L.O.’s Crab Shack

We were unsure of this restaurant due to the Unilocal reviews and it being off season. We were very pleasantly surprised that even though they weren’t busy on a Friday night the queen crab legs were absolutely perfect. Julie was our server and she was very good and even showed us how to properly crack our crab legs. We definitely recommend the crab here

Amazing Seafood! Stopped in here on a whim and enjoyed great service and food. I loved grilled shrimp and was able to order it as my meal rather than just a side. They horseradish sauce that came on the side was to die for. Best flavor of shrimp I’ve tasted in a long time and I have dined in Hawaii, Key West and South Carolina at some upstanding restaurants! My boyfriend ordered the grilled Mahi Mahi, which is one of his favorite seafood orders. He raved over his food! Needles to say we will be back.

We had dinner Sunday night and although the food was terrific, I can’t say I would go back again. We were seated right away and the hostess took out drink order. About 10 minutes later the waitress finally came over and took our order on a post it note. Not even 5 minutes later the hostess came over and said the waitress had lost her sticky note and was too embarrassed to come back by to get our order. The hostess then went to get paper and took our order. We ordered two appetizers but only one came out and our waitress was no where to be found. We had to flag the hostess down and she finally got our second appetizer. At this point, we were already a little heated with our service. About 20 – 25 minutes later we were about to say something when 3 of our 4 entrees were finally brought out! We waited for our 4^th persons crab legs & instead the waitress brought over fried shrimp & a Cajun pasta that we hadn’t ordered. She told us it was someone else’s food that had walked out & the best kind of food was free food. Still no crab legs– we finally told them to just cancel the order! Never once did a manager come by to apologize or anything. Our waitress came by after to check on everything and then wouldn’t leave us alone to eat our food! As she continued to talk, she quickly placed the blame on the kitchen staff quitting. She told us they had a bunch of high schoolers and «an old man who would probably walk into the oncoming traffic after his shift» to cook for Labor Day weekend. Thankfully they comped our drinks and the crab legs… Hope this place can get an actual manager to fix the problems with the staff because even though our experience was pretty bad, the food was really good!

Wonderful service, friendly staff and excellent food! The crab legs and stuffed mushrooms are so good.

Very mediocre, frankly, the food just wasn’t very good. Small portions for the prices, kinda run down, could be a nice place, but it just wasn’t. Way too many other good restaurants in the area to choose this one again, won’t be back.

Was seated very quickly, hostess was great! Sat for 20 minutes and watched our waitress walk past us a few times without a «Hello, I’m your waitress I’ll be back by in a minute.» Or «can I get you a drink?» I heard it wasn’t cheap, so I brought some money to spend on good food. Unfortunately after 20+ minutes of waiting, my family and I left for another restaurant. Doubt I will ever return. What does it take to grab some drinks while we wait for her to get sh*t together?

Love the food and the friendly service! Highly recommend the clam chowder, crab cakes and really, anything on the menu! Will always come back when visiting the area.

worst service!!! food is expensive yet we all got was shitty service. the girl kept rushing us and grabbing things off the table that we weren’t done with. our 1 lb of snow crab was 20 $+ yet she didn’t bring the bread or corn that came with it. our appetizer came in the middle of the meal. she kept asking for things that should’ve been common sense to a service like asking if we wanted more water in the middle of our meal when they were all empty. it seemed like she was more annoyed to wasting our time serving us than working towards a good tip.

Ok so the listing on the map is off and this is actually down Bagnell Damn Blvd a couple miles from the Menards. The restaurant was dead at noon, which should have been a give away. We decided to stay anyway. We got four tiny shrimp for $ 8 (after being told they were jumbo prawns) and the service wasn’t great.
They were out of a lot of things on the menu and didn’t seem to care. We were the first customers of the day… that is just ridiculous! That being said the food was o.k. but not great and way OVERPRICED. This reeks of a management crisis and I hope the staff doesn’t have to pay the price with angry customers but nonetheless we won’t be back.

Very good food with a quiet atmosphere at lunch. We had the crab leg platter, clam chowder, crab cake sandwich and escargot. They were all delicious. Our server Tori was very attentive and nice. The total bill was under $ 40, which seemed very reasonable for the amount of food we received. Overall a great lunch spot.

Great crab, seafood gumbo, crab cakes. Too the entire family of seven out! yummy! Spacious and plenty of seating.

We went there with our baseball team with virtually no one else in the restaurant. Very poor service and the food was awful. I really don’t know how a hamburger can be messed up. But it was. NO ONE in our party, including the kids were happy with their meal. $ 75 for a family of 6 getting the CHEAPEST thing on the menu. Should have found a pizza buffet.

The food, service & look of the restaurant was fantastic! I had the chowder & my mom had the gumbo to start and they were so good. I couldn’t wait for the main. I had the scallops with penne & mom had the crab cake sandwich. It was so delicious there was hardly any conversation at our table. Thank you for such a great experience. We’ll be back!

Awful. We got the spinach crab dip — it was fine but the chips tasted like melted plastic. I had ONE and had to stop. Then I got the clam chowder — watered down and whatever they added to it, spices, etc, did not blend well and the spices were whole. It was like there were twigs in the soup. Then comes these famous crab legs. Meh. Nothing special. Bland. The drawn butter was tasteless. The corn on the cob (about a quarter of a cob) was mushy and water logged. I love crab so I ate about a half pound but I gave the half to my boyfriend because his crab salad came with maybe two chunks of crab. And on top of everything our server was rude. She could not care less that we were paying customers. I have to admit I chose this place from Unilocal,so I only have myself to blame. But now I know better and will consider every review.

When we walked in the hostess mustve been on break as we waited anout 5 minutes to be seated. Finally seated and the waitress (Samantha) was good and knowledgeable. After asking about the clam chowder, she needed a moment. Lol. Then stated, «its the greatest clam chowder ever» and it did not disappoint. All 3 of us would agree. Whatever you do, order a cup of it. My wife ordered the bucket of crab legs w garlic mashed and corn on cob (about $ 25) which she enjoyed. Daughter and I got a full plate of butterfly shrimp w grilled asparagus. It was good, she really liked. I got a side Caesar salad which was good. We decided on dessert (which is a bit pricey and definitely not made there). Overall, best part was the clam chowder. If I go back– big bowl of clam chowder!

Fabulous food!
Our waitress was Erin, and she was perfectly attentive and gave us great service. I ordered the fish taco which included a grilled fish fillet which was really hot & fresh off the grill, enjoyably spicy and perfectly seasoned, had a little fresh mango on it, and came w/​a side of super crispy fries, just the way I love them. The fish taco was only $ 8 and it was more than I could eat. We enjoyed a couple bowls of the clam chowder because it’s just that good. My husband ordered the grouper dinner with a side of garlic mash, which he said was all fantastic, and it was only $ 11. My young children split the half order of lobster mac & cheese, which was perfect for them, and $ 13. Plentiful portion sizes, the meals include a choice of soup or salad, and sides, priced very affordably for the quality. We’ll definitely be back!

Came here with my husband for my birthday dinner and we were both absolutely impressed! We wanted something nice but didn’t want to spend a ton of money! We read some negative reviews but tried it out anyway! Carol was our server and was very attentive and friendly during our entire experience. We had the crab legs,
Steak, stuffed mushrooms; everything had great flavor and was cooked perfectly! Only complaint was the garlic bread (not the cheddar biscuits, those were amazing) tasted old or reheated. Otherwise everything was perfect, especially the Mac n cheese my husband got as a side! Not to mention the romantic, not too fancy, atmosphere! Will go back!

This is our second visit to the Crab Shack. First was a couple years ago when they first opened and were very disappointed, but thought we would give them another try.
We got here around noon on a Tuesday and were seated immediately. No water was delivered but the iced tea was fresh brewed and full of ice. Cheese biscuits were brought, warm but obviously day old. My gumbo was served cold but after reheating was flavorful.
Jim had the crab salad and raved. The tomato was large and fresh. The mixture of crab and corn relish in the tomato very good. I had the fish taco. Served warm and juicy, was good but the fish was very soft. Grouper is not a soft fish in my experience.
So all in all okay but not great. Will I come back? Too many good restaurants at the lake to make this many mistakes but big improvement over last time. So maybe.

Nice romantic place to have dinner
You MUST get the bucket of crab legs. I forget how much it was, but it was a great price and mmm mmm good!
One star deducted because the hubby had a steak that he felt was ok

This place was oh so close to a 5 star restaurant for me. This place was very close to our hotel (Port Arrowhead) so we had to give it a try. We walk in, and our first impressions were very positive. The décor was simple, but nice. I really liked the wood ceilings lined with old rope. Very neat look.
Our service was one of the two things that kept it from being a 5 star. The girl we had was sweet, and quite attentive, however she was not a very skilled waitress. I ordered a bottle of wine, and when she opened the bottle and poured it, she spilled quite a bit on the table, and almost on me. Luckily I threw down my napkin. So that was a bit sad, nothing to really worry about, but I had to knock off some points for it. Also she did forget to bring my mom a Sprite, instead she brought her my water. I had my wine, so I didn’t much care, and the water there actually tasted better than most places at the lake, so my mom wasn’t really upset about it either.
Onto the food. I ordered a filet and it was absolutely perfect. The garlic smashed potatos were awesome as well. My mom got the snow crab legs, which were arguably the best we’ve had anywhere here in the states. They had a great flavor. Sarah and my dad both got different varieties of baked fish, both were quite good and flavorful. Our only two food complaints were minor. The aparagus was not cooked properly. It was grilled, but at too high of a heat, and the outside was burnt, but as a whole it wasn’t cooked quite enough. And their dinner biscuits were also a little undercooked and doughy.
All in all, compared to the highlights of this place, my complaints were very small. I called the owner over to our table to thank her for the wonderful experience, and just share some of our thoughts with her. She was very sweet, and actually owned the whole strip mall that it was located in. When I come back to the lake later this summer, this will definitely been on the list to visit again!