I so enjoyed  myself sitting on the deck  of the restaurant, Crawdads, on the edge of Sacramento River, with a spectacular view, and a balmy summer night with gentle Delta River breezes. Tonight was just so beautiful!  The Gumbo, Cajan style and house salad with slightly sweet dressing was delicious.
Review Source:so the food was great, the service was great but.... I think they need to do something about rude drunk people who decide to dock their house boats or boats and blast their music so i can't hear the person sitting across from me at my own table. Â our view was completely blocked by their huge houseboat. Â letting them walk up onto the patio where paying customers are trying to eat and yell across our group to the other people on the boat. Â allowing them to yell innapropriate things and not ask them to either quiet down or better yet, leave. Â we tried listening to the live band from our seats but the houseboat was blasting their own music so loud we couldn't hear much of anything. Â i think our experience would have been much better if a manager or the so called security at their facility actually controlled the situation rather than allowing a party boat take over everyone's dining experience.
Review Source:I would give this 5 stars for location, absolutely beautiful. Service was very good, especially for dinner right after work! Food wise, not a big fan. I ordered the fish and chips, it was okay, I definitely like the beer batter a bit more crunchy and once you got to the last piece, it was a little too mushy for my liking; the drinks were the same. I ordered a Long Island and honestly it felt like it was a 'virgin' Long Island (if there is such a thing, but hopefully you get the point). Love the atmosphere though, location, scenery and service, so I'm not writing this place off just yet!
Review Source:Damn talk about good food! My husband and I had dinner here on a Saturday at about 5:00 ( with our 6 week old baby in tow) and it was AMAZING. He had the rib-eye (one if the best I've ever tasted at a restaurant for 20 bucks). Â I had the calamari and a salad and an awesome cocktail. Â We were seated quickly at a table a bit out of the way (per our request because of the baby). Service was cheerful and quick. Atmosphere was good. I could tell that this place really heats up in the evening, being a draw for boaters looking for food and drinks. But while we were there, it wasn't to loud at all (baby slept the whole time!). Really enjoyed it, and we will visit again next time we are in Sacramento.
Review Source:The place seems really disorganized, the wait staff is friendly but they really need to do some training. Mos of the time our drinks were empty, and we had to ask to get new drinks from the bar everytime we finished our cocktails. Food was ok, calamary was a bit soggy and our witress forgot our dessert. The wait staff was so unorganized, another table sat nest to us and they ended up leaving because nobody went to take care of them, they were there for a good 15 to 20 minutes. Also, bathrooms were not very clean and they ran out of paper towels. Not a good first time experience, hopefully it gets better since we are going to get a slip at that marina.
Review Source:After being disappointed with the lack of a Happy Hour at Chevy's, we walked down the plank to check out Crawdads.
Food and Service sucked. Â I ordered the carnitas nachos....someone tell me why they serve nachos with cheap old cheese from a can. Â Just because you throw some over-baked pork on it, it doesn't make it edible. Â The WORSE part was, they topped it with some ol nasty tempura style, fried jalapeno peppers. Â This literally was the worst nachos I have ever been served. Â They would have been better bringing in some nachos from AM/PM.
Didn't see my waitress after she brought the food until right before we left. Â She brought me the bill, saw the full plate of nachos and said "you didn't like it either, I don't know why they serve it". Â Great, glad you agree....BUT WHY DID YOU LEAVE IT ON MY BILL.
This place needs an overhaul. Â Get a good chef, do some remodeling, train your staff to serve, and give me a reason to come back.
Used to love this place. Last year we had blast here. The staff was friendly. So it was a kind of nice place for evening hangouts after a bad office day. This year things seem to be slow in getting in shape. Two visits and both the times staff sounded more impersonal than last time. A place where menu is nothing to rave about. This place is mainly a pub with value proposition of being right next to water. So many of us go there to just chill out in a familiar environment. If I need formal upscale restaurant, there are many, and than I demand food variety and quality.
Review Source:Early on a record heat day, we decided it may be nice to have some brunch next to the water and what better place than at Crawdads? It was my first time here and didn't realize we had to go all the way downstairs, and literally, you are next to the water, which I love! We sat on the patio next to the dock, and surprisingly (or not surprisingly), there weren't many crazy patrons like us who wanted to sit outside as the temps went up. It actually wasn't too bad since there was a little breeze here and there.
We ordered the breakfast burrito that comes with a side of fresh fruit and salsa. It was good. The burrito included some sausage, onions, bell pepper, and potatoes. But I think the star of breakfast was the $4 Bloody Mary. The Bloody Mary mix had a good tomato juice base and the shot of vodka floating atop proves there's some alcohol in the drink while the pepperoncini and olive garnishes were a nice plus.
On a hot day like this, a refreshing beer would be great too, but they only have Coors Light and Shock Top on draft. Two beers on draft?! If you don't like those, they do offer a number of bottle beers.
But honestly, the patio is the primary reason to come here. Come take advantage of it and the local scenery during the warm summer season.
Won't go back here for one reason:
Service.
The waitresses seem very preoccupied talking amongst themselves and their "manager". She took our order, didn't write anything down and managed to miss our salads. Not to mention that once our food came out, we had to wait near 40 minutes to receive our check. We were her only table at this time, so I'm not sure why it took so much effort to ensure we were taken care of. The busser was doing a very diligent job, but unfortunately the server would rather socialize than get tipped well.
The food was decent. Nothing extraordinary. Three people asked us if it was any good on our way back up the deck... and we were honest with them. Saw them walking into neighboring Chevys moments later.
I was kind of hesitant to go here based on some of the recent reviews, but we tried it anyway when my mom came to town. Â I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Â The service was fantastic, Deanna really took care of us. Â The food was great as well. Â I had the jamabalaya and my mom had the gumbo. Â Both were good sized portions, presented well, and tasted great. Â I haven't had crayfish that tasted this good since the last time I was in Lousiana. Â I would definitely go again.
Make sure the check-in on facebook for 10% off, just show your server that you checked in.
Heres my detailed p[ros and cons and info for you yelpers needing help as i do when looking for a wonderful new experience....PRO WAS THE EATING AT A RESTAURANT RIGHT BY THE RIVER...AS IT GET DARKER THE BREEZE CAME IN COOLER AND IT WAS JUST AWESUM...CON was the food and service...the greeting and gals at the front were attentive and didnt make me feel intimidated , but when i asked at the bar for their drink specials i was hoping to get like an actual happy hr or menu with price specials but didnt get that just got a menu that i wasnt too fond of. my date ordered a well done burger and got a medium really rear burger that looked bloody so him being a nice guy he didnt complain thou i should of for my plate i ordered a cajun shrimp and it was not great at all....tasted like ragu and they put onions on it which the taste was more bland and not at all spicy...and worst the waitress forgot my fork and as shed come by with other ppls plate they had forks but when i asked a guy waiter for a spoon i then tell him oh im mean fork then he rudely said"U asked for a spoon"...i was pretty annoyed hed disrespected me like that infront of my date....lastly there are other restaurants adjasent so ill definetly be coming back but to a different restaurant since this food selection was mediocer...chevys nest door will have what i want and actual drink specials. Also parking was tight but luckily they had parking on the bottom floor soooo...i hope crawdads reads their review and id definetly give them another try if they offered me and my date a free meal for not getting  good experience....but till then this review is to hel yelpers with this info
Review Source:Food quality is pretty good. Â Not much to eat for appetizers and deserts for the Gluten Free folks. Â Also, We went for the Cajun crawdads of course, And they "weren't in season yet" in April? Â It would be so much more helpful if they post when the season actually starts on their web.
--RibChamp
EPIC FAIL!!!! One star is still much... Service was crap. Food was mediocre. It was over an hour and a half that passed between getting our appetizers and getting our side salads and dinners. When we did get our dinners, entrees were missing. When it all made it to the table, it wasn't even worth waiting for. My jambalaya could have come from a box, and the prawn salad was highly disappointing. Good thing it's hard to screw up fish and chips and catfish poboys. Manager only made a very minimal effort to make up for a terrible dinner experience. I'm never going back there, and I would tell anyone I know not to go either.
Details:
I went there tonight with my family to celebrate my sister's birthday. I called ahead and asked that a table for eight be ready outside. When we arrived, there was a table set for us..., right by the elevator that was being used to move equipment for a band that was performing somewhere in the restaurant (we never heard any live music). Half of the table had to get up every five minutes and move (themselves and their chairs) so that the band roadies could get by with their stuff. Table location FAIL.
Our server had already laid out glasses of water for everyone, and that was great. It's a shame the forethought didn't go beyond that. After taking our drink orders and appetizer order, it took a few minutes longer to deliver our drinks than we all felt it should. The appetizers weren't delivered for another half hour after that, but only after our server kept coming by the table, seeing the missing apps, and then coming to tell us that they still weren't ready a few times. In all that waiting for the apps, our server never got around to asking us for our orders for dinner. When I finally pointed out that if it took that long for the apps to get made, then perhaps he might take our dinner orders already. So he did.
15 minutes pass. apps arrive. server takes order for a second round of drinks.
15 minutes pass. second round delivered.
30 minutes pass. no food or salads. but server keeps coming by at irregular intervals to let us know our food isn't ready, but he's checked...
30 minutes pass. WE ARE STARVING. I rage a little at the server who has come by to let us know that our food still isn't ready. I suggest maybe we can get ANY food...bread...our side salads, anything, maybe??? Server says he can bring us bread and "do you want your salads now, or with the entrees?" To which I reply, "NOW!!!" (I can no longer hold back my grumpiness.) Exit server to get something before I meltdown.
5 minutes pass and server seems to be bringing food, finally. Some entrees made it to the table. Here's the breakdown:
2 side caesar salads - made it, but not before the entrees.
3 jambalayas - only 2 were made. The third was delivered 10 or so minutes later.
1 gumbo - wasn't made. Was delivered with the third jambalaya.
1 fish and chips - wasn't made. Was delivered with the third jambalaya and gumbo.
2 Prawn salads - one made. the other came later with the gumbo, et al.
Catfish Po-boy - made it. whew.
bread - had to ask again and when it did finally get delivered, it wasn't even enough for every one of us to have one of the tiny slices.
So we ate, finding that the food was not worth waiting for, but we were hungry, so it didn't even matter anymore.
When it came time to deliver the bill, the manager came by to try to make things right. He asked us what we wanted to make it better. I told him it wasn't our place to ask for something, but that it was his job to make it up to us. He took off the fish and chips and the jambalaya and the drinks from the bill. Really??? I thought we deserved the whole meal comped. I'd have been OK paying for the drinks and apps, even. But this guy's idea of making up to us was to remove drinks, and two entrees because they made it out late? The entire F-ing meal was late! We paid the ridiculous bill, left a minimal tip for clueless crap server, and left. We agreed to redo my sister's bday dinner, cuz this one was an EPIC FAIL.
Never going back there again. Spreading the word here.
A blind man walks into a lumberyard and asks for a job. The manager looks at him and says, "what job could I possibly give you that you could do?" The blind man says, "I can identify any wood by smell." Â
So, the manager decides to test him. He holds up a board up under the blind man's nose. The blind man takes one whiff and says, "Cherry. Don't waste my time." Â So, the manager holds up another board under the blind man's nose. The blind man takes one whiff and says, "Pine. From Maine. Cut down 3 days ago." Â The manager is amazed so he decides to give him one more test. He picks up his wife and holds her under the blind man's nose. The man sniffs once and then sniffs again. Slowly he says, "Turn it over." Â The manager turns his wife over. The blind man sniffs again and says, "Turn it back over." The manager does so and the blind man sniffs one last time. Â Finally, the blind man says, "Aaaah, see, you're trying to fool a blind man. That's a sh!thouse door off an old tuna boat."
If you enjoyed that joke, you will enjoy the smell while dining at Crawdads.
New Chef! Â Weather has been unusually warm this year, so I was happy to hear the Crawdad's was finally open for the season. Â What's more: New Chef with New Menu! Â The chef was out in the dining room and greeted us with a friendly handshake! Â The new menu is more focused with many of the same items long time regulars will be happy to see. Â
A buddy and I stopped by for a quick dinner the other evening and Megan (sp?) our server was hospitable and welcoming. Â Alex the manager stopped by to talk about the new items on the menu and upcoming exciting plans/changes for the season. Â On Alex's recommendation, I ordered the Rib-eye Steak ($19.00) which was perfectly cooked and flavorful.
Even though this was a short dinner after a long day, Megan did not hurry us and allowed us to relax and unwind for the evening. Â The bar was full of locals which was nice to see.
I will certainly return to see the highly anticipated specials from the new kitchen brigade.
Only came here for appetizers and drinks. Ordered the calamari which was great, but like many other reviews stated it says it comes with a side of fries and mine like the others didn't. I read other reviews stating it was a hassle actually getting them to comp the fries, so I didn't even bother. My drink was pretty good, their happy hour isn't too happy for me. Hopefully, I can come back for food and leave a better review.
Review Source:This was a fun outing my fiancé and I took in the late evening on a work week. The place was nearly empty except for some locals.
First off the walk takes you down a walkway that feels like your leaving everything you know about Sacramento. There's boats and a beautiful view of the river. You feel as though you were at some port at a bigger city. And yet during this time of day it was quiet and completely delightful.
Our waitress was amazing! Really friendly and immediately got us some wonderful drinks that fit both of us in our own way perfectly! There's a new cook this season. The locals that are there every night all said they really loved his food. I'm still learning about fish cuisine but it was the best clam chowder I've ever had!
So if you need a little escape, come check this place out. I recommend coming on a non weekend day or evening. You'll feel more like a local on not just another tourist. :)
I heard that Crawdad's was opening last week for the season. I went online and was very impressed with their large menu. I carefully plotted what I would consume on my grand day out. I had decided upon the blackened catfish and a cup of gumbo. Tonight was the night. I swear if you saw me you would ...have thought it was Christmas morning and I had packages to open. I was so excited that I could get Cajun food in Sacramento. By the way the menu looked I just knew it had to great. If you know me you know I am foodie.
We arrived and there were perhaps three tables of people. We were seated and they brought us the menu. I immediately noticed that more than half of the items on their online menu were missing from the actual menu. I thought I was being punk'd when the item I had so carefully planned on having tonight was missing from the menu. Yes my blackened catfish was missing. Realizing the waitress gave us the wrong menu I asked for the dinner menu. The waitress said that is our dinner menu. She should have just punched me in the face. I said, where is the food you have on your online menu? She said, ya they just have not updated the online menu. I said we came here because of the online menu. Bait and switch.
I ordered the calamari for the table. The menu at the restaurant said it comes with French fries. Now I was not interested in the fries, but the fact they were delivered to the table without them got our attention. When the table asked about it the waitress seemed shocked and denied they came with fries. We showed her own menu and she then realized they are supposed to come with fries. She went to the to the other waitress they all made weird faces and then after awhile she came back and said the calamari is not supposed to come with fries, but since the menu says they do, they are going to bring out a side of fries. Wow that was so nice of you to bring us the fries. What?
I ordered the gumbo. I tried to make the best of this heart breaking situation. We waited over an hour for our food to arrive. This is a Cajun restaurant or they would have you believe. My gumbo did not arrive in a nice bowl like everyone else's food; mine arrive in a mini caldron. It was the oddest thing I have ever seen. There was a piece of bread sticking out of the caldron. The bread was stale. I immediately went to work on the gumbo. Ok if you have never been to New Orleans you have no business making Cajun food. The gumbo was so wrong for so many reasons. I will not go into detail, but it was crap. I did my best to eat it because it is my dinner and there were other people at the dinner that might have been enjoying their mediocre food.
So unless they let me in the kitchen to teach them how to cook I will not be back.
I am in town from Maine. Â A colleague suggested this place (against my foodie research suggestions); well I fell in LOVE!! Â Â We have tons of ocean and lake front dining in Maine! Â Many amazing places! Â But this place was something to write home about!
I've traveled to Louisiana for business and have had me some AMAZING gumbo! Â While this was not quite Louisiana perfect, it certainly beats anything I have come across in my international travels! Â
And the ambiance!? Amazing! Â The warm CA weather. Â The friendly waitstaff. Â The boats passing by! Â We actually saw a crew of gents reel in a fish as we dinned on our gumbo!
The tacos were far from authentic, but the price and the view and the beverages made up for that! ;) Â
I will definitely visit again! Â In fact I look forward to flying the whole family out to see this place....I mean, when then say "on the river" the REALLY mean "ON THE RIVER!!" Â It was great!! thank you!
We went for a late lunch on a Friday. There were very few people there. It was very loud
It was hot out and we asked to sit inside. We were seated right by the rear double glass doors that lead to the deck, which were both wide open. The people that were there were all outside; so there was plenty of room inside where it was cooler.
The coconut shrimp was good; however soggy. The Gumbo was good.
$2 Mimosas
$3 Bloody Marys
river side
breakfast and bar food
live bands on certain nights
you can tie up your boat
Um can we say hapiness? We were directed here while we were waiting to meet up with multiple sets of groups to head out on the river boarding. The place isn't apparent from the road because it is set down on the water itself. You bypass the chevys and walk downstairs to find this hidden gem. Being the bloody mary conniseur that I am this is where they get the minus one star. Their mix is terrible weak and watered down but given the price I can potentially see why. It had a great vodka ratio but there needed to be more of that horseradish and worschester sauce taste that it was severly lacking.
We had their clam chowder ~ a diff take on the chowder, much thicker almost stew like.
AOne of their burger~ we ordered medium rare as I always crave and it actually came out a bit more rare than I am used to. This is a big change for me and I didn't mind but poor jake had a look on his face like "i hate that you like your meat mooing".
Friends had their chiceken sadnwhich and took half of it home because it was HUGE.
The portions are very large as we saw from other diners who were enjoying their rbunch menu. Overall a great spot to tie up while your exploring the sacramento river, or a good spot to launch from if you're starting your day.
We were excited to discover Crawdads Cantina (right on the water!) during a recent trip to Sacramento. It would have been much cooler if we had rolled up in a boat blaring our music, like most of the clientele, but we had enough fun just watching the bikini-clad customers hop out of their boats and sort of stagger into the restaurant. Yes, apparently they had already had some pre-Crawdads cocktails.
We sat right on the water at a small table and were served by a waitress wearing tons of makeup (like all the waitresses). There was a DJ playing somewhat loud music, but we were a bit far from what looked like it would become the "party area." Usually this is not my kind of vibe, but everything about the atmosphere just fit together so well that I could appreciate it for what it was.
I was disappointed with my food, however. I ordered a calamari salad that was described as having greens, cucumber, red peppers, squash, and of course calamari, top with a sprinkling of black sesame seeds. Well, how sad was I when all I got was greens and calamari! What happened to the other veggies? I was really disappointed, especially when I saw that my dining partner had squash on his plate...so clearly they weren't out of it. He had the Wine Country Chicken which he said was tasty. I can tell you that he had some pretty pungent garlic breath afterwards though!
Also, he started with the black bean dip, which included nachos with a dip that was premixed with TONS of cheese and sour cream and a little bit of pico de gallo. If you like cheesiness, this would be the dip for you!
I really wanted to like this place. The ambience was fun and I liked the novelty of being on the water. The service was also find, so no complaints there. I just wish I had gotten what I thought I'd ordered!
First timer eating at Crawdads.
Decided to eat a late lunch here on a beautiful Sunday summer day in Sacramento. We were sat outside near the stage with a good view of the Sacramento River. A portion of our party was late but the staff was patient and accommodating. The waitress did a very good job of refilling my water while we were waiting as I tend to drink a lot of it. Points for the staff so far.
The rest of our party finally arrived and food was ordered. One person ordered the calamari, another fish and chips, a mahi mahi sandwich, and I ordered the blackened catfish. All of the food came in a reasonable amount of time besides the mahi mahi sandwich. It arrived about 10 minutes after everyone else dish was served. I can't remember why the waitress said it took so long.
The blackened catfish was FANTASTIC! The catfish is served with red pepper sauce over white beans and andouille sausage. Man was it good! I usually don't order dishes with "sauce" in the description but this was damn good. Its a good size portion of catfish and beans. Flaky and cooked perfectly. I was pretty full at the end of our meal. Â
The calamari was really good too. I stole one from another person's dish. They weren't those deep fried ring calamari. You know, the ones where you only taste the deep fried batter. These were bigger pieces nicely breaded. Came with fries- I stole one of those too! Good waffle fries.
The person who ordered the fish and chips said they were great. He said they were better than Red Robin's and those were the gold standard to him for fish and chips. They give you two huge pieces of fish and the waffle fries. I can't remember what type of fish they use. Probably cod.
The person who ordered the Mahi Mahi fish sandwich said it was OK. Nothing special. As she put it, "It's a sandwich." I imagine if she came back, she wouldn't order it. It looked good to me though.
One bad thing to note is that they only have 2 beers on tap (Coors Light and Shock Top). 2 beers! C'mon Crawdads!
Anyways, if you go. Get a seat outside to watch the river and boats and go for the blackened catfish.
I love this place. I have been coming here since I first moved to Sacramento from the Bay Area years ago. This location embodies why Sacramento is a wonderful place to live. Sitting on the river having a drink and some good food on a Sunday afternoon, watching the boats come by.
The location is definitely a plus, but this does not in any way mean that their food is bad. Their food is very good.
I usually like to start off with their Carnitas Quesadilla and their Calamari appetizers. I love their Blackened Mahi Mahi, Clam Chowder, Shrimp Caesar, and their pasta.
As stated in my Chevy's review, the parking in the sub-level garage is extremely tight so please take care.
Something else to take note of is, as you are walking down to the water level where the restaurant is floating, there are some colored marks on the pilings that tell you how high the river was in certain years. If you don't look close, you will miss it like most people do. Take note of how high the river was in January 86' Yikes!
Lastly, find out what is in the Fat Tuesdayesque mixer at the bar. Wow, that has to be about the best drink I've ever had. Not too cold, its just right and its firing on all cylinders! Try it, you won't be sorry!
I recently hosted a 60 person retirement lunch party at Crawdad's and I couldn't have been happier with the results. Â All the daytime personnel we dealt with were really friendly, helpful, patient, hardworking and fun. Â
Kelly is very flexible and understanding, my RSVP numbers kept changing over and over and she never blinked an eye when I kept changing numbers and worked with me in the end when I was short some money from people not showing up. Â
The food was great and reasonably priced, the patio is a wonderful setting for a party, you can add any decorations you want and they even helped us put them up. Â All in all a 5 star experience, I would plan a party here again in a heartbeat, thanks Crawdad's! Â Our friend had a most excellent retirement lunch party thanks in large part to you all.
Father's Day Brunch Buffet! It's all you can eat, and one mimosa with your plate. Â Place was slammed, Kelly took care of us right when we walked in the door and had everything running smoothly. Â Bloody Mary's were solid. Brett was our server and never skipped a beat, which means a lot since my kids were drinking OJ like water. lol
Food was great, ideal to get there on the early side of the brunch and avoid the log jam at the omelet station. Â Kelly even offered up some vegetarian items to those who had requests, that's a plus!
I'll definitely be back next year for this setup! If you decide to go, MAKE A RESERVATION ;-)
PS: (Held back 5 stars due solely to plastic tableware)
We came here on a Saturday night with a party of 8 for a birthday hoping to have a great time. We called ahead to let them know we would be coming and were told at the most a 10 min wait. We ended up waiting for about 35min which was fine since we had planned to have drinks at the bar. The bar was horrible! So understaffed! One bartender and one bar back for the whole place. The drink wait was rediculous! Everyone at the bar seemed to be annoyed.
It took us reminding the hostess a few time that we were still there until she rememberede to seat us at the table that was already ready and waiting for us the whole time that we had been waiting. So frustrating. We ordered food and never saw our waitress again. 1hr 45min later and  very hunger and upset we find out that the order had not yet been placed and that they would send it now. We told them no thank you we were leaving and thats when the manager came out and offered a round of drinks on the house. That was it. Half of us were hungry and just wanted to stay but the other half was pissed and ready to go. So we stayed and waited 30 more min for our meals which were mediocre at best! I had a steak fajita which was good but everyone else said theirs was crap.
So we got their at 7:00 and left at 10:00. Service was horrible. Worst Ive ever had at a restauraunt by far! The had nothing really going on for a Saturday night either so the place was pretty boaring other then being on the river.
If you're hungry, go somewhere else. In fact... If you want a decent sized cocktail or even a decent waitress that can take a minute away from her phone to take your order, go somewhere else. Best bet if you're stuck coming here, sit at the bar. The bartender is the only person that seems to have a clue about how to do their job. From the kitchen to the management it was bad. Bad, bad, bad. Chowder; cold. Jumbalya; bland & cold. Steak; poor quality, orderered med-rare, came back ( after sending it back to up-temp to med) barely rare. Service was horrible, no one in the restaurant and we needed a flag to get service. yes, it is on the water... It might be fun in the summer but with Chevys and Perl next door I'm surprised this place is still here.
I came here because of yelp, I felt it was only fair to try to set the record straight.
Anyone who has spent a summer in Sacramento understands the importance of finding a good place to stay cool during the hot summer nights ... Crawdads was my go to place.
The patio at Crawdads is actually a floating barge... you aren't drinking near the river, you're drinking on the river. The vibe is always amazing here, at night they have live bands and dancing on the barge and it's always packed.
The food here is just as amazing as the setting. If you come here for a meal you have to order the crawfish bucket, it will blow your mind. If you love spicy cajun crawfish you will develop an obsession for the buckets of heaven they serve.
I lived two blocks from here my first year out of college (translation: I drank here on a nightly basis). I have endless fond memories of drinking with friends in the nighttime heat. I will always love this place  and never miss an opportunity to return for a drink.
I've been coming to this place for well over 8 years and I figure why not write a review about it. Â Crawdads River Cantina probably has the best view of the river but its truly only a place you'd want to go to during the warmer months (May through October). Â That alone deserves 2 stars all in itself which wins me over every time I visit this place.
Their food is also pretty decent quality; I came here with a group of friends last summer to celebrate our friends' birthday party and we all ordered something different. Â I ended up ordering the "Blackened Catfish" off the menu which included white beans, Andouille sausage with red pepper cream sauce and tomato fresca. Â The fish was very flavorful and the beans created a nice touch to the meal. Â I loved the mildness of the sausage as it helped provide many different flavors to the taste buds. Â
Another favorite item that I enjoy is the marinated flat iron steak meal. Â I usually order this medium to well so that a lot of the juices are preserved inside the steak. Â It also comes with a side of blue cheese mashed potatoes (which are damn good!) and baby carrots. Â It's a little pricey at $20 but still well worth every bite.
A lot of people though usually just come here for the drinks, music, and scenery but I highly recommend giving the food a try as well. Â They usually have a lot of different events going on as well as bands, a DJ that spins on various nights, and private parties. Â The only reason I am not giving this place 5 stars is because it is a little bit outdated on the inside and the service I've gotten from the bar hasn't been the greatest. Â But that's not going to stop me from going here since its a great place to go with a group and enjoy the warm summer nights.
Ate here with my BF and his mom. Â We sat on the outside deck area and were able to enjoy the sun, river view, and watch the boats pulling up to the deck to grab a bite.
Our server was nice, but hard to wave down at times. Â Our food was good and so were the drinks. Â All-in-all an A-OK place, hence the 3 stars.
If you do decide to eat outside, be prepared to put up with the rude people on the boats -- especially their excessively loud music. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Crawfish Etouffee. Â I should say more, but that really should do for a review: Â Crawfish Etouffee. Â You MUST try it.
I could have done without the dusting of the bowl. Â I think that just looks messy, but this food was amazing. Â Usually when Amazing and I go out to eat, we pass our plates to each other halfway through. Â This time, I was bargaining for more than half of my Etouffee. Â Not to say her blackened mahi sandwich was bad, it was excellent in fact. Â But come on!!! Â Crawfish Etouffee!!!!
Crawdads River Cantina is right on the river. Â You don't need to peek through trees or maneuver around to be able to see the river. Â It's RIGHT THERE. Â You are on it, especially if you sit outside, which I would definitely recommend.
When we first walked in, I'll be honest; it smelled a little like sewage right near the door inside the restaurant. Â I really hope that was a temporary thing. Â As we walked in, the hostess asked if we would like to sit inside or outside. Â We both said outside in unison. Â Good thing Mardi Gras was a beautiful day.
The service was decent. Â Throughout the meal we were left alone for the most part, but were checked up on. Â I think one thing more servers need to pay attention to is that most lunchtime crowd want to be in and out in 45-50 minutes. Â Â We ordered, were served, and ate in 40 minutes. Â Great timing. Â Then nothing. Â No check, no check-up, no nothing. Â After about 10 minutes of sitting at the table with empty plates, I got up to find someone to take my money. Â End game sucked.
But yeah, I'll be back. Â Guess why?
Crawfish Etouffee!!!!
We 3 ordered family style.
Gumbo for $15.99
Chowder bowl for $6.95
& their special of the day, a BBQ pulled pork sandwich on a toasted hamburger bun with a side salad for $15-ish
Gumbo wasn't as big as they described it as in a cast iron pot, it's definitely not worth the price. Also it had a strange taste that I couldn't place. Like a taste you get from combining so many spices together they cancel each other out and become a kind of anti-flavor. On the plus side the gumbo was nice and hearty with andouille sausage, chicken cubes, shrimp, bell pepper, and long grain white rice. The consistency of the gumbo was stew-y as it should be and was paired nicely with the rice but meh. I regret ordering it. Also comes with one slice of sourdough bread....for...presentation? I do not know.
The chowder was slightly better than I thought it would be given the gumbo but way too buttery. They probably put a ton of butter and heavy cream in the chowder, which is TOTALLY normal, yet still too much for me. Size was good for $6.95. They also serve the soup with a slice of sourdough bread.
The BBQ pulled pork reminded me of chinese char siu buns oddly enough.... The toasted bun was yum, my favorite part, and the meat was tender and not too chewy. But the flavor was just...similar to the gumbo...hard to place. BBQ + ketchup +...herb/flavor? It was a 3 star sandwich. The bf said it reminded him of a sloppy joe. So if you're in the mood for that and come on the right day I'm sure it'll satiate your appetite for ..well.. a sloppy joe. Erm. yeah.
Place reminded me of a Kitchen Nightmare restaurant in the making. So much potential yet still so mediocre. They just need "that something" extra to make them a nice restaurant. Rooting for ya Crawdads.
We were passing through the town and hoped to try something somewhat unique to Sacramento. A restaurant right on the American River? Sweet.
It was a unique dining experience sure, right on the river with a nice view of the length, but the ambiance and setting was little awkward. We were the only customers at noontime, which meant we had all the service and attention we wanted, but it was highly uncomfortable being the only people waited on. The restaurant itself is really cool. It has lots of seating outside so that you're right next to the water, but you would be a fool to sit out there anytime other than the summer. They also have a bar inside and an upstairs. Best of all, there's a cool little pedestrian bridge that you have to cross to get over the river. I love bridges.
We had the clam chowder and the file gumbo. We also had the pulled pork sandwich, which was a special. Andrew though the pulled pork sandwich was just like a sloppy joe, which he enjoyed. The clam chowder didn't look the most appealing at first sight, but it was actually pretty good because it had a ton of butter in it. The file gumbo was good, but not as spicy as I had hoped it would be. All in all, the food was not bad, but could be better.
Who needs an iphone when I have my car's GPS to find me random places to eat! Â
Jeff and I were on our way north for the rafting trip when we encountered traffic. Â Since I'm an unhappy camper in traffic, we pulled off for a place to eat. Â Found this random location by the water and after maneuvering thru the tricky parking lot which seemed to have beams everywhere, we followed the signs to Crawdad's. Â Sitting outside, we enjoyed our view of the predominantly white customer base and all the boats docked right next to our table. Â We watched people come and go on their boats and enjoyed the music from the boat load of middle aged men trying to flirt with girls young enough to be their daughters. Â
The staff were all mostly blonde and very perky and reminded me of me in high school. Â Only not so blonde, but somewhat perky in a dark sort of way because I hung out with perky blondes. Â I had the mahi mahi which was tasty, though the sauce it was in was a tad on the sweet side for me. Â Jeff had the jambalaya though he found it a tad spicy. Â The food was probably 3.5 stars, but the service was excellent as was the entire experience of finding this fun and random place. Â
It would have been a great place to kick back and enjoy a few beers in that warm balmy night. Â It also makes me want a boat ... or rather a boat that I don't have to paddle myself, or clean, or rig ... actually, I don't want a boat. Â I want a man with a boat.
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