The Boiling Crab

I’ve come here a few times since it’s pretty close and I didn’t want to drive all the way to convoy. The think out of all the crawfish places in San Diego, this place is my least favorite. The boil here isn’t comparable to OC boiling crab. Here it’s mostly butter with just cajun spice. Sometimes when I get mild it comes out pretty spicy. I honestly recommend taking the extra drive to go down to convoy. But I’ve heard rumors that they are changing their boil soon, so I’ll be back when that happens.
The place accommodates large parties, but the wait here gets pretty long.

Can’t wait until Crab Hut opens across the street!
Their food is not consistent. Their spice levels always change a little with each order, and they have mixed up our Mild with Med spiciness (or Med with Mild) multiple times.
However, this place does consistently get our orders wrong. To combat the low amount of sauce, we always ask for extra sauce in the bag and they forget half the time. On this particular day, we barely got any sauce even after their assurance they added «extra». Then they also forgot the salt and pepper/​lime with our to go order. Apparently you have to ask for it explicitly now. Also no napkins either, so I guess you need to explicitly ask for that too.
We were informed that store policy now dictates that the chefs have to explicitly measure out the amount of sauce, which is why it seems low. Even before this policy, the sauce was already way less than anywhere else– so this is even worse. Also, they will start charging extra if you would like it ‘juicy’.
Such disappointment from a chain that I love. Crab Hut it is!

I’ve gone to The Boiling Crab a handful of times in the OC, and I’m happy to say that the Mira Mesa location has become just as good!
The shrimp! Have to order it with the whole-​sha-​bang in the mild sauce! Cajun fries are a must to cool down the spicyness. And surprisingly… You HAVE to order the lemon pepper chicken wings! The wings come out hot from the fryer and really compliment the shrimp.
Overall, what made this place great was the customer service. Neil, one of the managers, was diligent in getting us to sit down after a 40 minute wait. The line here is always long, and the fact that he checked up on us and was friendly about the busy business really showed he cared. Definitely coming back!!!

Save a place for seafood in your stomach! Really enjoy coming to this place for seafood. Staff is always friendly and i always arrive at the right time (before it gets full). Booths are definitely my favorite seats and what a great way to enjoy shrimp, which is my number 1 choice. Totally Satisfied like always.

3.5 stars. Boiling Crab has quite a few competitors, but Boiling Crab and Crab Hut seem to be the top two in San Diego. Boiling Crab falls after Crab Hut for me.
Boiling Crab is a bit cheaper than Crab Hut, however BC’s sauce is noticeably more oily than CH. I love Boiling Crab for its convenient location, better parking lot (though still an Asian parking lot, beware) than Crab Hut in Convoy, and booths aplenty to sit in rather than a table. Their rice portions are generous and I love their cajun fries. Order your bag of seafood in the whole sha’bang!

My to go to place whenever I’m craving seafood. The food is great and the prices are even better. Seafood can be expensive but boiling crab ensures you’re getting quality seafood for the price you are paying. This is what I recommend:
1. One dozen oysters. They are huge and so sweet and juicy. I can’t get enough of them.
2. One pound of shrimp, the whole shabang mild. I’m a chili/​spice enthusiast but anything more than mild here leaves your mouth numb. If you’re feeling adventurous, then order something hotter.
3. Cajun fries mild. Their fries are so crispy yet soft. Delicious!
4. Calamari fries. You can definitely tell they batter it themselves. It’s crunchy but still soft. The calamari is not chewy at all.
5. Beer. because what better way to wash down all this deliciousness than a cold pale ale or IPA. They have bottles from local breweries like ballast point and it’s not super expensive either.
Order those five things and you will not be disappointed. I promise.

So I went to boiling crab my second time for my birthday dinner with my friends. Everything was going well until I found an uncooked chicken wing. It was really pink and raw on the inside. A young bald «manager» came out to assist me and I told him what was wrong. He replied with what I wanted to do about it and I was a bit confused because managers are supposed to call the shots for what to do for the customers. He then insisted, «so do you just want another wing or what». Not coming back ever again. Crab hut tastes better anyways. 0 stars–

Service was great! Our waitress was fast and friendly.
The atmosphere was great as well. The place has a chill environment while being very clean at the same time.
We went in the afternoon after the lunch rush and had no problem finding parking or seating.
The reason why this place only gets 3 stars is the food. The flavor was bland. We did ask for mild spice level but that shouldn’t mean bland tasting food. Even the buttered corn we ordered tasted like it was just submerged in yellow water.
If you can make the drive I highly recommend Crab Town over this place.

This place is usually pretty packed and has a long wait. But one you get through the line of people, you can begin to devour your seafood.
Your table is set up with a big sheet of paper across it, as you will be getting messy as you peel and crack through the shell of your seafood to get to the meat. As of note you will be receiving your food in plastic bags, and your meal will be accompanied by a handful of limes and some salt for you to dip your seafood in.
You begin by ordering a seafood and then you choose how many pounds of it you want. Next you choose what seasonings you would want it to be boiled in. They have a variety of seasoning to choose what you would like to boil your food in, although I usually get the whole shebang which is a mix of all the seasonings. Unfortunately, like all seafood mostly everything is quite pricey with shrimp being close to 10 dollars a pound and the other shellfish being close to 20 dollars a pound. They also have a variety of other items such as fries, onion rings and even gumbo. You can also order corn on the cob, which they will boil along with your seafood.

Great when to our have aot of friends who really enjoy seafood. The eating process is super messy, most people probably won’t like this but I do. You order the food by the weight and it arrives cooked and ready for you to ravage on the table.

I’ve been here twice and I have to say it was pretty busy both times. My review is based on my most recent visit, yesterday.
Came here for dinner, after work, and to celebrate my fiancé’s birthday. So yes it was just me and him. While we wait, I noticed they had a TV up with their customer/​surveillance camera. We waited for like 10 mins and then got seated. I’m glad they changed the Extra TV (that gossip show) they had on the TV’s to some basketball.
Our server, who was very sweet, asked us for our drink orders. He got the Green Flash Solstice and I asked for the Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin, but they were out. So I ordered the Green Flash Citra, but again they were out of that. –meh– So I settled for the regular Sculpin. Yay they weren’t out of that! Finally the food– we ordered 1lb of snow crab legs, ½ lb of shrimp, 1lb of sausage and 1 order of rice which we shared. We ordered it all in the ‘whole shebang’ & mild, which I was SOOOOOO glad we did, because medium spice would have been too hot for me. I liked how all the items ordered came in separate bags, I just wished they all came at once.
**make a note they do not have gloves to provide– yes you eat with your hands/​no utensils needed, and they don’t offer gloves like other restaurants that are similar**

The spice levels are a little off to me here. I don’t know why it’s super spicy when I requested medium spice. It’s literally slap yo’ mama spicy! It’s so spicy to the point where I’m sitting there contemplating if I should drink more water, cry, or wipe my tongue down with a napkin.
Don’t get me wrong, I really like this place. It’s good but the con’s definitely are the spice level not really being up to par.
My last visit I had to ask the waitress (who was very sweet by the name of Kim) to make sure to tell the kitchen to not make it too spicy… and it worked!
I enjoy eating their sausages, crawfish, fries, and believe it or not… their corn is super delicious when added into the mixture of these food pairings.
Another plus for my friends and I is they serve beer so sometimes we like to go to this place and drink beer and eat a little bit of appetizers here and there.

I love love love Boiling Crab! But this location is mediocre.
The ones in San Jose are a lot better although the wait at the Mira Mesa location is never too bad.
I still go often though cause Boiling Crab has a special place in my stomach. The problem here is that the sauce that the shrimp/​crab/​crawfish comes in is always on the more watery side. Sauce shouldn’t be a complete liquid.
It’s disappointing, but it’s not a deal breaker. They’ve also gotten less generous with their limes. But the service I get is always impeccable and makes it a great dining experience!
Side note: their catfish basket is really good if you love fish.

We had Fried Shrimp basket with Cajun Fries, a pound of Crawfish with the Whole She-​Bang and Fried Oysters. Loved it all especially the Fried Oysters. I love Oysters! Had a great experience. Nice chat and laughs with the staff. My company was great! The décor is fun and Cajun. It made me miss New Orleans bad! The crawfish were swimming in a lovely mix of spices buttery garlic and some good magic to bring me back to the Bayou soon. It can get a bit messy so check your conservative self at the door and let loose on the crustacean’s! It taste better with your hands anyways. They have music playing and flat screens. I was having such a great time the noise levels didn’t phase me one bit. Awesome company, food and to the staff. Thank you darlings!

Some restaurants are more about food than ‘the experience’ and others are at least as much about ‘the experience’ as they are about the food! This place attempts to be in the second category — but mind you, the experience may not be pleasurable to everyone — if crabs bathing in a pool of sauce and lime (however yummy) right on the table in front of you makes you say «ohhh! gross!», you must rather stay away from this place! look at the picture I posted and decide if u can handle it. Am I going there again? Hell yeah!!!

Love coming here. I’ve been to the one in LA and was going to Crab Hut here in San Diego, so I was happy to hear they opened a Boiling Crab locally. The service is good and the food is straight to the point. My usual varies from the Snow Crab Legs, Oysters and/​or Shrimp. The Whole Shabang sauce is great. It’s a mix of their Lemon Pepper, Rajun Cajun and Garlic sauce. You can choose them individually too. The levels of heat Non Spicy, Med, Mild and XXX. I’d stick in the Non Spicy and Med heat levels if you can’t handle spicy.
Tonight I ordered their lemon pepper sauce non-​spicy and it was still spicy and looked a lot like cajun sauce. When I asked the waitress, apparently all the sauce choices have the original cajun sauce base and you have to specifically ask for the sauce alone. Very confusing and made no sense but just be very specific about your sauce.
I love their oysters here! They are a decent size. They don’t skimp! Parking is easy. The wait time is usually about 10 – 20 minutes during the weeknights. A meal for two can run you up to $ 50 – 60. Most of their menu is at market price so just be aware.

so glad we have one of these in San Diego! I don’t get a craving for BC often but when I do I’m so happy we don’t have to drive up to OC for it!!! The lines don’t seem as crazy either. I’ve never had to wait too long but I do try to go during off hours. I’m not a crawfish or crab kind of girl, but I do love some shrimp! Add fries and 2 cobs of corn and rice! I section the corn kernals off the cob and add it to the rice with some of the sauce, perfect side!!! try it next time :)

Location:
This is in the location with Tea station and the Seafood Market. It has a sign close to the street and plenty of parking.
Décor:
Its got nice big booths or tables with chairs in the center. It has some TV’s and is fairly dim. Also note, wash your hands. This is a place where you just use your hands to dig in and get dirty. I am sure they have silverware upon request.
Food & Drinks:
I went in a group of four and got 1 pound of shrimp, 2 pounds of crayfish, 1 pound of clams, 1 dungarees crab, and 1 side of sweet potato fries. Yum :). We just got it in their Shabang sauce and got it mild. It has a little bit of kick from the spices even if you don’t add spicy so be tread with caution. I would say it came out smelling good and tasted delicious. I think they boiled it all well without over cooking it so you don’t end up with these tiny pieces.
So you may be asking, why the 3 stars? Well, it all just start to tastes the same. When they use the same sauce it all just melds together. Near the end it just kind of tasted bland. I wish they offered bread or sides, like with the crayfish, to help give a different taste and/​or texture. It was already really expensive with all that we ordered and came out to be around $ 130 so I didn’t want to order more sides. Maybe we should have ordered some other things to help balance the taste. I guess there’s next time.
Happy Digging in with your hands! :)

The line are always super long and the average wait time is 30 – 45 minutes.
I love eating here though and I usually just get the pound shrimp with the shabang sauce and medium on spiciness. If you’re not a fan of spicy foods, medium will probably still be too spicy for you.
Other than that, this place is super big, they have a lot of workers and they are all super friendly!

Went here on a Friday night! Wait was around 30 – 45 minutes.
Ordered 2 and a half pounds of medium shrimp ($ 12.99/lb), Cajun fries, 2 corns on cob. For some reason the medium was extremely spicy for me today. They forgot to give us the salt and pepper + lime so we had to wait for the waiter to come by again to ask. Shrimp and Cajun fries were perfect, will definitely come back.