SoCal Crawfish Connection

^ Love love love their Olivin sauce, best crab legs and clams and don’t leave without trying their dynamite mussels!!!

I really enjoyed this place! My boyfriend and I went, got the lemon pepper season for a pound of Shrimp and also Crab legs!!! It was awesome! soo favorful…
and a side note, their alcohol beverages are really reasonable and my boyfriend was in awe that they had corona familiar! :) lol
Thanks to the Unilocal special I paid 41 and some change, and I will be honest! I was stuffed!!! :D so was the my boyfriend! :D

Awesome food
Mike is a badass
Assassin Riders

good service as long as Mike is there.
Tastes like Boiling crab, tho BC might be a little better.
shrimp — good
Cajun fries — very good
Sausage — good
Corn — good/​ok
Dynamite mussel — ok
Deep fried Oreo — ok
Check in offer and free coupon on Unilocal: awesome

I really liked this place. The workers were extremely friendly and were very attentive. The crawfish was also huge, they looked like baby lobsters. The shrimp was a bit small compared to other places. Also, we had a Unilocal deal and there was a promo and our waiter was nice enough to give us both since he didn’t know we had a Unilocal deal.
We ate here yesterday, sunday.
I really would have given this place four stars. BUT, my boyfriend and I became extremely nasua and threw up serval times only an hour or two after we left the restaurant. I had an extreme fever the next morning and my boyfriend had chronic diaherra! Its pretty awful, tomorrows our graduation and we’re just hoping we get better. We don’t know if it was just our batch or something but something was definitely not right. It did taste funny even though the flavoring was nice. I really would like to come back but after feeling ridiculously sick this past day, I don’t think I would want to.
Sorry! Socal connection. Awesome customer service though, one of the best I’ve had in a long time. Props to you for that.
(P.S Originally written June 17^th, I don’t know why Unilocal posted it so late.)

1lb of shrimp– Olive it sauce, less than medium spicy. They weren’t kidding when they said their seasoning is more spicy than other places. Next time, I’ll get mild. The sauce had a ton of garlic, yummmm, and was surprisingly very tasty.
Dynamite Mussels (?) — I loved the spice.
Fried catfish with cajun fries– Breading on catfish was yummy and went well with the tarter sauce. Cajun fries were pretty good too.
I’ll be back.

Honestly, all these reviews that say that the taste doesn’t compare to Boiling Crab is seriously crazy. I don’t understand what great taste they are talking about when it comes to Boiling Crab. Socal is more tasteful & flavorful rather than just a bag of salt.
The environment is great in there. The staff are all very welcoming and helpful. I always go here to eat whenever I’m in the area!

–gave this place 2 tries, and that’s it, never coming back.
–both times, the crawfish were dipped practically in a bag of butter. I love the garlic and all, but the excessive butter/​oil won the attention over. My second time when I ordered home, I had to dumped out the sauce and forced myself to eat it since I ordered 3 lbs. I then asked myself «why do I keep torturing myself???»
–bye bye SoCal Crawfish.

I’ve been reading the reviews of this place and how everyone who comes here tries to compare it to Boiling Crab. One thing to say, just stop. Obviously this isn’t Boiling Crab, or else the sign out front would say «Boiling Crab». A lot of you come here as an alternative to Boiling Crab so as such, you shouldnt compare it. If you want Boiling Crab, then wait the 2 hours and go to Boiling Crab. Rating this place low because its not up to par of BC shouldn’t be a reason for the low stars.
I’m updating my review of this place because being located so close to this place, its a much more convenient local than other places. The service is amazing, and the food, though in the past had to do a bit of experimenting to get the flavors right, has yet to deny me a good meal.
Ate there earlier tonight with my mother, she freeaking loves Cajun/​Creole. After we ordered a pound of shrimp head-​on (A lot of people find this weird to have this option, some people don’t like the heads of the shrimp so Socal takes them off for you before you get them, not a bad thing if its your preference), Mike who runs this place with his sister, came up to us and chatted for a bit, through his sly talking skills, he brought up a new (ish) dish he’d been working on, (its been on the menu but he completely revamped it). So we also ordered Mike’s Hot Wings (Dont worry not hot or spicy).
A little while later our food comes out. listed below with a bit of description was our food experience
first off, the wings were a bit too salty, but it was loaded with so much flavor! asdjfkl; super moist and tender, huge pieces of chicken wings and drumsticks. so. bomb. go. try it.
our order of crawfish and shrimp were good, a bit spicy for my mom (we ordered Garlic butter, medium spicy) their spiciness levels are kinda steep so stick to medium or mild, anything higher and you’re gonna be downing more beer/​soda than seafood.
SCC gets it right, and handles its own amid the increasingly saturated crawfish cajun/​creole establishments opening up. I still take this place over any other with great friendly meaningful service, (they actually care about you, and dont just want your money) and never have to deal with noisy ass annoying people while im trying to enjoy my meal. and short wait time.

I call it «finger licking good» ending with a «mouth-​gasm». I don’t even care if my fingers smell like seafood for days; but just in case, there’s a really cool metal soap bar in the women’s bathroom to help get rid of the scent.
The owner, Mike, and the rest of the family/​crew is awesome. Unlike Boiling Crab, this place is very family oriented. Don’t get me wrong, I like Boiling Crab too but the seafood here is much more fresh and meaty. Oh and the fresh oysters are «the best I’ve ever had»! This is quality at its finest.
They have about 4 different seasonings (original?, garlic butter?, lemon pepper, & olive it– mixture of all). Then on a scale, there’s about 8 different levels of spice. You can even do an in between as each level of spice is multiplied by 3. If you dare, the spiciest of all requires a signed waiver. My perfect level is medium, however I am tempted to do the hot next time.
Call me crazy but this place is like crack (don’t judge me, lol), I just want more!
So to the Socal Crawfish gang, Thank you and never leave me!

I bought a Unilocal deal for this place since I love crawfish and wanted to try all the nearby places.
I was very pleased. The prices were definitely reasonable. 1 lb of crawfish was about $ 11. The sauce was great and smelled so good it made me want more when the table next to ours got theirs before we left.
The bathrooms were clean and updated with a nice changing table. The restaurant was quiet when we got there about 6, but picked up a bit after that. Even so, there was still no waiting and wasn’t too loud. We also got a bucket of bud light (6) for $ 13. The deep fried oreos were great and we added dynamite mussles and sausage to my crawfish, it was delicious!

Checkin special: free CSP (corn, sausage, and potato) usually worth $ 1.75.
Excellent super nice service.
Plenty of parking
Located in small plaza with business offices
Basically, would spend around $ 20+ for two people.
Weird, head-​on and head-​off options for shrimp…
— 1lb Head-​on is around $ 9.99 which would be enough for one person (and didn’t taste that fresh :/​
— Tilapia Basket with fries was a little to fried? The fries tasted like the same fried oil as the fish :/​
— Steamed Rice $ 1.75
So, many want to compare to boiling crab? Lets just say this place is a healthier version of that place. The taste doesn’t stick to the shrimp (not as thick), but I guess that saves you from absorbing any extra msg or crap you shouldn’t add to your body anyways. But many would probably enjoy Boiling Crab more just for taste.
I probably would come back to try the calms or azn dishes? But seriously, best service ever. You’d probably want to come here for lots of seats, and awesome service.
Sorry, 2 stars on taste but 3 star because of service. Just can’t compare to boiling crab. If not comparing, its still lacking some taste to be stuck on the seafood vs watery mess in the bag.

Some friends and I were in the mood for BC-​esque food… BC on a Saturday night is unquestionable… I’m not waiting 2 hours to work for my food… Claws used to be our go to substitute but as of late, their wait is slowly catching up to BCs so I used my trusty Unilocal to find the next best substitute… previously we’ve tried Cajun Corner (Never again… un-​fresh shrimp paired with mediocre service) and Rockin Crawfish (relatively bland sauce with mushy crawfish)… and were severely disappointed.
Seeing that this place got 4 stars we gave it a try.
–No wait. AND… they take reservations.
— awesome service. We were promptly seated, a guy who i’m guessing is the owner came and greeted us. When he took our order, he compared his food to boiling crab so we could enjoy our usual fare, and they refilled me water without me asking. Everyone’s super friendly and they try to make conversation with you. I think it might be a family run business?
— more variety… they had a lot of extra stuff on the back of the menu besides just the seafood… and and and… they had sweet potato tater tots
…whhhaaaattt!!! We were debating between sweet potatoes and cajun fries… and seeing that we had a difficulty the owner said that they had the sweet potato tater tots but they were an off menu item… I’m not sure how many people share my affection for tater tots. something about the cylindrical shape gets to me I guess, but sweet potatoes in tater tot form seemed like a clear choice. It was a very good choice. they came out crispy, not soggy like undercooked tator tots.
–I’m not going to lie and say that it tastes just like BC or even Claws… because it doesn’t. It’s almost similar but not quite the same so if you are one of those people who need to stay true to the taste, this may not be the place. However, what I liked about SoCal Crawfish Connection is that their sauce isn’t super greasy… I don’t feel like the sauce is going to clog my arteries. The sauce is actually a little more garlicky flavor than BC and Claws (we got the ‘olive it’-their version of the whole sha-​bang) but I didn’t mind.
Some Tips
— their medium is actually not that spicy so if you like spicy, or if you order medium at Claws or BC, I would go to the next spicy choice
–check in on Unilocal — 2 free CSP combos — corn, 2 sausages, and a potato
— their clams are much tinier than the ones at Claws
Comparable food to BC and Claws, but no wait and awesome service… I would definitely come back

I am having my next bday here! I am dead serious about this. FYI everyone is invited. Hope my birthday falls on any day but a Monday in 2012 (cuz that’s when they’re closed). cheeeeow!
The crawfish sauce is their secret recipe and weapon. It comes in 6 intensities. I usually get hot (middle spiciness) because I am a baby and anything more than that would trigger an implosion. My friend tried the hottest sauce and she started turning red. My other guy friend tried it and he was sweating as if he had just played tennis. They have higher tolerances than me so I am not going anywhere near that stuff!!! Also, if you dare, they’ll ask you to sign a waiver… sounds pretty serious to me. o_​O
The sauce is creamy and thick which I LOVE. Water sauces just disappoint me and I feel myself scooping for more sauce than I need to. The seafood is cooked perfectly. They also provide lime in goblets and plates! No one else ever does that!!! And we ask for extra lime and without hesitation they provide it. yay!
They have fried oreos which are the bomb dot com. And their SWEET POTATO TATER TOTS are so amazing! Who would have thought??? Sweet potato tater tots! It comes with a housemade sour cream and garlic sauce… which is a must try. yum!
And, they always have deals here. They had the groupon now, spreebird and also Unilocal deals. Spreebird was by far the best! $ 7 for $ 20 worth of seafood and expires March of 2012. All proceeds from the spreebird also goes to benefit a blind sports team in Irvine, CA. Pretty awesome intentions if you ask me. Freaking sweet deal if you ask me! They also have check in deals. Last month they had 2 free CSP combos for each check in (that’s worth $ 3)!
This place is definitely worth the visit. My boyfriend and I come back at least 2 times a week. The staff is über friendly and they make you feel welcoming. Movie nights are on Wednesdays and so far we’ve watched The Goonies, 30 Seconds (??), Pirates of the Carribean and the Change Up (not on a movie night, but oh well)!!! All selections have been enjoyable thus far. Definitely a more intimate setting than BC and I feel the customer service far exceeds that of any restaurant I’ve been to (in terms of being personable, table service, speed and variety). Keep up the good work!
XOXO Definitely hit it!

I’m gonna have to say that this is my 2^nd favorite place to go to for Cajun seafood. SoCal Crawfish Connection is just as good as Boiling Crab without the long wait! Here are a few reasons why you should give this place a try:
–Incredible service (friendly and humorous staff who are actually concerned with how everything is going at your table, they are very attentive)
–The seafood seasoning is delicious and it comes very close to Boiling Crab’s seasoning
–Big and spacious with lots of tables and chairs for any big parties
–You get a free drink if you check-​in to this place on Unilocal
Yup…I think I’ve just about made my justification there!
I will definitely come back and recommend this place to others.

It’s not crawfish season anymore :(I was disappointed in that part but that’s not their fault so it’s all good :)
It seems to be a family own. Very nice people. I would definitely give the service a 5 overall. They asked if we wants refills. a plus for me!
I ordered 1 pound clams, 1 pound of head on shrimp, and fried tilapia with sweet potatoe fries. I got the butter garlic sauce. Yummy!
Overall, it was good (:
no lines/​waiting! Yay!
**Keep up the good work
if only there was a nba season then i would probabaly come here more often.

Came here with the boyfriend and his parents; his mom said that the owner there owes her rent money so we need to eat enough to get her money back. Normally I don’t eat crawfish/​cajun seafood, but I can’t pass up free food! The only catch? Double date with his parents… Besides from the uncomfortable flirting HIS parents were doing, the food was not too bad.
Crawfish isn’t in season so we opt for the clams and the shrimp in OLIVE IT sauce. I like the sauce here more than Boiling Crab. It’s more lemony and garlicky. We got medium for the amount of spice, and if you can’t handle spicy, I suggest you get something lower than medium. Even medium was a bit too much for my boyfriend to handle. However, if you can handle spicy but do not want to go too extreme, medium (or maybe even one more level up) is perfect.
The lightly battered and then deep fried wings that we ordered were very small but I liked the lemon pepper flavor. We also got the sweet potato fries, which I thought tasted very fresh. Definitely not from the frozen bags that most places bring out. Strawberry lemonade did not taste like strawberry lemonade. It tasted more like sour juice with strawberry syrup. Surprisely, I liked it after the first few sips… I ended up getting three refills (which were free!). Maybe it was because I was very thirsty from the flavorful and salty seafood we were eating.
As for the seafood, I liked the clams a lot. Only two clams that I grabbed had nothing in them. Shrimps were pretty big and juicy, so were the sausages (that’s what she said). The sausages were maybe a tadbit saltier than I would like them to be but nevertheless, they were satisfying.
The atmosphere here is very different, and the crowd here seems different from BC. I see more couples than big groups of friends, and if it is a group of people, they are family with young children. I liked it though — it beats waiting in long lines and cramped spaces any day.
**If it is not too busy and you are waiting for your food, you can play with their basketball arcade thingy. It’s free to their customers, and all you have to do is ask them to turn it on for you (can play singles or 1v1)***

I don’t quite understand all the hating on this place. Those reviews in here that feel they have to rate this place so low because it isn’t a certain place that is more hyped than its actual worth.
I saw the Groupon for this place ($ 14 for $ 20 worth of food), and figured it would be a great opportunity to get my seafood fix. Been craving seafood for a while, so I knew I had to jump on it. And believe me, the Groupon did come in handy, especially since me and my company have eyes that are way too big for our stomach, and order more than we usually should.
Stepping into this place, it’s quite big. However, there was nobody there. The whole time we were there, we were the only diners. A shame, because I’m telling you right now, my four star review doesn’t lie, this place should definitely be getting more business. The staff is very friendly too.
We ordered 2 lbs of shrimp, sausages, and cajun fries. Slapped my bib on, and dug into the good stuff. Their spice is flavorful, and the mild was just the amount of spice I needed that day. No lie, it was good! I enjoyed every bite.
My sister and I were discussing during our meal. It would be a great place to take friends to, hang out, and enjoy a great meal. I’m coming back, and trying more things off the menu this time too! I enjoyed my eating experience here, and hope you do too!

I came here tonight with some friends. My first time here. I’ve been to other crawfish places in and around Garden Grove. The nice thing about this place is there is no wait.
It’s your typical crawfish place, the set up and all. The flavors here are pretty good, they have a nice thick marinade which makes the sauciness delicious. The sweet potato fries were tasty, great to balance out the spiciness of the food. We got two, the first batch was better than the second one, which was a little over done in my opinion.
The shrimp was pretty good, but might have been overdone but plum enough. The crawfish was okay, I am not a big fan of crawfish or oysters, so they were just bleh to me. We also got clams … it was a bust here. The ones I pulled out were empty. NOT COOL! I felt like the got gyped there. Overall, the quality of the seafood could be better.
The side trimmings were good. The corn, potatoes and sausages. The potatoes do well to balance the meal, I would suggest getting that.
Overall, this is an okay place to get crawfish. I’ve had better though. But if you don’t want to wait, this is an okay to get your fill.

I’ve been here many times. Actually, I take that back, I’ve been here 4 times. I remember because I can account for all the times I’ve been here. And all the times I’ve gone, I’ve experience the same thing so I figured I’d finally write a review since they seem pretty consistent to me.
They have good deals, yes. But I don’t think it makes up for their lack of service. Every time I’ve been, it’s always been the same. I’m eating spicy cajun food with the smallest cup of water that never gets refilled throughout my meal. Waiter NEVER comes to check on you, unless I’m waving my dirty cajun-​crusted hands in the air to get the waiters attention. The 4 times I’ve been there, it’s either we were the only diners or there was one other table, so I don’t understand the lack of service.
Food is mediocre. Nothing to rave about. They’re cajun sometimes is a little greasy, but I still like the flavor. I would go for the good deal because you can’t really beat 5.99/lb. but for $ 3 more I might just drive over to Claws to have a better dining experience. I’m usually not one to discredit restaurant for horrible service. But if that’s the case every time I go, I will have to knock them down a little.
Oh, and here’s a tip, don’t order crawfish when it’s not in season, they are so not worth it. I ordered 2lbs and once it got to me I didn’t even want to waste my time peeling them. They were so tiny. Crawfish season is very short but it’s always good to start with 1lb and see how that works out and order more. Plus your food remains hot. Or if you’re ballsy enough, you can ask the waiter to bring out one to show you.
I’ve had their sweet potato fries and crawfish egg rolls. Both were horrible. Crinkle cut sweet potato fries? With ketchup as dipping sauce? No thank you! And I can’t even describe the crawfish egg roll because it was really that bad. I don’t even want to call it a crawfish egg roll because I couldn’t even tell there was any in there. stick to the seafood.
Overall, if you’re tight on your budget but still want to get your cajun seafood fix, go to Socal. Just remember, you do really get what you pay for.