Joe's Crab Shack

On June 2nd, I met up with an old high school friend and her boyfriend to catch up on life. We had decided to meet at Joe's Crab Shack, a place I had often passed by but never stopped to eat at. I had of course, seen the commercials of the place, but I put little value into those-commercials always over exaggerate not only the quality, but the quantity of whatever they're advertising anyways.

None the less, I'm a huge seafood fan and wanted to try the place, and my friends were kind enough to indulge.

The outside of the place is fun, looking very much like some falling apart shack on the beach side, complete with aluminum bits and cheap neon signs. The inside is much the same, looking more like someone bought a fisherman's shack and added a bar and kitchen. It was very atmospheric.As soon as you walk in, you notice a huge shark in the middle of the open restaurant, with a shirt hanging from its mouth. Directly to the right is a small shop, which sells funny t-shirts (one says something along the line of going to Joe's and getting crabs).

The giant shark, and our waiter Mike.

We are promptly seated at a booth, the place is practically empty which doesn't surprise me-it is a week day and after the lunch rush. The table is decorated by little fun knickknacks laid underneath the table.

Who are these people? I have no clue, but they are forever immortalized under a restaurant table.

There are also directions on the walls, from photos to license plates to signs, it just a random collage of stuff.

Our waiter (Mike) finally comes over. As every-other waiter on the planet, we're asked if this is our first time here, and for once my answer is yes. He explained to menu, the bucket on our table (bellow) gave us some bibs (also bellow) and silverware (yep, that's bellow too). He then wrote is name down on a napkin (which is really just a roll of paper towels they give you, smart!) took our drink orders and left us to 'hmm' and 'hah' over the menu.

Bucket for shells and paper towel napkins

Silverware, moist towelettes, crackers and shell rippers (yellow things)

You know it's gonna be good if the give you a bib.

Conversation was had and when our waiter came back, we ordered. Now my dish by default came with sausage, which I hate. When I asked our waiter if I could substitute, I was given options and so substituted my pig intestines with shrimp instead. I ordered the New Orleans and my friends decided to split a crab boil, with garlic herb seasoning.

My New Orleans

 Your dish comes out in a pot, complete with lid to keep the steam in. There's a plate inside, if you want to pull your dish out, otherwise you can just eat out of the pot-which is what I did.
The crawfish was awesome! Wonderfully seasoned, tender, large and all the tails curled (which means they were 'fresh' upon cooking, aka-alive) and there was a lot of them! The shrimp was just a good and still in the shell and HUGE. You can't really see them in the picture above, but they were almost the same size of the crawfish.

Everyone's dish also comes  with a cob of corn, seasoned the same as the rest of the dish, and small, whole, red potatoes that lay in the bottom of your boil. I ate these last, as they soaked up all the flavored juices at the bottom of the pot and melted in your mouth.

My friend's dish, after they grabbed a section each

The crab isn't separated legs/claws that I've seen else where. Instead, you get the whole 'walking' section of the crab.

Needless to say, my friends and myself demolished it, without the bibs. Halfway through our meal, something amazing happened...

Music blares on, and every waiter/waitress breaks out into dance. 

Yeah, pretty awesome in my opinion.

The meal was very tasty, but I didn't walk away stuffed. It was also on the pretty expensive side. My dish and tea came to $23. While the food was awesome, I can also get a 20oz steak, 2 sides, a salad, and a drink for the same cost and come away with leftovers. Admittedly, I can see why my dish cost so much (crawfish isn't exactly native to Indy) but for that price, I was expecting more then what I got. They come out with a huge pot, and if you take your dish out of that pot, it's not as much as you'd think. None the less, the service was great, the food was awesome, and we sat for several hours after our meal talking at our table.

The place for once, is a great place for anyone-families, kids, couples, friends, whatever and whoever. The only person I wouldn't bring would be someone who doesn't like seafood. While there are hamburgers on the menu, it isn't what the place is known for.

Joe's Crab Shack
2307 Post Dr
Indianapolis, IN
317-895-0433
www.joescrabshack.com