The Crab Pot. Long Beach

215 Marina Drive, Long Beach, CA 90803. 562-430-0272

Hours of Operation:

Sunday through Thursday 11:00am - 9:00pm

Friday through Saturday 11:00am - 10:00pm

Banquet service. Lots of free parking. Great waterfront location. Good for kids and they have their own menu and activity sheet.

One of four restaurants. Long Beach CA, La Quinta CA, Seattle WA and Bellvue WA.

THE ROOM:

The Crab Pot in Long Beach is a very casual and rustic seafood restaurant overlooking Alamitos Bay. On a warm and sunny day you can sit outside and enjoy the sun and the water. The bar has a unique outdoor firebit where the locals and resident boaters like to "hang" after a sail. The interior is a bit funcky in that the rooms are layed out in no particular logical fashion. The tables are covered with sheets of paper to collect the discards of any crustacheons you may care to devour.

THE FOOD:

The Crab Pot's menu consists primarily of seafood and lots of it. You can get a steak, burgers, sandwiches, ribs or chicken but I would ask why? They grill seafood, serve it on a brochette, serve it in the shell,  mix it into a cioppino, combine seafood and fish and serve it whole. The Crab Pot is famous for their Seafests which they only prepare for two or more. When I mentioned casual dining I meant casual dining. This is definetly a jeans and t-shirt kind of place. We ordered a calamari appetizer and it was heavily breaded and I could tell the oil it was deep fried in needed to be changed. The accompanying sauce was bland. Your Seafest meal is served in a large steaming tin bucket the contents of  which then gets dumped on the table in front of you. There are several combinations of seafood and fish. All are served with corn on the cob, ouille sausage and red potatoes in their jackets. As you eat your crab, clams, shrimp, or mussels etc. you just throw your shells back in the bucket. You gotta love this idea. Kids love it and remember the Romans ate like this as well. It's messy and fun. We had the King Crab and I was surprised at the quality of the flavor. I was expecting something bland from being frozen too long and was pleased that the legs were of a decent size and not mushy. The vegetables were fresh and plentiful.

THE SERVICE:

 We had a little trouble finding someone to seat us at first because there was no one manning their door but once we got that mystery solved the service at the table was prompt and friendly. The server was a Cal State Long Beach student and you gotta love a student working their way through college.

RATINGS:

Food: *                        Cost: $$