Joe’s Crab Shack

I’m visiting Wilmington because of the taco festival and decide to get out of the sun. I bellied up at the bar with some friends at Joe’ crab shack. The bar tenders were very pleasant and attentive. As you sit at the bar the only thing to look at, other that the bar tenders, are the 3 tv’s that they have placed above the bar. I’m try to watch a soccer game that I’ve been dying to see but to my disappointment the screens are scrambled horribly. The bartender tells me the screens are always that way. I ask about wifi and the bartender also tells me that families constantly ask about wifi because they have iPads, etc to keep their kids occupied during the, sometimes, long wait for food. There is no wifi. As a custumer I tend to try and be understanding of businesses that need improvement. As I’m sitting at the bar I see someone that appears to be a manager. He looks at me and I ask him if he is a manager of the bar or the restaurant. He tells me the restaurant. I introduce myself and tell him the cable for the tv’s is horrible. This man stares at me for several seconds with not one word, as if to stare me down like I just insulted him. After several seconds of silence I state that the food and the service was good! He responded with «I like how u mention the negative and the positive» and he walks away. ABSOLUTELY POOR MANAGEMENT! I would of expected from him, to address the issue at hand instead of taking it as a personal attack. So if you have an issue at this restaurant don’t waste your breath speaking to Andrew, the manager bc nothing will get resolved! Kudos to the bartenders!

Joe’s is a great spot to hang out before a Blue Rocks game.
The food is great and the service is very good. If you have never been to a costal crab shack in the keys or outer banks, Joe’s is pretty darn close.
Prices are a bit high but you are getting pretty darn good value for your dollar.
Also if you go, say hi Erica. She is a sweet fun loving lady who will make you smile!
The Blacken Mahi Mahi tacos are beeping great. The coconut shrimp is also very good.
The calamari was a bit tough but the sauce is amazing.

Unfortunately, not as great as they used to be. The staff is okay, but seems to stand around a lot, and ironically, the wait time for a waiter to take your order and refill drinks can be long at times. About every 30 minutes they do this «dance» thing-​a-​majig to a song chosen with strobe lights. This performance seems forced, as most of the employees don’t show energy when doing so. Large groups may want to steer clear, as there are no dedicated rooms to eat at. There is a balloon guy that passes from time to time, which is great for kids, and the food portions are pretty good. The worst part about the experience is the parking. There was some sort of children’s museum that moved in across from Joes, which now shares the parking lot. When pulling up, you’ll see a lot full of cars, soon realizing that only about 10 of those cars are for Joes, and the remaining 30 are for the museum. Aside from all of that, it’s an okay place to go if you want seafood, but if you want ambiance, you may want to try another establishment.

2.5. Meh is correct.
I came here for a takeout dinner order. It was not great. The staff was confused and slow moving. My order was ready on time but the food was not great.
The portion was small and the sides were not thoroughly cooked. The seafood I had though was tasty so someone there knows how to do something right.
I’ve definitely had better experiences at other locations. Let’s hope they get their act together. It could be a great place if they tried.

Absolutely AVERAGE! Such a shame because the location is gorgeous, right on the river walk, and the weather was perfect. We sat in the patio area while the little one played in the kiddie area. We ordered appetizers, drinks, entrees and desserts. Nothing was spectacular, calamari was above average, and the lobster steam pot was $ 31 of bland. Service was slow but very polite.

just blah. everything was blah. you’d figure that a place called «Joe’s crab shack» to have good seafood. I was severely disappointed.

It’s a Joe’s crab shack… As far as I can tell they’re all the same.
They do have some fun specials. Food and drink are practically free during $ 2 Tuesday

We were under impressed with the experience. We ordered the steamer pot for 2. The crab legs had very little flavor with out the dipping butter and were a little dry and not hot. The fries and hushpuppies were the best part of our meal. Our server was slow. We did not see much of him and were left waiting for our check, and then again waiting for our check to be picked up.

Went for a quick valentines day dinner since we forgot to make reservations, but I really wouldn’t of had it any other way! Trevor was a our waiter and he was such a gentleman. Unfortunately Joes ran out of lobster, but Trevor worked with us to find something similar/​better. I ended up getting a Sam Adams steam pot with shrimp instead of sausage. From the shrimp appetizer to our hurricane and malibu… Everything was made to perfection. Trevor was a great waiter and accommodated was very well. Love him and the kitchen staff tonight! I would recommend Joes to anyone that wants great seafood with a lot of options and a wonderful staff! Thanks everyone!

Great food, terrific ambience, attentive waitstaff. Sticky tabletops which was kind of gross. The crab legs were totally worth it tho!

I think this place is over-​rated! The food was okay, I can’t say that anything that I tried wowed me. The hush puppies were disgusting and the steak hmmm I’ve had better. I’ll stick to my normal seafood restaurants, sorry. I’ll probably won’t be back unless I’m with my kids and they want King crabs.

Love lust or run. RUN FOOD was horrible. Service was poor. I ordered the seafood sampler as a appetizer. The crab dip was good. The chips were soggy, the clarmari was like rubber. We ordered the eastern seafood dinner. Crab came 80 bread filler. Shrimps tough French fies and onion rings dripping in grease.
This is the second Joe’s Crab shack we have tried and now I know you need to RUN away from them.
$ 60 FOR A CRAPPY LUNCH

My family and I love this place. They have very reasonable prices, pleasantpleasantand great food. We have never had any problems here. The only thing I don’t recommend is eating on the deck-​there are too many flys, which isn’t Joes Crab shacks fault. However, it makes your meal very frustrating when you have to swat away flys the whole time.

We went to celebrate a birthday.
Waiter was nice. Friendly. Service was ok. We had to ask 3 times for sweetener for iced tea. 2x for ketchup for the fries. One of the dishes at the table was WAY over cooked. The food was ok. I think it was over priced for what they deliver. Not in a hurry to go back. But we had a great time celebrating regardless. On the plus side the signature Bloody Mary was amazing! And they sang and made a fuss for the birthday boy.

excellent casual dining experience. great spot for some serious shark bites. you can only order two :(drink responsibly! :) we’ve been here twice already, and i can’t wait for our next jcs visit. the boatdwalk, mini-​golf and the imax theater, you can do a little of everything and not have to move your car lol. great spot, friendly service and the drinks oh, did i mention drinks? :)

The restaurant is big, never boardwalk and riverfront. The view is very nice
They have parking lot frond of the restaurant. Workers in here not really nice
We went here on Wednesday, they have happy hours but when we order for drink… guess what they told us? They said they out of drink today… what the heck… they said they are so busy today but restaurant was not that busy … Foods is ok, not real good. Kinda expensive… services was rude
Well I gave them 3 stars for the good view .i don’t think I will come back here

Décor. It is what you would expect for a mediocre crab chain.
Food. Steamed shrimp as part of appetizer was tiny for the price. I would not recommend. Other food in my opinion is expensive for what you get. We were staying nearby and it was raining so we came here out of convenience. Otherwise, we would not have come.
Service. This is where the place really hurts. Took a while before a server ever came for our drink order. Server forgot to bring drinks before meals came out. Server was nice, but he definitely needed another 2 weeks of solid training. It was like watching a kid walk for the first time.
Overall. I will not come back.

My fiancé and I went there to this wilmington joes crab shack, her crabs were all dried out with no flavor and I got the lobster fry which tasted bad. I told the server that the lobster tasted bad so he deducted it off the bill and offered us free desert. We left and the minute we got home, I was throwing my guts up! That lasted over an hour! I have been to plenty other joes crab shacks and this never happened! If you know what’s good for you, stick to any other joes! Personally, none of them will ever get our buisness again! Plus I am writing corporate, there is no way that seafood was fresh, it was frozen! This place need to be closed down.

Awful service
People were loud and screaming inside
Food was a little overrated although the prices were fair.

Came here with friend, we were the only people at happy hour and the service at the bar was incredibly slow.. We headed to the table for dinner, and got a few steam pots. My crabs were over cooked and were hard to get out of the shell. The king crabs that my friend had looked better cooked.
The dessert apple crumble was way too sweet with the caramel drizzle on top.
It was nice to sit outside, however next time id try a different place.