Claw Shack

Swung by last week with the cousin. Claw Shack is a little bit out of my way so I never really thought about going. That is, until recently and I was basically dragged out of bed to come. My cousin had this insane craving for crawfish and I was the tag along. I was also told that ClawShack is better than Kickin Crab + Boiling Crab
For starters, it’s a small and quaint place. There are 2 sets of maybe 6 – 8 person tables in the front and the rest are 4 people tables going along the walls until you hit the very back. It bothers me a bit that I got seated directly in front of the restroom (no chill) but it really was the only table so let’s jump to the food and service.
Food — I believe we ordered Combo #1 (x2), dozen raw oysters, sprite, iced tea, and GARLIC NOODLES. I’m loving the garlic noodles here. If there’s any cheese, I didn’t taste it masking the garlic, that’s for sure. Bonus points on that. One of my biggest garlic noodles pet peeves is having so much sprinkled fake cheese on it that it doesn’t even taste like garlic /​noodles. Also, there were some «crisped» ridges on the noodles adding on more flavor. I understand if you don’t like carcinogens, but it’s really worth the nibble. I forget the sauce flavor my cousin ordered but it was super garlicky. It might’ve been that, to be honest. The oysters were fresh and cleaned. Some sands or broken shells but very minimal, which is A-​OK. The drinks were canned which means no refills, people. none. Water is always checked and refilled. totally on point.
Service — They were really attentive and got us everything. It took a minute to get someone’s attention for the straws but it wasn’t a necessity. So it really was no biggie.
Overall … I can’t agree on the better than KC + BC but I do like the fact that they have multiple sauce choices that are actually somewhat different from each other. On top of that, there were lots of sausage, corn, and potato inside the bags. It’s like «you ordered a combo, you get a bonus!» Definitely would recommend!

I think this place has replaced my love for boiling crab. Everything about this place is amazing! Staff is super friendly and welcoming when you first walk in. So that was a plus. I ordered a combo #2 and my friend ordered the shrimp and clam combo both medium in the shambalang sauce. Their sauce is so addicting. Perfectly spicy and flavored. So much better compared to other places! Their shrimp is so succulent too. Other places overcook their shrimp so it gets mushy. Not here! They are cooked just right and so juicy. Their combo also comes with two potatoes, five sausages, and two pieces of corn. All the extra sides were drenched in the sauce so when you took a bite it was heaven. They add slices of lemon to their sauce so it’s a bit tangy too. So different but so yum!
However the place is quite small so if you come during peak hours the wait may be long.

Did not expect to be writing a 5* review but this really is as good as it gets. Stellar prompt service meets unpretentious, great value, deliciously cooked seafood. We tried the crawfish, shrimp combo with the Shackie’s sauce. Honestly as good as that sounds, this experience might have still been 4* but for the Shackie’s sauce.
We were unsure of which sauce to get but our waitress said we could try two and we tried the much recommended Shambalang and the Shackie’s. The Shambalang was good too, but the Shackie’s was sweet, garlicky and tangy with just the right amount of heat.
The combo also came with corn, potatoes and an incredible sausage also cooked in the bag of Shackie’s sauce. I wanted to swim in that sauce. I seriously contemplated taking the bag of leftover sauce home to cook more stuff with it.
Oysters were fresh and tasty and the garlic noodles were everything the other reviewers have already raved about.
So they already earned their 5*, but went above and beyond that by running after us when my toddler son left his toy car at the restaurant. They wanted to make sure the «little guy didn’t miss it» — this notwithstanding the tantrum he threw in the restaurant and the mess he made.
We will definitely be back (soon)!

Should’ve went here sooner! Food comes out fast and fresh!
Crawfish — mix of sizes but all clean and none were dead
Shrimp — cooked perfect
Clams — delicious!/
Service — its OK not bad but not great. Its a crawfish place after all. Lol

Claw Shack really knows how to get down with their sauces! My favorite here is the Shambalang! Sometimes they don’t give enough sauce so I order extra sauce on the side to pour it on the garlic noodles and use it as dipping sauce. MmMm. I’ve tried the shambalang and the shackies, both are so good that I keep sticking to them and have yet to try the other sauces! A must try here would be their fried food, especially their seafood platter. I’m amazed that they actually know how to fry seafood! Of all the times that I’ve been here, I always leave satisfied because of the great food and quality, plus the service is always great!

Variety of sauces to accompany your crawfish fetish.
— decent sized shrimp & crawfish
— have not encountered a longer wait time than 5 minutes of all the times I visited
If you’re a crawfish fanatic, no harm in eating at all the places San Jose has to offer & this place should be one of your stops.

Shambalang is the move.
Mild creeps up on you in the last ¹⁄₃ of the bag. Medium punches you in the mouth at the second ¹⁄₃.
I like the separate hand-​washing sink.
Rich’s recommendation: per the words of a wise man, «Any beer you want, as long as it’s a Corona.»

A Cajun restaurant with style! I was amazed by the decoration. The bathrooms are as good as those in the best Michelin restaurants!
Corn is absolutely delicious and sweet. Quality ingredients + helpful staffs + Nice Décor + Cajun = 5 star !

I can’t believe I’ve been going to other cajun places when I could’ve been going to this one THIS WHOLE TIME! I swear, everything on their menu is just so freakin good
The shrimp here is SO big! You can tell that it’s fresh when you eat it like you seriously won’t be disappointed. I love their shackie’s sauce (which is nice, thick, and packed with sooo much flavor), but if you’re down for an added lemony taste you should try the shambalang.
When I ordered the wings, I thought they would just be average since this is a cajun place, not a wing place but boooyyy was I wrong. The wings they have here are SO bomb that this is my favorite place in San Jose to get wings and I’m not even embarrassed to say that I sometimes come here. just for the wings. Get the honey garlic!
Other things I tried that were also tasty: clam chowder, gumbo, and garlic noodles.
And if the amazing food isn’t enough, the servers here are all really nice and attentive (shout out to Sonia and Julie)

I went here by recommendation of a coworker who lives in the area. I had only been to Kicking Crab and Boiling Crab, so I was surprised when she suggested this place, because I had never heard of it.
I can’t say that I completely recommend this place over it’s competitors, but Claw Shack definitely has strengths:
— Really good Chicken wings. They were super crispy and had a nice amount of sauce on them. I highly recommend the wings! One other reviewer said that the wings are comparable to those at San Tung! I was shocked that she would make such a bold statement, but when I tried the wings, I could totally see what she means! They are not spot on, but they are somewhat similar. Still, San Tung, you are King of the Chicken Wings.
— Garlic Noodles: I really liked the noodles here. Not too greasy and the sprig of green on top is a cute touch ;)
–Shrimp size was huge! I hear the crawfish are pretty giant too~!
Noteworthy:
— Potatoes: The potatoes that come in the bag are so soft and tender! it’s like you wrapped a scoop of mashed potatoes into a potato skin. They aren’t too flavorful though, but I didn’t mind because everything else was on the salty end.
–Bibs with the pocket and super nice thick gloves!
What needs work:
— Shrimp. They were a nice size, but I agree with others that they didn’t taste the most fresh. The peel on them wasn’t firm and crisp, they were pretty soft, which makes me think they were frozen or something… I’m not a shrimp expert, but they were definitely a little different from what I’m used to.
— Cajun Fries — The fries that came with the wings were okay. I liked the texture (super crisp), but the seasoning was so bleh. I would have preferred them plain. Unnecessary extra sodium.
Will be back! Craving it again right now!

This is the spiciest Cajun/​Creole place I’ve ever been to. Our lips were numb and our tongue were burning! But then again we ordered «hot» which is usually not a big deal… for me at least. Shrimp was big and fat but I’m not sure if they were fresh– seemed hard to peel off the skin… maybe overcooked. The corn was super sweet! The cajun fries was also pretty-​well seasoned unlike in most other places.
We didn’t have to wait very long on a busy Saturday night. There were a couple of guests who came alone but got the whole table (4 seats) boo! but it moved pretty quickly. We (4 people) walked in and waited for about 15 minutes so I don’t think reservation is necessary unless you don’t want to wait at all.
Overall, it was pretty good and I wouldn’t mind coming back. But I still think I like Boiling Crab or even Crawdaddy more bc of the different and more variety in the sauce options, fresher seafood, and food options in general. This place wins for the shorter wait time.

Food was amazing! We drove 2 hrs to this wonderful establishment. Great reviews & pictures drew me to go on this small road trip fix. Staff was amazing & very attentive! Waiting time was minimal. Shrimp was a lot bigger than the Boiling Crab. Crab legs were to die for. The place was neat & clean. Tv screens on the walls, drinking selection was small but Corona is on the menu. Good for seafood The sauces were on point & not too oily, just the perfect blend. It is right next to the Berryessa flea market, so that’s a plus to get your shopping & your grub on. They also take reservations for 6 or more people. Thank you to the staff at Claw Shack. We will be frequently eating there when we go on road trips to San Jose.

Been here once and the shrimp here is really good quality. Nice, thick, and crispy. The garlic noodles are delicious, and the Shackie’s sauce was flavourfuland garlicky. One note for spicy lovers is that their hot is a medium at best.
The Cajun fries were the only disappointment as it did not have any Cajun seasoning on it. Just tasted like normal fries. I also wish they had fountain soda since I am a big drinker when eating these Cajun in a bag type places.
Will try again for sure!

Another crawfish place in the heart of San Jose. These places are popular aren’t they? It’s a smaller location and most of the demographic seems to be teenagers to young adults. I’m starting to feel my age when it comes to these places.
The service was quick and efficient. Not much of a wait for anything. From seating, to food. If you like crawfish then you will probably enjoy this place. They are bit larger than the crawfish you normally get in these types of places, so you won’t have as many. Food was good and they have a pretty nice restroom. Yes, I i just said the restroom was nice.
A nice little place. I wouldn’t say it’s the best crawfish location in the San Jose area, but it’s definitely a welcome addition.

I’m so surprised that I have never been to Claw Shack until now. All my life I have always resorted to Boiling Crab (or Kickin Crab if I don’t want to endure the long wait) but Claw Shack is just as good!!! My friend and I were so excited that we ordered almost everything on the menu but my recommendations would be the chicken wings (honey garlic and glazed onion flavor), bread roll, cajun fries and their sauces in Shackie’s and Shambalang. My favorite part about this place is that they give you free samples of the sauces if you’re unsure of what to get. They have a wide variety of sauces and foods on the menu and I love it! The only down side is that Claw Shack doesn’t do ½lb orders. Boiling Crab will always be my #1 but I will be definitely be going to Claw Shack more often if I have seafood cravings and I don’t want to wait an hour to eat.
P. S. S/​o to Julie for being a great server! :)

Call me crazy for coming to a seafood restaurant when I’m allergic to most seafood but this place has more to offer! My review is on everything else other than the seafood.
Their wings are so crunchy and yummy. A friend recommended this place as a dupe for San Tung, (which in my opinion is hype and super unsanitary) and she was right. There are like a lot of flavors of wings to choose from. ‘Garlic honey’ was my fave.
JAMBALAYA!!! Get it get it get it. It’s only $ 5.99 which is so cheap compared to other places and you can probably split it between two people since you’re eating meat and seafood as well.
The servers were really attentive which was awesome. It was our first time here and Julie made sure we liked what we ordered by providing us samples of the different sauces. She was very knowledgable about the menu and gave great recommendations.
We went around 4pm and there was no wait. The restaurant is pretty tiny so there might be a wait during dinner rush hours.
From what my friend said their shrimp compared to boiling crab is hugeeee!
Will definetly come here again. I prefer this place over kickin’ crab and even boiling crab.

Biggest point I would like to get across — This place is better than Boiling crab.
After eating here 3x and BC 3x, this place wins my tastebuds. The last two times, BC’s sauce was literally just the red oil… not much lemon or garlic in it, so I guess if you’d like a richer sauce, some heeeeeeeeere
Their shambalang medium is perf. Had a combo 1 with it with extra corn.
Also ordered king crab legs with medium garlic butter. The bread it came with was simple but good too! Dipping the shrimp and crawfish from our combo in this sauce was yummmmm.
Only complaint is that their crawfish were super tiny. but I suppose that depends on what they catch?
Service was pretty good. They constantly refill waters because peoples mouths are on fire.
Also, they offer GLOVES!!! this is a game changer! makes peeling oily seafood much more pleasant! No garlicky hands after eating here (:

Seafood is always on point fresh! If you love seafood in general, order their combos! Their crawfish are oddly big, almost like you are eating mini lobsters. The sauces here are to die for! One of my favorites is the Shambalang sauce. It’s garlicky and tangy, but not too overly buttery/​oily as Boiling Crabs. My second favorite sauce here is the Sharkie’s. If you like your sauce a little sweeter, yet still garlicky, Sharkie’s a better choice.
Their garlic chicken wings are also amazingly delicious.
This place gets super packed on weekends. I’d recommend going on weekdays if you have a larger party (more than 2 ppl). Service is fast and friendly every time I go here. This place is my go to for crawfish cravings.

A bit disappointed. I heard this place was really good. We ordered two pounds of crawfish and some wings for a nonseafood lover. The wings did take quite a bit but that’s not my biggest complaint.
My complaint is about how they didn’t inform us that the crawfish was the orange kind, which are the kind with the really hard shell, that kind of just stabs you everywhere in your mouth. The sauce wasn’t that great. But that’s just my opinion. Probably not coming back.

OOOOOUUU MAMAS, I took my parents here to treat them out and we ordered the #2 combo with the 2lbs shrimps with potatoes, 5 piece sausage, 2 corns with mild «GARLICKY» flavor.
Also ordered a plate of garlic noodles and calamari with fries!
BAG O SHRIMP– the shrimps were GINORMOUS!!! I think I ate about 3 and I was already full! Forced myself to keep on goin because it really is a luxury when you come across big, juicy, flavorful shrimps like that. In my opinion, I feel like the shrimp were allllmost overcooked because the color was practically gone on a lot of shrimps, but not so overcooked like some other places ive been to where the shell is practically glued onto the shrimp, so kudos for that!
THE STUFF IN THE SHRIMP BAG — the potatoes were big, not cut up in pieces, so I had to eat it like an apple. The sausages were eh okay to me. They honestly tasted like hot dog slices.
CALAMARI WITH FRIES — I really enjoyed the calamari sauce that came with the dish. The calamari isn’t actual calamari where it comes with the legs and what not. it’s more so squid «rings» but very yummy. The fry seasoning is almost cajun-​y & just as delicious
GARLIC NOODLES — I LOOOOVED these noodles, i could rave on and on about them. Never have i had such flavorful delicious noodles. Of course they were a bit greasy, but not AS greasy as I’ve had them in other restaurants that are like this one. The presentation was delightful! I’d go back here just for the garlic noodles!
Comin back for those shrimps & garlic noodles!!! Also, at first I was a little thrown off with how they serve plates rather than just eating on the table like you would do at boiling crab/​kickin crab. I was looking forward to making a huge mess! But in the end, I think that’s what separates this from the rest!
*but yes I agree with some of the reviews below, they do not give a fuhhh about refilling your water glass unless you ask… hmmmm.