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Open for Business: The Crab Spot, 833 Union Street
Thursday, December 20, 2024 at 8:21AM
The Crab Spot officially opened for business yesterday afternoon in the space last occupied by PSbklyn, on Union Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. I dropped by last night, and I certainly see a lot of promise here.
The restaurant was about half full at 7:30, and all the usual pitfalls of opening night (slow service, confused wait staff, etc.) were nowhere to be found.
The menu (found in full below, after the jump), is clearly focused on the big pots of shellfish, which will be the restaurant's main claim to fame, but there are plenty of other options as well. Non-seafood items include ribs, a burger, two steaks, and chicken payard. There are plenty of options of fish, shrimp, scallops, and combinations thereof, along with fish and chips and New England clam chowder. Appetizers include peel and eat shrimp, crab cakes, fried calamari, baked clams, and mussels. There are a few salads, a few desserts, as well as a children's menu that includes the usual kiddie food (hot dog, hamburger, chicken fingers, etc.) as well as a few pleasant surprises including smaller portions of their steam pot (even though I imagine it would be incredibly frustrating for a hungry kid to try to break down snow crab legs). There's also a full bar, a solid cocktail list, and a handful of draft beers.
But I was there there to try the crabs. I settled on the Crab Royale, which came with dungeness crab, snow crab, king crab, corn on the cob, and potatoes. The Old Bay seasoning I ordered it with came through in every bite, and the crab itself was very good (and in fact a lot of messy fun to eat; wear the bibs provided). One word of advice, though: these aren't big enough to fill two people up, so order an appetizer if you are going to share.
A few issues: The potatoes and corn were cold and mushy, laying down pre-crab paper onto the table (and removing it afterward) was a bit awkward, as I had to help the waiter lift everything off the table (resulting in a spilled water glass), and the beer I ordered had an odd taste.
HOWEVER: And a big however. This was opening night. Kinks are acceptable, and indeed understandable. The corn/potato issue was mentioned to the very friendly and knowledgeable manager, and he apologized and promised to rectify the situation.
As I mentioned earlier, there's a lot of potential here. A dependable place to come with a group and order a few steaming pots of crabs and shellfish can do very well in this neighborhood, and service is already on point. As with any new restaurant (especially in this space) only time will tell if it succeeds, but I think they're off to a very promising start.
Click through for the full menu (click for larger images).
The Crab Spot, 833 Union Street Brooklyn NY 11217. 718-622-2722.
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Open For Business in Food, Storefronts
Reader Comments (37)
Went by last night. There were some kinks, as mentioned in the blog, but the fact of the matter was that the crab was delicious and very reasonably priced. I do worry about the close seating and people taking mallets to shells in a neighborhood of over priced clothing and over protective parents but thats a risk worth taking for crab thats that good! I wil be back.
spell check: acceptable
"kinks are acceptable"...does this mean Ray Davies was there?
and, not meaning to be snarky, but would your review have been any different had they had a soft opening to which bloggers were invited and comped?
Give them a few weeks to work out the kinks. The crab does indeed look tasty. I'll stop by in 2013.
@Lola No, the article wouldn't have been any different.
What about BLUE CRABS???? I don't get why any place dedicated to crabs would leave off the sweetest best variety of crab available - (relatively) local Blues
They have blue crabs.
These look like blue crabs to me:
http://parkslopestoop.com/blog/food/now-open-crab-spot
Walked by last night. Wish they'd turn off the TVs. Nothing ruins a restaurant quite like having two TVs above the bar projecting into the middle of the dining room.
I'm allergic to shellfish.
@ Lola, you were meaning to be snarky and it's unacceptable. Hah.
Some of you need to get a life. Making comments on a crabshack when you're allergic to shellfish, accusing the owner of this blog of writing a good review in exchange for free food, are you people that stuck up your own asses that you feel the need to be so nasty and self involved?
Some of you need to get a life. Commenting on how others are commenting on a blog?!?
It's a blog, on the interweb, don't expect good behavior.
I, for one, love shellfish. I also have gout. How's that for irony?
I was there last night as well. The Blue Crabs were a special they had. According the the manager guy who came over, the specials are what comes in right before the place opens. I enjoyed it and I should be back whem they've worked everything out.
Crab Spot looks interesting. Thanks for the heads up!
@ Felton - do you see the irony in your comment?
As Sterling indicated, some of you did not get the memo that a new seafood shack opening up in a cursed location, for which you'd seemingly think would be approached in the neutral manner any other business would be, is, for some reason, completely above reproach.
This comment section makes me hate this place. I hope a fat yogi upstairs at the Yoga Center breaks their ceiling during Friday dinner service.
Anyone who refers to any location as "cursed" is not really someone I pay much attention to.
How the prepping for the end of time tomorrow going Brawler?
No storefront is cursed. There are badly run businesses and there are well run businesses. We'll see which one that turns out to be, but we won't probably know that in the first 24 hours of said business opening.
@Sterling, storefronts may not be cursed, but there are several retail locations that historically have never been able to stick. Casa Ventura's location has been a revolving door during my 30 years in park slope. The same is true for the japanese place next to bare burger and several others.
Slopelifer,
It has absolutely ZERO to do with the location and everything to do with the business. Saying that the corner of 7th and 3rd is "CURSED" is moronic.
People said it about President and 5th too. That is a prime corner it is not cursed, it simply had a ton of crappy establishments in there.
The Japanese place next to Bareburger has been there for years. Is the curse now broken?
Casa Ventura's spot has not been a revolving door for 30 years. Simply due to the fact that the wonderful deli, Herzog's occupied that spot for many, many years. I have lived here for 25 years and Herzog's was there when I moved here and for quite a few years after (and from what i understand, for many years before also).
Granted, after Herzog's, the place has had a lot of turnover.
And, comments like "I'm allergic to shellfish". Fine, then don't go! Though, I do see where it says they have other things on the menu. But some people just want to complain.
ParkSlopePerson:
You nailed it. Some people just want to complain. I should learn to ignore them instead of trying to educate them. The internet has created an entire army of bitchy, nasty people who think they know everything.
Saying the corner of 7th and 3rd has been a revolving door for 30 years show how little one actually knows about that spot or the neighborhood. Miss Herzog's!
Paillard. Just sayin.
@ normality
Yes I do. You see, I was currently commenting on a blog about how others were commenting on blogs and so forth! Wacky cycle!
I was just trying to point out that it's always a pointless argument to try to talk sense into people whose sole purpose is most likely to rile people up in the first place.
This place is too far from my apartment.
@ Blaxl Rose
Who the F*CK cares!! - Tell you what, we'll roll-out the RED Carpet and carry you to your Horse-drawn Pumpkin chariot that will take you to this restaurant where your Charming Prince awaits, smiling while holding a Bucket of Crustaceans.....
Does that work for you?!
Is roll out hyphenated?