Charleston Crab House

"Hannah was DELIGHTFUL! You must sit at the bar!"

"Watery bland she crab soup Tough non-flakey red fish covered in a bland, spice less, flavorless “white cajun sauce” Oysters so old and tired they had no juice Grits that had 0 flavor Collard greens over cooked to the point they were mush. Please save yourself the money, go somewhere that can actually cook food. This is not a Charleston low country seafood house, it’s a tourist chain and a bad one at that."

"Having tried the Crab House chain when they first opened and been appalled and offended by the food, I was reluctant to return but was with a group so I just went with it. I checked the reviews and was surprised by the number of good reviews, but when I looked deeper the raves were generally from tourists (who are the preferred victims of this chain as they don’t know better). The appetizers were generally tasty, but enough bacon makes anything good. The crab dip actually was a pretty good version. The hush puppies, though, were just fried corn mush, dense as rocks. Not sure where they went wrong with the batter- perhaps they forgot the leavening, and didn’t know enough to use self-rising corn meal. They were totally bland- absolutely no evidence of onions or peppers in the finished gut-bombs. The She-Crab soup had a very good flavor. It was the thinnest, wateriest She-Crab soup I’ve ever seen, but good flavor. Now we get to the major problem with this restaurant group- the call themselves the Charleston Crab House, yet their menu is almost 100% local food free. The only Blue Crab on the menu is the cover picture. 100% of the crab on the menu is from the West Coast or Alaska. This alone shows a complete disrespect and disregard of Lowcountry quality and tradition. For my entree, I specifically asked what local product was available. I was told only the flounder was local. This is a travesty, as there are shrimpers docked just down the creek with phenomenal local product available, but tourist traps like this one prefer the ultra-cheap imported farmed shrimp to serve to unsuspecting tourists and transplants. There is a MAJOR difference in quality and flavor. Things being what they were I ordered the Crispy Flounder. It came fried in some hard, crunchy coating that was hard to break through. Traditional Lowcountry fried flounder has a simple salt, pepper, and cornmeal breading. The fish was either old and freezer burned, or badly overcooked, and was dry and stringy- hard to do with flounder. All in all, they should pack up this chain and move all of the locations to the plains states, and compete with the other chains. Do yourself, and the Lowcountry, a huge favor, and avoid this and all “local” restaurants who completely ignore local food traditions and producers. The world will be a better place."

"We went at 5:30 on a Thursday. I got the shrimp and grits. I could’ve made better at home. The sauce had no flavor. My husband got the seafood platter. The shrimp was good, the red fish was tough, and the scallops needed a harder sear. The sides included red rice (tasted out of a microwave bag) and waffle fries (also previously frozen and out of a bag). The food is extremely overpriced. The best part was sitting outside on the water."

"Outstanding hospitality! The best service I have experienced in Charleston. The staff were extremely welcoming and warm. A fantastic ambience and the Red fish sandwich was 5 ⭐️. Linda was fantastic but David for me was the shining star. Safe to say I will be making this restaurant a mainstay."