How can it be justified?....30 patrons, one cocktail server, +  one over-burdened bartender...(maybe preferential financial treatment from management for bartender?) ...at the expense of restaurant's bottom line, or patron treatment? cannot justify lost opportunity of  repeat orders, upsells, how about taking care of guests period???...send in an impartial witness IF YOU AS AN OWNER REALLY CARE WHERE YOUR MONEY IS NOT GOING!!!
Review Source:This place looks authentic. Lots of wood and nautical accessories decorate the place. The staff is friendly and it might make a nice local drinking establishment for someone who can walk to it. However, I went there to eat and the food is hit and miss. I had a very nice crab salad although the greens were generic. The salmon chowder didn't have any salmon in it. Too bad they don't serve potato chowders as they have that mastered. A place like this would have seemed exotic 20 years ago. Today the food has to excel in order to support a concept. A nice candidate for a food makeover.
Review Source:If you're interested in potatoes instead of crab go here. Â We asked for the crab feast where they give you a bib the whole 9... and we had 2 crab legs and a huge bowl of potatoes. Â What a rip off. Â Crab legs had very little meat and tasted weird. Â Of course the same old story you mention there's a problem to the staff and they'll say you're insane. Â Their solution; pile more potatoes to this crab pot nightmare. Â Seriously that's how they handled it. Â Good luck to anyone reading this!
Review Source:Seattle circa 2007 - I enter The Crab Pot and have an awesome meal!
Fast forward 2012, La Quinta, CA - I see a Crab Pot is near my hotel and I think this CAN't BE THE SAME RESTAURANT, yet to my surprise it is! Â Happens that the owner of the Seattle location has several other locations and a home in the desert - so he opens a restaurant near his second home. Â Oh boy am I excited!
You know how easy it is to have a great time when you go in with your great memories... well my spirits were high and I was going to have a great meal experience!
We were one of only a few people there (I hear the smart people leave the desert when it gets hot, which to them is anything over 107). Â So we had MANY tables to be sat at, yet for some reason we were sat next to the kitchen. Â No big deal, yet not really the best table choice if you ask me).
Our server was not very interested in our table, yet was more interested in watching the basketball game which was on in the bar. Â He was not very knowledgable either! Â This may be wrong of me to think, but one would think if you wait tables at a place called The CRAB Pot you would be trained and educated on the differences and characteristics of the crabs offered on your menu! Â Just a thought. Â Probably the weirdest thing that happened is when the cooks (mainly Latino) were sitting at a table across from our table, almost staring at us as we ate. Â Then they started to CLAP and CHEER! Â What the H? Â I then looked up to notice a TV hanging above our table displaying a "Futbol" match between Mexico and another country. Â Mexico scored, hence the cheers!
The food was OK - but honestly I struggle to enjoy the food when the service is so bad! Â
Maybe if I get back up to the Pacific NW I will go to the original and get the great food and service I enjoyed before... and the Crab Pot will REDEAM itself!
Not bad considering it is seafood in the middle of the desert. Â The service was good - especially since we had a large party. Â The food was fresh and the servings were generous. Â We liked the fact that you could add on a 1/2 lb of crab to any meal. Â This is a deal we have not seen at the other Crab Pot locations. Â This location was a bit small as well. Â We ate too many orders of crab at our table to admit to. Â We also had halibut, scallops, crab cakes, coconut shrimp and fish and chips in addition to some raw oysters. Â My family was happy, which is all that really matters.
Review Source:The crab house has a wide selection of meals with many different combination's. They have shrimp, muscles, clams, ahi, salmon, crab of course, and much more. If you just feel like having a cocktail or frosty beer, they have a nice open bar with hd tv's. With all this included this restaurant is nothing more than an average seafood place. Nothing special or to die for. If its close by and not out of the way and you crave seafood than by all means, try it out. Other than that ill not be going here again. A pound and a half of alaskan crab legs was 30 bucks and wasnt that good. The prices are very high in my opinion for such an average joe place.
Review Source:My friend and I ordered the combination with crab, clams, corn on the cob and sausage. Â The crab was decent but the clams were awful- not appetizing in any way. Â I had one and had to spit it out- haven't had to do that since I was oh, 5 or so. Â Skip this place, if you are in the La Quinta area there are so many other places to eat and enjoy.
Review Source:I must start this off by saying that living in Boston I have the freshest seafood and most amazing eateries that anyone could want...and I would never expect a seafood joint in the desert to compare, so I am not going to talk about the food...which was fine. Â The reason that you need to visit this restaurant is for the experience.
Here is what this restaurant does well and what you must try on your next visit to the desert, or Cali or Seattle where they have locations. Â Their wicked seafood feast/bake thing! Â Here are the four steps to an awesome meal: Step one, order a drink. Â Step two, order your seafood combination. Â Step three, they lay butchers paper over the table, tie bibs around your neck, and deliver an assortment of tools. Â Step four, they dump your selection of clams, mussels, crab legs, corn, and potato's on top of your table and you go to town!
I can't imagine a more fun way to have a fun meal with friends or family. Â To any yelper who chooses to rate this restaurant solely on the quality of their seafood (which is decent) is missing the big picture.
I was in Palm Springs, visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday and my friend suggested going to the Crab Pot La Quinta location as he had heard that it was a really great place to go.  We ordered a cup of clam chowder and crab cakes to start.  The chowder was nice and thick  and had lots of clams, but was very salty.  The crab cakes were a huge disappointment (they tasted like salmon croquet).  I live in San Francisco and know what good crab cakes/seafood tastes like. For our entree, we ordered the "The Westport" seafeast for 2  (dungeness crab, snow crab, whole shrimp in the shell, steamed clams & mussels, Andouille sausage, red potatoes and corn on the cob,  It was ok, although my friend's comment was "we could gotten better sea food at a cheaper price from Red Lobster" (which is sad).  Honestly, you don't get what you pay for here.  I will say that the staff were superb and do give great service, but the food just isn't worth a visit.
For those that truly have an appreciation for GREAT seafood - this is not the place for you.
a seafood joint in the desert? let's go! on my iphone, the crab pot was the first thing that came up, so for my hungry family of 5 including a seafood loving pops, myself, little stomach mom, keen tastebudded aunt, and hungry 7 year old, we went straight to it. Â the atmosphere is nice and expected of a eat with you hands seafood joint. Â my dad and i shared the mid-grade feast and when they dumped the mussells, crab, potatos, clams, corn and sausage on the table, everyone dug in. Â most of the food was delish! clams a little overcooked, and mussels just a bit bland, but overall as a "feast " Â we thoroughly enjoyed the food. Â my son got a kick out of the food all over the table, helping to smash the crabs while enjoying his comfort food of grilled cheese and frieds. Â crabcakes were yummy. Â overall satisfied! service was attentive and friendly.
Review Source:I was actually very excited about this place and looking forward to a decent seafood dinner. Â We ordered some combination, which includes crab legs, shrimp, clams, mussels, corn, and potatoes all steamed together. Â Some are saying the seafood was fresh. Â They've never had fresh seafood then. Â
Frozen, unfresh seafood + overcooking = disaster. Â
Ambience- Family-friendly. Â Kids will enjoy the bibs and pounding on the crab legs. Â The bar had a western saloon feel, mostly older crowd.
Food- Seafood is not fresh and food is overcooked. Â Need I say more?
Service- Not great, not bad.
I do NOT recommend this place at all.
They should call this place CRAP POT. Or, CRAP ON THE POT. You choose. Either would be more appropriate monikers for this junky hole in the wall aimed at those seeking an early heart attack.
Sat down here with coworkers today with a few other customers, all easily weighing in at over 200lbs for sure. This was my first clue. The menu came and I was confronted with a sea of oily options: fried this, and fried that. I finally settled on the ahi sandwich hoping/praying I'd get the one healthful thing on the menu. Wrong.
The plate that arrived looked something like this: oily yellow bread clinging gingerly to a slab of yellow ahi, yellow onions, and big dollops of mayo. No fresh vegetables, not even a tomato slice. The yellow sandwich was served with, you guessed it, fries (also yellow and oily). This lunch plate was essentially a vat of yellow oil with some ahi thrown in.
The food, taken together with the filthy plastic table covers, won't tempt me to return here anytime soon. Crab Pot? No, CRAP POT!
My husband and I happened across this gem during a business trip to La Quinta and we were so happy we did. We got the big bucket o' seafood for 2 that gets dumped on the table and we ate the whole thing. It was absolutely delicious and lots of fun to eat. Very casual sports-bar type atmosphere and not too expensive either. Highly recommend.
Review Source:everything was perfect....seafood was fresh and cooked perfectly. Â the clams were fantastic (ordered several separate servings of them), the crab legs just popped out of the shells. Â in addition, while we were the last group to leave, i realized after arriving at our hotel that i left my phone at the restaurant. Â i called after 11pm and the manager stayed there until i came back to pick it up. Â Now THAT is customer service!!!
Great choice.
P.S. suggest dining on the patio - less noisy than inside, and the heaters make it plenty warm during the cooler evenings.
Very friendly service. I had the crab/shrimp served w/ mallet ,crab cracker tool,bib (tied on by server) & lots of moist towlettes. Served w/ corn on the cob & red skinned potatoes. Â Very fresh & not salty like some seafood joints. The decor is cute, wooden fish of various kinds adorn the walls. The warm sourdough bread & iced tea r good too. Also, it's really clean for a casual sports bar type place. But keep in mind this can get very messy (hence the bib). Lot's of eating & peeling w/ hands. I would'nt recommend for a 1st date.
Review Source:I had a burger... It was awesome! I know you wouldn't usually eat a burger in a seafood restaurant but I'm glad I did. It was really good... especially considering that it was only $7.95. It was huge and it tasted like a burger from a barbeque. So yummy! A little messy though.
Great service!
If I'm in the area again, I would definitely come back.
Pretty good food... considering it's seafood and we're in the Desert. Â
I went here for the first time a couple weeks ago with some friends, and we sat outside on the patio with the misters on - nice setting.
The waiters were nice guys, but this could have been because they were hitting on one of the people at our table the entire time.
They have good drinks, but not good drink prices.
The food was just a huge smorgasboard that they dumped out onto our table on paper and everyone just dug in with their crab hammers and nut-crackers... it was fun times... but mixing alcohol with crab hammers isn't always a good idea.
Plus, the bibs they give you can easily be turned around backwards and look like a cape... then you have drunk people with capes and crab hammers running amok.... I'm just saying....
So I'm not a huge seafood fan, at least not big enough to put a bib on. We were with a huge group, and the service was attentive, yet they didn't have our 2nd table ready for 10-15 minutes- so we just sat under the misters and near the outdoor fireplace for 15 minutes, worked up an appetite, and by the time we were seated, we were ready for the carb attack~! They frowned upon us when 5 out of our 30 folks wanted a separate tab, then brought them our ticket on accident, as we had not finished at the 25 person table. So- the 5 person group got the 25 person tab, et al. That was kind of a shocker for them. Oops- Wa Wa (Debbie Downer) They sport many pasta dishes, chicken, and of course, the crab shack attack, many crab legs and more seafood remnants than I care to see in a seating. Our seafood lovers were happy. So, the service doesn't know their ass from a hole in the ground, but they were still attentive and smiling. The Mud Pie made up for the other innaccuracies with a 9-12 inch tall mudpie oozing with sugar, chocolate and whipped cream madness.
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