The one positive: it's on the river. But its neighbor (buckhead's) beats it in price, selection, taste, atmosphere, service...
This is WAY overpriced. The server was inattentive. The food took forever to come out and was not nicely plated and not attractive. I got a salad that was thrown together and 99% lettuce (only 2 pieces of chicken and only 2 small chunks of the avocado they promised). Someone else got shrimp alfredo and it was almost all noodles.
To top it off, the music wad SO loud that we could barely talk. I will not be going back
I too my cousin here when she visited Cincinnati for the first time (among other laces, duh!). I know that Joe's in a national chain (went to the one in San Diego when I did the RNR Marathon there a few years ago), thinking that all the coastal states would have these restaurants. I was taken aback when I found out that there was one in Colorado and some more of the inland states.
The location is great, especially in summer (we saw a Red's game {we won!} after eating) because you get to see the river and all the steamboats (Belle of Cincinnati), sports boats, and jet skis.
I got the shrimp trio (crab stuffed shrimp, Malibu shrimp, and coconut shrimp!) and she got the Caribbean Feat (coconut shrimp, Maui mahi, and shrimp sauteed in a smokey chipotle sauce full of pineapple, bell pepper and onion). We shared and sampled each others.
As for drinks, she got a Wikiwiki Wave (Bacardi Coco Rum, blue curacao, banana liqueur, pineapple juice, and sweet & sour) and I got the Shark Bite (Bacardi Limón Rum, Skyy Vodka, blue curacao, sweet & sour and grenadine {comes in small tube with a small plastic shark on the end!} - when you mix in the grenadine, it looks like a shark just bite into a animal/person, hence the name! I would say that the downside is that it is rather expensive to go here (maybe once in a while).
At an early dinner there a few days ago. Eighty dollars including a fifteen dollar tip on $65 meals for two of us. Our server was friendly and efficient. The queen crab had good flavor and was a nice amount. However, the crab stuffed shrimp was disgusting and so were the cheesy mashed potatoes and coleslaw. No flavor at All and the potatoes tasted like dirt. I hadn't been in about twelve years to a different location. I will not return after this visit. Overpriced and red lobster is definitely better!
Review Source:Strawberry Daiquiri #2 - The Daiquiri was so-so, couldn't really taste much alcohol. Â This was definitely a mix, I'm hoping I can find a place that uses fresh fruit or something.
So, I used to love the food when I worked there, but my last experience was less the mediocre. Â I will say that the service was great, but it was my friend, so I'm partial to giving a good review for her. However, I do have to say, if you want a truly amazing server, request Louiza!! As for the food....blech. Â I got the Crab Nachos, but the chips were stale, the plate was painfully warm, and yet the food itself was medium warm....what's up with that.
Wow.. I'm really surprised to see all the negative reviews of this place! Every time I go we have fun, and the food has always been fantastic. The staff are usually always alot of fun and super nice & I watched my boyfriend single handedly eat a steam pot of food all by himself in a matter of hours. He even let me try a bite... haha
The view is pretty and I really enjoy sitting outside in the summer time. Every meal I've ever had was great and even the left overs I usually end up with the next day are good as well. Maybe I've just gotten lucky the few times I've gone or something?
The topper for me was the dessert... OMG. Smore's in a mini skillet.. are you serious?? I KNOW I could make it at home, but id' never look this pretty.. it was so good and I smiled the rest of the night.
I just mentioned it to the boyfriend since I'm reviewing it and he wanted to go right now.... Â The only reason it's not 5 stars is because it's not the BEST seafood I've ever had, but I'd go there any time.
UUgh. Â Joe's Crab Shack is the most over-rated, over-priced seafood place I have ever come across. Â I thought it was crappy when I first tried it in Florida over 10 years ago. Â I don't know why I thought it would be less crappy when they built one across the river from my hometown.
We went for lunch (two of us) and the only good thing I can say about the place (well, two things) is that the staff was very efficient and friendly, and the view of the Cincinnati Skyline was nice. Â Other than that, I could have scooped carp out of the Ohio River and it probably would have tasted just as good.
We both got seafood "sampler" platters that basically consisted of a heap of different seafood all fried in the same manner, thus all tasting alike. Â Add a few drinks in the "souvenir mason jars" and our total was over $80!! Â THAT'S EIGHTY DOLLARS...FOR LUNCH!!
I'll never go back. Â I don't care if someone else is paying. Â I'd rather have chain seafood like Red Lobster or preferably...take a little walk down the way and eat real seafood at the Chart House. Â Uugh.
So I'll start with the caveat that generally I'm not really full after going to an all seafood restaurant. Joe's Crab Shack looks like your typical seafood restaurant. The atmosphere is a very friendly environment with good service and a nice location by the river. Their menu consists of various buckets of seafood as their main draws.
Getting to the food now. The food is not cheap for what you get. I got the Classic Steampot and got it in the Sunset fire-grilled variant, which theoretically should be spiced. When the pot arrived, I was a little disappointed by the quantity and the taste. The shrimp was not the freshest and the crab legs weren't as filled with meat as I would have liked. Sadly the best tasting part of the meal was actually their corn on the cob. That and there was no spicy taste at all.
At the end of the day, it was definitely not a cheap meal and outside of the atmosphere it really is not worth the price.
We enjoyed Joe's several times in past, but its been over a year since our last visit. Â Boy, we were very disappointed with food quality this time. Â We had fried shrimp dinners (normally our favorite). Â Shrimp were soggy, gushy, off-color, lousy taste. Â Honestly, Long John Silvers shrimp is considerably better. Â Â Also disappointed with the tiny serving of cole slaw -- came in a tiny cup. Â Â At least the fries were good.
I thought it was odd that there were so few customers in the place when we arrived. Â Now we know why. Â
We won't be back.
Blah. I think that is the best word for Joe's Crab Shack. I don't have a problem with chain restaurants at all, I do however have a problem with Joe's attempt at seafood.
I've never been to other Joe's Crab Shacks so I can't speak on if this is an isolated experience or not. I love seafood and have been looking for a go to seafood joint that isn't going to set me back and unfortunately Joe's is a no go for me.
The problem here is pretty simple. Low quality food priced way too high. I made the mistake of ordering my favorite fish, salmon. After eating the dry depleted small nugget of fish I almost vowed to never eat salmon again but then I remembered how good salmon can actually be when done right.
The peel and eat shrimp (4) was priced ridiculously high especially for a restaurant that offers you shrimp that look like they were from Kroger out of the frozen food aisle. That's not really the problem. I would be (almost) fine if they actually tasted good. But it honestly seemed like they popped them in the microwave. Â
The decor is nice. It does offer you that sailor type atmosphere that is fun for families and groups. There are marlins hanging on the wall and ocean inspired pictures gracing the restaurant. They seem to be crowded on Friday and Saturday nights which is normal, even more so for chain joints like this.
I enjoyed Joe's Crab Shack as a child because I ordered fried foods like popcorn shrimp and fish sticks but that's really hard to mess up. When it comes to entrees the quality is just not sufficient enough for me to go here regularly or even at all.
I don't think I'll go back to Joes. They just don't offer up anything special. They have a great patio on the river which is unfortunate because it is being wasted in my opinion. The price is bad the food is worse and not even a well themed dining room area can save it. So unfortunately Joe your restaurant sinks in my mind because your Shack is a total shipwreck. Sorry, just telling it like it is.
A little slice of hell: noisy, white-trash atmosphere, mediocre food, terrible service. Last time we went, we waited something like 20 minutes for our check, all the while having to endure watching the servers dance a conga line through the restaurant. Like they don't have time to wait tables because management's making them do stupid tricks. The icing on the cake was being offered bread by the server, then being charged for it. From that experience I learned the lesson that if asked about anything, never assume it's free. But I still think charging for something that usually IS free is pretty cheesy. I hate Joe's so much I'd go hungry before I'd eat there again.
Review Source:A long time ago when I was much younger I used to be a fan of Joe's. I've since outgrown that phase, but alas sometimes convenience just wins out over venturing out somewhere new. Since Joe's was in the same parking lot as my hotel, it made for an easy dinner a couple of nights this week.
Joe's has a very simple menu now, featuring a lot of steamed/boiled items. They have different "pots" with different combinations of shell fish, crabs steamed/bbq'ed and seasoned in different ways, a few fried items and generally nothing overly fancy. I think on the whole it works for them, although I have to say their food still seemed to take an inordinately long time to come out.
The first night I was there I did the dungeness crab with Old Bay seasoning - good but nothing outstanding. The second night it was stuffed shrimp (picture shrimp scampi with a crab meat stuffing) that was also just OK.
If you have kids and are looking for a quasi-party atmosphere, Joe's is a great place to go. If you're looking for good seafood, drive on by.
Ennnhhh...that about sums up my appraisal of Joe's Crab Shack. I'm really a lover of all things crustacean, but living in Northern Kentucky, I don't often get to indulge this culinary romance. Joe just complicates my relationship, making it love/hate.
I've returned to this kitschy seafood chain several times, hoping each time my previous visit was just a one-off experience. Nope, the food is just mediocre. Though the portions are ample, prices reasonable, and service good, I just don't think Joe's lives up to the expectations I have about a place that specializes in crabs. The product is often blemished and the place smells, um, fishy.
On a summer evening, we stopped by Joe's Crab Shack for a late dinner. We ate on the patio, but they were out of something that should have been a staple, don't remember if it was steamed shrimp or exactly what. We chose two other selections that were ok. Good casual atmosphere, average food and prices. Service was slow. Haven't been back since nothing was out of the ordinary.
Review Source:We visited on a Saturday night around 8pm. It was slammed when we got there and only waited 20 minutes for a table.
The environment was fun and family-friendly. The food was fantastic.
I only gave 4 stars because the service was awful. Not sure if our waitress was having a bad night but ALL of the tables in her section were complaining to the managers.
Once seated, the restaurant had cleared out but it took 30 minutes to get our drinks and put our order in.
Either way, we relaxed and had a great time and cut the waitress some slack. Â :)
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