Seafood at King of Crabs is not meant to be dainty. It arrives in buckets, piled with crab legs, shrimp, crawfish or lobster, and drenched in garlic butter, Cajun seasoning or the combination of both. The bibs are not a gimmick, they are necessary. Gloves are optional but useful, and it is best to accept that napkins will run out quickly.
The menu is built to encourage group ordering. A tray of crab legs sounds like more than enough until you see one go past your table, and then it looks like the reasonable choice. Shrimp and crawfish are equally popular, and the lobster option makes the meal feel celebratory without being formal. Add corn, potatoes and sausage to the mix and suddenly the table is full.
The garlic butter sauce is unapologetically heavy and the Cajun spice builds with each bite. The smart move is ordering both, which means everything on the table gets tossed until it shines. You will use more wet wipes than you want to admit and still leave with sauce under your fingernails.
Service moves at a quick pace, which is good since tables turn over fast. Buckets land with a thud, drinks arrive in pitchers and the servers are unfazed by the amount of paper towels you burn through. Beer and soda are the drinks of choice. Wine exists, but the point is seafood by the pound, not a pairing exercise.
The dining room is loud, crowded and unapologetically messy. Families pile in, groups of friends order too much, and couples ignore the lack of romance in favor of sheer volume. The entire place smells like butter and spice, which is exactly what you want when you walk in.
It is the kind of restaurant you plan around. You know you will leave full, a little sticky and possibly tired from cracking shells. That is part of the fun. King of Crabs is not aiming for refinement. It is aiming for abundance, and it succeeds every time.