Crab Bucket

The staff service here really sucks. They don’t see how you’re doing or anything resembling customer service.
The shrimp had several old/​rotten ones. They literally were like puss in the carcass. And add to this the high prices and unorganized poor customer-​service crew. They just want money. The seafood quality really is poor.

«Suck the Heads, Pinch the Tails» was a refrain that played in my head as I roamed Iberville Street during a short trip to New Orleans, LA. I was tempted to purchase one of those souvenir t-​shirts but denied myself as I figured that if I wore it in Hawaii I’d get some strange stares. Just about everywhere that I went to while in the Crescent City, fresh crawfish, shellfish and seafood was always served. Whether these crustaceans were prepared in spicy Cajun «Country-​style» or in the refined Creole «City-​style», the flavors and food quality were outstanding. I just love fresh seafood and shellfish that is well-​seasoned and prepared well.
It was only a «matter of time» since we moved into the Ala Moana neighborhood that we’d discover this gem. From the outside, the Crab Bucket looks a bit run down. There is a small parking lot that fronts this business and shares with a sushi shop.
We walked in around 3:00PM to an empty restaurant. We were greeted promptly and seated at a paper topped table with both Happy Hour and dinner menus. As we looked around, there were a number of flat-​screen televisions playing different professional sports games, all tables were topped with paper like you’d see at some of Louisiana’s crab boils AND a hand washing station for after dine clean-​up. Lucky us, we came in during their HAPPY HOUR, er, HAPPY AFTERNOON which is held Monday through Friday from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
Our Happy Hour deals started off with 14 oz glasses of draught Blue Moon and Kirin beers. The HH draught beers only cost $ 2 a piece and we were planning to repeat… what a deal! We then selected their #1 shellfish bucket for $ 30 (which NORMALLY sells for $ 50). With your selection of shellfish bucket, you need to More choices such as seasoning and spice-​level.
We chose their House Garlic Herb Spice seasonings with MILD spice-​level. My husband can handle spicy hot chiles whereas I’m more of a wimp and would rather have mild then add more spice, if needed. Hey, you can always ADD spice but you can’t take it out! As our meal was being prepared, we pulled out the «tools», napkins and donned our bibs. Our bucket arrived with 2 large scoops of rice, 2 corn cobs, red potatoes, snow crabs, clams, head-​on whole shrimp and CRAWFISH. Everything was perfectly cooked and the aromatic sauce napped the shells. I remembered the popular saying that I heard in New Orleans, showed my husband the NOLA technique and had no problems with eating those «mudbugs».
Before we knew it, our bucket was emptied of all shellfish and nearly all the garlicky-​herb and spicy sauce was sopped up. All of the shells were sucked «sparkling» clean and disposed of in the garbage pail. That bucket of shellfish was a lot of food and more than comfortably fed the two of us. We ordered another beer «for the road» as we both waddled to the wash basin.
As we paid our tab, we were given a loyalty card with one crabby stamp. We won’t mind returning to get more crab!
#521

YUM! We got combo bucket #1 and it was more then enough food to split between two people. $ 50 bucket between two people, completely worth it! Do not order one thing per person per at your table — there will be more food then you’ll ever be able to eat!
We got everything in the house garlic sauce and I can highly recommend it! The corn and sausages that come with the bucket where a much welcome bonus.
A must try for seafood lovers!

My family we all Love it and very reasonable price fresh and good test service good too

Tastes good but the wait was too long. Hubby and I got snow crab legs, shrimp, and mussels with corn in spicy house sauce and it was good. Very casual.

Pros: good flavor, friendly service.
Cons: low food-​to-​value ratio, a little rustic on the inside.

Last night was the first time I tried Crab Bucket. Somewhat disappointed my food didn’t come in one. Should have renamed themselves to Crab Bag.
Food along with the Seasoning was on point. However pricing was ridiculous. We ordered Combo #1 which was $ 50. I was a little bothered that the menu said it came w/​corn but when we got our bag there wasn’t any. We asked the waiter he came back & told us they ran out & asked if we wanted another starch.
If you’re going to charge $ 50 for a bucket or in last nights case a bag of seafood. I would hope that you’d have all the components. If not at least make it a point to replace it w/​something else. Rather than have us ask about it.
Also got a dozen of oysters for $ 35 & was a little disappointed in that too. It was one of the smallest dozen oysters I’ve ever seen.
After all this they wanted to charge 18% SC which we had to ask was a service charge. Only after talking to the cashier for 5 mins. She tells us after its optional.
Don’t think I’d recommend this place to anyone unless you’re a baller & can spend $ 100.00 for dinner.
Hope you guys have a better experience than I did.
Thanks for reading,
KSM

This is the best place for seafood. Seriously if you want crab, lobster, shrimp and more then ull love this place.
You can order a big bowl of seafood for 2 and their house sauce is the bomb. Don’t plan to go out after you had the house sauce, it is pretty garlicky but it’s sooooo good.
A must try for this one.

GET DOWN AND DIRTY. GREAT PRICES DURING HAPPY HOUR M-​F 12−5p.
WEAR PERSONAL PROTECTION.
Every time I cracked open one of those crab legs, the cajun spicy sauce flew all over the place. I highly recommend you wear the bib provided, and if you have eye protection, that might be a good idea too because that sauce burns when it gets in your eyes. I managed to squirt sauce across the table several times so beware of your dining partners crab cracking abilities.
GOT CRABS?
We ordered the Combo#1 bucket ($ 30 during HH) which is a lot of food and normally costs $ 50. Since it was our first time, we ordered this because it had a nice variety, including two corn on the cobs and potatoes. I personally would prefer a bucket with all crab, but that wasn’t on happy hour, so I will order that next time we come back. We also wanted to order french fries, but the server said for $ 13 we could get a whole seafood sampler (calamari, shrimp, fish) which also came with fries, so that’s what we ended up getting.
Parking: maybe 8 – 10 or so stalls so not much.
Service: normal for a place like this.
Bucket: sits down under the table so you just fling all your shells and mess to the center of the table and it disappears in the hole. I don’t think it really gives you more table space than having the bucket on the table, but it just keeps the table nice and you can still see across the table.
Sink: huge deep sink in the restaurant for washing the mess.
I’m going back to eat the King Crab, Snow Crab bucket next time. Wanna join?

I’ve had batter Cajun bucket seafood. I found their sauce is a little bit too greasy. Portion is fairly smaller compare to similar restaurants at same price. They do offer a punch card for resident, that’s pretty good.

Medium means HOT.
Comfy atmosphere with good music.
Wear that damn plastic bib if you know what’s good.
Also the ladies room is on point. TP holder is on the back of the door at face level. Who’s doing yoga moves to find the toilet paper? No one. Convenient? Yep! #littlethings

Best place for seafood! We each get a pound of steamed shrimp and the little guy gets his chicken tenders with fries. The staff is very friendly and sometimes entertains my lil one so we can get messy eating all the delicious food. Hand washing station is a blessing so you don’t have to touch restroom doors. Kids have fun drawing on the walls.
Cocktails are generous!!!

Love this place! It’s been a while since I’ve had shrimp and crab legs! It was a mess but so worth it! They give you bibs to wear too and there is a hole in table for your trash! I love the sauce here and you can’t go wrong with the house garlic sauce! You can choose your spicy level too. They also have fried alligator, catfish and other Cajun/​Creole style foods! Corn and potato and rice are great sides! A combo bucket could be for 2 just depending on how much you can eat. Their sweet potato fries are yummy too! They also give you a stamp card as well here! Great service!

Was craving for some crab and wanted to try out this place I’ve heard so much about.
Located between lobster king and surrender bar and Champions. The parking was small so we were lucky to get a spot. If the parking was full not sure where else to park?
Restaurant is nothing fancy, you can write on the walls if you wish. There wasnt any pens I seen so not sure if you have to bring your own felt pens or ask? There was a TV for you sports fan, they serve beer, whoot whooo!
Servers were average. When we sat down we were served water right away and given bibs. Waiter took our orders very prompt. They served our oysters but with no napkins or utensils. We had to ask the waiter for napkins. We were drinking beer but I did have water but waiter never came around for refills.
Oysters was da bomb, lemon pepper chicken wings wasn’t the greatest, my rice was mushy, yikes! The main dish was onolicious though, it bettah be for 70.00, we got the Dungeness crab, comes with 2 side rice, corn, sausage shrimp, clams, crawfish, potatoes. Was well worth the price. Like other crab establishments they give their house sauce, garlic buttah, etc. we got house sauce and garlic buttah was buttery all right seafood cooked to perfection. Was so full needed to be rolled out. The flavor was like other crab places, was good, maybe I give 5 stars if rice was cooked perfect?

Had the combo. Shrimp, lobster, clams, with the house garlic sauce. Delicious !
There house sause is the best I’ve had so far. Not to spicy. But just right ! LOL
Definitely not a first date kinda restaurant. really plain looking place. parking may be a challenge at times. come early or after the dinner crowd.
We’ll be back !

We came here on a Sat at 6 and there was no wait and we got a parking spot easily. But as other reviewers have pointed out the parking lot is small, so we definitely got lucky.
The service was good and the food was delicious. It is a very comfortable and casual atmosphere and they have great beer prices. We started with the Cesar salad which was good. We had the the alligator with Cajun fries, the alligator was crispy and the fries were thin and crispy, just like I like them. We also had the bag of shrimp with the home garlic seasoning spicy, it was delicious! The seasoning is very flavorful and garlicky, it was so good we poured it over our rice and ate it. We also tried the crab legs and they are very good. Expect to get messy and come out smelling like the ocean. Definitely will be back and order the shrimp and crab legs again.

Cravings, I have cravings and I can’t help it! I’ve had a long day at work and I’ve worked out during lunch and I believe I deserve something I can get my hands on to get down and dirty. Okay, maybe not dirty but something that requires a bib, plastic gloves, taking shells out with lots of tasty garlicky sauce. It went a little something like this…
I am one of the lucky ones that can just walk here since I work in the area. Otherwise, parking can be a pain. They do have parking but not a whole lot. If you can carpool with friends the better. Plus it’s better for the environment. Catch my drift? This place is super chill with lots of writing on the walls. Yes I wrote «Kristine was here.» If you can find it, I’ll give you lots of thumbs up! It’s great for big groups since it’s a pretty big establishment The rubbish bin is in the middle of the table and there’s a space made specially for it for all your shells. Food is served in nice silver platters rather than double plastic bags.
Oh, what did I order!
My seafood choice– Shrimp
Sauce-​House Sauce
Spice Level– Mild (I’m so weak! Trying to get the spicy tolerance up!)
Side: Corn (inside my dish of tasty shrimps)
Carbs: White Rice
Remember when I said I wanted to splurge? I didn’t mean by price. I wanted to splurge on the amount of calorie intake that day. The shrimp over house sauce and rice did just that. The sauce is super rich in taste but was oily for my liking but tasted divine over my bed of white rice. Sinful! It satisfIed the tummy. What added to the flair is the cool people that work here. They are personable, attentive and are quick! Just because you’ve eaten all your food, it doesn’t mean it’s gone. They will leave an impression on you because the scent will seep through your pores.
One More Tip
Don’t forget about your punch cards! For every $ 20 spent you get a stamp. If you forget your card, they’re willing to consolidate! Why? Did I say they’re cool people? Earn, collect don’t lose it! You will get a free pound of shrimp, clams or crawfish on your next visit.

Oysters: 4 stars
Fresh & tasty
Combo #5: 2.5 stars
Crabs was way too salty & the house seasoning didn’t do anything to flavor the combo mix of seafood.
Sauce was way too buttery & oily, needed more garlic & seasoning.
Boiling crab in California beats this places seasoning by far.
They ran out of dungeons crab boo =(
I like that they have a hole in the middle of the table to throw all of your shells into rather than letting it pile up on your table like other places.
Service: A
Attentive & friendly

DELICIOUS, FINGER-​LICKING shrimp! Great bonding place for friends since you will see each other eat like animals! :D
Food: Between the 6 of us girls, we ordered 4 lbs of shrimp and 6 mini potatoes. For the seasoning, we got 1) house special, 2) garlic herbs, 3) Lemon pepper, and 4) House/​garlic mix. You can also pick your spices levels. I really liked the LEMON PEPPER and the HOUSE SPECIAL. Also, MAKE SURE YOU TRY THE MEDIUM OR SPICY for at least one of your seasoning. It is NOT that spicy at all and makes the flavors really pop. For the potatoes, break them into pieces with your hands and put them in the sauce. Tastes really good!
Price: Each pound of shrimp cost $ 14, and your 4^th lb is free! Together with the potatoes, each of us paid less than $ 9. Great deal! And extremely fun to eat too! Don’t be afraid to get your fingers dirty.
Setting: It’s not a fancy place but you get a lot of space to eat, which is always nice. There are holes on the table where you throw the trash away.
Service: We came here around on a weekend around 2pm and we were the only people here. We were seated immediately and the order came within 10 minutes!
Overall impression: Very nice! I never really liked seafood because it’s a hassle to eat them. But turns out it is really fun too when you eat them with friends! And if there is different seasoning to dip the shrimp into.

The previous Unilocal reviews on the Crab Bucket didn’t disappoint. I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical about how great Crab Bucket could be because they have two great competitors down the street but after dining there, I was completely satisfied! Everything was great-​the food, customer service and ambience!
Parking: D
Minimal stalls available-​get there early!
Customer Service: A
Employees are friendly, attentive and very informative.
Food: A
Awesome seasoning and very generous portions
Drinks: B
BYOB
Ambience: B
Very casual and a great place for groups. I love the «graffiti» on the walls!
Etc.
–It’s a good idea to wear the bib they provide with your meal-​your clothes will thank you if your’re cracking those crab legs!
–In addition to the restroom, they have a sink in the restaurant area that comes in handy.
–I love that unlike their competitors; you don’t need to leave your trash on your table… just drop it into the convenient trash bucket in each table.
Kudos to our servers and Jennifer! Jennifer is the woMAN! I was celebrating my birthday there and she came out with my birthday cake. My friends and family didn’t cake my face because they knew I would get upset (and they don’t like to waste food lol) but after they sang Happy Birthday to me, Jennifer took a huge dab of frosting and smeared it on my nose! It was a good surprise and I was so shocked that I didn’t have time to get annoyed-​I was just appreciative because all of the employees made my birthday a ton of fun. She apologized to me for doing that-​said it was one of their traditions but I’m glad she did it. I wish I could have recorded my family’s reaction because they looked at her like she was crazy and she unleased the cracken lol but I loved it. *Hugs to you Jen!
If you love seafood and don’t mind getting your hands dirty, go to Crab Bucket! I’ll definitely return!