On our trip to the beach this past weekend, we stopped for lunch at Angry Crab Shack. My wife wanted a seafood boil, and this was the closest option. Today, I’ll be sharing my Angry Crab Shack review.
Background On Angry Crab Shack
The Angry Crab Shack is a chain restaurant founded by former NFL center Ron Lou in 2013. The first location opened in Mesa, Arizona. There are now over 20 locations worldwide. Lou had previously opened multiple Chinese restaurants and wanted to try something new, and thus the Angry Crab Shack was born.
According to their website, Lou made it a priority to build a family culture for his employees. The restaurant has also developed long-term relationships with local charities.
We visited the Orange Beach location at the Palm Point Shopping Plaza near Publix. Located off Perdido Beach Blvd, right near the Gulf, the spot was busy but very nice. While the restaurant was not right on the beach, you could literally smell the ocean from there. This location opened on February 24, 2020.
Atmosphere And Decor
We had been informed beforehand that the restaurant was located in a shopping center, and we didn’t expect it to be very large. However, the interior was very spacious. There were plenty of tables, and even some outdoor seating. A quick glance at their Facebook page revealed that they even have live music on occasion.
The decor was nautical themed, as one would expect from a restaurant called the Angry Crab Shack. There were various crabs and anchors strewn about. It was definitely more upscale casual than Shack, though.
For a restaurant that has been open for five years, I was impressed with how clean it was, especially for a seafood boil joint. You could smell that it was a seafood restaurant immediately upon walking in, but in a good way. The smell of seafood boil was in the air.
Right near our table was a lobster tank on the wall that the kids got a kick out of. A chalkboard on the wall behind us had the market prices for some of the seafood. There was also a hand-washing station for cleaning up the damage afterwards.
Overall, the decor was nice but nothing extravagant. It felt and smelled like a seafood restaurant, hitting exactly the chord we were looking for. If you’re looking for a seafood “shack” vibe, there are better local options, but I don’t think you’ll find the atmosphere here lacking.
Menu And Food Review
The menu is what brought us to this restaurant. My wife wanted a place that offered a seafood boil, one where you could dump the food right on the table and eat. We looked through a few options, and the Angry Crab Shack looked to be the best.
Kids Meals
The restaurant offers multiple appetizers, soups, and baskets that all looked appealing, but we were there for the boil and didn’t sample any this time around. We did get two kids’ meals for my son and daughter, though. My son wanted to try something different and got the kids cod plate with fries, while my daughter stuck with her usual chicken tenders.
I sampled a piece of the fried cod, and I must say it was delicious. My son enjoyed it as well, finishing both pieces that came with the plate. The fries were good, but nothing spectacular. They did not appear to be fresh-cut and were likely a frozen product, but not the cheap crinkle-cut fries you find at most seafood joints. The chicken tenders were great as well, offering a nice non-seafood option for family members.
Seafood Boil Options
For the seafood boil, they offer several premade packages you can choose from, or mix and match your own. We went with our mix, getting one pound of snow crab and one pound of crawfish. The snow crab was $38 a pound, while the crawfish was $12 a pound.
After choosing your proteins, you get to choose what sauce you want the dish to come with. There are many options, but we decided upon the trifecta, which was said to be the most popular. It combines their Cajun, lemon pepper, and garlic sauces.
Next up, you choose your spice level. Their chart starts at a 0 for no spice, and goes all the way up to 6, the “Ridiculously Hot” level. We opted for 1, which was mild. I like spice, and might have opted for the 2 or 3 level myself, but my wife does not eat super spicy food, so 1 was a good compromise. It was enough spice to know it’s there, but it’s not going to offend anyone. It didn’t overpower the seafood.
There are extras you can add to the custom bag, including all the classic boil items. We opted for some corn on the cob, potatoes, and sausage. Seasonal vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, and tofu were also options.
The boiled items came to the table in 2 plastic bags inside a rustic metal bucket. We were given the option of trays if we wanted them, or we could just dump the food on the paper-covered table.
Food Quality
I’ll start by saying the food was great. The snow crab was cooked to perfection, with no trouble removing the meat. The crawfish were cooked nicely as well, the meat was tender and not overdone. The sauce was the real winner for me. I was skeptical of mixing lemon pepper with garlic and Cajun, but it turned out amazing. It made it different than the boils I’m used to.
The sausage was not great on its own. We typically do Conecuh sausage in our boils, and this sausage couldn’t hold a candle to it. However, the sauce carried hard here and even made the subpar sausage delectable. The potatoes were fine, but the sauce made them spectacular. The corn was a bit undercooked and tough, but I did enjoy it with the sauce as well.
Angry Crab Shack Prices
Time to talk about the unpleasant part of most restaurant trips these days, and that’s the price. Seafood is always an expensive choice, and restaurants close to the beach only magnify that issue. You pay for the location.
As I stated earlier, the boiled snow crab came in at $38 a pound, and the crawfish was $12. The kids’ meals clocked in at $7 each. Our drinks were $3.50 each, high but not atypical in this inflation-plagued era we are going through. The kids got special souvenir cups that came in at $15 and $12, respectively.
Our bill was approximately $120 before tip. A typical lunch at a restaurant around town usually costs us around $60. This was definitely a splurge trip for us compared to our usual dining experience.
If I were paying these prices closer to home, they would have been too high, and I probably would not be eating there often. For being that close to the beach, and on Memorial Day weekend, the price was not prohibitive.
Final Verdict On The Angry Crab Shack
Overall, I was quite pleased with our experience at the Angry Crab Shack. I loved the food, I loved the location, and the whole family had a good time. I look forward to dropping in again the next time we are in Orange Beach, and I encourage you to give it a try as well if you are in the area.
