The Original Crabby Bills

Reviews 4

DA

Dan Dean

My family and I have been going to Crabby Bills for the past 14 years when were on vacation, reason being is theyre usually the only place that serves Blue Crab. So we were on vacation last week and we went there on a Sunday and I told my friends I was with that their food was usually great. The past couple times weve went there the service has been horrendous. When we walked in the host asked how many in our party and the girl said 8 and that was it. He didnt take a name or anything so I went in and said you didnt take our name and he gave me this whole rundown on why he doesnt take names because "he knows whos with who". So theres literally a line outside that you wait in and he comes out about 6 minutes later and was having the hardest time knowing which party is which and was super confusing and he really didnt come off as the nicest guy in the world. So we didnt want to wait so we sat outside where its first come first serve. The service was extremely slow. I was between drinks for probably about 7-8 minutes before she would even come back. I go to order and low and behold the ONLY reason I go there is for blue crabs and they were out, which I was not told when we arrived. Then my girlfriend puts in her order of yellowfin tuna and she comes back 5 or 6 minutes later and theyre out of that too. I got snow crab legs and fries, literally 9 French fries. NINE! It was $28 meal and they give me 9 French fries. The crabs did taste good but theyre snow crab legs, you can get those at red lobster for 20 bucks. Our salads then came out with no silverware. So shes gone for maybe 2 minutes, which doesnt seam like long but we have food sitting in front of us outside with no silverware. So I go up to the bar and see our waitress at the computer putting in an order BEFORE she gets our table silverware? That does not make sense. Appetizer, 4 beers, one glass of wine, snow crab dinner, and mahi mahi dinner, 78 bucks. For the service and lack of French fries for any meal and for being out of two things we really wanted it was really unfortunate. I managed a restaurant, served, and bartended for about 5 years. The price was absolutely unreal for the poor service and menu selection. I understand the restaurant being out of things and lack of fries isnt the servers fault but the lack of service and having to wait for silverware was really too bad. Also there was no a manager that ever stopped at our table or was visible anywhere. Really unfortunate but that will no longer be a vacation dinner destination when were down there. Its really a shame. Our entire party felt that the service was bad.

SY

Sydney Wright

Never again. It was a Saturday afternoon - we sat outside. After about 10 minutes the bartender came over and offered to get us drinks. She said our waiter would be there soon. After we finished our drinks (still never having seen the waiter) I decided to just to back to the bar and order another round and see if we could get something to eat. I went up to the bar and tried to order, the bartender told me she wasnt our waitress. I calmly told her we still hadnt seen waiter/waitress and she told me to go sit down shed find them and send them over. Time elapse another 10 minutes - we were standing up to leave, and our mystery waiter finally appeared. He apologized and told us the bartenders normally serve the tables where we were sitting, so he didnt know he needed to wait on us (um...okay????) Well, we did have a waiter, so we ordered food (chips and "fresh homemade" guac) and drinks (keep in mind we had empty glasses at this point - and we never got the water we ordered either) Chips and Guac showed up before the drinks (another 12 minutes). Guac was awful. It had definitely come from a bag. I know because sometimes Im lazy and buy the wholly guac in a bag and this was it. Our waiter never came back. I went to the bar again to tell the Bartender we wanted to leave and could she please find our waiter so we could pay. He showed up again, saying he "forgot about us" (nice, right?) We paid and left. I worked in restaurants and bars for many years, so I know how hard it can be. Im more likely than most to cut the waitstaff slack b/c I know how crazy it can get. BUT - it wasnt lunch or dinner rush - and there were plenty of empty tables around. If they are new and you can tell they are really trying - its no biggie, but this place, WOW, and our waiter wasnt new. It was like the waitstaff and the bar were in some sort of spat and the customers suffered. If you want to enjoy the afternoon, have a drink and maybe some lunch, there are MUCH better places on Gulf Blvd. We definitely wont be back.

DA

Danielle Grier

I have been coming to Crabby Bills in IRB since I was a young child. It is a family tradition to come here on a yearly basis when we are on vacation. Normally I would rate CB in IRB 5 stars without any hesitation. Tonight though, I am a little disappointed. First, the hostess tells us that we have an hour wait time when we get there. This isnt a problem for us (we had 6 plus a high chair) since we knew we had a larger party and there is normally a wait -- its that good of a place. BUT this time, not only is the hostess not the nicest person, she proceeds to start seating other groups as they walk in the door while having two other parties besides us have to wait. I could see this as being okay if the people walking in were a party of 2 or something, but she started seating a party of 4 in a booth that would have easily sat us or the other two parties that had been waiting for a long while. This is poor management of the restaurant, in my opinion. Second, when I (nicely) brought this to her attention, the hostess proceeding to get rude with me, telling me that our party would have to wait because we had a highchair and that made it a larger party than could be sat at a booth. (Because pulling a high chair up to the end of the booth is apparently difficult.) And by the way, once we eventually got sat, thats exactly how our waitress sat the highchair.... I will say that our waitress, Norma, was a wonderful lady. I enjoyed her immensely. She was very nice and on her game. The seared ahi tuna that I ordered was very good. The clam chowder was not as good as I remember it being.... and thats one of the things that CB is known for. Overall, it was an okay experience. I normally expect more from the restaurant, as thats what I have been accustomed to in the past. Hopefully the next time I go, it will be better.

A

A Private User

Just horrible - This is certainly NOT the Crabby Bills of the past! We used to come here years ago and the lobster and king crab were plentiful and reasonably priced, but not anymore. I went with my wife yesterday and I had the scallops with an order of snow crab legs and my wife had the snow crab and shrimp. First off, with these meals you get very little crab - by the time you work through all of the shells maybe a few ounces. Also the sides they include are ridiculously small. I had mashed potatoes and carrots. The potatoes could fit in the palm of your hand and pressed out of a muffin tin (I mean really - how much do mashed potatoes cost?). The 7 or 8 baby carrots that came in a very tiny dish were bitter and mushy. My main dish was the scallops. You get about 10 tiny (and I mean tiny) scallops in a dish of oil - they were terrible and so small you could not really call this a meal. My wife had shrimp with her snow crab - she got about 8 medium sized shrimp in the shell and covered in a very poor tasting spice. Im sure that was to cover up the fact that the shrimp were rubbery and had very little taste. She had green beans and fries as sides which again were in very small portions. The final "kick" was that the bill with tip came to just under $60. For that price I would have expected much more. Last year we were in Florida and we went to the Crabby Bills in Kissimmee and had a similar experience. We came back because we thought it was an anomaly and were certain that we would get a better meal at their flagship location at Indian Rocks Beach. Once again we were very disappointed. After years of patronizing and recommending this restaurant we will not be back.