Crackin’ Crab

Yeeeees! I love this place. I eat here at least once a month. Everyone on staff is very friendly and the food is amazing. I always order shrimp with heads when I go and they’ve never failed to satisfy me.

I cannot express how much delight I experienced while visiting this mom/​pop spot in Albuquerque that is smashed between two other restaurants.
Came in on a Monday night, so probably not as busy as normal. Got seated within a minute.
Server was very polite and seemed to want us to have as good as an experience as possible.
Ordered an entire lobster tail for $ 20 which came with some very excellent butter/​garlic sauce that made the meal delightable. Also ordered some fried calamari and shrimp. Order for two filled us up. They also had $ 3.50 Heneikens I believe on tap.
The meal filled us up but did not stuff. It was JUST enough to make me leave wanting to come back for more.
5 stars for price being right; excellent lobster; and fried shrimp and calamari.

Got your sweatpants and hoodie on? Good, cause you probably shouldn’t come here looking fancy, it’s gonna be a fun and messy ride!
Crackin’ Crab was a cool joint that I saw when heading to the movies and wanted to try. I’d never been to a seafood boil before so when the waitress came around I asked a few questions but we ended up getting a pound of King Crab Legs, a pound of Headless Shrimp and a pound of Crawfish. The 3 pound combo also got us a piece of corn on the cob, a potato and a sausage. All this goodness is thrown in together with the sauce of your choice (we went with medium) and boiled.
A pound of King Crab is about 3 legs, and the other 2 pounds of shrimp and crawfish were plenty for our appetites. There were 3 of us and I was able to finish the end of it all but it was a little struggle. Flavor was off the charts and you get nice big pieces of seafood meat. I was worried about that at first but the shrimp are large and the crab legs are certainly worth their price. After peeling the crawfish and shrimp I highly recommend dipping that meaty goodness back in the bag to get some sauce on it. Only thing to be aware of, the crab legs are boiled so they’re softer and less easy to crack. You gotta work a little differently than normal to get the meat out but it’s still very doable. We also got a side of cajun fries and those were a good little appetizer before the main course came out.
No complaints at all about the food, we’ll definitely be back to try some of their other fine seafood options. The atmosphere is pretty cool, you get a kick out of seeing everyone dive into their «hands on» meal. Put that bib on though, you’re gonna need it! Keep it up Crackin’ Crab!

My girlfriend and I came here for lunch and she is not a seafood person… Even she enjoyed it. We got a pound of King and a pound of snow. The Cajun sauce and butter was amazing.

My first time at this restaurant and I was quite impressed. It definitely is a unique experience. We dined here for a friends birthday party and they did a great job in accommodating our group. A few of us decided to get the family value pack that included snow crab legs, mussels, scallops and headless shrimp in the crackin sauce with medium heat. The sauce was amazing and just the right amount of heat if not a little more on the spicy side but I like my food spicy. So if your not big on spice you may want to get a lower level of heat. Not a fan of the plastic forks and knives that we were given and we also were missing the tiny crab forks to pick out our crab meat. At the end of the meal we were given warm moist towelettes to wipe our dirty fingers and let me tell you we went through a ton of napkins. You will get dirty here. Overall fantastic experience here and if you love seafood you will love this place!

Helllllooo! Not a huge seafood fan, but I think I may be now after visiting Crackin’ Crab. We had the fried calamari and a pound of King Crab. They have a bunch of different seasonings available. We did a lemon pepper seasoning. Crab was served in a bucket along with some potatoes. seasoning was super good! I loved the crab and the calamari. Only recommendation is maybe add some bread to the table? Otherwise, it was delicious. Our waiter was awesome and had a great sense of humor. Decent prices! I’ll definitely be back.

I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with most folks that have reviewed this place. First let me say that I’ve lived on the Gulf Coast, the Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean. Although I’m not a fan of seafood, I’ve had my share. I was sorely disappointed in the overall experience at this restaurant. It should get just two stars and the only reason I’ve given it three stars is because the service was good. The waiter was friendly and attentive. We were seated upstairs, by ourselves, and he made sure to check on us frequently. Now for the food, it was pretty much hit or miss. Most of it was overcooked, including the corn. We had the special which was 1 pound of King Crab legs, 1 pound of headless shrimp, ½ pound of scallops and a ½ pound of black mussels. I had one leg of the King Crab that was delicious, the rest of it tasted fishy, not fresh. The scallops were pretty good, though about half were overcooked and rubbery. The shrimp was definitely overcooked, almost like chewing whale blubber. The mussels were also about half over cooked and half done right. It’s almost like we got the dregs of a boil that had been sitting for awhile mixed with a fresh batch. We had the Crackin’ sauce with medium heat and it was flavorful, but definitely over the top salty. The heat was decent, but didn’t have anything on a good hot hatch green Chile. The potatoes were ok and the Andouille sausage was good. We ate all of the King Crab and the scallops, but the mussels and shrimp weren’t good enough to finish, so we just left it. The beer selection was decent, but they could add a few more local beers and ditch the generic stuff like Traveler. There’s too many other places to try, and this place didn’t catch our fancy, so it’s unlikely we’ll be back.

It gets really loud but most of the time, is not super busy.
The prices are fair (market price) and I love the fact that they throw in free sides per pound of food you purchase.
The house blend seasoning is great!

My husband and I were first timers to this place. I am currently sitting at the table after our awesome meal and am utterly satisfied! What a great decision! We will definitely be back! My husband is already talking about coming here for his Bday!!!

If you are a coastal person trapped in the desert, make Crackin Crab part of your routine. I had the blue crab with andouille sausage and potatoes. It was awesome. There’s also non-​crackin fried choices for those who don’t know how to eat a crustacean. The sausage alone makes it worth it. Wish I knew about this place during crawfish season.

What a feast! My husband and I had a awesome dinner tonight. I had snow crab and he had fried catfish basket. You buy the seafood by the pound
I had two. Brought what I couldn’t finish home. The Cajun sauce is too die for. We ordered the medium heat. Omg. Didn’t miss my drawn butter at all. A piece of corn on the cob and one red potato came wirh. Fries came with the catfish. So much food. And the service was sooooo good. Dan is the man. Really very attentive. This is my new obsession. I love seafood and don’t get it much here. Definitely will be back again and again.

Delicious, soft, fresh seafood cooked in a boil bag with potatoes and corn is my idea of heaven. I believe the 5 of us shared 12 pounds of seafood and could have kept going if not limited by our budgets! We had king crab, snow crab, clams, mussels, prawns, shrimp, and scallops. All of these were amazingly cooked and had great flavor. Awesome atmosphere and the waiters were courteous and attentive.
I would go back in a heartbeat if I lived in this city!

Don’t, I repeat, don’t come to this restaurant! I don’t want this place to get so popular that I’m going to be required to wait 2hrs just to get a table like the Boiling Crab restaurants in California. Hahaha
Don’t come here because this is my new secret favorite place to stuff myself. Lol But seriously, this place is a gem. I had high hopes when I went to the «other» seafood boil restaurant in Albuquerque, but only left the establishment in utter disappointment. My faith in finding a good seafood boil restaurant far away from the ocean was restored after going here.
The atmosphere is laid back. Clean restaurant with friendly service. I can see this place blowing up when people find out more about this place.
If you love Boiling Crab, their crackin sauce comes so close to tasting like Boiling Crab whole shabang sauce. We ordered two orders of one pound of shrimp, lemon pepper and crackin sauce. They tasted similar but the crackin sauce is better. I couldn’t stop raving at how good it was. It might be a little saltier than Boiling Crab for comparison, but still the best seafood boil in Albuquerque. HANDS DOWN the best seafood boil in Albuquerque.
Their Cajun fries were okay. I wish the fries weren’t so thick cut. I also wish it had more seasoning. I think if the fries weren’t so thick then the amount of seasoning ratio would be perfect. Even though the fries were just okay, I will be coming back here over and over again when I’m in Albuquerque… which could be dangerous for my waistline. Nevertheless, I don’t care because I have been blessed with this glorious place!
Recommendation:
1 lb of shrimp, crackin’ sauce, mild
Side order of rice
Cajun fries

My boyfriend and I make this our regular date night. It’s basic, we’re talking rolls of paper for placemats, tons of napkins and a bib. And man is it good.
Seafood by the pound, all of it brined beforehand and served in a lemon pepper or crackin’ (chili/​garlic) sauce. Although the crawfish is nice, it’s a lot of work for little payoff. Better bets are the heads on shrimp (brains!), claims, snow crab, dungeness crab, and scallops. They do not skimp on the portions and the crab in particular is very meaty. Only go beyond mild with the crackin sauce if you’re very, very brave. Oh, and they have about twenty beers on tap and generous, generous wine pours. I get the chardonnay every time.
You will make a mess, and it will be glorious. Service can be hit or miss, hence one star being knocked off. If you get Pi, you’re golden, but lord help you with anyone else.

Captain Obvious Rule Numero Uno: When opportunity comes a knockin’, ditch the chopsticks.
Me thinks this was the logic behind this sushi-​joint-​turned-​Cajun-​crackhouse near Century 24 theater, which offers a large selection of sake and Japanese brews to accompany the solid Louisiana fare (?!). The remnants of the previous restaurant remain on full display on the walls, including a cool Japanese mural that clashes brilliantly with the generic, American seafaring garb otherwise scattered about, including the Pabst Blue Ribbon barrels for your discarded shells. You gotta hand it to these restauranteurs: they’ve crafted a pretty inviting, semi-​authentic chow session in the confines of a nondescript strip mall. Almost.
I say «almost» because Albuquerque is clearly in the midst of puppy love on Cajun, you know, those first few months of a relationship where everything is hunky-​dory, even infatuation-​esque, and the little details that matter don’t really matter. Here, the eats are sodium stacked, safely spicy and butterlicious, I never tried the lemon pepper sauce because, you know, why go to third base when a home run is waiting for ya? Scoring is so tempting. Order a pound of the market priced seafood, get some corn on the cob (it’s really sweet, yum), maybe a potato or two, and then gorge. Your fingers will be covered in grease and reddish-​brown spices, it’s all a mess, and it’s a helluva one night stand. (I really hope they get better bread. They need baguettes or something. But, you know, that’s the kind of critique better considered when the term «commitment» enters the conversation.)
Comparisons to Down N Dirty are inevitable, so I’ll leave these remarks: decent beer selection, including local stuff, but none of my faves; more reasonable prices, specials on weekdays; strangely more formal. On that last note, here’s my advice to this new Cajun lover: loosen up, already. Turn off the TVs and rock some zydeco. Add a communal table or two. Offer pitchers of cheap brew. Party, y’all. That’s how it goes down south, and that’s how this place would land five stars in my book. But for a first date, this place offers more than a goodnight peck on the cheek.

As my boyfriend says if they have good oysters and beer I’m sold. And sold we are. We are currently in a beer and seafood coma. My favorite part about this place is the mom and pop feel, I’m actually giving my money into a family owned restaurant. Madness!
This is basically a copy cat of the boiling crab found in Cali, Vegas, NOLA and it is just as good.
They have a per pound selling but in all honesty why would you want anything less. So we had a pound of headless shrimp because the heads freak us out. Childish but whatever. We also had a pound of lobster. The seasoning was pretty flipping amazing it was right amount of spicy so we still had the sniffles but we could still eat.
I love oysters so you can only imagine the kind of sad life I live in land locked state. I never expect more than decent oysters any where in New Mexico. Well lord behold my amazement when the oysters were big and fresh. We got the house special just to play it save in case the freshness wasn’t there. It came with cilantro leaf and some spicy sauce.
This place is pretty good. Please don’t go there I don’t want to wait in line to eat here.

I went for the oysters – Blue Point Atlantic delicacies in briny liquor. Tasted so good sliding down my throat. As I was eating the dozen I ordered, I remembered Kendall choking down her first oyster at Bonefish. And that one was cooked! These were plump and substantial, served on ice with Tabasco & lemon juice, they were so delightful. I should have stopped with the oysters, but I ordered catfish too. I love good catfish, deep fried with corn meal breading. When the 3 filets came, they looked good and crispy, but the taste was dirty, not spoiled, something like they’d been living in garbage on the farm where they were raised. I wonder where restaurants get their products, but I guess you have to trust sometimes.
The service was exceptional, but the servers need to be educated on the products they put out. They didn’t know where anything was from. I will be back for the oysters and other delicacies, but won’t ever touch the catfish again.

It’s been a bit since I have enjoyed seafood this good. Decided to give this place a try after reading all of the positive reviews and I’ll tell you, Unilocal!has came through once again.
The food here is sold by market price per pound. I had a pound each of snow crab legs, crawfish, and headless shrimp, and it was enough to feed a family of three. We had to forgo the seasoning sauces because the baby was with us, but we did get them on the side. Now about those sauces: we chose the crackin sauce with mild heat and it was absolutely delish. We polished off the whole bag of seafood and left quite satisfied. Service was also really consistent and courteous. The price was a bit expensive but that is to be expected, after all there is no ocean out here in the desert. Will definitely be back to try some of the other flavorful offerings that this place has to offer. Highly recommend.

Oh. My. Goodness. There aren’t many places that I would call Finger Lickin’ Good, but this is one of them!!!
This is a little spot that opened yesterday. It’s across the parking lot from Century Rio 24, and I think today is the beginning of a great love affair.
As a locally owned and operated place that has been open a whole 24 hours, I couldn’t be happier with the delicious crab legs I just consumed. I had a pound of snow crab, a pound of dungeness, and cajun fries. It was all so good I couldn’t stop eating and yes I sure DID lick my fingers. So did my husband, so there! I got Crackin’ sauce on my boil, medium… And it was absolutely perfect. My crab was cooked exactly right, and nothing was rubbery. They give you all the necessary tools to have a feast, so dig in folks!
Since it’s new, there are a few kinks to be worked out. Totally expected. The staff is super nice, and ready to accomadate you in any way you need. Our waitress was a real sweetie, and kept checking our drinks even when we were elbow deep in crab legs.
We will be back, for sure. I’ll update my review then. I have high hopes that once things are running smoothly, this place will earn that extra star. It’s so damn exciting to see another seafood place. Skip the chain joint in the next parking lot and make a mess here. It’s infinitely better!!!

Whoa whoa whoa! I just was in the Bayou, wait no it’s still Albuquerque. This place literally just opened 3÷5÷15 but I thinks it’s here to stay.
The inside is modern but super casual with good sized tables. Plenty beer selection here with modest $ 4.50 prices.
The food here I don’t even know how to describe this. Seasoned by the gods? Prepared by Gordon Ramsey? No just a local family that meets the caliber of the before mentioned! I had the shrimp basket and these hearty sized bottom feeders where outstanding. I missed out on a boil bag due to being in a cast :(but my wife’s smelled wonderful and she couldn’t quit smiling or eating.
The only reason for a 4star rating is the service. It wasn’t bad just inexperienced. Everyone was super polite, willing to answer questions and keeping drinks full that’s very key to me. I see this place being a real 5star joint sooner rather than later. With a newly found market in the Burque this one is already top of its class. Cheers and tell we meet again Crackin Crab