Joe’s Crab Shack

Only worth going here for the drinks, specifically the Category 5 Hurricane. They offer $ 2 Hurricanes on some nights but beware, they are definitely the cheapened version. The food is subpar at best. I went to this location and really wanted the bbq rub shrimp but the bartender rudely told me they didn’t have any. I then got the cedar plank salmon, which was drenched in sauce and was probably one of the worst pieces of salmon I’ve ever had. Then I found a black hair in my corn. The bartender told me it was from the corn since no one there had black hair. I told him I would still like a new piece of corn. He comes back and tells me they don’t have time to shuck more corn and does not offer me an alternative side. Now I’m beginning to see why the two times I’ve been to this location, we were basically the only ones there. Definitely won’t be back here. Bad food. Bad service. Bad vibes.

Have always enjoyed Joes Crab Shack but will never visit one again. Had a error on their website when I was ordering a gift card, and their corporate Guest Relations Coordinator, Analisa Garcia, put me through hoops. It still is not corrected. It was their error and I was treated horribly. She needed to talk to my brother, who paid for the gift card, when I actually paid him to go online to order it for me. I have spent so much time trying to get this corrected. Never again.

Wow!
High expectations. Very low results.
Mahi Mahi tacos were good however the tortilla chips were stale. Tacos were warm.
Do not repeat do not get the crab cakes! Mrs Paul makes a tastier crab cake. Lots of breading, low in flavor (Cajun not), and warm at best. French fries were not hot.
Server was attentive and polite and deserves to work on a better establishment.
Overall a big disappointment. Advise to management take the crab cakes off of the menu. This is Maryland!!!

Worse meal I’ve eaten in my 50 years. I couldn’t find or taste any crab in the crab cake, the fish was cold inside of the batter and it all was very greasy. Service was friendly. No complaints there but will never come back.

Sooo, I had a ladies night out with my friends and we decided to go to Joe’s for dinner. This was my first time at this location. I’ve been to Joe’s before but it was in the Arundel Mills area. That time was packed with patrons and business was booming. I have no idea what happened in three years, but apparently, it hasn’t been good. I read some of the reviews for this location & still wanted to give them a chance. When my friends arrived, it looked like there was about 4 or 5 cars on the lot. Definite Red Flag. Mind you, this is a restaurant in the lot of a bustling shopping center, during the Christmas season, on a Saturday night! We went in and were half way greeted by a worker, whom had us standing in the dining room area while he wiped our table down. We literally could’ve set anywhere in the restaurant, seeing that there were only two other tables occupied in the whole restaurant. Our waiter was nice, nothing bad there. The food was, however, overpriced frozen bar food. Nothing tasted fresh & I had to get our waitress to take the hush puppies off the check. They were not good at all. My friend’s drink had a bit of a sea water taste to it– we asked them to take that off the check as well. I had the Asian seasoned shrimp. They were overcooked, but still had a good taste. Salad was straight-​from-​the-​bag quality. I think my girl’s were feeling both of their steam pots, but for $ 30, I feel like I was shortchanged on quality. I probably won’t be coming back, but at the rate that they’re going, they’ll probably be out of business anyway.

True there was not a wait, and I’m glad. The hostess was prompt and very friendly.
Our server gave us a great rundown of the menu since it was our first time there. When we did order, he offered popular choices and his own suggestions.
The onion straw appetizer was a bit chintzy. I got the new rum glazed shrimp dish, yum. Everyone else in our party got steam pots. They enjoyed the variety and there was PLENTY of food for even our biggest eaters.
Fun atmosphere and different menu than most. We will be back.

This place seems to be hit or miss. If you come when the A team is on, it is a good experience. Sunday afternoon after 3 seems to be when the second (or third) string comes on.
The server seemed more worried about doing anything other than being a server. I asked for more butter and 15 minutes later she came over with my check, rather than butter. the crabs were over seasoned and the shrimp in the bucket were over cooked.
On previous visits I have liked the food and the server.

You must get one of the seafood bucket options. It’s the best this far from «the shore»! Otherwise most other food is fried, sandwiched or sauced.

Went last night for a family members birthday dinner, it was a party of 11. We got there around 730p & were promptly seated. The restaurant only had 3 other tables of guests so we figured our service would be fast. WRONG. The waiter took forever to do everything – bring waters, take orders, Etc. We got the crab dip appetizer, which was fair but kinda weird being served with tortilla chips. Two of my family members ordered shrimp Alfredo, the manager came out after like 10 mins to say they «ran out» of Alfredo (not sure how you run out of heavy cream, cheese and butter — but ok sir) so they had to make more. It took about 35 minutes for us to get our meals & by this time we were the only party in the whole restaurant (except for one couple). The entrees weren’t too tasty. My sis said the cheesy chicken looked gross (it did – a greenish yellow cheese sauce poured over fried chicken breast). I had the garlic crab legs – which didn’t taste like garlic & were a bit difficult to crack. I got tired of eating them afterwhile & felt like I wasted my money. Our waiter also refused to split our check & it caused us to be there to EVEN LONGER because we had multiple forms of payment. We didn’t leave the restaurant until 10pm (we got there at 730, remember?). I won’t be returning to any Joes locations. This building seems brand new but idk how long they’ll be around with poor food and spotty service. I would’ve been more satisfied with red lobster

My mother, husband, and I went here for dinner. The place was barely half full and it took 15 minutes before a hostess seated us. We ordered drinks — waited 30 minutes. When I asked the waitress when our drinks would be ready, she seemed aggravated and told me another table that arrived before us was still waiting for their drinks, and that it is the bartender’s fault. My husband and I ordered the same cocktail, yet when they finally arrived, they were different colors and tasted differently.
Our food took forever and was mediocre. We had to ask for clarified butter, silverware, etc because none was provided.
Other people at tables around us paid their checks and left. No one came by to clean their tables.
Not worth the money. I’d never go again.

Out of site — out of mind. A term I use often, in the food business, know where your customers are or don’t seat them in the «garage area» and forget them.
Server was non-​professional, (very new) at her job. Drinks took forever. I ordered a Hurricane. It said the limit was 2. Not sure if that was due to the cheap alcohol they made it with or what — but it was a gross concoction.
All of the food we had was pretty much a ⁷⁄₁₀. You could see where they nuked the food as the broccoli was yellowed and the sauce cup wrinkled from the microwave. Ahhh, restaurant secrets. Fresh doesn’t always mean that and it’s really common to have «chains» buy pre-​packaged space like food entrees so they serve quickly. Ever eat mouthwatering baby-​back ribs at a chain? Do you really think they cook them 4 hours at 160 degrees?
Took some pics, ate and left. This store was clean and well decorated. We all still prefer Darden’s Red Lobster or Bonefish Grill for a chain. We had a really bad (½ star) experience at Joes in California… Hasn’t been the same for us since, but it was there and we needed lunch. Ehhhh, try a local place Unilocalers. This wasn’t bad, just not great.

Good steamed shrimp. Great stuffed mushrooms with crab. Awesome steam pots and depending on what seafood items you chose makes the experience different, never the less the steam pot in my opinion is the way to go. They offer crab, shrimp and lobster. Even MD style steamed crabs. Steak and chicken is on the menu with some other entrée items.
If you like seafood and want an experience and food that is consistent give this place a try.
Thanks for reading my review. This review is based off of my personal experience and opinion.

The food was good. The service was awful. After waiting over 30 min for my order, I started to walk out. My server saw me and rushed into the kitchen to bring out my order. Then I had to find him to ask for silverware. Since I had a platter that included fish and calamari, I wanted silverware. Then I had to ask for the coleslaw that came with the platter.
The server’s reason for slow service in a restaurant less than ¹⁄₃ full was that they had more cooks on Friday and Saturday. Since this a chain that probably has most platters premade except for cooking, that seems odd.
The fish and calamari were called just right. The hush puppies were a lot spicier than I like, buy that is personal taste.
The manager came over to ask how I was enjoying the meal and I told him the wait time was awful, but the food was good. He comped me for the hush puppies.
I may try this or another location sometime to see if service is always so slow and haphazard.

Ok, now I understand the negative reviews. I don’t like writing negative reviews. But It’s now been a couple more birthday dinners here that have really left a bad taste in my mouth, literally. The food seems to be getting worse as time goes on. Tonight’s meal had a crab cake that was nearly inedible and probably 70% filler and a lobster that had been left in the pot for way too long. Not sure how they can stay in business serving seafood when the quality control is so poor. Unfortunately my kids love this place due to the playground so I suspect I’ll be back for another birthday dinner:(

Visited Joe’s Crab Shack with a group of seven. Waited over thirty minutes for a table even though the restaurant was mostly empty. It happens that my visit fell on Tuesday with the $ 2 specials. They were out of almost all of the items that they advertised. Waited almost thirty more minutes for drinks and a total of an hour for food most of which was wrong or burnt. Definitely do not recommend this location! Hope they get their act together as I usually enjoy this chain.

Last night the hubby and I ate dinner here for the third time. Service is consistently mediocre. We had the shrimp basket appetizer. It was bland and limp. The king crab in the crab pot has always been pretty good but he corn and potatoes are sometimes soggy. We had the Bairdi crab pot this time which was meaty but the seasoning was just ok. The side of hush puppies was really good as was the Hurricane. The apple crumble dessert wasn’t anything special. This location just doesn’t live up to other Joe’s I’ve been to.

The service is extremely slow. The food is horrible. I won’t be back. The restaurant was empty and still that slow. Wow.

The drinks here are always fantastic. I was just slightly disappointed that they ran out of the appetizer that I wanted. Stopped this from being a 5 star for me. Its 3 and a half hours before closing so that’s not nice! Waiting on our 2^nd choice appetizer now. I have been here before and enjoy that calm low crowd atmosphere. I’ll update on my order if it will impact my review. Anyway, EAT AT JOE’S!!!

I was in town visiting from Jersey and had a very pleasant experience. Maybe it’s because I’m not from the area but whatever it was the servers were great and I could tell that they had a genuine interest in ensuring that we had a pleasant evening and enjoyed our meals. I had a specialty drink and left the evening with a souvenir glass which was very nice. The food was delicious and filling.

This place is HEINOUS and I do not use that word lightly. My bf and I came here for a late dinner before going out since it just opened in his neighborhood and we assumed the food would at least halfway decent since we were eating seafood in Maryland. Boy were we so so wrong. The atmosphere of the restaurant is like a beach hut, which my boyfriend said reminded him of a cafeteria. This was very fitting for the meal, but honestly, I think cafeteria food is better.
To start, we ordered the classic sampler, which includes the crab dip, great balls of fire, and crispy calamari. I should’ve known not to order something called «the great balls of fire,» but our waitress said they were really popular so we just went with it. Everything on that platter was either inedible or very mediocre. I thought the great balls of fire were awful and am positive that it would rip your insides apart as the name suggests if you ate more than a bite. They weren’t really spicy, but just tasted like cream cheese and fat. The calamari was okay, but came out with an itsy bitsy serving of marinara. The crab dip was more butter and cream cheese than crab and came with a side of very greasy chips.
Considering how awful the appetizer was, we should’ve just paid and eaten dinner somewhere else; unfortunately, we ordered our entrée with our appetizers, so we were subjected to more food abominations. Next we had a crab cake dinner and one of the steam pots (not sure which, but it doesn’t really matter since I doubt any of them are good). The crab cakes actually came out cold and when we told our waitress, she promptly took it back to the kitchen and returned with a plate of BURNT crab cakes. I’m not sure if the cook thought it was funny to give us burnt (Re: super hot) crab cakes or if that’s how they serve them normally, but we decided to forgo sending it back again for try #3. The steam pot was full of very soggy shrimp, crab, and potatoes and we ate what we considered edible.
I’m not sure if all locations are similar to this one, but I would not recommend or return to a Joe’s Crab Shack because of this experience. The meal wasn’t cheap either ($ 70+), which baffles my mind why people would go there for food of that quality for that price. The only upside to that meal was that my boyfriend and I got a good long laugh at the experience and were looking forward to writing a Unilocal review to tell people to steer clear of Joe’s Crab Shack. After all, they don’t call it a shack for no reason…