problem, and the other 2 people who tried the Crab Shack with us as well, all had the same issue, Crab Shells in their crab roll, hhmm, disappointing, especially considering the money you spend.
Their Fennel Slaw was a bit interesting, it wasn’t bad, however it wasn’t stellar, it needed something, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
We also got these Poppy Seed Cookies (3 cookies for $ 2) those were excellent.
All in all, my first Poppy’s Crab Shack experience was just disappointing. They are a new business and probably still working out the kinks, so I’ll give them some credit, which is why I didn’t give them 2 stars. I’ll give them another try maybe later in the crab season, hopefully they have worked out their kinks and have received feedback from us locals! I still very much want to see them succeed!

Freshly steamed crab and amazing crab rolls! All the food is freshly prepared and delicious. I would recommend checking it out.

Unlike my Unilocal buddy Luis C., I haven’t really gotten into the whole food truck thing. Maybe it’s because there aren’t any particularly good ones nearby… but wait, all that has changed. Just had incredibly delicious crab dinner from these guys tonight. It’s a husband and wife team, living out their dream. They just opened about a week ago. They’ve been at the local coastal public markets and various beaches in the area.
I called to see if they could provide some crab dinners for us for my son’s 18^th (I cannot believe it!) dinner. Not only did they provide us each with a very healthy sized, impeccably fresh crab, they were perfectly steamed. They included a jar of drawn butter, a wonderful roll, and slaw. The roll was not your ordinary wonder bread like puff, but tasty and almost brioche like. The slaw looked lovely nestled in a little cup made of purlple cabbage leaves. It was either mostly or all fennel. I think I would have preferred a mix of fennel and cabbage, maybe 50/​50, and it needed more acid, but it was also very fresh, and we appreciated that it didn’t have a bunch of gloppy mayo type dressing. The price is $ 21, which was very reasonable for this size crab. They also offer crab sandwiches and crab rolls, and eventually they will have crab cakes.
Here’s the actually unbelievable part. When I told them it was a surprise special birthday dinner, they offered to drop it off at my house on their way back home to El Granada from the Pacifica farmers market. I don’t think this is something they’ll do on a regular basis, but it shows how dedicated they are to getting their business going. I was blown away!
With the room for improvement on the slaw, I probably would have given them a 4, but with that kind of heart, how can I do anything but a 5.