Tom’s Crab Shack

With fresh, not-​so-​good memories of another seafood spot in San Mateo just weeks earlier, I actually cringed when my brother decided upon coming here for his birthday lunch. To update you all, my only experience with Boiling Crab-​type places was that spot in San Mateo. So with that in mind, we were actually the 2^nd group to get there. There was already another group seated, but we got the big table in the back.
Parking is off a cross street of Willow Pass Road (Sutter) and you park in a smallish parking lot. On most days you can park right in front of the restaurant entrance. Upon entering, we immediately noticed what we thought were folks tagging stuff all over certain walls. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be messages from past patrons, some humorous and others right to the point. A lot of them were from 2015, presumably when Tom’s first opened.
The menu is very straightforward, and easy to follow. You have choices of combos and you can customize to your liking. Each combo comes with the customary 2 pieces of boiled potatoes, 2 corns on the cob and 8 pieces of sausages. The sausage was actually 1 whole one that was chopped into those 8 pieces.
The first time we came here, we chose the first combo, which gave us the option of either 1lb crawfish or shrimp, and 1lb mussels or clams (both in the shell). This time around we chose the second option (2lbs shrimp, 1lb clams). At almost $ 40 between the Mrs aba myself, I was determined to get my money’s worth. We also got some pitchers of various flavored iced tea. I chose strawberry and the Mrs got mango. To round out our order, we got fries and calamari.
Admittedly, the first time we came here, I was shocked at how easily the shell of the shrimp came off. My previous experience with shrimp was not very good at that San Mateo resto, when the shell kept sticking to the meat. My brother in law told me that that’s an indication that the shrimp was overcooked. Good to know!
The sauce we chose was Tom’s Combo. You have other choices but I don’t remember the others. We chose to have it mild because my wife isn’t into spicy. The dishes are served in open bowls, and not plastic bags. That was a big, big plus. And the sauce was so freaking flavorful I kept licking my fingers (sorry, TMI). Clams were a bit small meat wise, which is something to keep in mind when ordering. Otherwise, I really couldn’t get enough of the taste!
If you’re looking for a spot that has hardly any wait and has a homely feel, you won’t be disappointed here. I haven’t tried Boiling Crab but have heard from lots of folks about their bad experiences there, and I get none of that at Tom’s. Maybe no one’s heard of this place, and I am totally ok with that.
P. S. We asked for a marker to write a simple message and the girl told us she didn’t have any. Not sure if they stopped carrying them…

We celebrated late Father’s Day here at Tom’s Crab Shack and I must say, its a good Cajun seafood restaurant and is not too far away form home. Per usual, we ordered a couple of pounds of shrimp and clams. We also ordered some calamari, garlic noodles, and cajun fries. We had mild and hot as our choice of sauce.
First off, the hotness level of TCS is proper. I was getting my workout (which I definitely like) with their hot flavor and mild also has some kick to it. Big kudos on this one as cajun food should have heat to it. Their calamari was very delicious! Soft and tender, salty and crunchy, I couldn’t imagine it being better. The flavor of their sauce was good, but not as good at Ray’s Crab in Newark. It is not anything less though (probably about the same) than the over hyped Boiling Crab?
Overall, we had a good time here at Tom’s Crab Shack. Good straight service and close to home is a good formula for a likable cajun seafood restaurant.

Man. I so badly wanted this place to be good. I’ve been here now 4 times and each time it just keeps getting worse.
1. Out of the 4 times we have been here 2 out of the 4 times they were out of dungeness crab & crawfish.
2. When they were out of the Dungeness crab we ordered the snow crab and each time we ordered the snow crab we had to send it back because they came cold. Not Luke warm, but literally cold like they were still frozen
3. The corn is always over cooked. The clam chowder has no flavor. And fries are super greasy.
4. The flavors are hit and miss sometimes. A couple times it was good, other times it’s was awful. This is the only reason I give it two stars instead of one. When the flavors /​sauce was made right, it was actually good!
5. The service is just awful. Each time the girls would never check on us. I had to keep getting up to call the girls to come over to ask them something and to get refills on water, lemons or even the check.
6. The last two times they didn’t have any crackers to crack the crab or even any seafood sheller. So I the last time I was there I asked the girls how are we suppose to crack the claws? Her response, you can pound on it with your hand or use your teeth. Ummmmm no.
So that will be the last time we go there.

Ok so first off I need to start by saying that I don’t go out to eat at places for the Service or Ambiance so for all the people that say they don’t like a place because the server was dumb or it was too loud can kick rocks. That being said, this place was HELLA good! I got the Combo #1 spicy style and it worked for me. I like my food hella spicy so when I asked the dude at the counter, I can’t remember the guy’s name, but when I asked him if the spicy style was «Make You Sweat» spicy he advised me to get «Very Spicy» next time, he was right. The shrimp and clams tasted hella fresh and I REALLY appreciate how they took the time to clean the shrimp and still leave the head and shell in tact. Next time I want hella shrimp and shellfish I’m going here first. The only reason I gave 4 Stars is because I haven’t tried the other places close to me.

We had a delightful experience here. The service was great — very helpful, and they checked the n on us appropriately. The Tom’s spice is very good — medium was perfect for not masking the natural seafood flavor :) I appreciated how the mussels were big and on half-​shell– easier to eat and get more mussels for the weight ! We loved the snow crab too. Garlic noodles here were better than ppq crab in the City even! Can’t wait to go back. Only feedback is having the prices more easily accessible — I know it changes daily but they can just put it on a small sign on every table — why not?!

I’m Creole, but this good however was far from it. Im just being honest, it wasn’t the worst but very far from that of Cajun/​creole food.

Really wish they had some raw oysters… hopefully they bring it back!!! but overall, I liked the experience! I’m glad I don’t need to drive to Sac for my fix. I forgot the name of the Asian guy with nice hair that served us but we had good service! :) I love how there’s some combo options! We got the cheapest combo but that was already a lot for a party of 3 plus we got dungeness crab and Cajun fries. So we were stuffed!

Forget those «poor» service reviews. This place is busy, and those girls are very attentive, despite it being busy their ENTIRE shift. I was graciously accommodated from beginning to end, and nothing was left to be desired. The only thing I went wrong with was not adding more spice to my seafood pots’ flavor profile (you do get to choose). I went in afraid of overpowering the natural flavors; left wishing I had gone bigger. The best thing I can tell you is that I will be going back again, and I would recommend this place to ANYBODY who asks about eating any degree of seafood. This is what they want. Trust me!

Concord has their own version of boiling crab! I think if I didn’t live so close to boiling crab I would have given this place 4 stars, but upon comparison, 3 solid stars.
They’re hidden in the corner of a little complex next to Smile Care. Parking isn’t too bad, but I can assume the lot may fill up during peak dinner time hours.
We ordered the Combo #1 for $ 28.75 which included 1lb of shrimp or crawfish, 1lb of mussels or clams, 2 corns, 3 potatoes, and 8 sausage pieces. This was perfect for two people. For additions, we ordered the garlic noodles and steamed rice to drizzle the Tom’s combo sauce on.
The noodles came in a basket, a decent portion for the price ($ 6.99). They were a bit on the buttery side, a bit too much imo, but a good amount of garlic. Get ready for an overload of flavor if you pair it with the shrimp in that Tom’s combo sauce.
The shrimp was on the softer side, so for a few of them when you peeled it some of the shrimp came off with the shell :(I think it was a tad bit overcooked. Otherwise, the mussels were large and easy to eat. The Tom’s combo sauce was more oily and peppery than those who have had the whole shabang at BC, so I’m definitely biased there. But my boyfriend who hasn’t had either liked it a lot. I recommend putting it over rice ;)
Overall for the price and the location I’d say try it out, especially because boiling crab is in the South Bay a long way away. It’ll definitely satisfy any spicy seafood craving you may have.

I think this place is fantastic, and if your looking for Croel spicy seafood this is the place for concord. There was only another couple, when I arrived, but this place is not a secret because it soon filled in while I was there.
Menu is basic, and I like that. Most things are market value, but there was a ton of special combos on a chalk board.
I had the garlic noodles, yummy, and snow crab mild, with garlic butter, which to my delight was this yummy amazing spicy, coating with drawn butter drizzled all over. Also I added the sausage after I place my order because I saw some pass by and it is infact as good as it looked.
Great date place, if your with somebody that likes to get there hands dirty.
Great place for a crowd of friends during festive occasions highly recommended

Never been to a crab shack place before but I do love seafood! Came in on a Monday right when they opened at 3pm. There were about two other customers while we were there.
We ordered combo #3
Which consisted of 1lb of shrimp, clams and crab legs. Couple corns, few potatoes and several pieces of sausages.
The seasoning and sauce was just amazing. It was piping hot and fresh! My sister and I went ham on it.
We also got the mango fruit tea! It was sweet and refreshing.
The staff were friendly and was there to check on us from time to time.
I will definitely be back!

To be honest I would not even give this place a star! the server was very rude and unprofessional. When I call to complain about it. I was told by the two of the server that they where supervisor and the other one called me back saying he was the owner. Mm sounds a little spacious when the so-​called supervisor just told me that you left. Very unprofessional. I don’t even know why I drove all the way down to concord for This restaurant. I will be making sure to make a complete to the right owners.
Not a happy costumer, no wonder rocking crawfish is more popular.

Came here before trying a similar spot across the street. Personally I like the other place better.
Service was amazing as it was not busy at all. She also gave us permanent markers to leave our mark. That was fun!
We ordered 2 lbs of shrimp, fried oysters, and fries. Our shrimp was overcooked, oysters were oily and fries were alright…

1^st & last time coming here. I was really disappointed coming here. I just moved to the area & have been looking for a good place to eat like this & it just didnt hit the spot for me.
1. Seasoning was too salty
2. Shrimp was WAAAAY OVERCOOKED to where you couldnt even peel the shrimp
3. Ordered the fried catfish & fries & only got 2 pieces of fish?! If you go to other places they charge the same amount but you get 4 – 5 pieces of fish.
4. Customer service is lacking: they forgot to give lime slices at our table & i had to ask for them, they ran out of orange fanta but the staff didnt even know (how the heck do you forget?), there was some random awkward person shadowing the waitresses (maybe he was in training?), the staff would walk off before i even got to ask them a question or request for something.
5. Corn was not fresh. It was definitely defrosted or microwaved because it was really soggy.
6. The food doesnt come in plastic bags like at other places ive been to & instead comes in a big brown bowl. I didnt really like that because the sauce goes to the bottom & just tastes really salty by the time you get to the end of your meal.

This is a cute place for a laid back relaxed meal. Unfortunately, the kitchen needs some work, BUT if you just stick with the crab it’s fairly good.
Ordered corn, garlic noodles & the snow crab.
–Corn was horrid… way over cooked, than just left in the pot. Straight water logs!
–garlic noodles was also a pass. Nothing special.
–snow crab… LOVED IT! Nice pieces, good price… loved the seasoning. Ordered Tom’s special/mild…would have bought the seasoning to take home. ;-) Not convinced the crab wasn’t frozen… but I enjoyed it & would order the crab again… all to get more if the great garlic/​lemon/​mild sauce. ;-)
Service was ok… not spot on, but willing to try. I do think management would do well to provide more training as… wait staff didn’t know the difference between the types of crab they’re selling…(Dungeness crab, snow crab, or king crab legs). That I thought was funny, but the staff was young and I think that is a management issue.

1. The wait to be seated isn’t long at all, you get seated right away.
2. The food is somewhat like the boiling crab but I think better! Anyone who loves Cajun style seafood this is the place to go!
3. I would recommend getting the seafood combo specials. They have 3 combo’s that you can choose from when eating with a big party.
4. The customer service is very friendly and they check up on you very often to make sure everything’s doing great!
5. When ordering the spice levels I recommend ordering mild and just go up from there.

I finally found a place that compares to Boiling Crab!
It’s so hard finding a place in the east bay that is up to par with Boiling crab! I wish I had known about this place sooner. I came here on a Saturday night around 7pm and there was no wait or even a full house at that!
We were greeted and seated right away. The place was pretty quiet, no loud music playing like Boiling Crab or Rockin’ Crawfish. They even played Christmas music which I thought was cute, since it is the holidays, especially since they played an *Nsync song! That alone gave this place points in my book.
We ordered garlic noodles, cajun fries, rice, ½ lb sausage, ½ lb shrimp and an order of potatoes in Tom’s combo sauce mild. Overall the food and sauce was sooooo similar to Boiling Crab. It’s so freakin’ close in taste! Finally, I don’t have to drive all the way to Sacramento or San Jose! Their fries are a thicker cut but they were still good. Their garlic noodles were tasty as well. I like that their potatoes were huge but at the same time I didn’t. I guess it’s more bang for your buck compared to the small, red potatoes at boiling crab, so in the end it is a good thing.
Other things I liked about this place is you can order shrimp in half pounds, other places like Rockin’ Crawfish or Kickin’ Crab don’t do that. So that already was a plus for me. I also like that they have garlic noodles here. I know there are other cajun places like this that offer garlic noodles but Boiling crab doesn’t. So that was another thing I liked about this place. Also they serve their drinks in cute mason jars.
Some things that I didn’t really like was that their «boil» (shrimp, potatoes and sausage) were served in a bowl which made the food get cold quicker. Also they didn’t provide enough sauce. It also would’ve been nice if their fruit teas had free refills. Also if you order potatoes or sausage you have to order it with some kind of seafood in order to get it with a sauce (lemon pepper, tom’s comobo sauce). All are pretty minor but wouldn’t deter me from coming back. Because overall I really enjoyed the food here, and the service was decent too. I’ll definitely come back here since this is now my go-​to for cajun/​boiling crab-​esque food in the east bay!

I had a craving for some Cajun shrimp boil and I’ve been to Rockin’ Crawfish before but the service and a few other things kind of threw me off so I decided to try Tom’s out.
The outside parking lot is pretty cramp, the restaurant itself is tucked away in the corner of this plaza. The inside is spacious and has lots of seating, great for big parties. There was actually a party of 30 that night when we were dining and the workers seemed very accommodating.
* they have lots of flat screen TV’s inside if you’re interested in watching a game.
SERVICE:
I sadly didn’t catch our servers name, she was attentive and friendly.
FOOD:
Our food didn’t take too long at all, thank goodness we ordered before that party of 30 started ordering.
SHRIMP:
I ordered a pound of shrimp, mild and with toms combo (garlic butter+lemon pepper+Cajun) $ 12.99/lb.
First thing I noticed was that the shrimp came in a wooden bowl and not in a plastic bag which I personally thought that that was a bad idea since the shrimp is going to get cold quicker without the bag keeping the shrimp piping hot. Also, 90% of my shrimp was over cooked, it started to become difficult to peel the shrimp, and my shrimp ended up being cold when I was almost done and I was going at a steady pace too. I ordered mild, no kick and my friend ordered spicy for hers but even that had no kick to it.
CAJUN FRIES:
Pretty good, their fries are steak cut fries. Ask for extra seasoning on them!
CALAMARI:
My friend ordered this and it was alright, definitely not fresh since they were really chewy.
*$ 10 minimum and they don’t take AMEX.
OVERALL:
I’d definitely come back here any day instead of going to Rockin’ Crawfish because:
— less crowded
— service is better here
— their tables are a lot bigger than Rockin crawfish

Came here for the first time recently. The shrimp was really good! Only $ 12.99 for a bunch of shrimp. We also ordered the wings and they were good too. I wanted to try the crab but with the recent local crab issues they weren’t recommending it. I’ll update once the crab situation is back to normal and I try their crab!

This place made me sad. Slow, inattentive service. Limited overpriced menu, with mostly frozen seafood. The calamari appetizer was clearly premade, pre breaded, and dumped from a frozen bag into a fryer. Disgusting, rubbery, and inedible. Tried the shrimp and crawfish entrée, and though I was prewarned that the crawfish were frozen, their flavor still left much to be desired. The broth, however, was very tasty. I ordered mild mixed, and found it spicy enough, with lots of garlic to ladle onto the best part of the meal; the garlic noodles. Even those could not redeem this restaurant, but if forced to eat there again, they’re all I’d order.
Definitely a place to skip, if seeking seafood in the Concord area.