Swamp

Best cajun seafood place in the bay!!! Fyi to everyone who dropped a comment to this place «if you want spicy order spicy» don’t complain that it’s not spicy if you ordered mild lmfao. Hurricane extra spicy is bomb trust me!!!

Everything was fine. The service was average, nothing fantastic nothing terrible. The food was fine and came quickly. I would rather give them a 3.5 maybe 3.7 stars but thats not an option here. The food was good but I don’t know why everyone raves about it. I do think they have a unique offering and a good bit of options. I do wish there was at least a main dinner option for non seafood people. Everything was at least freshly made. Beignets were fine but have had better. A bit too dark for my taste. Parish café does better here.

This place is welcoming! The workers are really nice! I’m from SoCal and came to San Fran for vacation this place reminds me of boiling crab and kickin crab back in so cal, but taste so much better. I would really recommend people to trying this place out if you love seafood! I recommend getting the garlic noodles it’s amazing they have happy hour from 2 – 6 and the garlic noodles are 5 dollars during that time. I also got 1lb shrimp with butter garlic it was amazing!

No crowds, decent food, good service, parking in front, satisfied. We ate like 8:30pm, famished. We ordered garlic noodle, shrimp with mild hurricane sauce, green beans, and beignets. Garlic noodles came in a metal heavy bowl, not overly garlic, but just enough. Noodles were al dente which is great. Shrimp also came in a bowl, just cooked right, not overcooked. You can suck the head of the shrimp. At first the mild sauce didn’t seem mild, eventually, the tongue gets used to it and craves for more. The sauce was a combination of peppery, garlic, butter, and coconut. yum. Green beans had garlic as well as sweetness, and was crunchy. Beignet was quite fresh from the fryer, pillowy with powder sugar. At the end they give you a plastic wrapped hot wet one to wipe your hands.

I chose this place for my birthday dinner since I am a huge Cajun Seafood fan. FYI, this place does take reservations. If it wasn’t for the great group of friends I had at my dinner, I don’t think I would have enjoyed this place at all. I had appetizers ordered and got 1 lb of shrimp to share with my boyfriend. Usually at other Cajun Seafood places, 2 – 3 appetizers and 1 lb of shrimp comes out to be a very generous portion of food for the both of us. Oh, geez. That 1 lb of shrimp seemed more like a ½ lb of shrimp. Perhaps the sizes of the shrimp were simply larger so what they served may not looked like a lot of shrimp, but it was not filling at all. I ended up ordering another lb of shrimp for myself. Flavor of the sauce was okay. The experience here was very underwhelming. I would not want to return.

I’ve always had a good experience at Swamp. Every time I’ve been, there hasn’t been a long wait. The waiters are very attentive to customers and check on you frequently. Compared to places like Boiling Crab where they serve their food in bags, Swamp serves it in big bowls. I really like this because it’s easier to dip the food into the sauce and its a lot less messy. I love the Hurricane Sauce! You should also try Lemon Pepper mixed with Garlic Butter. A pretty good mix! Their Garlic Noodles are decent, but they taste pretty good when you add the sauce from the seafood! Give it a try! Overall, good experiences here and don’t forget about the free Cajun Fries with a Unilocal check in.

Meh I had high hopes for this place but I left feeling just flat…
My friend introduced this place to me and I’ve also heard great things so obviously I was hella excited. Came here for dinner after a long study sesh at school. We were brain dead and haaaangry! We came a little bit after they opened so it wasn’t too busy.
Parking — it may be a little tough no matter what day of the week it is since it’s a busy street. Mostly metered parking but there is also residential parking if you’re willing to walk a bit.
Service — very nice and friendly!
Food —
1. Cajun wings — it was alright but I would say too saucy for my taste. I wish it was more spicy though.
2. Garlic noodles — really good! Just the right amount of garlic!
3. Hurricane shrimp — I liked it but I felt it could’ve been spicier. I think it’s great that they serve it in a bowl instead of serving it in a plastic bag like other places do. Way easier to eat this way!
5. Cajun fries — I would say they’re average. Nothing special but the fact that they’re free for your check in makes it better!
Don’t know if I would come back but I’m glad I got to try this place out.

Garlic noodles were very good. Buttery and garlicky. One order is enough for two. We ordered clam chowder, which I would probably skip next time and the main entrée of crab– their holiday special. The crab was fried in garlic, green onion and spices. Husband enjoyed it but I was too full from the garlic noodles. You must try the garlic noodles. I still prefer Than Long or Crustacean when it comes to crab. This place however, cost less to dine than those places. My sister also had been here and she recommends their buttered lemony shrimp. Overall, I’m happy I tried this place. I would probably come and try their other things on the menu. calamari, mussels etc.

First experience but won’t be my last!
It’s better than boiling crab, hands down! The perks are the food, service, and watermelon iced tea.
Make sure you get the garlic noodles!

With so many crawfish/​boiling crab-​Esque concepts around now, a lot of them are starting to taste the same personally… but swamp is quite different from the rest and puts it different twist on classic Cajun cuisine!
First off the free fries check in and lightly flavored garlic noodles stole my heart and went really well with their actual seafood!!! In terms of their sauces, their hurricane sauce (combination of their 4 sauces) is really tasty! I am usually not a huge fan of curry tasting dishes but the curry taste is not too empowering! Yes it tastes like curry but not too much. If you don’t like curry, go ahead with the garlic sauce as that’s a great non curry sauce and there’s lotsa garlic packed in it. I only wished they had a spicy sauce that wasn’t combined with all the other sauces. I also think their spice levels are not too spicy – their medium is an equivalent to a mild.
Overall, I am a truly happy customer coming to the swamp as the shrimp and crawfish or whatever seafood you get truly taste like they were infused with the sauce! I also love how they don’t serve it in plastic bags. And did I not forget to say they have great drink specials!!! See you soon swamp!

It’s not quite Boiling Crab but it does beat a 45 minute drive and a 2-​hour wait in San Jose.
First Step: Check-​in on Unilocal because they will give you some free cajun fries.
I’ve come here once with a Groupon as well so I’d recommend checking out that as well.
We alway orders:
1lb Shrimp — Hurricane Mild with 2 Corns
1lb Clams — Hurricane Medium
Side of Rice
— and sometimes we order the garlic noodles.
You can ask for gloves if you’re worried about your fingers. We do. :)
The service is always friendly. There’s a TV that’s typically playing the local sports team.
I’d recommend this place. :)

The service was excellent. They constantly keep you shell bowl empty and your cups of water full.
Food: Lobster was decent for the price. But the garlic butter was awesome. Get that on everything.
Clams were small. I don’t recommend.
Tip! Don’t forget to get the free cajun fries with the check in.

I woke up to a group message from my girlfriends saying they were STILL full the next day from our little feast at Swamp the night before! This place is soo good!
My girls and I shared The Special for Two, it’s on the menu for $ 60 for 2 but we split it three ways and it was more than enough. The meal started with fresh, crunchy coleslaw and chowder made in-​house. We devoured these. Next we had Garlic Noodles and Lobster in Garlic Butter sauce, and let me tell you, it was as decadent as one could possibly hope.
There was a ton of meat in the lobster and the sauce was heavenly. We doused our noodles with the drippings and just stopped talking for a good five minutes to fully enjoy the grub, which is a really long time for us not to say something. We looked up after our plates were clear, smiling, faces buttery, and clinked our glasses of Blue Moon in unison.
For dessert we enjoyed fluffy, hot beignets sprinkled generously with powdered sugar. My two wishes: that we had some strawberry jam to put on the beignets, and that we had some dipping bread for the garlic butter sauce. OK now I must got eat something because it’s torture to write about such a fantastic meal without feeding myself something.

This is the place I go to when I want some Cajun shrimp. I mean it’s nothing compared to the one in New Orleans but pretty close. The Garlic noodles are so delicious! Get the garlic shrimp and the hurricane shrimp. I usually mix the garlic sauce mixture with the garlic noodles! super garlicky goodness. She’s calm fries are free when you check in.
The service there is great and the guy there is super funny. And it doesn’t hurt that the lady walks around with a giants red cup to take away all the shells. It makes me feel less like a fatty cause it doesn’t seem like I ate as much as I did. Haha
Will definitely go back there sometime soon. :)

I understand the novelty of Swamp if you’ve never had this type of cuisine. But if you’ve had experience with Boiling Crab or any other equivalent, this place is only okay.
First off: Free cajun fries with a Unilocal check-​in. The fries definitely taste stale and overcooked. But they’re free so I guess you can’t expect much.
Following previous Unilocal reviews, I ordered 1 lb of crawfish and mussels ($ 14/​lb for a choice of two) in hurricane sauce and medium spiciness level. The mussels were awesome and large. The crawfish was so tiny and it was hard to feel full because there was so little meat on them. I would not recommend getting the crawfish unless you like working 20x harder for barely any protein. We ordered a side of french bread to go with the hurricane sauce it was such a good call. I definitely recommend some sort of carb to soak up the flavors.
Service was fantastic. Our waters were constantly refilled and the waitresses were attentive. We were served promptly and the experience was nothing short of professional.
Overall, 2 stars because the food was very mediocre and «meh. I’ve experienced better.»

First Time eating Cajun in the city. I usually satisfy my Cajun cravings in South Bay such as places like boiling crab or my all time favorite KICKIN crab…
The food here is somewhat pricier than the South Bay locations but it’s understandable since it’s the city and everything seems more expensive… I got the lb of shrimp for 15 $… Steam rice and sausages on the side. My friend got the garlic noodles and Cajun wings. We checked in for the free Cajun fries which was cool to have on the side.
The shrimp it self were large sized and fresh. In a balanced flavorful sauce. (Hurricane sauce). Sausages and Cajun fries were on point but kicking crab has 12 pieces for 3.99 whole here was 6 pieces for 2.99. Garlic noodles were … Like garlic noodles, so can’t really complain about that .
I did however see a happy hour menu that’s from 2pm-​6pm with dollar oysters. Cheaper garlic noodles ($ 5), cheaper Cajun wings.($ 5 $ and so on… I’ll Probably come back for a happy hour season but for now… I’ll stick with kicking crab in San Jose for my Cajun fix!

I’ve been here a couple times before and remember the food being pretty good, but I have changed my mind after coming here for dinner the other night. I came here with a few of my friends. We got:
— shrimp in the hurricane sauce & mild spicy: this was very very bland. The sauce had a tomato-​y taste, it was weird. I don’t remember it tasting like this. Maybe they messed up that day?
— clams in the garlic butter sauce: this was pretty good. However, a lot of shells were missing the actual clam meat inside. We even tried digging through the sauce but couldn’t find the missing clams! My hungry friend was not happy.
— fries: FREEEEE w/​yelp check in! Mediocre tasting but it was free so I’m not complaining
— garlic noodles: probably the best thing we ordered. Not too oily!
They also service their seafood in bowls instead of bags like most cajun restaurants. I like this a lot more because it’s less messy!
Shrimp is also $ 15 per pound right now. So the bill added up to be a lot more than expected. Service was great! The waitresses were ways willing to answer our questions and bring condiments that we ask for. Will probably come back since it’s in my neighborhood, hopefully the sauce will taste better next time

La déco est un peu kitch. Difficile de savoir si l’on se trouve dans un bar ou un restaurant aux premiers abords. L’un des serveurs — petit, chauve et d’origine asiatique — se comporte un peu comme le patron. Il fait des blagues assez attendrissantes au moment de prendre votre commande. Le crabe n’est pas mauvais du tout, pas sûr que ça soit le meilleur rapport qualité prix cependant. D’autres recommande d’aller voir ailleurs dans leurs avis et je suis prompt à les croire.
En revanche, j’apprécie beaucoup le choix de plusieurs ajouts possibles dans le bouillon de votre pot de fruits de mer: épis de maïs, saucisses, etc. Pour un repas un peu moins cher, je vous conseille de vous réfugier dans de plus petits crustacés: crevettes, écrevisses et moules sont aussi disponibles.
Je viens ici principalement pour le bouillon aux ails avec ces épis de maïs. Les nouilles à l’ail sont aussi très bonnes. Les fruits de mer étant moyens, je fais en sorte de minimiser le prix de ceux-​ci. Excellent pour un diner de week-​end décontracté, pas sûr si vous êtes à la recherché d’un excellent crabe.

tldr: Food was okay. Prices are a little higher for the shrimp than I am used too. Dark New Orleans kind of interior design and atmosphere.
Came to Swamp on a thursday afternoon around 3:30 with my boyfriend for their happy hour which runs from 2 – 6 pm. Place was kind of empty, but groups came in here and there.
Ambiance/​Appearance:
It was kind of dark inside besides the tables near the window, but I guess that’s kind of the feel you would get if you’re sitting next to the bar area. Not really digging the interior design, but I am not here to judge what the restaurant looks like.
Service:
The service is pretty good. There was one guy working the front. Only thing that kind of bothered me was that we came in for happy hour, and there is a separate menu for that. We originally wanted to order the happy hour wings and calamari… but when we saw the bill, the guy was like you pointed to the regular menu, not the happy hour one… no big deal though. Wish he was a little more enthusiastic or looked like he even cared about the service, but it’s chill; he did what he had to. I liked that at the end of the meal, they gave us a hot towelette; makes the bathroom trip afterwards a lot cleaner as far as touching the handles and what not.
Taste:
For appetizers, we ordered the cajun calamari, cajun wings, and got a free cajun fries by checking in on Unilocal.The calamari was pretty good, it had like a curly fries taste to it and they were really crispy. The cajun wings were meh… I thought they were going to be dry rubbed sort of wings, but they are really saucy. I am guessing the sauce is their hurricane sauce. I was not digging all the sauce on the wing, although it was okay tasting. Imagine the shrimp sauce on a wing? The fries were really good. They’re perfectly crispy and seasoned; comparable to the Boiling Crab ones.
We also ordered 1 lb of mild shrimp in the hurricane sauce with one corn. Shrimp was so friggen hot, so be careful when you start peeling them. Shrimp was pretty good. Sauce is on the thicker side, but still tasty.
The bill came out to $ 60 after tax and tip (bf ordered a lb and 2 corns togo) (before that the total was around $ 35). I was surprised to see that a lb of shrimp costs $ 15. I am used to paying ~$ 10 at boiling crab, so the price kind of shocked me. Overall the food was good. If I am craving Cajun style seafood, I can imagine coming here again, since Boiling Crab is too far away.

Being fans of PPQ, we were happy when they opened the Swamp. We have been here now a number of times, always fresh, tasty seafood. Last night we started with the garlic fries, good beer on tap and house wine. We shared the green beans, garlic noodles and a bucket of muscles in the curry sauce, and a bucket of shrimp in the hurricane sauce, everything was delicious. The noodles are a perfect accompaniment to the muscles and shrimp, perfectly cooked, chewy and doused with garlic. Messy, but you are given bibs and plenty of napkins. Service is excellent. Fun spot to come for the New Orlean buckets of seafood. Would be fun for larger groups to share even more, clams, crab etc.

Don’t let the photos on Unilocal fool you. I think I am being generous with 3 stars.
It definitely does not look and taste like how the food is represented in those photos.
The seafood was definitely not fresh. The crawfish was not good at all. The meat stuck to the shells and they barely had any tomalley in them. Ordered an order of potato for the boil and it came with just half a potato.
The crawfish beignets were not good at all either. It tasted like pizza because it had huge pieces of bell peppers. That was mostly what you could taste.
The gumbo was just gravy with some veg in it.
Their signature hurricane sauce was nothing special. I think the boil was better [which means no flavoring]. The spicy habanero spice level wasn’t that spicy as well.
Definitely a poor man’s version of Boiling crab.