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Cracked Crab

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Ratings and reviews

Certificate of Excellence2015 - 2019 Winner
RATINGS
Food
Service
Value
Atmosphere

Location and contact

Menu

APPETIZERS
16
Crab Cocktail
Fresh Dungeness Crab meat from Washington served with tequila cocktail sauce, lime, roasted corn and fresh avocado.
16
Shrimp Cocktail
Mexican style cocktail with Florida rock shrimp, spicy tequila cocktail sauce, red onion, fresh cilantro, fresh avocado, and corn tortilla chips.
16
Blue Crab Cakes
More crab, less filling. Jumbo lump Blue Crab cakes served over rich seasoned sherry-cream sauce.
14
Alaskan King Crab Tails
AA Dutch Harbor Alaska delicacy, tempura battered to a golden brown, accompanied with sweet and sour red chili dipping sauce.
14
Crab Stuffed Poblano Chile
A generous amount of jumbo lump Blue Crab meat and Monterey Jack cheese. Served with fresh salsa and warm corn tortillas.
16
Local Abalone
Sautéed with lemon beere blanc sauce, served on the shell.
12
Calamari
Thick strips of steak, tempura battered, served with sweet and sour Thai chili dipping sauce.
15
Steamed Clams
In a special seasoned white wine cream sauce made to order. Served with sourdough rolls for dipping.
13
Steamed Mussels
In a special seasoned white wine cream sauce made to order. Served with sourdough rolls for dipping.
15
Oysters On The 1/2 Shell
Fresh cold-water crisp oysters served with spicy horseradish cocktail sauce.
SOUPS & SALADS
Cup 6
Bowl 9
Clam Chowder
New England style; cream, clams, potatoes, and seasonings. Served with local baked sourdough rolls.
Cup 7
Bowl 11
Crab Bisque
Rich and creamy sherry and crab puree, with a hint of cayenne.
Cup 7
Bowl 11
Seafood Gumbo
A spicy crab stock and tomato based soup with gumbo filet, okra, a variety of seafood, Cajun sausage, peppers, celery, onions and other flavors. Served around basmati rice.
8
House Salad
Fresh mixed greens, cucumbers, carrot curls, local tomato, olives and croutons, topped with fresh Blue Crab meat. We suggest our house balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
Cup 12
Bowl 15
Clam Chowder and Salad
Cup 14
Bowl 17
Crab Bisque and Salad
Cup 14
Bowl 17
Seafood Gumbo and Salad
12
Salad with Chicken 15
Spinach and Arugula Salad
Shaved red onion, toasted pine nuts, blue cheese crumbles, and dried cranberries, tossed with a white balsamic vinaigrette.
20
Crab Louis
A legendary San Francisco salad topped with an original Crab Louis dressing, with egg, olives, fresh tomato and finished with fresh Dungeness Crab from Washington.
12
Fuji Apple Salad
Refreshing, crisp chopped Romaine hearts, diced Fuji apple, spiced pecans and blue cheese crumbles tossed with our house balsamic vinaigrette.
SANDWICHES, TACOS & MORE
12
One Fish Taco With Fresh-cut Fries 9
Fish Tacos, San Felipe Style (2)
Alaskan Halibut, batter-dipped and deep-fried on corn tortillas with Napa cabbage, onions, tomato and special tomatillo mayonnaise. Served with fresh-cut fries.
14
Shrimp Po' Boy Sandwich
Florida Rock Shrimp, served on a grilled French roll with Napa cabbage, pickles, tomato, cheddar cheese, cocktail sauce, and tomatillo mayonnaise. The way I had it in New Orleans. Served with fresh-cut fries.
14
King Crab Po' Boy
Alaskan King crab tail, tempura battered and deep fried. Served on a grilled French roll with Napa cabbage, pickles, tomato, cheddar cheese, cocktail sauce, and tomatillo mayonnaise. Served with fresh-cut fries.
18
Crab Melt
Served hot and opened faced; grilled French bread slices topped with tomato, seasoned jumbo lump crab and melted Monterey Jack cheese. Served with fresh-cut fries.
16
Soft Shell Crab Sandwich
A jumbo soft shell crab, panko-style fried. Served on a toasted bun with lettuce, tomato, three mustard mayonnaise and fresh-cut fries. Experiment at your own risk.
19
Crab Roll
New England lobster roll style, with West Coast crab! Fresh Dungeness crabmeat from Washington with a touch of Louis dressing served on a grilled split top bun with crisp iceberg lettuce and sliced tomato. Served with fresh cut fries.
12
Chicken Sandwich
Spiced dry rubbed and char broiled with sliced red onion, tomato, lettuce and mayonnaise on a grilled French roll. Served with fresh cut fries.
11
Cheeseburger in Pismo
O.K., so you don't eat fish. Double burger, 1/2 pound of in house formed patties, double cheese served with mayo, lettuce, tomato, crisp dill pickle chips and fresh-cut fries. Served on a fresh baked brioche bun.
6
Single Cheeseburger with Fries
THE HOUSE SPECIALTY
THE HOUSE SPECIALTY -BIG BUCKET FOR TWO
$79. Create your own bucket! your choice of three items listed below. Your shellfish choices are steamed with spicy Cajun sausage, red skin potatoes and corn cobetts. Casually served; dumped on your table! Accompanied with drawn butter, homemade cocktail sauce, homemade triple mustard sauce, warm sourdough rolls, and tools for pickin' and crackin'. Please select three items. Additional charges apply to listed premium items.
16
Alaskan Red King Crab
10
Slipper Lobster
Wild Gulf Shrimp
14
Live Whole Dungeness Crab from Washington
Dungeness Crab from Alaska
Clams
Mussels
Opilio (Snow) Crab
6
Alaskan Bairdi Crab
THE HOUSE SPECIALTY -SINGLE BUCKET (FOR ONE PERSON)
$57. Please select two items. Additional charges apply to premium items.
16
Alaskan Red King Crab
6
Alaskan Bairdi Crab
14
Live Whole Dungeness Crab from Washington
10
Slipper Lobster
Wild Gulf Shrimp
Mussels
Dungeness Crab from Alaska
Opilio (Snow) Crab
Clams
THE HOUSE SPECIALTY -EXTRA PORTION OF ANY ONE ITEM
24
Dungeness Crab from Alaska
24
Opilio (snow) Crab
30
Alaskan Bairdi Crab
38
Live Whole Dungeness Crab from Washington
24
Wild Gulf Shrimp
24
Mussels
24
Clams
34
Slipper Lobster
ONE-POUND (OR MORE) CRAB DINNERS
All crab dinners are served with seasonal vegetables, imported basmati rice and warm sourdough rolls. All crab dinners may be ordered bathed in garlic.
45
Alaskan Bairdi Crab
52
Alaskan Red King Crab
38
Alaskan Dungeness Crab from Alaska
48
Live Whole Dungeness Crab From Washington
36
Opilio (Snow) Crab
50
Whole Jumbo Alaskan Red King Crab
Price per pound, ranging in size. A great family experience! Please ask your server for details. Served with spicy Cajun sausage, red skin potatoes and corn cobetts, and all the sauces for dipping and tools for pickin'.
FRESH FISH AND OTHER ENTREES
16
Fish and Chips
Alaskan Halibut tempura beer battered, deep fried to a golden brown and served with house made tartar sauce, coleslaw and fresh-cut fries.
25
Macadamia Crusted Mahi Mahi
Pan roasted medium rare, topped with papaya slaw, served with basmati rice and grilled broccolini.
27
Blackened Day Boat Scallops
Blackened and pan seared topped with grilled pineapple salsa. Served with soft, creamy polenta and sauteed spinach.
28
Fresh Local Swordfish
Marinated and char-grilled medium rare, topped with chimichurri, served with basmati rice and grilled local asparagus.
19
Seafood Enchiladas
Slipper lobster and sweet Oregon pink shrimp with roasted Poblano peppers rolled in white corn tortillas. Topped with Chipotle cream sauce and Monterey Jack cheese. Served with Spanish rice and fresh Pico de Gallo.
26
Seafood Pasta
Florida rock shrimp and julienne king crab sauteed with crimini mushrooms, and broccolini in a white wine, opal basil pesto cream sauce over penne pasta.
24
Half Roasted Chicken Dinner
Mary's Free Range Organic chicken served with Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, grilled broccolini and a crimini mushroom pan gravy.
38
Filet Mignon
Half pound of in house cut tenderloin, char-broiled to your liking. Topped with a blackberry cabernet demi-glace, served with roasted garlic yukon gold mashed potatoes and grilled broccolini.
48
Maine Lobster Tail
Sweet Maine lobster tail steamed then brushed with garlic-lemon butter and finished on the char-broiler. Served with imported basmati rice and fresh, steamed local vegetables.
BEST OF BOTH
60
Filet Mignon and Bairdi Crab
Half pound house cut Filet Mignon topped with blackberry cabernet demi-glace, 3/4 pound Alaskan Bairdi crab, grilled broccolini and roasted garlic yukon gold mashed potatoes.
69
Filet Mignon and Alaskan Red King Crab
Half pound house cut Filet Mignon topped with blackberry cabernet demi-glace, 3/4 pound of Alaskan Red King Crab, grilled broccolini and roasted garlic yukon gold mashed potatoes.
68
Filet Mignon and Maine Lobster Tail
Half pound house cut Filet Mignon topped with blackberry cabernet demi-glace, 10 oz Maine lobster tail, grilled broccolini and roasted garlic yukon gold mashed potatoes.
About
Our Mission To provide excellent food and service to all of our guest in a clean, comfortable, casual AND FUN atmosphere. Serving the finest seafood available, in a most casual style.™ The Details of Our Philosophy Although we serve fine food in a nice atmosphere, please dress casual should you choose us for lunch or dinner. Our concept is largely based on dumping a bucket of various shellfish on your table with a mallet, crab crackers, and other tools to get the job done. It can get messy, but hey, we clean it up! We feature "in season" product, printing our menu daily based on what's available. We serve several local fresh fish daily, and use local farmers for fresh in season produce all year
Special Diets
Gluten Free Options
Meals
Lunch, Dinner
CUISINES
American, Seafood, Grill
FEATURES
Free Wifi, Takeout, Seating, Street Parking, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Wine and Beer, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service
Reviews (1,234)
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Traveller rating
762
332
97
25
18
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All reviews crab seafood potatoes slipper lobster corn on the cob sourdough roll key lime pie bisque house salad fresh fish calamari fries bread worth the wait visit pismo bucket tools
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1 - 10 of 1,234 reviews
Reviewed yesterday

The server ties a bib around your neck, then empties a bag of Crab and a variety of seafood, corn on the cob, cajun sausage and potato, onto your table, and away you go. Expect to get messy and laugh a lot. The snow crab...More

Date of visit: October 2019
Thank kawie2016
Reviewed 2 days ago

We went to the Cracked Crab for dinner on a Saturday night without a reservation. We went early, but we expected to have to wait, and we did. But we sat at the bar and drank wine and beer and got the abalone appetizer (which...More

Date of visit: September 2019
Thank Caroline171
Reviewed 2 days ago

The Cracked crab is on the Tourist route in downtown Pismo Beach. There are no reservations and so we arrived early.. We were seated directly and watched as the restaurant filled in around us. The Service and food were great and although a little on...More

Date of visit: October 2019
Thank jaguarles
Reviewed 2 days ago

Food was amazing and our server Mikey was fantastic! We had the bucket for two, and it was so good! Highly recommend this place!

Date of visit: September 2019
Thank skjhjb
Reviewed 2 days ago

Always love the way they just dump the buckets of seafood on the table!! So cool. I always have the crab which is perfect - bairdi crab is the best!! Bibs are provided and encouraged - so there's no excuse not to make a mess...More

Date of visit: October 2019
Thank sjbc46
Reviewed 1 week ago

Whilst staying at the Kon Tikki Inn, we were really keen to try Cracked Crab out so walked along the beach and arrived at around 6.15 pm expecting to wait. There was around a 40 minute wait (that was fine, we sat outside and watched...More

Date of visit: August 2019
Thank Andrea-mumof3
Reviewed 1 week ago via mobile

We had the bucket of seafood - had to be done and didn’t disappoint! So very yummy! We chose the mussels done in garlic and wine sauce which was delicious. I thought it may be a faff - but it was a great night. My...More

Date of visit: September 2019
Thank DuckDawson
Reviewed 1 week ago via mobile

What a Great Find! We would definitely eat here again. Very tasty meals, friendly and attentive service.

Date of visit: September 2019
Thank jpmiller176
Reviewed 1 week ago via mobile

Stopped here after a long day. My eyes were bigger than my stomach. I ordered a bowl of the crab bisque and salad combo. The warm bread was so good with the soup that I had to take the salad to go. Food was excellent...More

Date of visit: September 2019
Thank Sue R
Reviewed 1 week ago

Just perfect. DJ was our waiter and was an absolute star - when he found out we were travelling around the region he canvassed the team and gathered a list of recommendations for us. When I mentioned we loved the sourdough bread and wished we...More

Date of visit: September 2019
Thank Daniel M
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Questions & Answers
Ask a question
Mel_Paris
28 December 2016|
AnswerShow all 7 answers
Response from Bitnick1 | Reviewed this property |
We JUST ate there the day before yesterday, and yes, they did hand us a beer/wine list. You can also go to their website and email them and they will respond directly to you. This is a family-run business and they are very... More
1
Vote
Pinot09
29 July 2016|
AnswerShow all 7 answers
Response from Peggy S | Reviewed this property |
I would get there by 5:00. I know it's early but if you wait until 6:00 you'll be waiting outside on the bench.
2
Votes
lauragans
10 June 2016|
AnswerShow all 5 answers
Response from Peggy S | Reviewed this property |
You can see their entire menue online. Some things are pricey, like the clam bake, but other things are within average. It's one of my favorite places to eat. It's really a special place.
0
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