Joe’s Crab Shack

I ate here recently and can say I have never paid $ 90 for such low quality food. The service was slow and disappointing. The food left a LOT to be desired — it was low quality and lacking in quantity. I left hungry, and paid a premium for it.
I would feel better about it if the cost met the experience. Had I paid $ 30 -$ 40, I wouldn’t have left so angry. The fact that I could go to various other real establishments in the area, spend the same amount (or less) and have a phenomenal dining experience ensures that I’ll never consider returning to this place ever again. Come on! This is Maryland! We’re famous for crab cakes and seafood! Then here’s Joe’s Crabshack is serving up low quality junk for the same price as the authentic stuff!!!
That’s like eating at Olive Garden… In Italy!

We came here on a Saturday night around 9 and were shocked that it wasn’t very crowded, since the parking lot was packed! We ordered sodas, and the crab dip as an appetizer and it came out quick! My fiancé ordered the Cajun steampot and I created my own with the King, Queen, and Snowcrab legs and the outdoor grill seasoning. It was good. The King crab was soft and perhaps a little over done. It took a while to get it open.
Our waiter Gianni was great! Very attentive. He was pretty quick with refills and checked on us often. The manager came to our table to greet us and to make sure everything was okay. Everything was okay, until it was time to pay.
Once he brought out the bill, he disappeared for a while. Once he took the check, I was informed that my card was declined, and he left again for a while. I checked my account, and I definitely had enough money to pay for the bill. So I asked him to try again. It came back declined again. So I had to leave, go to an ATM across the street, which was not for my bank, pay a $ 3 fee, and drive back to pay for the bill. I’m just confused on how that bank knew I have money in my account, yet their system didn’t. I’ve never encountered that happening, and it was really annoying and embarrassing. It’s not our waiters fault, but the whole fiasco definitely made me want to go to Greenbelt next time. If you come here, bring cash just in case.

Came here on a Saturday night and we were seated right away. I’d been to another Joe’s a few years ago and had awful service and a not-​so-​savory experience, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
We ordered the Crazy Good Crab Dip and the Fried Calamari for our appetizers and they were both good. The sauce with the calamari worked really well with the calamari! The Crab dip was good as well.
The East Coast Platter was good. The crab cake had a lot of filler which was a little disappointing, but the shrimp was really good.
Our server was very attentive and took great care of us. The manager came over to check on us which was nice.
Overall, we had a pretty good experience and we will be sure to go back to Joe’s Crab Shack in the future!

Went here because we were in the mall area. I was kind of skeptical because I have not had the best experience with Joe’s but we decided to give it a try anyway. Alicia our server was amazing. She answered all my questions and even gave me a few recommendations on what to eat. For a friday night it wasnt crowded at all. The food came out almost immediately and it was delicious. It was very flavorful because one of my biggest gripes with this restaurant is how bland the food can be. I was highly impressed with the food and service at this restaurant.

We ate here on Wednesday night and they were very quick to seat us. We had a bucket of crabs and tried this apple desert that was the
it was awesome! The server we had was great and the food came out super quick! What a great place!

The food was good. The servers was friendly. The drinks wasn’t strong to my liking it was very weak or else they could of got 5 stars

Pretty darned good for a chain restaurant! Dined there this past Saturday night with son and friend. Server Emily was wonderful and very helpful! I ordered steamed shrimp sans their «special goo» along with a house salad and ear of corn. Our pal ordered the KING crab and Lobster claws bucket. He shared a lobster claw with me and it was delicious! Down sides? NO OYSTERS on the menu! what? Unforgivable! Also the salad was too pedestrian with all iceberg lettuce, nothing to write home about there! A house salad should attempt to be interesting with some mixed greens! Iceberg lettuce has practically ZERO nutritional value, just crunch! Come on Joe!!!
Despite the faux pas’ above, a very satisfying meal. I’ll be back!

As I looked at reviews, I understand that everyone has the right to be upset and complain but what drives anyone actually walk into «any» crowded establishment and complain about wait times and noise control. Key is don’t go inside if you’re prepared to complain.
I always have a good time here… crowded or not. Today I had the Redfish with a Lobster bisque, mixed in with fresh spinach, mushrooms, and lobster claw meat and it was every bit of awesome. As long as they are serving this I will get it! Free Wi-​Fi, beer, seafood and server was running the bar and waiting tables. She never forgot to come and check in on us. I hope they will give that lady a promotion for taking care of four tables and running the bar. I have zero complaints about the food and service. And if you read my reviews I don’t give 5 stars just because.

My bf and I went here last Friday around 5 thinking we might just beat the dinner crowd (definitely wrong) for a quick seafood bite. Originally I wanted to do crabs but we just settled on East Coast Platter (for him), Crab Cake Sandwich (for me) and Fried Calamari as our appetizer.
From the moment we walked in, our waitress albeit nice, was definitely on the forgetful side as she didn’t give me a straw or refill. To her defense it looked like they were understaffed and later into our meal she did improve on being prompt. Also when our appetizer was brought out, we failed to receive plates/​silverware and the guy was pretty indifferent when we mentioned this to him. We eventually started eating it while it took him a good 5 mins to fix this.
With all this shady service, I was hoping the food would be a saving grace. While everything was hot as soon as it arrived to us, we we’re so underwhelmed. My crab cake was just ok (didn’t have super high hopes for it) with the sauce being the extra kick needed. My BF was ok with everything in his platter except for the fish saying it was 80% batter and 20% untasty fish.
All in all we left full but super annoyed and the super high noise level, ok food and more miss than hit service. Even with no high expectations of the place granted it’s a casual chain, we we’re still left pretty disappointed and will stick to Red Lobster next time we need a quick seafood fix.

The waiter had a nice attitude and the food was just ok not great.
The inside dining room was so loud we asked to be seated outside on the porch. Bathroom was pretty gross… floor was wet everywhere like it flooded or something.

I haven’t been here in ages and never really planned on coming back, but it was my dad’s birthday and he wanted to dine here with the family. God knows why, but we went along with it!
Overall, we had a pretty poor dining experience. I can’t even begin to explain how ridiculously slow the service was. My dad ordered a Corona and our sever completely forgot about it. Over 15−20min later, I flagged down someone else to ask if he could go check the bar for a Corona. He comes back and says that it’s not there so he would need to get the manager to ring it in. The manager does his thing and brings my dad a bottle finally.
She comes back and still didn’t acknowledge that she had forgotten the beer. She checked on our table once (at the end), not including the times she brought out the food. When we asked for the check, boxes, and bags, she comes back 10 minutes later with boxes, then disappears again for 10 minutes to bring us the check. Then a few minutes later, brings us bags. I don’t think it’s very difficult to be efficient and knock down two or more birds with one stone. We could’ve saved so much time.
Oh and the food, everyone got a steam pot, but I wasn’t really feeling it, so I decided to go with the Mahi tacos. My dish came out last and upon taking my first bite, I realized something was really cold. The cabbage/​slaw that they put at the base was so cold, it was actually icy. I didn’t even bother to tell the server and just took out the cabbage from all of the tacos.
The music is way too loud and the disco ball is just cheesy. Overall, just a really bad dining experience. Thumbs down, won’t be back.

I was very pleased with my experience this evening at Joe’s Crab Shack ! My fiancé and I came because we were craving crabs and boy did we get exactly what we wanted! We both ordered Crab Daddy Feasts with double orders of broccoli instead of the hush puppies or corn…(we r dieting) the food was delicious and the crabs were very meaty/​yummy plus our waitress (Holly) was very good! When asked for her opinion on a menu item, she gave us an honest answer, which we appreciated. Also, she was extremely attentive but didn’t hover, which was great :) we will def be coming back!

The food was average but I would come here again. Had a large party around 20 people didn’t have to wait to be sited. Great experience. Thank you to the two young men who attended to my party. Very Professional !

I ordered the Ragin Cajun Steam Pot, and it was decently tasty. Not super spicy, so kids could enjoy too. I will say, they’re wasting money on sausage in the steam pots. No one at our table ate their sausage. We looked around and the table next to us had discarded their sausages in their appetizer dishes. Get better tasting andouille sausage or leave them out altogether.

Waitress was inattentive. We had to ask for condiments, refills, & crab crackers. They only had 2! My son’s order was not put in. Took an extra 15 mins. One sausage in the pot. There were 4 potatoes. To top it off, gratuity was included, but the waitress demanded an extra $ 20 in tip. Just not a good experience. The food itself was not worth the money or the hassle.
Just remember that up to 30% of the 5 star reviews are fake, so Joes is really a 2 star if you add up all the negative reviews here and account for that stat. Will not be back.

Was in the mood for quick moderately priced seafood so Joe’s it was! I feel like Joe’s gets a bad wrap from a lot of people, but if you keep it in perspective it’s a pretty decent place to get seafood. We sat at the bar which is always lively, games were on and the liquor was flowing! I ordered the Sunset fire grilled pot but was a bit surprised when it came out and I received not only the wrong order but a double pot of the wrong order! Now of course I wasn’t sending it back and although my waitress was the one that brought it to my attention she just shrugged and said oh well I guess you get a double order. I missed the salty yumminess of the fire grilled pot, but who can complain when you get double the crab legs and shrimp… not me lol! Joe’s hit the spot this weekend!

I will preface this review by saying that I would have given this location of Joe’s Crab Shack four stars, but they ran out of some key entrees and that was a bit unsettling to me (read: deeply upsetting because my friends and I were ravenously hungry).
Let me start with some positive feedback. Our waiter, Mikey, was superb. He had a pleasant demeanor and just overall good vibe. He explained what food recommendations he had and honestly explained to us the portion sizes for different meals.
My issue was less so with the service, and more so with the food options. Although we did go to this restaurant at 11:30 pm on a Saturday, the kitchen didn’t close until 12:30 am. We ordered calamari and crab cakes, and they had run out of both options. Then when we ordered the stuff shrimp, it was very bland. The one dish that didn’t disappoint was the queen crab legs.
I hope to come back to this location to support Mikey. The next time around I hope the establishment’s food is on par with their service.

REVIEW IS FOR HAPPY HOUR AND $ 2 TUESDAY
One of the best Joe’s Crab Shacks around. I love to come on Tuesdays for their $ 2 specials. They started this promotion about a year ago for Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday, and I guess it did so well they kept it going. They also have a daily happy hour where you can get any beer on draft (YES even Stella, Heineken, and Sam Adams) for $ 3. Can’t beat that! The mainstays have been fried pickles (best I’ve had), fried crayfish, and fried shrimp. On this go-​round, I got shorted on the shrimp, and the crayfish had a little too much bread on it, but that was the exception, not the norm. The bartenders and staff are competent and attentive. Definitely one of my favorites in the DC-​BAL area.

I’m going to keep this short: Listen to all the negative reviews and try Red Lobster instead. Or, if you’re a real Marylander, get some ~real~ crab from many of the local eateries.
I was a bit worried when some family suggested we swing by here given the reviews. We showed up and it was dead empty, although it was a Thursday evening. Now, I’ll give them credit because our server was ~awesome~. She kept constant attention on our 6-​person party and kept us going. But she was one of the few highlights of the night.
The calamari appetizer was the best tasting thing we had. Everything else was «meh» to «ugh». My «crabcake» tasted like some Florida dirt crab; I know you can’t always have Maryland blue, but you can at least try to put something tasty in there. And what was that filler? Spinach? Who puts ~spinach~ in a crab cake? The jalapeño crab stuffed shrimp were alright but the fried cod was just bland.
Despite my warnings, several people ordered the steampots. The Queen Crab was nice and huge, but everyone else’s King Crab was anything but royal. The shells were rubbery, either being cooked wrong or simply being frozen for too long. It’s sad when the best thing in a seafood dish is the sausage. They also skimped on the legs, with several missing. Luckily management sent out more when the group complained.
A couple in our party said they’d been to this location and had better service prior. Sadly, given all the other complaints on here, I think they got lucky. Next time you wanna buy overpriced frozen seafood, just go to Red Lobster. At least they’ve got those awesome cheddar biscuits.

So like most people, I loveeee Joe’s Crab Shack, but this has to be one of the best ones I have been to. From beginning to end, my experience here was great! Five out of five stars! So lets talk about the customer service, once we arrived, we were greeted by two twins who were so sweet and nice — they weren’t annoyed at all with me being the billionth person to ask the most obvious question, «Are you twins?» Haha. We were seated right away and were greeted by our very funny and attentive waiter. I forgot his name, which I am mad at myself for, but he was fan-​freakin-​tastic! We ordered Hurricanes for our drinks and the «GREAT BALLS OF FIRE» to start. The food was great … per usual, but what I appreciated the most was the fact that our drinks came out very quickly. That will always add an extra dollar or two to your tip: D. For my entrée, I had the Ragin’ Cajun. So freaking good! After we were finished with our food, our waiter came by and had a few laughs with us ending the meal on a great note! We transferred to the bar for a quick shot and «left the building»! All in all, it was a great time! This Joe’s is very clean, well managed, and has amazing staff. I would definitely dine here again before going to the one closest to my house.
Favs: Attentive & friendly staff. Fast service. Cleanliness.
Would Change: Not a thing … keep up the great work!!!