Gettin’ Crabby with Friends

Our friends Aaron and Carolyn have been talking about The Boiling Crab for years and how we must try it. We finally got the chance and they were right, the place is worth visiting if you’ve never been. The Boiling Crab isn’t stuffy in any way shape or form. The tables are covered in paper and your meal is delivered in a sauced up plastic bag, ready to dump onto the table if you so desire. 

The Boiling Crab - Sacramento, CA

Those that have an aversion to sticky or greasy fingers – this is not your place. If delicious crab, crawfish, jumbo shrimp, sausage, potatoes, corn-on-the-cob and Cajun fries are your thing, The Boiling Crab is definitely for you. The restaurant decor is laid back with tables, booths and plenty of grafitti’d dock pilings for restaurant goers to check out. 

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According to their website, it all began in a little Southeastern Texas town called Seadrift, where a family of crabbers and fishermen labored in their fishing boats year-round, catching oysters, crab and shrimp for the seafood industry. The family’s idea was to bring the taste of a backyard crab fest to family and friends. The very first Boiling Crab opened back in 2004.

Chain locations now include: Dallas, Texas, Southern California (LA County, Orange County, San Diego) Northern California (San Jose, Sacramento) and Las Vegas, Nevada.  

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The Sacramento Boiling Crab is located at the corner of Stockton Boulevard and 65th Street – sharing the same parking lot as my beloved Huong Lan Sandwich Shop – Home of the best bánh mì sandwich in Sac.

We happened to go to The Boiling Crab on a night where the wait wasn’t crazy. An hour plus wait time is not out of the norm for this place, especially on weekends. We waited a whopping 5 minutes before getting a table for our party of 8.

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We got our plastic bibs and menus and then decided on our drink and food orders. The regulars at our table already knew what they wanted, while Dan and I had a million questions. 

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Step 1 – Pick your catch. We both wanted crab. Dan went for the King Crab Legs and I ended up splitting a Dungeness Crab with our friend Kelly.

Step 2 – Pick your flavor. You can choose between Rajun Cajun, Lemon Pepper, Garlic Sauce or The Whole Sha-Bang – which combines all three. We went with the Garlic Sauce for the Dungeness and Dan went with Rajun Cajun for his crab legs. 

Step 3 – Pick your spice level. Your choices are: Non spicy (plain and simple) – Mild (Just a kick) – Medium (It’s gettin’ HOT in here!) – XXX (I can’t feel my mouth) – We let our wimp flags fly by choosing mild. 

Step 4 – Die of shock over “Market Price” making the decision to “share” the just over 2 lb. Dungeness at $16/lb., a sweet decision. The King Crab Legs were $24/lb. and Dan ate the pound by himself. Note: The price isn’t really that crazy, I’ve just been trying to cut back on spending.

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If fried delights are more your thing, the menu had plenty of options. Catfish, shrimp, calamari, oysters, chicken tenders and wings. 

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Dan went with crab only, while Kelly and I decided on a basket of sweet potato fries.

I later wished we would have gotten the Cajun fries after sampling another friends – they were much better! Others ordered corn-on-the-cob, potatoes and sausages for their sides. 

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Kelly was pro status when it came to cracking our crab open. Serious skills. There was no sea sheller or pick for her, she straight up used the claw to extract leg meat.

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Here’s a fun fact about me, don’t gasp in horror. I’ve never attended a crab feed. I know, right? So for those that attend on a regular basis – I had no idea how serious people take breaking down their crabs. I ended up with shell pieces in my hair, definitely not pro status. 

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Our end of meal table was covered in sauce, mountains of shells and piles and piles of crumbled napkins. A fun time was had by all. Plenty of food, lots of laughs and a new place to check off my “restaurants to try” in Sacramento.

Are you a crab fan? Do you have regular crab feeds that you attend every year?  

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1 comment

    • Leslee on April 2, 2015 at 7:12 am

    LOVE crab feeds, but usually not enough crab for my satisfaction 🙂

    The Boiling Crab looks like FUN and plenty of crab, YEAH!!!

    Yes, using the claw to extract all the meat is definitely the best and fun part of crab cracking…

    I will surely try this out!

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