Joe’s Crab Shack

My son ordered at steam pot and when it came we both laughed! The seafood and I use this word sparingly was so small they had to set it on a plate to be seen over the side of the pot!!! It had NO POTATOES and the shrimp and crab I wouldn’t have fed to my cat! It cost a total of 84 dollars and all I can say is NEVER AGAIN! This was the worst food I have ever had in my 57 years of travel!

Best meal i had in years js this place is a must !!! Can i do 10 stars wow im full… ask for Emily

I always stop by when I’m in town. The steamer buckets are the best. Great service and food.

Went last Sunday and froze. We asked them to turn up the heat but the manager seemed to not have an answer to why it was cold. I used the restroom only to find there was no hot water to clean my hands. The warmest place we finally found was by the front doors where heaters were running as we were leaving. I hope you don’t freeze at a place where you pay to enjoy a good meal.

Lauren was really great last night! I order a clam strip appetizer and had no idea it would come out like a meal. I had ordered chicken strips as well, but the clam strips were more than enough. She graciously canceled my order of chicken strips and was wonderful all around. The clam strips were excellent and the portions were huge. I’ve been to joes all over the country and while some are mediocre this one was really good. A++ on service and food!

I have no idea what keeps this company open. I have been to them in 3 different states and the food is disgusting. It is obvious that they don’t charge their deep fry grease out as often as they should. The result is their is a nasty underlying disgusting commonality taste that is just nasty.

The food is not bad, I mean it’s crab after all, which is awesome.
One major complaint for tonight’s visit, seating. We arrived, asked for a table outside in the shade and we were told that they didn’t have any available.
90 very hot minutes went by wherein we saw three other couples ask to be moved and accommodated. The entire time we sat across from one very shaded, very unoccupied table.
Bad job Joe.

Surprisingly good for a chain. I would definitely go back. Fun, tasty food, pretty spot, cold beer, good drinks. Warning: I ordered the the crawfish boil and it was too spicy for my taste (and I like hot food!). Great wait staff and manager took care of it. Kudos.

We order a combo of this and of that. There was a lot of food on the table. And, we all tried a little of this and that. No one ordered crab though. Hmmm. There was a fisherman’s platter and lots of shrimp. Everything was pretty good.
Love the kitschy décor, from the sharks, fish, turtles hanging from the ceiling to the Corona bottle salt/​pepper shakers on the tables and the metal buckets carved into the tables for shells. Also gotta love the Joe’s merchandise for sale including the «Bite Me (w/​crab picture)» t shirts. Ha-​ha.
Always noticed that it can get loud in here, sometimes straining to talk or hear dinner conversation (they do play music in the background here which can be loud), but overall always enjoyable. It’s a fun restaurant, good for groups and families. One last thing — I appreciate that each time we’ve been here, we’re never rushed to finish our meals… even on this night when they literally had a line going out the door and we had a big group. So kudos for that.
Overall, it’s a bit expensive for a lot of fried food, but when hunger strikes and you need a place that everyone can agree on… Joe’s worked. Add a lot of noise and a lot of kids and you’ve got a place to bring the family.

Great service and great food. Perfect outdoor seating with a great view of the river.

So the service is so so, I was very disappointed when the sampler appetizer came out. The chips were stale, the calamari tasted like mostly fried batter, the «great balls of fire» were just a knockoff of jalapeño poppers. A bad version of them. My dog sat on the patio with us and he didn’t even want to eat the food scraps we were giving him, lol. The prices are outrageous for the tiny little crab legs I got.

Food was really good. One should come here for crab and atmosphere. If you come for something different prob be disappointed.

after sending out feed back to management, I was contacted and they made it right. I will try this restaurant again and we’ll see how it goes.

Went there for dinner on a Tuesday. No one was there which should have been the first clue. The wine list is virtually non existent but the service was actually very good and Maddie did an excellent job. Food was marginal and actually got an upset stomach from it. Ordered the Mahi Fish Tacos. If it were not for Maddie would give it one star.

Love the food and never disappointed for a chain sea food restaurant! It’s definitely not fresh off the coast but the food is always good, portions are decent sized and the service is excellent!

Crab stuffed mushroom caps were filled with baby shrimp instead. Fish and chips — fish was dry/​chewy but clearly not fresh. Also had crab dip which was heavy on cheese sauce and light in crab! And the lobster bisque was well, pretty bad, in fact the worst I can remember. Perhaps the crab itself is good, but tough to mess up boiling water.

Food is decent. Ate at Joes a few nights ago, took the server 9 minutes to greet us, had to go to the front you ask if we had a server. Service was average after that. Took 22 minutes to receive bill, again had to go to front to ask for the bill. Unfortunately that wasn’t the first time service was like that at Joes. Management didn’t bother to come check on us after knowing the service we had received, 2 stars because the food wasn’t half bad

I have a love hate relationship with Joe’s. On one hand, I like that you can find southern dishes like hushpuppies and crawfish that are a rare find here in Boise. The location by the river is relaxing and the décor inside is pleasantly campy. Also, I do love the peel & eat shrimp and their bloody marys are pretty good, (plus you get to keep the cute mason jar its served to you in!) On the flip side, I’ve received less than stellar service on at least one occasion, and I do think the prices are too high for what you get. The steam pots from joes are typically skimpy on seafood and heavy on cheap filler items like corn and potatoes. I’d say unless you are really craving southern style seafood and willing to pay big for it, just skip Joe’s.

First time at JCS. I was happy with the food and service. Andrew was excellent especially for only being there a couple months, very professional and super nice, especially for being way busy. It was a bit pricey but we did have crab lol. Definitely recommend.

Have never had an issue with this Joe’s. The prices are a bit expensive so we don’t eat here very often. Had a super-​difficult time finding anything about Joe’s happy hour in Boise which sucks. Joe’s happy hour drink specials aren’t very special but its very hard to beat half price appetizers. We’ll be back for happy hour for sure!
The only down side for some reason beyond me, the smell when you walk in is overwhelming. It smells like three day old fish in a fish market at the end of the pier that no one wants to buy fish from. I’d recommend hanging and air freshener or 12 to help out.