Joe's Crab Shack

The Scoop:
My wife, myself and kids ate at a Corpus Christi location on 358 in early summer. We were heading back home (SA) after a day of ocean-time and were pretty well full of hunger. We thought that perhaps something near the coast would have some fresher ocean eats.

Pros:
1. We got to eat outside near a playground thing; the kids loved that. And so did I. Eating outside is the best ever.
2. The atmosphere had some character; they’ve got a unique and fun schtick going-on. The bathrooms have some neat tile-work going on.
3. The staff was respectful and accommodating.
4. Parking, seating and serving were all pretty fast.

Cons:
1. The food was pretty mediocre and thus, over-priced. As a vegetarian, I found it difficult to find anything to eat. The salad was coated in dressing. My meat-eating cohorts also claimed that portion-sizes were too small. I’d agree; even the kids sizes were pretty skimpy. And hungry kids are bad news bears.

2. The beverage (Shark Bite) was a fun color and came with a cool grenadine-shark-thing. However, it tasted like a watered-down KoolAid and was definitely not worth the $8.50. For a drink that costs as much as a meal, I expect it to have a few shots in it, which it did not.

3. The music was so loud we had to yell across the picnic table. We asked to see the manager about it and were met with a line about Corporate Policy. To me, that just means that you don’t care.

4. Although the servers were dancing at times, it was apparent that no one was having a good time. Maybe it was the Mondays.

Overall:
We probably won’t be heading back to any Joe’s Crab Shack. It really just wasn’t worth our time; we’re less into loud oldies breaking our ears-drums and more into conversation. That and the food being all sorts of mediocre.