Flamin’ Crawfish

Mainly focused on Vietnamese dishes. This place is a hit with their crawfish. My husband and I were addicted to this joint earlier this year and were greatly disappointed to see them close.
The location is nice but it’s a hassle to get to the restaurant since you have to climb stairs.
They offered different dish for those who did not like seafood. The crawfish seasonings were amazing! It would have to be the most delicious recipe I’ve ever had on crawfish. I could eat the sauce with rice. It’s THAT good! Some times when they ran out of fresh crawfish, they offered frozen ones. Size of the fresh ones are pretty large. Yes, the crab is blue crab instead of legs which is what I preferred. Blue crab would be better with the sauce anyhow. They use fresh seafood when it’s available. It was never dry or overdone.
Another thing I love is the drinks. They offered different kind of che drinks with different combinations of flavor and jellies etc.
I do hope they plan on re-​opening. The idea is indeed west coast inspired and honestly, no other crawfish joint can compare to them! All the employees were super friendly and very informative.

So dang sad to see this place go! Please open again soon!!! Does anyone know if they moved locations? I spoke with the owner and he indicated that they’re open in a new location.

My wife and I just tried to go this evening but they’re closed now :(:(
I had been before and it was fantastic! Super sad to see it go :(

Usually I wait until I’ve visited a place 2 times at least before i review it so i feel it is a little preliminary but I want to make sure people understand this concept because I sure didn’t. Very uncharacteristic of me, I visited Flamin’ Crawfish on a whim without visiting Unilocal (left my phone at the office) when I was having a code red hunger strike. I needed something to eat and NOW. I had always wanted to try Flamin’ Crawfish thinking I could get an étouffée or something quick. The place was empty for lunch so I hoped I could get quick service.
I walked into the former Nom Nom and Mama Fu’s space expecting a counter-​service place which it wasn’t (I think that could change). The décor is kitschy mariner themed complete with giant fake shark hanging from the ceiling, so the modern MyTea themed bar seemed a bit incongruous. I looked at the menu and since it was lunch and perhaps my waitress understood I was in a hurry she really didn’t explain/​show the seafood concept to me, but pushed the lunch specials and Vietnamese Bahn Mi’s. Knowing my sugar level was dropping faster than Blake Lively’s weight after giving birth, I agreed to a chicken Bahn Mi for $ 4.50. Where in town can you get anything for $ 4.50 other than fast food??? No where, that’s where. Granted it wasn’t a ton of food, but it was pretty quick and exactly that I needed. I don’t really know how it stacks up to Bahn Mi’s in other places like Doan’s or the like since they usually are pork and are filled with cilantro, but Flamin’ had beef, chicken, etc. as well so I gave the chicken a shot. I liked the sauce they added to the toasted bun but the jalapeño was not hot at all.
I’m willing to try it again perhaps for dinner with actual seafood, but my gut tells me since all the employees are Asian maybe they should reconcept and just stick with Vietnamese.

This was my second visit. First time I wasn’t impressed with their seasoning, it was a little too sweet.
I gave it a second chance and ordered 1lb of shrimp to go. I got medium heat with their house special seasoning. This time it was good. Next time I think i’ll go for hot cause medium really was not that spicy to me.

I really liked this place! Went 2 times so far, both with friends! Love their fruit jelly tea and milk tea. We tried flamin hot it’s really hot — even for a Chinese lol. But it tastes really good, not like other American butter style crawfish. My favorites are the shrimps, king crab and corn. Very good place for friends get together. Now it’s summer I bet sitting outside eating crawfish and chatting would be really fun. Hope yall enjoy!

God, everything here was so good. I’ve lived in Southern California and this place is just as delicious as Claws and Boiling Crab. The pros of this place is the fresh seafood!

First and foremost, I would like to address that if you have been to similar restaurants such as The Boiling Crab, Hot N Juicy, The Kickin’ Crab etc which all originated from the West Coast (or other major cities) then you wouldn’t be surprised coming here. That is because these restaurants offered Cajun flavored seafoods boiled-​in-​bag type of fashion being served to their customers. It’s a messy concept but it’s such a BIG hit over there. The chain restaurant, The Boiling Crab, gained major popularity in the West Coast (SoCal) for the last 15+ yrs resulting in many later restaurants to imitate the same concept across the US. So yes, that is what Flamin’ Crawfish aimed to do by bringing this concept here in Charlotte. Except this restaurant leans more towards Vietnamese foods including sweets, Che desserts & light finger foods fused together with Cajun flavored seafoods — all under one roof. (Obviously Flamin’ Crawfish is more catered to the Vietnamese community since this is a Vietnamese owned restaurant, if you don’t already pick that up from their menu.)
The reason why I wrote this is because, I’ve come here quite a bit too much (I love this place!) and have seen patrons who seems unfamiliar with the concepts of the restaurant walked away. I felt terrible… But people, don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it! These customers don’t quite understand the idea so as I sat there and ate, I would see them sit down, look at the menu and then got up and leave. That is because they were expecting your typical «Louisiana/​Creole» type of items such as Po-​Boys, Jambalaya, Gumbo, FRIED everrrrrrryyythinggg seafoods, etc — which wasn’t on the menu. So don’t come here if you’re expecting those items. This is not your typical Louisiana selections type of restaurant. Come here if you’re looking into venturing out for some good Cajun flavored seafoods boil, roll up your sleeves, get your hands messy type of dining! Don’t worry, they will give you gloves & bibs!
I’m not going to lie, I used to knock on this restaurant when they first opened b/​c of high expectations eating at The Boiling Crab so much. However, I have to say I’m quite impressed with their foods now. They have improved majorly and I loved that they are always creating new items each time I come there. With that being said, since Crawfish are now in season (from March to June/​July), the crawfish are so good live! I’ve tried almost a little bit of everything on the menu and so far, everything’s been great. (When crawfish aren’t in season, they normally serve them frozen but they’re not as good and super small). That is when I opted for other seafoods they have on the menu like blue crabs, mussels, clams, crab legs and lobsters.
So if you don’t feel like eating seafoods, they do have a varieties of Vietnamese plates such as:
Lau (Hot Pot)
Banh Mi (Vietnamese Baguette)
different types of noodles — Bun Bo Hue, Canh Bun (my fav!), Banh Canh (Udon) etc, just to name a few of my fav there.
…Andddd I can’t walk away without ordering their fabulous MyTea drinks! It’s flavored, fruits-​infused tea served in Mason jars. It’s so refreshing and quite addicting, a must try though a little pricey on the price.
I feel like Charlotte is a little new to the «fusion» concept so I’m glad Flamin’ came into existent, because crawfish itself is not too fulfilling. It took them a while but we def. needed a place like this! I think the owner/​servers should explains more to «new» customers as they walked into this door or when they are seated. An introduction explaining what they should expect ie: how it’s serve in a plastic bag, flavor & spices combo, explaining what those Vietnamese dishes are… etc would probably eased them into staying. Who knows, once they understood the concept that this is not a fried creole seafoods place, they might give the restaurant a try. =)
As for service, they are always nice, very friendly and accommodating but sometimes, lacking in availability/​attentive when they’re slow. I always have to wave them down.
The only time I’ve been disappointed in them was back in December/​January. We ordered crab legs because fresh live crawfish and blue crabs weren’t available and what was served to us was old, almost rotten crab legs. It wasn’t fresh and the meats were crumbling away. We were really upset about it but I let them slide that time. Just hope they don’t do it again and serve old seafood or cut corners because… that is when you loose (loyal) customers. Otherwise, I enjoyed eating here and the seafoods have been fresh.

I came here yesterday because I’ve been craving seafood. I was by myself, just kind of running around. The menu has one side for lunch, and one for dinner. The whole «pick your seafood» selection is market price. So if you miss the chalkboard of prices when you walk in, you wind up asking a lot of price questions. It seems like the prices span from $ 9.99 per pound (crawfish/​mussels) to $ 24.99 per pound (dungeness crab). It would be easy to wrack up your bill quickly. The restaurant set up is strange. Two doors, one for the tea bar, and one for the restaurant. I paused outside, trying to figure out which one to go into — then still had to walk through the tea bar to get to the restaurant part. It’s a strange Vietnamese and Cajun mix, but I don’t mind it.
I ordered a water, and fried calamari to start. And then ordered the mussels. The calamari came out pretty quickly and they were very good. Salty with a little bit of kick. They were tasty — but note that this is calamari that actually looks like little octopi. None of those calamari rings here. Good choice, and they bring out just enough for one person, for $ 4.99. Win!
The mussels come out in this big bag, filled with sauce and mussels. They were very good, although the spices were a little overpowering.
My server was very friendly, but not very attentive for an empty restaurant. She eventually refilled my water, and asked if I needed anything else, but I had to do that awkward «I’m going to look your way a bunch of times, and just set my empty water glass over here»…
I would definitely come back here, but it’s not a stop by yourself kind of place. I go out to eat on my own all the time, but I feel like the real experience is missed here without a table full of people. Now if I can just find some friends that like mud bugs…

The stars are for the Banh mi sandwhiches and the service.
We usually come here when we want to eat banh mi for lunch because their grilled pork, beef, and chicken banh mi are all so tasty!
We also like their bun bo hue and banh riu!
The girl who is at the host stand is usually our server too, she is so sweet and friendly.
The sad part is… their crawfish… such a shame that we really do NOT like their crawfish. It lacks in flavor so much. We tried the crawfish several times before we decided we never want it again…
BUT keep up the great work with your other Vietnamese dishes! f

To whoever decided to put a Vietnamese/​Cajun Fusion place in a spot that looks like it could have been a decent pizza parlor, kudos.
First off, don’t let the «fusion» throw you off. It’s basically two separate menus.
My girlfriend and I went on Valentine’s Day, went in around 9 PM and was still decently busy. Market specials were posted near host stand so it’s the first thing you see when you walk in. Sit down, drink orders taken (I’m buzzed as hell since we just left Tiki Hideaway beforehand) so I go with water.
Menus are placed, and we hit this moment of shock, like what the hell is going on?
It’s one big menu. Flip it over on one side for lunch, other side for dinner. You see asian plates and cajun plates. None of them «fusion» of any kind. They literally have Vietnamese style foods AND Cajun style foods.
Girlfriend orders the Beef Pasta stir fry. Never seen stir fry with noodles before. Really interesting combination. I order 1 pound of Crawfish and 1 pound of King Crab Legs.
Food comes out, they also give you a trash bin, a plastic bib for yourself, the weird tongs that don’t do much to break the legs, and the bags of steamed seafood.
The food was surprisingly great quality. I love going to the coast and getting seafood there because I know it’s for sure fresh. Always iffy getting it inland, but these guys did fresh pretty well. Crawfish were about 32 pieces for 1 pound. Essentially, one person can’t finish it by themselves especially if they have just killed a pound of crab legs.
If you’re in a killer craving for crawdads, shrimp, crab legs, or even clams/​mussels, you’ve found the right place. Nowhere near amazing quality you’ll get in coastal areas, but far beyond my expectations in a land filled with Red Lobster/​Joes Crab Shack. You’re in for a weird roller coaster ride of a treat.

This was my husbands and I first time and we really enjoyed it. I was expecting crab legs but got a blue crab instead. I should have read the menu better

This place has the best sandwiches in Charlotte. I’m amazed it was not packed yesterday when my wife and I had lunch.
It’s hard to describe how good their sandwiches are so I won’t try.
I highly recommend trying them out before all of Southpark finds out about this place and you can’t find a seat.

Interesting place that is serving Vietnamese and Cajun food. Not sure how long they will be around (there was nobody but is there at 7PM on a Friday), but looks like a good spot for those craving some bubble tea, bang me, and bun in Montford area. Girlfriend got a bubble tea drink with grass jelly and coconut that she really enjoyed, and I took some pictures and looked at the menu. Will have to go back for food next time…

I can totally see why people are confused when they walk in Flamin’ Crawfish. The décor is definitely more Red Lobster/Joe’s Crab Shack than Vietnamese… but the menu is all Vietnamese-​inspired. This review is actually for the Banh Mi sandwiches available at their in-​house MyTea counter (to further add to the confusion.) It’s no Le’s Sandwiches, but the proximity and lack of off-​roading/​zombie apocalypse definitely improves things.
Ordered a grilled pork banh mi to-​go at lunch time. Waited about 10 minutes, but they had toasted the roll which was a nice touch. Some bites of the pork was a little fatty, but otherwise it was a great sandwich. I liked the addition of thinly sliced cucumber, not something that you find everywhere.
My husband was hoping for a shrimp po-​boy (before I told him that Flamin’ Crawfish WASN’T a Cajun restaurant), but after looking at their menu they really should offer one, because one of the appetizers is popcorn shrimp and the roll would be perfect.
We’ll probably be back for sandwiches again, but I think we’ll save our crawfish eating for outdoor springtime boils.

So much to say…
Confusing menu. ½ is Cajun crawfish boil/​seafood style and ½ is Asian flare.
Would be good for a «fun night out» large group but not for a casual dinner or lunch.
Service was sub-​par at best. Plus waitress kept putting her fingers in our cups when she took to refill…
Food wasn’t half bad though… They got our orders wrong but again, food was decent.
Not sure I’ll return as nothing was «easy» at this place.
Oh, and the soda machine didn’t work…

We came for lunch during the week. I specifically wanted crawfish but when we arrived they told us they were out?! If «crawfish» is in your name, you should *never* be out of crawfish.
The host handed us a lunch menu which consisted primarily of Vietnamese options. We previously lived in N. Va and really missed having Vietnamese so we decided to stay. We also made the assumption that if a seafood restaurant was offering Vietnamese during the day, it must be a specialty of someone in the kitchen or why bother! Right?
We should have taken the ‘no crawfish’ as an omen and turned away b/​c things just kept going down hill.
Almost everything — food and service — was subpar. Here are a few examples:
–I ordered the Crab Udon. There were specks of crab and it definitely had crab flavor, but if you lead with the ingredient and you’re a seafood restaurant, I would expect at least a few representative chunks! Instead there were rectangular slabs that resembled a seafood version of spam. The broth was waaaayy over thickened with cornstarch so it had more of the consistency of a stew base than a soup. I tried to eat a bit but started getting a headache pretty quickly. I suspect they use MSG and therefore abandoned the whole failed bowl of soup.
–The appetizer of grilled clams came after our main courses. If these had been good, I’d have written off the restaurant for Vietnamese, but come back for the seafood. The clams had a nice smokey flavor but were overcooked. I tried two, both of which I gnawed on for a while and then spit into my napkin.
–Everyone was friendly but that’s not enough. E.g. I asked the waitress a question about a dish on the menu and she giggled, shrugged and said, «I don’t know.» I’d have accepted that if she’d made any attempt to find an answer to my question. Nice woman but clearly was given no training.
I left hungry and had to go find some lunch. Fortunately there are a ton of very good restaurants in the area so I didn’t have to drive far!

Truly an original restaurant. It’s not quite Vietnamese and it’s not quite Cajun. I mean that not all the menu items are of one style or the other. It’s a mix and they seem to make up their own recipes and make it from scratch here.
The crawfish is very tasty. I like the boil mix they use. Typically Cajuns use Tony Chartarain’s Louisiana crawfish boil. They have their own recipe and I like it! Good sized crawfish, too. One was actually big enough for me to break open the claws for claw meat!
I really like their milk tea selections. Not to be confused with bubble tea. Twenty years ago when bubble tea was new yo the US, when you found it, it was made from scratch, including boiling the tapioca pearls onsite. Now, it’s garbage made from a selection of colored powders and they spoon in dehydrated pearls. Yuck. So tis milk tea is the same liquid base as bubble tea but without the pearls. And they don’t have the 50 fruit varieties to add into it. It’s back to basics.
And then there is their vietnamese dessert drinks! Yummy! Again made with quality ingredients.
I’ll come back to try their vietnamese sandwiches, banh mi.

Place took over from my beloved Nom Nom burger so I’ve been hesitant to come. But I’m glad I did!
Also know I’m writing this review with the warp drive on my taste buds down… I’ve got a cold so the buds are firing on half thrusters. Ugggggg. But I’m writing this review anyway!
Now I didn’t try their crawfish… not sure I’m crazy about sucking brains out of a mud bug (reminds me of Starship Troopers!). So I ordered a «safe dish» called Shakin Beef. It came with a yummy veggie soup that had a lot of flavor… somewhat surprising given that’s it’s veggie based.
The beef dish came out and I also was surprised to see thick chunks of beef vs the small thin cuts. Would they be tender I wondered? Simple answer: Yes! Si! Oui! Ya! Very tender and DELICIOUS! Great flavors and a brown garlic sauce with frsh red and green bell peppers and chunks of garlic.
Bill came out to just over $ 11 and I got one of the most expensive items on the menu! Note that this place definitely has an Asian Flair… Example they’ve got a Bahn Mi sandwhich on the menu. Soup reminded me of a Phở.
Overall I’m impressed! Didn’t expect much. Most people around me got bags of the crawfish (yes they bring them out in large pladtic bags in sauce). So you mud bug lovers may love these.

I went at 3 pm so maybe that’s why the service was fine for me.
I live in the area so I had been waiting for something to replace Nom Nom burger for a while. When I saw the signs for Flaming Crawfish I though «woohoo, a new cajun restaurant.» Boy was I wrong. I walked in expecting to get a shrimp po boy…
I was presented with the lunch and dinner menus. The dinner menu had some big $$ items on it and instead of figuring out what they were for I just stuck to the Lunch menu. Since 3 pm is my lunch/​dinner meal some days I decided I wanted a bowl of soup and a sandwich. I ordered the soup and the server asked if I had it before. Thinking it must be some esoteric thing with crazy ingredients or ¹²⁄₁₀ on the heat scale so I said no. She warned me that it is a big slimy. I thought she just meant it was like a porridge so I said sure, sounds good. She said if I knew what Udon is it’s kind of like that. I then asked for a bahn mi and I was told they weren’t making them. I didn’t ask if she just meant right then since it was between meals or if she meant they weren’t on the full menu yet, but I went with an appetizer instead and got calamari.
The calamari arrived just one trip before the soup so practically at the same time. The calamari was spicy but good. The soup was ultimately an udon with a rice noodle. It was quite good and I wouldn’t call it slimy at all. I actually already want to go back for more since I love noodle soup with fat noodles.
There were only 2 tables occupied so service wasn’t too bad. I dropped my fork and had a replacement handed to me without having to flag anyone down. My drink was refilled in a timely manner. Their unsweetened iced tea had an interesting flavor that I can’t quite put my finger on. It still tasted like a black tea, but maybe just a different brand than I’m used to.
So in conclusion: expect vietnamese seafood, NOT cajun and you should be OK. Hopefully the service issues work themselves out, but the Nom Nom Burger was never a great place for service. If I go back it will probably again be off peak.