Joe's Crab Shack - Oceanside

Review summary

1. S

   Stephanie

   Orange County1 review

   5.0

   Dined today

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Our experience at Joe’s Crab Shavk in Oceanside was wonderful! The staff went above and beyond to help us celebrate my boyfriend’s 50th!! They were so nice and accommodating with our birthday cake! The staff was SO nice and the food was great!! Thank you!
   

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2. M

   Michael

   San Diego1 review

   5.0

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   We are a party of nine: grandparents; children; and, grandchildren. Lots of different food and drink orders, and the servers handled it all with no problems. The food was quit good and the prices were reasonable. To top it all off, the view of the harbor on a sunny day is beautiful.
   

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3. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   Orlando1 review

   5.0

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Our server Cheryl, and the server she was training went above and beyond to make sure we were satisfied with everything. Every visit to Joe’s is great but Cheryl made this one even more fantastic, thank you!
   

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4. C

   Cassandra

   San Diego1 review

   2.0

   Dined on 27 February 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   Went there for a birthday dinner with 15 people on a Wednesday night. Reservations for 6:45. We were sat at 6:30, so that was great. There were maybe 5 tables total including ours with people at them for dinner, so a per show night. Server came and took our drink orders and didn’t ask about any appetizers. We didn’t get those drinks for about 15 minutes, only 2 were mixed drinks and 3 were beers, the rest were waters. 🤦🏻‍♀️ When we finally got our drinks, we ordered, and had to order appetizers and food at the same time🤦🏻‍♀️ So we did. We didn’t see our food or appetizers for almost an hour! The six kids we had with us were tired and hungry. You would think the kids food would come out quicker since we asked if they could bring it out as soon as it was done for them…. My daughter and my niece were the last two to get their food. By this time, it’s almost 8:30 already! I could understand this on a busy Saturday night with a large party but waiting for an hour for food, it’s like there needs to be a disclaimer for diners to pre order because a steam pot takes x amount of time to cook 🤷🏻‍♀️ We didn’t leave until after 9:15. As soon as we finished eating, we did a little cake for my husband, quickly ate and then left. We were all exhausted and my family had to travel back to Hemet. The service has definitely slowed at Joe’s and we were not happy with our experience. Taking 3 hours at a restaurant where the majority of it was spent super hungry and waiting for food? Very unfortunate.
   

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5. YN

   YolandaN

   Los Angeles7 reviews

   3.0

   Dined on 5 February 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 5

   Our crab dinner was served cold. Won't be back for awhile
   

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6. S

   Steve

   San Diego48 reviews

   3.0

   Dined on 5 January 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 3

   Decent but not great. The place was loud as hell, making conversation difficult. Food was good, but nondescript. Service was lacking a bit — had to keep calling for help to bring obvious things like silverware setups, condiments, etc. Overall, pretty average. I wouldn't refuse to go there again, but I wouldn't be seeking it out either.
   

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7. S

   Simon VIP

   Denver42 reviews

   4.0

   Dined on 2 January 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 3

   Very informal atmosphere and comfortable. Katie our server very good. Food quality also very good. LIMITED wine/beer list, but overall very good experience. NOT inexpensive.
   

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8. J

   James

   Orange County1 review

   5.0

   Dined on 24 December 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Outstanding service and friendly customer environment
   

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9. S

   Shauna

   San Diego8 reviews

   4.0

   Dined on 23 December 2024

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   The crab was really good and you get a lot for the price. You can share a bag and add extra items to it. The appetizer wasn’t good. The calamari was good the rest of the appetizer wasn’t freshly cooked. The server was excellent and really fun!! I think her name was Sarah. She made the birthday celebration fun and wrote funny names on the bibs!
   

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10. D

    Danielle

    Orange County4 reviews

    2.0

    Dined on 8 December 2024

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 3

    I really wanted to love this place. The staff were very pleasant but not readily available. The food wasn’t great either to be honest. We ordered the calamari, and it wasn’t seasoned well and fairly bland. The garlic bread also left little to be desired as well, with not much flavor either. I ordered the Mahi, Mahi and it came out pretty dry and chewy and the rice served with it was extremely sticky. The server was very sweet about it and did have it replaced for me, but by then my entire family had already eaten. For the price of food these days I’m willing to pay for good food, but I’m not willing to pay full price for mediocre food. Sorry Joe. This one was a 1.5 star for me this time around.
    

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