Captain Jack’s Hideout

CLOSED. We went looking for this in Coupeville yesterday and were told that it has been closed for two years now.

As of Jan. 1, 2010, Captain Jacks is now closed.

The staff was very nice and friendly. The food however was one notch above mcdonalds.

Upside was view and food. Downside was the service took a little longer than usual. I have to give the latter a bit of the ol’ «grain of salt» as I am not accustom to «beach time» or «island time» or «small town» time. or whatever you want to call it. Maybe I am just a uptight tourist from Seattle and I needed to pay for my sins.
Ok, now the review. Food was standard. Burgers, chicken sandwiches, fish and chips, salads. yada, yada. All that said it hit the spot. I had a few beers and the chicken sandwich and it was nice little lunch for me. View is nice, right on the water (as is Coupeville in general) so it was nice to stare out at the peaceful scenery and watch people try and dock their boats in the fast current.

Kitchen was good, but the service was really, well, not good and odd.
The pasta with shrimp came with perfectly cooked prawns, large fresh ones at that. Fries were great, chowder was a bit thin but had great ingredients. Nothing fancy, just simple fresh ingredient cooked spot-​on.
The service was really odd. We walked in with barely anyone seated, asked for a table, but the hostess took a loooong time to seat us. On the way out, with almost all tables full, they turned the sign around which said «Seat yourself.» Go figure.
Our waitress in particular was spastic. Took her a long time to take our order because she was freaking out over the checks from another table, hovering over the computer for 10 – 15 minutes. She brought us a bowl for shells but oddly gave it to the person with the fish & chips. She missed an order for clam chowder. In general she was just really amateur, and it was the most disappointing part of the experience.
Maybe in time the service will get better. Some of the other staff (the non-​waitress helper) seems decent, maybe it’s just our waitress in particular that needs improvement/​replacement.

The Mad Crab got a NEW NAME & a NEW CHEF!!!
The place is now called Captain Jack’s Hideout… yes, they changed it to that disgrace of a name… I expect overbattered thick fish/​chips and chowder with a name like that… poor choice all around.
The most important change, however, is that the food is AMAZING!!!
They hired a professionally trained chef who actually uses real ingredients and knows more than how to pour pre-​made food into a fryer!
The crab cakes are amazing, and the seafood-​pasta is very tasty. Other new menu choices include fresh halibut, fish tacos (mmm…), homemade seafood gumbo (WOW!!!) and filet mignon with a chef’s special sauce. There are also the most amazing homemade desserts. YUM!

Not the place to eat in Coupeville. There are a couple of good places; Toby’s for beer and mussels, Knead and Feed for lunch, Christepher’s (sp) for dinner. But not the Mad Crab. Bad food, bad prices, dirty silverware, lipstick on glass, need I say more?

do not serve garbage
or if so, make it cheap please
mad crab is the fail

I find it hard to believe that anybody has squeezed anything higher than a two star rating out of the mad crab. I am trying to muster up some eloquence to show you all how atrocious this place is, but sadly, I cannot, so this review will be patterned in easy to understand list format.
Cons:
Greeted by creepy guy in kitchen. Dirty guy. Weird guy.
Out of the first beer ordered.
Out of the second beer ordered.
Had third beer in stock, but it needed to be chilled.
**ugh**
Garlic bread consisted of two slices of regular white bread that — no joke — were probably left out on the counter for at least two days. Seriously — rock hard, and completely dry.
Salad was HUGE but was made of maybe three pieces of lettuce.
Best part: the fish sandwich came out with a Kraft American Single halfway melted on top of the fish. You know the stuff… it’s that shitty cheese my parents didn’t even give me when I was four.
All in all the food was barely edible. Just really, really bad… and weird.
The Mad Crab would not be so terrible if its prices matched the quality. Our bill came to $ 50, pre-​tip. I am all for eating shitty food, don’t get me wrong, especially when there are no other options. I’m just not into spending a lot of money on shitty food.
Pros:
The view was decent, and good company made the whole thing laughable.

the view is amazing and to food kicks ass. It is good for a nice relaxing dinner not if you are in a hurry. Then go down the chill bar down stairs for drinks. I love my girlie drinks and they have them all. Great wait staff but understaffed. T

We spent our entire day on Whidbey Island today. By noon, we were dying of starvation. The path that we had chosen, led us to a quaint little town called Coupeville. There were 3 restaurants on the waterfront to choose from: The Mad Crab, Toby’s, and the Knead & Feed. We didn’t choose The Mad Crab… it was our only option. Toby’s clearly was not child friendly, and The Knead & Feed did not have many options.
Since the moment that we had landed, we have been dying for a taste of «real» fresh seafood. It was our third day visiting, and this was our first opportunity to truly enjoy it. The Mad Crab, unfortunately was a complete toilet flush.
First off, the service here was awful. There were 5 of us, but they only brought serving ware and water for 4 of us. We had to ask the staff twice for another set of serving ware. Apparently my son was non-​existant to the staff. Their water was lukewarm and had a very strange unpleasant taste to it. It tasted the way that I imagined the water in a fishtank to taste like. We placed our orders and literally waited over 45 minutes for our food to arrive. The restaurant itself was empty. We had chosen to eat outdoors. Other than our table, there were only 2 other tables occupied outside.
I chose the Crab Louis Salad and Crab Bisque for $ 19.00. The description on the menu sold me. I was totally jonesing for huge clumps of sweet Dungeness Crabmeat. The salad and soup that I received… could not be further from the truth. What I received was a lot of bitter romaine lettuce served with 2 tablespoons of obviously canned salty crab meat… no lumps, very stringy and skimpy; a few sliced canned olives, one hardboiled egg, and what looked and tasted like Western Dressing. The crab bisque was also missing anything that resembled crab. It was more of a cream of something.
My husband and Brother In Law both ordered their fish and chips. It is offered at $ 11 for the adult portion and $ 5.99 for their kids menu. They both received 3 pieces of cod that were about 2 inches long, a side of tartar sauce, cole slaw, and seasoned fries. Really? Was that supposed to be the kid’s portion? They were both so hungry afterwards that they ended up finishing my leafy salad that was completely devoid of crabmeat or dressing.
My Father In Law ordered their mushroom burger. Food is food to him and he’ll eat it regardless of taste or quality… he’ll even eat the decorative garnish so we had no idea whether his meal was any good.
I’m not sure if the food is any better at the other restaurants located along this street. but I could not ever recommend this place with a good conscience. It was not worth the price that we paid.
We love good food. Price isn’t an issue if it tastes good, and/​or you know that you can’t easily replicate it at home.
P. S. I also wanted to mention the bread basket. Not good at all. Some were square, others triangular… it was all the same bread. and may have been a day old. It might have been saved had they warmed it up some and brushed some butter on top to make it appear fresh…

The Mad Crab has a great view, and very nice staff, but the food needs a lot of work. One of our groups burgers came without anything (literally a patty on a bun), and another’s «crab cake special» included two tiny cakes and a mound of salad (after being given a salad for an appetizer). The veggie patties are generic frozen Gardenburgers, and the prices don’t really mesh with the fast food quality. I think they survive on tourists looking for a view rather than repeat business.

Well, went there for a late lunch while on vacation following the advice of the woman at the information kiosk.
The service was good and the view was great. The seafood mix was good; lots of fresh mussels, but didn’t have all the items that was described on the menu (no fish, etc… just mussels, shrimp, and a couple of snow crab legs). The salmon dish was just okay… could have been anywhere and nothing special. The big disappointment was the salad (crab louis). At a restaurant right on the beach, called the Mad CRAB, owned by folks who came up there to be CRAB fishermen; I would have expected fresh crab and not canned!
Suffice to say; I’ll try another restaurant next time thru.

I think the Mad Crab is having an identity crisis. On the one hand, it seems like it’s trying to be a family-​friendly lunch and dinner joint, with fish-​n-​chips served in baskets. On the other hand, the prices are sky-​high and many of the tables are set for only two, leading me to believe they have a large number of couples that visit.
Even the décor and wait staff are conflicted! The candle holders on the tables appear to have been purchased from a cheap beach-​centric store, while the blue lights along the ceiling scream «classy ambiance!» The waiter and hostess are dressed in professional black shirts… but ALL of them also wear ratty jeans! Talk about confusing! What kind of place IS this? Neither I nor the restaurant itself seems to have any idea.
Our meal started well enough. We were seated at a table by the window, which had a wonderful view of the water.
As for the food, the Penn Cove mussels as an appetizer are an excellent choice — I highly recommend them. But from there things got a little weird. Bread in the form of dinner rolls arrived in a red plastic basket, but were accompanied by olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The combination of the oil and vinegar with the odd rolls that were better suited at a picnic with butter was just a little strange. However, we ate them because we were hungry.
Our entrees were a letdown. My fish tacos were not at all what I expected. For $ 15, I got three fish tacos on very small flour tortillas. That’s it. No side of tortilla chips or anything. I paid $ 5 per taco for a small amount of fish and a few fixings. The fish was supposed to be blackened and perhaps it was, but if so… it was for a VERY short time. The fish itself was almost sweet (I SWORE it tasted of teriyaki), which did not work at ALL with the cabbage, mayo, salsa, and guacamole. Overall, I thought the dish was rather poor and I was shocked that it was listed under their «Mad Crab Specialties» section.
My boyfriend’s halibut and chips was decent, but wasn’t what either of us expected. The panko breading somehow didn’t fit well with the texture of the halibut. The fish itself seemed rather dry and flavorless. The french fries were VERY good, however. I really liked them. The tarter sauce was too sweet for my boyfriend’s taste, but I liked it because it reminded me of Skipper’s tarter sauce, which I miss dearly.
Overall, we were quite disappointed with our visit here. We felt that the entrees were overpriced and the food was NOT very good.
We MIGHT come again, if only for the mussels… or maybe if the restaurant figures out what kind of place it’s trying to be and improves the food. I don’t know about that though…

I used to love The Mad Crab, but the last few visits have been awful. Last time, we had to wait 2 hours to get our lunch.
This time, the bread we got was just thick slabs of white bread, dried out from having been sitting in an open warmer. One of our group ordered onion rings on fish and chips, and was told no problem. When the order came out with fries, the waiter delivering said, «we’re not allowed to serve onion rings with the fish.» Huh?
Crab cakes — good but overpriced. The filet mignon was overcooked. Onion rings were slimy. Garlic potatoes were delicious! Salads were all pretty good.
Most annoying thing. I had crab cakes with salad. They served me a salad before the meal, and then brought another one with the meal. No big deal except the hostess felt compelled to comment on whether I was eating my veggies!

We’ve been to the Mad Crab twice before and have had good food; however, our visit this past weekend was terrible. Our Cesar salads were drenched in dressing. I ordered the Portabella Mushroom and Steak. What came was regular white mushroom sliced, sauteed, and pour over the steak. Excuse me but there’s a huge difference between Portabella and regular button mushroom. I guess they were out of Portabella and have been substituting. It would have been nice to let people know that in advance rather than trying to pull a fast one. I guess the kitchen staff did not inform the waitress so she was really apologetic. My husband ordered the $ 24 fillet mignon cooked Medium — what came was still red and raw in the center. It’s too bad this old Coupeville favorite of ours has gone downhill. The view was very nice but did not make up for the 3 mess-​ups. We will not be returning again.

We were very disappointed in the Mad Crab. We (tried) to eat there a couple of weeks ago when some family came to visit. They wanted to eat at a seafood restaurant and we thought that this would be a good time to try the Mad Crab. Boy were we WRONG!
We started out by ordering drinks. Three of the drinks we ordered (three different ones) they did not have the ingredients for.
Then, we waited, and waited, and waited… until the drinks were finally brought back. Then we waited yet again for a waiter to come and take our orders.
Two of the items we ordered were not in stock. One of which was the CRAB! How can the Mad Crab not have any crab?!
When we finally got our meals they were cold.
As we were waiting, forever, we overheard many diners being informed that there was no salmon, they were out of a couple of the wines… it went on and on.
The service was horrible, the food was not great. I will never go back to this restaurant.
I have never given a bad review before, frankly, even when I have gotten not so good of food at a restaurant, there was at least good service or some other redeeming quality. That simply wasn’t the case here.

I’m mad that I’m not at the Mad Crab RIGHT NOW! and the crab is mad cuz he knows you’re EATING OUT TONIGHT! YEAH! EATING OUT TONIGHT!
ok. H and I decided to eat here on our last night on the island. We tried to starve ourselves the entire day because we knew what we were going to tackle later on that night. H ended up eating a sandwich AND soup just a few hours before, so too bad so sad for him.
When we got to the MAD CRAB, we were seated by a window overlooking the cove. We ordered wine and beer from the first waiter. Then another beer from another waiter. We had about 3 waiters until finally the 3^rd stayed with us and took our order. Ok, lemme just back up and say that a few weeks prior to our trip to Washington, I had my birthday dinner at Outback Steakhouse HK and ordered a ½ pound of crab for dinner. Lemme just tell ya that it sucked and it was hella expensive for a dry, rubbery, tasteless ½ pound o’ crab … or what I THOUGHT was a ½ pound o’ crab until…
(meanwhile back at the Mad Crab)…
Thinking that ½ a pound o’ crab was 2 tiny crab legs (cuz that’s what I got at Outback) I ordered a ½ pound of crab and Filet Mignon. The hubby ordered a lobster ravioli. Of course we ordered a bowl of steamed mussels and clams for appetizer.
The mussels and clams were ok… nothing compared to Toby’s tho’, but I was there for the crab… the mad one.
Our dinner came out pretty fast. When I got my plate, I was totally confused. It was a HUGE plate of a TON O’ CRAB and a Filet Mignon. Like, I for sure know why that crab is mad! Hell, that was a big crab and he’s mad cuz he’s dead now and on my plate ready for some eatin’. Ok, he’s mad and I’m ecstatic! The Filet Mignon was so-​so, but that crab… oooohhh that crab was sooooo yummalicious. H was crackin’ away at the shells for me. There’s no way that there was ½ a pound o’ crab on my plate. I swear it seemed like it was 2. H kept crackin’ the shells and I just had to tell him, «S-​T-​O-​P. I’m gonna die. That mad crab is gonna kill me.» There was sooo much food there, I just couldn’t handle it anymore. I was done. Put a fork in me and watch me die in my own gluttony you MAD CRAB. Are ya happy now?
So, I left sick as heck… was my own fault that I didn’t know how much ½ a pound o’ MAD CRAB was. H really enjoyed his lobster ravioli until his soup and sandwich from earlier that day rose back up his throat. Our 3^rd waiter didn’t know that our 1^st waiter took our first order of drinks. So, we weren’t charged for the 1^st round o’ drinks, but we still left it in our bill.
I was sick and happy… and the crab… he’s still MAD.

I had some higher expectation for the Mad Crab. Don’t ask me why, b/​c even I don’t know. I just pictured it going differently in my mind. Maybe it was the portion size that was off putting.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s good. The bread/​butter is a nice touch while you’re waiting for your food. I had the blackened halibut fish tacos — not bad, good fish just too salty for my taste.
The view is niiiiiice, btw.