The Crab Cooker

Scallops were divine, cod was so-​so, shrimp was good, cole slaw was off the chain. Potatoes are a pass. Crab was delicious and red clam chowder soup was good enough. This place has a reputation as the best place ever. It’s certainly good and the seafood is definitely fresh. Highly recommended!

Not a fan of the chowder but everything else was fantastic– shrimp cocktail was very good and the shrimps were huge! Loved the fresh bread too– will definitely be back when I am in the area!

We have been eating here for about 30 years, my husband usually has broiled fish, which he has always found tasty, along with the chowder (though he is more a fan of NE style), and he has always found the oysters very good. It is a little touristy, and yes, some of the offerings are a little on the pricey end, so he usually sticks with the fish. They love me being a vegetarian :), but are usually pleasant enough to offer me a plate of side dishes. The potatoes are usually pretty good, as is slaw, I am not a fan of the rice pilaf.
My biggest gripe is all the waste. ‘Maybe’ back in the 80’s it was OK to use nothing but a ton of disposable paper/​plastic products that are just filling up the ocean and land-​fills, but now it is rather nauseating. I guess I understand that they probably do not have the kitchen to accommodate such a change, which is quite sad. I have a hard time even taking any food to go from any place due to the non-​recyclable waste. We will probably never be back.

Great food. Very simple restaurant. Very casual. No expensive silverware and China plates. Just great food. If you want an elegant romantic restaurant with all that the crab cooker is not for you. If you want great scallop skewers. Shrimp skewers. Alaskan king crab. The best clam chowder. And much more. This is the place. Great food at a fantastic price…

This is one of the best places in Southern California to eat red clam chowder. The chowder is full of seafood and hearty. Normally the wait is really long but service is pretty good.

My Date and I ate there on Valentines Day… Service is terrible, I had to remind our waitress 5 times about getting our clam chowder, then such a small amt for the Price. it was just ok. But the Special of the Day was swordfish… My God I’ve never had fish that was as tough as biting into a baseball mitt… Never Again, Back to Gladdstones

First time here, the parking was tricky but once we got inside we were seated right away. I ordered the king crab legs, they were so delicious I will definitely be coming back, also my friend ordered the kind crab and she couldn’t open her crab leg so the waitress had the chief open it for her. Great service lol

Food is always fresh.
Manhattan clam chowder is super hearty!
Favorite.
I requested for a side of Cole slaw with sauce on the side because it can be too much tartar and they were able to accommodate that! Loved it.
Combination plate (2 chosen sides) is always light and tasty!
I come here every week because the quality just can’t be compromised! Who doesn’t like fresh food!

This review is long overdue. This place has been delighting our palate for many years. We absolutely love their Dungeness crab with whole shabang. Its super flavorful, tasty andyummy!!! If you like fresh fish, crabs, shrimps and fried oysters… Omigoodness! you will agree this place is excellent. We always take pleasure having our meal here with family or friends… we appreciate the no-​nonsense casual setting this place offers. Getting down and dirty — finger licking food is a pleasant change from a formal sit down meal.
Ambiance: Super Casual
Food: Excellent! Flavorful
Service: Great!

I was travelling with a colleague and a friend referred him to this restaurant.
I can completely understand why.
Growing up, my family used to love going out for seafood, especially to places like this. It’s a real family type atmosphere in the sense that it’s casual and walking in with your family is like walking into someone’s living room and just having a good meal.
The seafood couldn’t get any fresher and everyone is really friendly.

The boyfriend graciously took my family out for a late Christmas lunch and since we’re all seafood fans, we decided to come here. This is by far one of my boyfriend’s favorite seafood places and it’s definitely popular for a reason. If you’re looking for gourmet and fancy dining, then this is not the place to go, but if you’re wanting fresh seafood that makes your tummy happy then give this place a try.
Their infamous clam chowder is by far one of the best red chowders I’ve ever had. This soup is filled with seafood yumminess and they don’t skimp out on the seafood portions. Every bite and you get a mouthful of fish, clam or potatoes. SO GOOD!
Grilled Mussells — the most amazing mussells I’ve tasted. I swear they put butter on this! The flavor is so good.
King Crab is not only tasty, it’s conveniently made so that you don’t have to do much work to pry into those crab meats. Melted butter on the side with lemons just made this one of my favs!
The side potatoes with cheese is divine and the coleslaw is so crunchy and tasty.
Crabcakes are okay here, nothing too extraordinary.
But I gotta say, my boyfriend buys the crab meat here and takes it home to make the best crabcakes ever!

Holy WOW! That was awesome. Monster Sizes Crab Claws. Make sure you feed the meter hourly. Minor inconvenience for fresh seafood. Something about eating with your hands on paper plates with paper placemats. FYI If you visit from out of town I will try to bring you here.

When you are comin’ here you NEED to know what to do… it’s straight forward and simple… but oh so satisfying. It’s pretty much everything you want in sitting, and after finished you will realize why this place has been around since the dawn of time.
1) Order the clam chowder even if you do not like clam chowder… this is RED clam chowder, and I don’t care what anyone says but this RUNS LAPS around all other clam chowders… white or red. All others are second-​clam I mean second-​hand. The clams here also look like little thin tongues they are so perfectly sized and amazing in the soup… it’s a french kiss in a bowl and you are going to love it, trust me. It’s so good you will take quarts home with you no matter how far away you live. Also inundate that bowl with the free bread balls provided… ridiculously good!
2) Order the smoked albacore appetizer… douse it with lemon or tartar sauce or both… get a large or two for the table. You will dip chunks of this white gold in tartar sauce and drizzle it with lemon if you so choose… so refreshing and nourishing in that tummy.
3) Get a side of the scooped mashed potatoes (has their seasoning on it)…and yes very decadent and flavor packed… just like the people-​watching of the peninsula.
That’s it… no need to even dabble with the entrees most of the time… load up on all the stuff above, and you will leave a happy clam every single time, and not clammy, just perfectly clam packed where you aimed and paid to be.

Fifteen to twenty years ago, we would visit the Newport Beach area and always made it a point to eat at this landmark seafood restaurant. Located on Newport Blvd. on the corner of 22^nd Street, stands the same red-​colored building with a few benches outside for those waiting access to a table.
We brought our friends there and they loved it. Famous for their king crab legs and other seafood items, this restaurant is tops on our list. The prices are reasonable and the food is great. What else could you ask for.
Three of us ordered the King Crab Leg dinner which consisted of 3 large legs plump full of delicious steaming hot crab, served with cole slaw and two generous cups of melted butter.
It was awesome! I barely finished the dinner and enjoyed every mouthful. I also ordered the Manhattan Clam Chowder which was different for a change, usually liking the Boston Clam Chowder, which was not offered. That also was delicious! My wife ordered the Seafood Sampler which had generous portion of skewered fish, shrimp, and scallops, also accompanied by cole slaw. Last but not least, the service was very, very good also.
Surprised to see the restaurant still where we last saw it, we will definitely return to one of our all-​time favorite restaurants. Our friends also agreed!

What a light and fun place the Crab Cooker is!
The décor is «Stuff» just stuck on the walls that have no connection with anything and is fun to try and make sense of it all. I came to the conclusion that it is kind of Maritime kind of Junk Yard, but fun!
But it’s the seafood!
That’s what these guys do and they do it good. The chowders, cocktails (the eating not drinking kind) are fresh and generous. Same with the entrees. We had a Peel and Eat Shrimp dish that was flat out great.
The service was attentive and the vibe was good.
The salt water taffy jar walking out was a good touch. We helped ourselves to a handful and drove off happy campers.
If or when I’m in the neighborhood again, I will definitely come back!

My friends and I made a quick stop here when we visited Newport Beach. Since we came during the Labor Day weekend, the parking and traffic sucked, a lot. There were no parking in that little parking lot for the restaurant so we ended up ordering to-​go while someone waited in the car (since we parked at a random spot in the lot).
Walking in, you will be reminded of the ocean, beach, and everything you know about your typical fish markets. You order up front with the staff behind the counter, he’ll give you a ticket, and you pay at the register. We just ordered the shrimp skewers to share since we weren’t too hungry (this was part 2 of our lunch that day hehe). Since it is made to order, the wait time was about 15 minutes (I was told by the staff). The plate comes with two sides and the shrimp. For the sides, we chose the rice and the potato balls (which was like fried mashed potatoes).
While waiting, we found out that you could write post cards and the restaurant will send them out for you, for free! So I wrote some post cards to friends in the Bay and in SoCal. It was a nice way to past the time.
The food came out soon after and we headed back to the car. The dish was simple but it looked and tasted so delicious. The shrimps were seasoned very well and were very juicy and tender. The rice was good also. But the potato… it was super bomb! It was fried mashed potato at the bottom so it was a bit crunchy, which was really interesting. Everything was so good and it was so satisfying!
Overall, I definitely recommend this place. I heard the clam chowder is also pretty good so do try that! I think the shrimp skewers is probably a must-​try. The price is decent considering it is seafood and also pretty fresh, too! I had a great time and I hope you will too!

I’ve been to both crab cookers this one and the one in tustin. For some reason I feel like the tustin one is a little bit better. This place isn’t quite what it used to be. I got the scallop skewers, it had a nice cook on it, for the price it was a little steep considering the portion. I could have possibly gone to a more upscale restaurant got the same meal for the same or less.
Parking is a pain you’ll have to look for street parking and be mindful of the meters so you avoid getting ticketed. The establishment is a bit cramped so while you’re headed to you seat or on your way out be prepared to get uncomfortably close to nearby patrons.
I don’t have too much complaint on the meal, the cheesy potatoes are quite good, yet I anticipate a lot better in taste and presentation for what I’m paying.

First time I had soft shell crabs. I’ve been curious since watching Jack Nicholson in «As Good as It Gets.» They are baby crabs, deep fried. It comes with cole slaw and tomato slices or mashed potato. It had a lemon wedge and a paper cup of tartar sauce. There were bread sticks and cracker balls on the table. We ordered a cup of their Manhattan Clam Chowder. The meal was great, if not for the lousy table I’d given 5 stars. My table was in the corner, and my back was to a stack of folding chairs. Every time a waitress or busboy would pull chairs or replace chairs they would bang the back of my chair. I couldn’t enjoy my meal shoved in that corner. Then a mother with a large baby carriage arrived and shoved it beside me so that I couldn’t get out, until my wife stood up and I moved the table over.

«Oh, that sounds fancy, Frank. Let’s go to the CRAB COOKER in NEWPORT BEACH. I bet it has great views of the ocean and we can enjoy some FRESH seafood while staring at the beautiful surf, won’t that just be the perfect end to our vacation…»
This is how I imagine the conversation goes between a couple of tourists who are about to find themselves on the short end of a long bill after a mediocre experience at The Crab Cooker.
Although I’d looked forward to trying this restaurant for a while, the experience left a lot to be desired. WHY was it packed on a THURSDAY? Why is it EVER packed?
Our party of three started dinner with a Sprite, a shared bottle of Chardonnay between two (presented with 6 oz plastic cups) and the crab cake appetizer. The crab cake was remarkable only in the fact that it was mostly devoid of «fillers»…otherwise it was nothing special.
Each of us ordered the Dungeness crab plate served hot instead of the cold offering listed on the menu. When asked what the cold version was served with the server replied «cocktail sauce». Really? That just goes to show how clueless about good food this place is. Sweet, delicate Dungeness would be absolutely ruined if dipped in cocktail.
The steamed version wasn’t much better, but I will say that it was accompanied by REAL melted butter instead of the clarified stuff I can’t stand. That couldn’t save the dish, though. It definitely tasted like previously frozen crab and it was steamed to DEATH. Pretty bland, unfortunately.
The icing on the cake was when the boyfriend requested a refill on the Sprite and they said it wasn’t a free refill. Get out of town, you have a SODA FOUNTAIN. What’s a refill cost? Ten cents? We just dropped $ 120.
Tourists can have this place… because foodies don’t want it.

OMG never had chowder that was tomato based. It was very delicious.
For those that are suffering from lactose, please prepare yourself a lactaid pill, I certainly didnt pack mine and suffered quite a bit sometime afterwards.
Location was convenient, even for bikers, across a street there was enough poles we can tie our bike to.
Inside seating area was big enough for us (party of 7). I almost got full from eating off the dry bread. Was so yummy to eat it with my soup. Got their special that came with salad, soup, and coffee. Salad was very good and refreshing with hint of lemon that was provided. Dont have to say too much about the chowder because it was as good as it gets. Coffee was a bit burned but still was strong in flavor.
I would definitely go back to this place to get their other food too. Salmon and other seafood dish looked good peeking over at what other people got.