Joe’s Crab Shack
50 Shawan Rd, Cockeysville, MD, 21030
Joe’s Crab Shack Menu
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Address :
50 Shawan Rd
Cockeysville, MD, 21030 - Phone (410) 771-1259
- Website https://www.joescrabshack.com/
- Click To Get Directions
Opening Hours
- Mon :11:00 am - 11
Specialities
- Takes Reservations : No
Delivery : No
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Good For : Dinner
Parking : Private Lot
Bike Parking : Yes
Good for Kids : Yes
Good for Groups : Yes
Attire : Casual
Ambience : Casual
Noise Level : Average
Alcohol : Full Bar
Outdoor Seating : Yes
Wi-Fi : No
Has TV : No
Waiter Service : Yes
Caters : No
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Jeff J.
Out of site - out of mind. A term I use often, in the food business, know where your customers are or don't seat them in the "garage area" and forget them. Server was non-professional, (very new) at her job. Drinks took forever. I ordered a Hurricane. It said the limit was 2. Not sure if that was due to the cheap alcohol they made it with or what - but it was a gross concoction. All of the food we had was pretty much a 7/10. You could see where they nuked the food as the broccoli was yellowed and the sauce cup wrinkled from the microwave. Ahhh, restaurant secrets. Fresh doesn't always mean that and it's really common to have "chains" buy pre-packaged space like food entrees so they serve quickly. Ever eat mouthwatering baby-back ribs at a chain? Do you really think they cook them 4 hours at 160 degrees? Took some pics, ate and left. This store was clean and well decorated. We all still prefer Darden's Red Lobster or Bonefish Grill for a chain. We had a really bad (1/2 star) experience at Joes in California... Hasn't been the same for us since, but it was there and we needed lunch. Ehhhh, try a local place Yelpers. This wasn't bad, just not great.
(3)Samantha K.
My mother, husband, and I went here for dinner. The place was barely half full and it took 15 minutes before a hostess seated us. We ordered drinks - waited 30 minutes. When I asked the waitress when our drinks would be ready, she seemed aggravated and told me another table that arrived before us was still waiting for their drinks, and that it is the bartender's fault. My husband and I ordered the same cocktail, yet when they finally arrived, they were different colors and tasted differently. Our food took forever and was mediocre. We had to ask for clarified butter, silverware, etc because none was provided. Other people at tables around us paid their checks and left. No one came by to clean their tables. Not worth the money. I'd never go again.
(1)Tim H.
Good steamed shrimp. Great stuffed mushrooms with crab. Awesome steam pots and depending on what seafood items you chose makes the experience different, never the less the steam pot in my opinion is the way to go. They offer crab, shrimp and lobster. Even MD style steamed crabs. Steak and chicken is on the menu with some other entree items. If you like seafood and want an experience and food that is consistent give this place a try. Thanks for reading my review. This review is based off of my personal experience and opinion.
(4)Candace B.
Went last night for a family members birthday dinner, it was a party of 11. We got there around 730p & were promptly seated. The restaurant only had 3 other tables of guests so we figured our service would be fast. WRONG. The waiter took forever to do everything--bring waters, take orders, Etc. We got the crab dip appetizer, which was fair but kinda weird being served with tortilla chips. Two of my family members ordered shrimp Alfredo, the manager came out after like 10 mins to say they "ran out" of Alfredo (not sure how you run out of heavy cream, cheese and butter---but ok sir) so they had to make more. It took about 35 minutes for us to get our meals & by this time we were the only party in the whole restaurant (except for one couple). The entrees weren't too tasty. My sis said the cheesy chicken looked gross (it did--a greenish yellow cheese sauce poured over fried chicken breast). I had the garlic crab legs--which didn't taste like garlic & were a bit difficult to crack. I got tired of eating them afterwhile & felt like I wasted my money . Our waiter also refused to split our check & it caused us to be there to EVEN LONGER because we had multiple forms of payment. We didn't leave the restaurant until 10pm (we got there at 730, remember?). I won't be returning to any Joes locations. This building seems brand new but idk how long they'll be around with poor food and spotty service. I would've been more satisfied with red lobster
(2)Thu D.
This place is HEINOUS and I do not use that word lightly. My bf and I came here for a late dinner before going out since it just opened in his neighborhood and we assumed the food would at least halfway decent since we were eating seafood in Maryland. Boy were we so so wrong. The atmosphere of the restaurant is like a beach hut, which my boyfriend said reminded him of a cafeteria. This was very fitting for the meal, but honestly, I think cafeteria food is better. To start, we ordered the classic sampler, which includes the crab dip, great balls of fire, and crispy calamari. I should've known not to order something called "the great balls of fire," but our waitress said they were really popular so we just went with it. Everything on that platter was either inedible or very mediocre. I thought the great balls of fire were awful and am positive that it would rip your insides apart as the name suggests if you ate more than a bite. They weren't really spicy, but just tasted like cream cheese and fat. The calamari was okay, but came out with an itsy bitsy serving of marinara. The crab dip was more butter and cream cheese than crab and came with a side of very greasy chips. Considering how awful the appetizer was, we should've just paid and eaten dinner somewhere else; unfortunately, we ordered our entrée with our appetizers, so we were subjected to more food abominations. Next we had a crab cake dinner and one of the steam pots (not sure which, but it doesn't really matter since I doubt any of them are good). The crab cakes actually came out cold and when we told our waitress, she promptly took it back to the kitchen and returned with a plate of BURNT crab cakes. I'm not sure if the cook thought it was funny to give us burnt (Re: super hot) crab cakes or if that's how they serve them normally, but we decided to forgo sending it back again for try #3. The steam pot was full of very soggy shrimp, crab, and potatoes and we ate what we considered edible. I'm not sure if all locations are similar to this one, but I would not recommend or return to a Joe's Crab Shack because of this experience. The meal wasn't cheap either ($70+), which baffles my mind why people would go there for food of that quality for that price. The only upside to that meal was that my boyfriend and I got a good long laugh at the experience and were looking forward to writing a Yelp review to tell people to steer clear of Joe's Crab Shack. After all, they don't call it a shack for no reason...
(1)Janee' D.
Last night the hubby and I ate dinner here for the third time. Service is consistently mediocre. We had the shrimp basket appetizer. It was bland and limp. The king crab in the crab pot has always been pretty good but he corn and potatoes are sometimes soggy. We had the Bairdi crab pot this time which was meaty but the seasoning was just ok. The side of hush puppies was really good as was the Hurricane. The apple crumble dessert wasn't anything special. This location just doesn't live up to other Joe's I've been to.
(3)LOUISE D.
The food was good. The service was awful. After waiting over 30 min for my order, I started to walk out. My server saw me and rushed into the kitchen to bring out my order. Then I had to find him to ask for silverware. Since I had a platter that included fish and calamari, I wanted silverware. Then I had to ask for the coleslaw that came with the platter. The server's reason for slow service in a restaurant less than 1/3 full was that they had more cooks on Friday and Saturday. Since this a chain that probably has most platters premade except for cooking, that seems odd. The fish and calamari were called just right. The hush puppies were a lot spicier than I like, buy that is personal taste. The manager came over to ask how I was enjoying the meal and I told him the wait time was awful, but the food was good. He comped me for the hush puppies. I may try this or another location sometime to see if service is always so slow and haphazard.
(2)James F.
Ok, now I understand the negative reviews. I don't like writing negative reviews. But It's now been a couple more birthday dinners here that have really left a bad taste in my mouth, literally. The food seems to be getting worse as time goes on. Tonight's meal had a crab cake that was nearly inedible and probably 70% filler and a lobster that had been left in the pot for way too long. Not sure how they can stay in business serving seafood when the quality control is so poor. Unfortunately my kids love this place due to the playground so I suspect I'll be back for another birthday dinner:(
(2)Tyesha C.
The drinks here are always fantastic. I was just slightly disappointed that they ran out of the appetizer that I wanted. Stopped this from being a 5 star for me. Its 3 and a half hours before closing so that's not nice! Waiting on our 2nd choice appetizer now. I have been here before and enjoy that calm low crowd atmosphere. I'll update on my order if it will impact my review. Anyway, EAT AT JOE'S!!!
(4)Jeni P.
Visited Joe's Crab Shack with a group of seven. Waited over thirty minutes for a table even though the restaurant was mostly empty. It happens that my visit fell on Tuesday with the $2 specials. They were out of almost all of the items that they advertised. Waited almost thirty more minutes for drinks and a total of an hour for food most of which was wrong or burnt. Definitely do not recommend this location! Hope they get their act together as I usually enjoy this chain.
(1)MaryAnn S.
This is the second time I've eaten here. The first time - late afternoon was much better. We had crab legs both times. Last evening 7PMish, the service was pretty bad. The "shell" on my crab legs was not crispy, a little difficult to break open cleanly. Do they sit around back in the kitchen? Since those early in the day were snappier. Also if you really want to get the last drop of meat, bring your own picks. At these prices you'll want to.
(3)Brian R.
Let me preface this review with this. I have a very good memory, and remember every restaraunt I've ever eaten. So take it as no hyperbole that this was the 2nd worst meal I've ever had in my life. We immediately get seated and are greeted by our waitress, who introduces herself and takes our drink orders. We then have another waitress who comes to our table, and sits down and says that she is our waitress and the other waitress was wrong and wants to hear our orders again. Our drinks are then brought out by a 3rd waitress. So already off to a good start. Eventually, they figure out who our actual waitress is (It was waitress #1). We had a party of 3. We split the fish and chips and the eastern shore platter. The food came out out in a reasonable amount of time, and we don't think it was poisonous, but the compliments stop there. The food was so greasy and salty and tasted terrible. Being from Baltimore I love crabcakes, and while I appreciated a great one, am usually content even with bad ones. this marked the first time in my life I couldn't finish a crabcake. It just tasted terrible. The only part of the food anyone at our table enjoyed were the french fries. Shrimp was salty and greasy, fish was tasteless and greasy. We will never be going to a Joe's Crab Shack again, that is for certain.
(1)Avery S.
The service is extremely slow. The food is horrible. I won't be back. The restaurant was empty and still that slow. Wow.
(1)Duchess B.
I can't speak for the food as I do not go here to eat. Joe's Crab Shack is a chain restaurant so they really don't make seafood as U.S. Baltimoreans would like but if you do go don't forget to order a category 5 hurricane with a limit of 2. That's why I give them 4 stars
(4)Kanzas G.
First time ever eating here. My mom had a taste for seafood so she picked Joe's. There was a total of 4 people in our party and the hostess informed us that they were short staffed for the day (around 3 or 4 pm). Our waitress was extremely nice in accommodating the requests of my picky brother and mother. We ordered coconut shrimp, steamed shrimp, fried shrimp, lump crab cake sandwich and hush puppies. The only person who enjoyed their meal was my brother but he'll eat pretty much anything. The crab cake was extremely mushy in the middle like it was undercooked and the roll that it was on was burned. The fried shrimp and coconut shrimp that my mom and sister had were not cooked all the way. They complained that it was rubbery and that it lacked flavor. The hush puppies that I had were hot when they came out but, once you tasted it, it was like eating cardboard. I'm hoping the food doesn't always taste like this because, I hear great things about the restaurant. I hope it was due to the short staffing issues. Maybe we'll give them a try again on a day when they are better staffed.
(3)Amanda C.
Can you give a place negative 5 stars? This place is despicable. First time I came, months ago, loved it. Tonight, however, was the worst experience I have ever had in a restaurant. Soggy fries. OMG. And the crab... Where do I begin. Hard as a rock, not a solid piece of meat to be found. Warm beer. I can't even go on. Don't go... Just don't. I won't even get into how bad the service was. They comped our $80 meal because they knew how gross it was.
(1)Kevin P.
We are big Joe's Crab Shack fans but this location is just terrible... The kitchen couldn't get an order right if they tried. I asked for Chesapeake Seasoning on my pot and got extra Creole, my wife ordered Queen Crab and got Snow Crab instead, added Dungeness Crab cluster was ice cold, and the Upside Down Pineapple cake came out like a cold sponge... Waitress was super nice and apologetic but it was out of her hands and control. Manager said they were very under staffed in kitchen and weren't prepared for a busy night... There were 5 total tables on a Tuesday night? Please don't judge Joe's by this location but do yourself a favor and don't eat here!
(1)Tray D.
Happy hour at Joe's!!!!!!! Great prices half of apps and drinks. My co-workers and I go after work.... quiet place to watch the game nice and friendly wait staff
(4)Mark D.
Place was empty. Still took an hour for our food to be served. My crab cake sandwich came out completely burnt. Now I know why the place was empty
(1)Brittany S.
I've experienced better is right! I might be a seafood snob but I don't care! Born and raised in MD, we definitely have the best seafood and I promised myself I'd never visit a chain seafood place because it would just be a waste of money. Well... I was right! I was dragged here by out-of-towners who think this is good seafood... the crab dip was the worst crab dip I've had. It had a funny taste to it, I couldn't really tell you what I was because I didn't want to waste calories trying to figure out why it was so bad. The artichoke dip on the other hand was A-OK. I ordered the stuffed shrimp with rice and seasonal veggies. Yuck. The shrimp were overcooked and dry, the crab meat was missing in the crab imperial and I did get a few shells. Really, the shrimp weren't even stuffed, they were in a little dish covered by crab imperial. The rice was cooked perfectly but tasted bland and had a weird after taste, I've never had rice that tasted weird. The seasonal veggies were just as horrible, there were like 5 steamed snap peas I guess they were and they were hard to eat... I'll spare you the details. I got the peach sangria which was really good and cute because it came in a mason jar, but everybody is doing that now-a-days. My wallet and stomach were not happy with me that whole night and next day after. Save yourself and eat real MD seafood!
(2)Tag W.
They have perfected the art of incompetence. Sunday lunch with no more than 4 other tables filled and the wait is over 45 minutes and still no food. The federal government is more motivated than this staff. 30 minutes after our order they tell us they are out of salad. This place is horrific. It breeds apathy.
(1)Lauren S.
Came in last night with my boyfriend at 9, and got seated right away. Of course being a Sunday night it will be empty. However don't let that deter you! I got the crab cake, boyfriend got garlic muscles. The muscles were awesome. Tender, garlicy, and good. My crab cake was also surprising! Seasoned well, moist, yummy, and well very surprising. We got the s'mores desssert and it was also very yummy. Service was prompt and friendly, and not overbearing! I'll happily come back.
(4)Jun Z.
I was driving by yesterday. I ordered one coke and a Cajun crab pot. Coke's good(if less ice cubes would be better). When I tried to grab the folk and knife for the sausage which is part of the crab pot, the limescale(definitely not cleaned properly) on the knife forced me to have the sausage using my bare hands. Crab pot is decent, the sauce is tasty. I like the corn and potato in the pot, but some of the potato's not very fresh. Water was dropping onto my table through the roof, I ended up moving to another table. All in all its not worth 40$ per person for a dinner in this place.
(3)Jon F.
Will never go back to Joe's Crab Shack. Started out with a server who when asked a question about food ingredients responded with "I am just a server. I don't know what does it say on the menu?" One of our party ordered a hamburger. He was told they were out of hamburgers. Another of our party asked for broccoli as a side which had been recommended. Server came back to the table and advised they were out of broccoli. We asked for the manager who could not be found. And the server disappeared too. Not much a crowd which should have clued us in to how bad this place was.
(1)Jessica O.
I was in town visiting from Jersey and had a very pleasant experience. Maybe it's because I'm not from the area but whatever it was the servers were great and I could tell that they had a genuine interest in ensuring that we had a pleasant evening and enjoyed our meals. I had a specialty drink and left the evening with a souvenir glass which was very nice. The food was delicious and filling.
(5)Mimi H.
Absolutely atrocious, I tasted way better crab cakes at a dundalk diner for f**ck sake. they might as well call my platter the fried bread platter because i could not detect any seafood in it whatsoever. f**cking waste of money and time. DO NOT EVEN GET CURIOUS ABOUT THIS ONE
(1)Sharon H.
Went for lunch yesterday w/ a group of work friends. There were 8 of us and only 4 other patrons in the entire place. The waiter was attentive, quickly got our drinks and took our food order. 45 mins later our food finally arrived. Now, like most folks, we get 1 hour for lunch so 45 mins is unexceptable by lunch standards, IMO. And, since the place wasn't even crowded... unexplainable. The food was awful. I had a salad w/ a crabcake on top. The salad was 98% lettuce, 1% blackbean and corn salsa (seriously, I had to dig through the large leaves of lettuce to even find it) and 1% PLASTIC... (yes, there was plastic in my salad). The crabcake was nicely sized, however the meat was just gross. I live in MD so I know good (and bad) crabmeat and this was just awful. I think the plastic may have tasted better... You might ask why I didn't send the salad back since it had plastic in it.... remember the 45-minute wait I mentioned? Yeah, I didn't have time to get a new salad. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have tasted any better. This place is pricey too... so keep that in mind. They don't have a big lunch menu so they clearly are not targeting the lunch crowd. The one bright spot of the meal was the Chipotle dressing for the salad. Now that was good. Stay away from this place... no one in my group enjoyed their meal. So many better places to eat.... don't waste your time at Joe's.
(1)Marshall E.
Don't understand the poor reviews. Food was pretty good(lots of meat in the crab legs) an our waiter was stellar and really funny. Prices are a bit high but I would come back here.
(4)Bryan E.
The food was just sad and disappointing. The crab dip was bland and had absolutely no seasoning or bite to it. The chips served with the dip were so inconsistent: either gooey, greasy, chewy or coated in salt. I ordered fish & chips. Fries were just ordinary, which was okay. The fish was almost inedible. Two of the three pieces were cooked to a dark brown and were so hard hitting them with a knife or fork did not make a dent or even a chip. The beer flavor of the one I was able to partially eat completely overpowered the fish flavor. My wife ordered the fish and shrimp. She described it as average but too greasy. A stack of paper towels helped soak up a great deal. While the fish did taste good, the shrimp ranged from okay to rubbery to mushy. We left as wanting for a decent meal as we went in. The quality of the food did not even meet MEDIOCRE. Positives: while the hostess spoke to the ceiling or walls when she addressed us, our wait staff were extremely nice and friendly. We will not be returning and will not be recommending this restaurant.
(1)Sam F.
Ok maybe a little noisy, and you get a bib and bucket if you are eating crab, but the king crab was delicious and the crab cakse as best I've had. Hush pups were piping hot and delicious. Throw in a couple of new potatoes and an ear of corn...great meal for what it was!
(4)Ryan T.
The biggest waste of money spent in a long time! Portion size compared to price was ridiculous! May have overlooked the skimpy amount of food if it at least tasted good but there was no flavor in any of the items except the sausage (which was tasty, good smokey flavor). Thank God we had peanut butter crackers in the car for the ride home!
(1)Kathy T.
Solid meh. I went for lunch and got the soup & salad combo. The soup was allegedly Lobster Bisque but there was zero evidence that lobster was involved in any part of the preparation. It was basically a bowl of wallpaper paste, but with less flavor. The salad was a GIANT bowl of iceberg lettuce with anemic tomatoes and microscopic flakes of other vegetables. The only good thing about the meal was the avocado lime dressing. It was delicious but we had to ask for more because the portion they served was completely insufficient to cover the 5 heads of lettuce in the bowl. Soup and salad is all you can eat at lunch, but who wants more of something mediocre to begin with? My friend asked for more soup and got a tiny bowl that was about a quarter of the size of the first bowl.
(2)Brenda S.
I visited there on 3 different occasions. Two of the times I had a child with me. They loved it. Especially the paint your crab dessert. I have not had a bad experience at the Hunt Valley location. Everything tasted good and the staff was very prompt and courteous. The manager even came to our table and asked how things were. I was waited on in a mannerly fashion. I would recommend this location to any one interested in seafood. Great place to take children. They have a ship outside that a child can play on. I will go back in the future.
(5)Henry J.
Have tried Joe's three times and now: twice for dinner, once (Sept 2014) for lunch. Service is very slow, even when not many customers are there. The food is fast-food-ish at non-fast- food prices.
(3)Paul W.
I spend a lot of time in Seattle, this one is simple, lousy service, skimpy servings, way over priced
(1)Megan F.
Last night we decided to give the place a try. Sara, our waitress was nice enough. We ordered two steam pots as they looked amazing, and like a lot of food on the menu. It took about 35 minutes from the time we placed our order for it to hit the table. And when it did finally arrive it was all I could do to not send it back. It was dismal, actually really sad looking. I had the KJ steamer sauce on the side (luckily because it was gross). The scallops were the size of a quarter and chewy as can be. I got two halves of crab legs of which 3 legs were missing and one rotten. I also got about 8 of the smallest mussels you've ever seen. Needless to say I left and had to get something to eat afterwards. I think for the money I should have left stuffed and happy. Glad I spent $73 on that meal. I would have rather gone to a buffet (and I loathe buffets!!).
(1)Wallace S.
After a twenty minute wait without any service we were losing our patient with this establishment. A manager finally came over and apologized for the service and offered us a free appetizer. My wife decided to get the lobster bowl and I decided to get shrimp and crab bowl with a free order of shrimp. Over all we had a nice experience after we got over the first twenty minutes of being overlooked. I think the manager spoke to our server, she was at our table ever ten or fifteen minutes asking if we needing anything. I wish this establishment would put a flat screen in the dinning area. I notice they had one in the bar area only. Over all the food was good me and my wife would definitely visit Joe's Crab Shack again.
(2)Abigail V.
Not my thing. Service was slow. The food I got was bland and dry. Not to mention this place is LOUD. There weren't even that many people there. The building seems to echo all the noise around the room so it sounds like there's 50 people in there, when there's only 5 tables taken. The Tables are huge, which is nice for 4 people, but when you put 2 of them together and place 1 person at each end, those people cannot hear each other. My dad actually got up half way through the meal and sat next to me so we could talk. Terrible atmosphere. I got the clam chowder, that was pretty yummy and the highlight of the meal. Nice chunks of clam :) However, it didn't come out until 5 minutes before our dinner. It took about 30-45 minutes to get our meals. I got the Maui Mahi, which was dry and came with okay green beans and BORING rice. The entire meal was tasteless. Not to mention I asked for the pico de gallo on the side and that was not the case. By the way, the menu says "pineapple pico de gallo" but what came out was avocado and onions. The avocado was not ripe, and was incredibly tasteless. No pineapples :/ My fiance liked his crab stuffed shrimp, but was also victim to the boring rice. Overall, the service was slow and the only things I liked were the clam chowder and the mudslide I ordered for dessert. Loud, obnoxious place! Maybe younger families enjoy it more?? I don't know. Not for me. I will not be returning.
(1)John W.
First - I've eaten at Joe's three other times, different locations, on business trips.. And I'm not a big fan. I've found the food tasteless and overcooked. My wife and I were in Hunt Valley, MD. She had not tried Joe's before and wanted to give them a try. I was not too enthused but succumbed as a good husband should . . . So my wife did like her meal! "B" had the Fish and Chips (substituted onion straws for the chips). Also some fried shrimp with her order. She found her food fresh and not too greasy for fried food. Mine - I picked the Crawfish Half & Half. One "half" was the fried crawfish. Not too bad. Quite a few of the little guys. Not too much flavor other than the breading and seafood sauce dip. The other "half" was a crawfish étouffée. Yeah, not so good on this one . . . Kind of bland with the predominant flavor being salt. Sauce had a chalky consistency. Crawfish texture in the sauce was rather "mushy." Needless to say, my opinion of Joe' s remains the the same. On par, maybe slightly less (but more expensive) than Red Lobster. I'm not an alcohol drinker. My business associates that love Joe's Crab Shack often have consumed 4 or 5 beers by the time the entree arrives. Maybe that's the secret to "Joe's appreciation" - inebriation!
(2)Amber J.
I always enjoy coming to this restaurant because the food is good as well as the customer service. The only complaint i had was when asked for hot butter what i received was cold and only half melted/half solid butter. But i will say i am not a big eater so they give the right amount of food but if you have a big appetite this is not the place to go.
(4)Amanda I.
Decor was great, parking was good, and not quite as crowded as the rest of the Hunt Valley restaurants. Service was very on top of things and friendly. Had a few friends with food allergies and they were very responsive. I got the crab pot which was really good. Lots of food and leftovers for later.
(4)Glenn M.
I met my good friend at Joe's after calling an audible as my friend originally chose Wegmans, but I wanted to try Joe's after seeing their commercials. Being almost completely empty at prime time on Thurs night should have been my first clue. While waiting at the bar for my friend to arrive, the bartender finally arrived to take my order between 5-10 minutes. Not getting a happy feeling ... After we're seated, I check the menu and of course am drawn in by the explosive, colorful images of the steam pots overflowing with a variety of regional seafood favorites. I order the classic, overflowing steam pot with 2 kinds of crab, shrimp, corn and potatoes. After 20-25 minutes the food arrives ... I knew immediately I'd later be writing a negative review on Yelp ;-) I honestly don't know how they do it with a straight face ... the pot was huge, and inside the pot was a small plate with the food that would have filled about 25% of the pot had the meal been delivered in the pot as seen in the menu images ... just embarrassing. Instant F- Other than that, the food was average to below average, many times I waited 10-15 minutes for a drink refill and the peach mango drink I was looking forward to wasn't delivered in the mason jar like in the photo. Topping off this hot mess, we had to scrounge salt from another table, and ask the waitress 3 times before I could get any butter for my bone dry potatoes. If you're considering trying Joe's because it looks flashy or new or you saw the commercials ... don't. You'll have saved your family or friends money and a bad experience. Wegman's, Carrabba's, Outback, Noodles, Barrett's Grill, CPK, Sakura, Jesse Wongs, Panera and Chick Fil-A are a 5 min walk away. LOOK AWAY! LOOK AWAY!
(1)Sherris M.
I go here often and am always pleased with the food. One day I'm going to jump in the line dancing with the staff. lol
(4)A. C.
(11/15/2012) Houston-originated seafood chain (?) has opened it's newest Maryland location at Hunt Valley, perfect for suburbanites who don't want to venture to a real crab house and maybe those who just prefer not to buy local seafood? Started with Bucket of Shrimp, 18 count (maybe around U26-30); steamed in beer, seasoned with Old Bay, not bad. The Lobster Daddy steampot was somewhat meager portions of previously-frozen shellfish (a split lobster tail, 2 lobster claws, 2 snow crab halves, and 2 claws), corn on the cob and 2 Red Bliss potatoes; got the Garlic Herb seasoning (bland) and drawn butter on the side (necessary). Simply Grilled Salmon was aptly named, one of the plainest plates I've seen in a while: slab of dry, overgrilled salmon on a plate with pile of white rice and side of steamed broccoli; can't get simpler than that (goes for the flavors, too). Best order was the Hush Puppies, good spicy kick with fresh bits of jalapeno, green onions and corn, deep-fried a dark golden brown; moist, not too sweet. Side Caesar Salad came undressed, but quickly remedied with a cup of dressing. Service was youthful, but pretty on top of things. Decor is ersatz hippie (peace, love and crabs)/surfer zen (tie dye and surf board decor)/NE seafood shack (corrugated metal and fishing gear) vibe; it's frenetic, confused with its own identity and totally overblown, like having dinner at a Disney theme-park. Notably, the other Maryland locations are in Gaithersburg, Arundel Mills, and Bel Air; we're talking the suburbiest of the suburbs we've got in the state, home of transplants, temporary assignees and corporate business parks. I honestly wonder, with all of the water trade traditions in Maryland, how long a place like this can survive, or maybe, because of dying traditions, there's a reason why this place exists at all.
(1)Melissa D.
Used to go to Joe's in Nashville and Orlando in past residences! Was very excited to dine at this one, and we went at 4:30pm on a Sunday to avoid the masses. The restaurant is huge!!! Very clean and nicely decorated. Though who cares about that right? My daughter immediately spotted the big playset which is accessible through the restaurant. Huge plus in my eyes, since she stayed occupied until our food came. Service was S...L...O...W!!! Took forever to get our drinks and soup. We ordered the lobster bisque which was just ok, was very mild. Didn't have that lingering flavor that I look for. I ordered the new stuffed clam appetizer as my meal. Stuffed with clams, scallops, and shrimp. Very tasty, as was the spicy tabasco based mayo sauce that came with it for dipping. The kids meals are moderately priced, though the rest of the menu is very high. My mom had the bacon wrapped shrimp which she found to be just ok. I think the novelty of the place has worn off, since it just was ok. There were many other things I would've gotten, but the price tag just wasn't worth it. I don't think I'd be back to this location. I'd drive a little further to Baltimore for some better seafood worth the price. This restaurant would be seated better further from a good seafood based location such as Baltimore...more inland where seafood is more scarce...making it worth the higher prices. Maybe.
(3)Adila B.
Went there for the first time with my whole family. 11 people including 3 kids. It was bad experience from start to finish. It seems like the place was run by a bunch of teenagers. The hostess advised us it would be a 20 min wait. After 30 minutes, we went to inquire about the wait and saw that there were lots of tables empty and the patio was completely empty. She told us it would be another 5-10 minutes. Then when our "table" was ready, she proceeded to take us onto the empty patio. I didn't really understand why we waited 30 minutes only to be seated on an empty patio. We requested to sit inside and had to wait another 5 minutes for them to put the tables together. Then the food was horrible and the service was so slow! It took forever to get our food. The popcorn shrimp was mushy. My crab cakes were inedible. It was dry and looked like someone microwaved it too much. Even the burgers were over cooked and dry. The food had no flavor and did not look fresh. No one liked their food except for my mother and she got a salad! We will not be going back...ever! I do not recommend this restaurant to anyone. Go to Red Lobster if you are looking for a seafood chain restaurant!
(1)Evan C.
Nice atmosphere and decent crabs considering this is a chain. Kids really enjoyed it and we will return. Not cheap.
(3)