Ray’s Crab Shack

Ultimate power shrimp is soo good. Add some Cajun fries and make it spicy, can’t go wrong.

Their Cajun Sausage is my newest fav!
It’s addictive Haha! (6 slices per order)
Ordered extremely hot (all in 1 sauce)
It was really really hot ! For spicy lovers only!
For my pound of shrimp.
(one pound is good for 1 person)
For me, their sauce is too heavy and too flavorful (salty)
The shrimp was medium sized-​big.
Their clam chowder was too creamy
I didn’t like it ! And it didn’t taste fresh.
They could still improve on the recipe .
What’s nice is that the place looked like a ship,
It gives you the feels like your sailing away from the busy city.
But is was a little dark

I live 5 minutes from this place and have passed it by for 4 years. My wife, son and I finally decided to stop in, thinking it would probably suck. Service was amazing, real team environment. Food came out fast and hot. Food was amazing! I had the garlic noodles, fried oysters, sweat potato fries, clam chowder, garlic bread and the combo bag with ultimate power season ing. Everything was freaking amazing! I recommend putting the clam chowder over some of the garlic noodles and dipping the garlic bread in the combo bag juice. Definitely fresh seafood here, with a winning seasoning.

Great option if you’re craving seafood! The location is unbeatable and their ultimate power seasoning is a must.
TIPS:
–Prepare to wait (gets crowded)
–Enjoy a cold beer with your meal :)
–Use the gloves (gets MESSY)

A family friend brought us here because this is the only crawfish place he likes. I, myself, am always down to try new cajun seafood joints!
Brother is an adventurous eater like me and we shared the ray’s combo bag with all seasoning and medium spice. I would have liked a bit more spice than this, but I ordered based on how spicy the medium at other places is. Definitely recommend to up the spice level from what you’re used to if ordering this. Sauce was good here, but no comparison to my tried and true crawfish place Claw Shack in SJ.
Oyster on the half shell were really good here I had a whole order to myself along with cajun fries the second time we came and skipped the bag o’ seafood and I was still very satisfied.
Waitresses are attentive and refill our drinks quickly.

I figured I’d review this joint so I could bump up the reviews/​RATINGS for this place up a notch, (plus, I’m also a bit tipsy, soooo.. . since I’m feeling a bit opinionated as well — I figure now is the time to give my most candid, honest review)! This place is my all-​time favorite place for Cajun-​FLAVORED, seafood-​juicy good-​ness! (Sorry for the over-​emphasis, I couldn’t hold back!,)
I’ve been frequenting this place for about 4+ years and my current consensus after dinning here on all occasions is, «this place never disappoints!».
Please give this place a try if you are around the area!!!
Thanks for reading!

This is my favorite seafood spot since like 2010. My friend and I used to come here so much we’d remember the playlist by heart lol.
Anyways my friend and I honestly can’t believe that people would prefer places like boiling crab or cut the crab or any other crab place in the Bay Area over Ray’s. We used to be mad diligent about checking out all the places but at some point we decided Rays was the best and stopped checking out the competition.
What makes us like Rays so much is the sauce. The sauce is thicker so it stays on the food much better than the watery sauces other places serve. This might not be for everyone and it might even put you off but for us it’s what makes it. My friend and I call it «the mystery goo.»
We usually order a pound of shrimp no head (no head means that you get more to eat since the head isn’t weighed) ultimate power hot, Cajun fries, corn, rice and occasionally garlic noodles. This last time I went I got a crab roll but honestly could have done without it. It tasted real bland until I started dipping it into the mystery goo: P

Easily one of the best crab boiled/​seafood boiled go to restaurant with the family. I have been going here for years and still love it. It’s as good as boiling crab too, but closer from my house at least. Service here is great since the server constantly checks on your table. Don’t hesitate to ask for sauce, lemon and pepper, or anything else they will give it to you. Came here with my family to celebrate mother’s day and it was perfect. The wait was not bad, 15 – 20 min wait and we had s table big enough for our party of 6. We started off with drinks, then ordered fries (sweet potato and garlic fries), I had a pound of shrimp with head of cajun lemon pepper-​non spicy and it was delicious. The sauce wasn’t watery. The flavors was amazing and since im not a big fan of spice I was truly satisfied. They give you a big and gloves to use to peel your seafood and trust me it helps! Your hands will be less dirty! I normally peel my shrimps first then eat everything together so I don’t have to constantly get my hands dirty. At the end of the meal your check will come in a Tin with mints and moist towelette! Definitely use the towelette to clean those hands and remove the fishy scent. I definitely recommend anyone who is a big seafood lover to try this place out. They do have more options then boiling crab such as clam chowder soup, and lobster or crab roll. Will try the crab roll next time. I know for sure i’ll be back here again with my family sometime soon

Came by for mothers day dinner this evening. I’ve been here are few times and the service had always just been okay. Until today, a server named Danielle I believe, was super nice and friendly. She had really good customer service skills especially when it came to the 3 other people who served our food as well. The other people would be kind of rude and just hand us the food (I’m sorry but while I’m peeling my shrimp and you come to serve our table, maybe you should put the food in the middle like I asked instead of holding it up in front of me for me to grab it, there was more than enough room on the table). But our main server was super nice and I love the broil mix here. My favorite place so far!

This place is very similar to Boiling Crab in every way but the quality of seafood used was poor. Pick your seafood, pick your sauce, comes in a bag, eat with hands. They do give you a bib and gloves but it gets messy. Best to just use your fingers and wash later.
We ordered a bunch of stuff to share since there was 5 of us in the party. We waited 45 mins for a table. The meal was disappointing. The shrimp was old. I could not believe they would serve people that kind of quality. The garlic noodle was good. The crab legs were good. The fries were good. However the shrimp ruined the meal. The staff is friendly.
I would not recommend the shrimp! Other items were good. They have a big parking lot that they share with the hotel next door so parking is not a problem.

Came to Ray’s this past weekend with the gang and was seated within 10 minutes for a table of 8 at 7:30pm. Ordered the combo bag with ultimate power and medium spice. The clams were great, crawdad was plenty but the shrimp was so gummy. It tasted like it was sitting in the freezer for a little too long. The fried we got was a lot not crispy and pretty soft, like it might have been prior to our order. Was a little sad this experience wasn’t so great. Hopefully our next trip will be better.

Nice place to eat seafood. But honestly, if you love eating oyster, this is definitely not a good place. Every time i order raw oyster (i dont want to say fresh cuz obviously they just put oyster meat on the shell), oyster size becoming smaller and smaller (i guess oysters are off season), not worth it, money waste.

Never can go wrong with Rays Crab Shack as their sauce is very different from Boiling Crab and other Cajun/​creole joints. I will admit, I do have friends that are not fans of this place so it is not for everyone, but definitely worth a try. If you compare it to BC, you will be disappointed because it is different in its own way. Their «Shebang» sauce is called the Ultimate Power here and the consistency is much thicker and more garlicky compared to BC. It pairs very well with rice so I always make sure to order it every time with my meal. The corn is so-​so so I usually skip this, but their sausages are on point.
For this last visit, we ordered a pound of the shrimp and crawfish and I actually enjoyed the crawfish much more. Small, but full of flavor, it was like I was getting a taste of the sea.
The service has always been great every time I go and I will usually order a beer (great white) to go along with my meal. A very family oriented place and great for large parties!

Ray’s Crabshack is my favorite cajun style boiled seafood place. Definitely much better than Boiling Crab! The place is big, clean and service by friendly staff. The food is delicious! I don’t know what they put in their sauce but seriously the best I’ve tried anywhere in the Bay Area! I usually take home whatever’s left of our sauce; so good with rice! Hehehe! The price is very reasonable! Two person can share a combo bag for less than $ 30. I wish this place is closer to where I live, I would be here everyweek if not everyday!

Ray’s Crab Shack is very similar to boiling crab, but it just isn’t as good. They have bibs and gloves. The gloves are very loose so it makes it harder to peel the shrimp and the oils from the food get through the gloves, but the concept is there.
I like how they have an option to order the shrimp without the heads. Not everyone eat the heads, me for instance, so opting out in order to get a couple more shrimp is nice. I usually get a pound of shrimp without the head, Ultimate Power seasoning (which is original cajun, cajun lemon pepper, and cajun garlic combined), mild. I usually like the corn but I stopped ordering it here because it just wasn’t that good. If you like a little spiciness, I suggest getting more than mild. I can’t do spicy at all, but their mild is extremely minimal. Also, I like how their calamari comes with either french fries or cajun fries. The bottom portion of the fries serving is very oily.
The atmosphere is nice. It is very spacious compared to other places similar to this. They really only utilize the perimeter of restaurant, having mainly booths and just a few tables in the very middle.
The service is nothing special. They are nice, but a little inattentive to their customers. Almost every time I come here, they never give the check to us when we are finished eating. I try to make it a little more known when we are done by taking our bibs off and throwing it on top of the pile of discards.

I wanted something soup-​y.
I ordered the cup lobster bisque and the sweet potato fries.
Soup was decent. The additional lobster meat on top was good.
I wish it came more temperature hot. (soup is the worst when it comes lukewarm.)
I was also craving sweet potato fries but I don’t think I’ll get it again here.
Bland and kind of tasteless? Or maybe I am expecting too much from Ray to make me the best fries I have ever tasted.
Can’t say anything about the popular order of shrimp…

First off, I’m a die hard boiling crab fan. But because of the wait and the drive, I’ve found similar options in different cities. Each place has their own different flavor; boiling crab’s sauce is a little thicker and is very very garlicky. Other places I’ve been to in LA have sweeter or even vinegary sauces. Ray’s sauce is up there!
I came with family, a party of 7 or 8. Some of us ordered our own 1lb shrimp bags and we also ordered one of their huge lobsters to share and combo bags. I do like that Ray’s has the combination bags! There’s so much variety in the bag! We got one with corn, mussels, clams, sausages, shrimp and crawfish. Great for sharing or if you don’t want to stick to one seafood.
Lets talk lobster! At Ray’s they do this thing where you can choose your lobster by weight and you get to take a pic with the beast right before they cook it for you! I wanna say ours was 8.5 lbs but i actually don’t remember. Another thing i love is that they have different options on the menu as compared to the standard fries, sides, and boiled seafood bag staples that cajun places have. They have salads, soups, garlic noodles and i even saw lobster rolls on there. I got the lobster bisque and it was pretty good! Super thick and creamy with chunks of fresh lobster, just how i like it.
Our waiter was super patient with us and attentive! Wait wasn’t too bad either. If you’re in the area and looking for an alternative to boiling crab i would choose Ray’s!

Been here a couple of times and I gotta say, they have improved since the first time I have tried the place. I used to dislike the sauce because it tasted like spaghetti sauce to me. Now I believe it’s a lot better. I usually come here with my family so we order the bag with a variety set of seafood: clams, mussels, crawfish, corn, sausage, & shrimp. (spice: ultimate power, mild) For sides, we order cajun fries (mild), rice, and garlic noodles. Garlic noodles are my favorite! Sometimes We order the lobster roll… and that is probably my favorite meal on the menu!
Ambience is nice. I like the theme and decorations that the place has. It’s great seeing the transformation of the place since the former business was sizzler’s. I can’t emphasize enough on how clean this establishment is. That is very important since you’d think it can be dirty since I mean our hands are full of seafood and the sauce. The restrooms are very clean. Also, the employee’s uniform. I like their hats and the simplicity in their uniform. All employees are great as well, but there are some where I question how they got the job since we had to cue the waitress in a lot of things. For example: getting refills (yes, we are in a drought), asking for extra paper towels, for our bibs, starting our orders. It’s not that busy too when we go there so not sure if the waitress is just having an off night.
Overall, I gave this place ³⁄₅ because the food is great and all but I guess I have high standards for the food since I have eaten at many other seafood restaurants. I’d still come here though since it’s literally down the street from my house and there’s something about this place since we still come back! :)

Forget Boiling Crab.
The wait is always long and not worth it.
I’d make the ~20+ min drive here from SJ every time I’m craving this type of food.
Been here about 3 times already. Always been seated right away.
Service: Never had a problem. They’re really nice and you’re helped out by a lot of servers. Very attentive compared to boiling crab
Décor/​Ambiance: It’s dark, and cozy and much more laid back here. I love it! Boiling Crab and Kicking Crab is always loud and too packed for my liking. I also hate that the tables are always so close together there. But that’s not the case at Ray’s. I need my space lol Whoever designed the restaurant layout deserves a pat on the back. You da real MVP!
Menu: Pretty straightforward and simple. They have oysters, your typical fries, Cajun, and Sweet Potato Fries. You choose your seafood, how many pounds, the sauce you want, and spice level.
What I always get:
–1lb of shrimp w/​head, ultimate power sauce and mild spice
–Fries (Cajun or Sweet Potato Fries) — I prefer the Sweet Potato Fries though
–Side of rice
Taste: I like the sauce of this place much better than boiling crab and all of the other places in the South Bay. It’s not too oily
Or watery or thick and pasty powder like! Boiling Crab’s lol
Love this place! Definitely recommend.

I personally love this place. More than Boiling crab. My gentleman took my brother and I here for lunch!
I’m a big time crawfish and a sauce person. They definitely went above and beyond with those two! Woohoo, :D! The shrimp was also good! I ordered the (1lb crawfish — ultimate power — hot). Next time I’m getting 2lb! The «hot» was mild to me but I wasn’t complaining, it was still perfect!
I love how they give you gloves! Certain places they let you peel with your bare fingers and then your fingers tend to get soggy (not very comfortable when it gets soggy), lol. Secondly, I appreciate how they have the paper towels in those rolls so it is easier to grab a piece.
I’m from Sacramento and on the way home I was thinking about how good the crawfish & sauce were! Good Lord! Hahaha.
Overall = LOVE IT! I will definitely come by whenever I’m in the area again! :)