Beclaws

Reviews 6

GO

Go Ask Your Mother

It was easy to get a seat on Friday evening, which should be seen as a clue in this cautionary tale. Our party of three was greeted and seated promptly but waited a bit for a server. We were challenged by our servers accent, but did end up with what we ordered. It was our first experience with Cajun seafood, and we arent eager to repeat it based on the food at Be Claws. The dinner menu seemed limited, with no salad or indeed any fresh produce at all. It was all seafood and starch with a couple of chicken options thrown in for the landlubbers. An over-priced scallop basket came fried or fried, and with some tasty sauces on the side. The garlic fries were a bright spot on the table. A couple of the scallops were barely cooked and caused some concern but no one is sick a week later, so theres that. Now, on to the shrimp. Be advised that they are served without having been peeled or deveined and the heads are still on. They are in a sauce so runny that the dish almost qualifies as soup. You would do well to wear a shirt that you arent fond of. Then there is this unpleasant mushy texture causing the shrimp to squish apart in the mouth. Come here after the dentist, it wont be a problem. So called Cajun fries had no seasoning at all, not even common table salt. Rice is served plain, just a bowl of white rice. Why? Too many of the crawfish seemed barely legal and had a gamy, less-than-fresh taste. Dont count on your favorite beer even if it is listed. The IPA beers were not available as advertised, which was disappointing. Stay home, watch a YouTube video for instructions as needed, and cook it yourself. Youll save some coin and your meal will be better quality.

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FA

Faith Ebersole

What a great place! Perfect for large groups. We had a family reunion here with about 12 people. 4 of us arrived early (about 45min) and they let us sit at a table to wait. Staff was very friendly, and they had no problem slitting checks. We never felt rushed, and even at the end when my sister got a random nose bleed they helped us by getting ice and tissues. We were from out of town (Annapolis) and just knew we wanted a place that had blue crabs for out of state family, had affordable food for family on a budget (like us lol) and could seat a group without needing a reservation. I saw it had good reviews but had never seen it in person, this was perfect. The menu isnt huge but it has a good selection of steamed seafood baskets (including blue crab), fried seafood, crab fries (SOOOOOO much fresh crab comes on them), soups and salads. The menu is online (but no prices). one family member didnt eat seafood (which i didnt know) so he was a bit limited in choices, between salad, sausage and chicken fingers, but he didnt seem to mind. The ramen was very good and had lots of seafood in it, I had to bring most of it home. And again the staff was very nice with us, especially considering we were a group that all came at different times. family members wrote to me afterwards telling me a picked such a great place. I didnt find parking to be an isssue, if the street parking is full the amherst garage is just a couple blocks down behind safeway and very cheap (plus it was free parking after 6pm weekdays, and free weekends)

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MI

Michael Mulshine

Beclaws is great. The food is delicious, and who doesnt love a giant mug of beer. The decor is also top notch, and more importantly the seating is comfortable. Beclaws has become our go to spot for a nice seafood dinner. There is good diversity on the menu, in that you can get a expensive platter/combo or a reasonably priced meal. Additionally they have put a lot of thought into there setup. The bucket, bibs and gloves really make the experience. Since you dont smell like you just ate crabs when you are done, so you can still head out on the town afterwards. The only reason I dont give Beclaws five stars is that the service can be spotty, although it is usually top notch. From my own experience I have found the service is much better in the bar area than in the dinning room. In fact I have only ever had subpar service when sitting in the dinning room. Of my last 4 trips 3 have been amazing and one has been good. On the fourth trip there were only minor inconveniences, for instance I had to wait after my food came to get gloves, and the server tried to take our order without writing it down, which she was obviously not capable of doing. All in all solid restaurant, but if at all possible just sit in the bar area.

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Amanda Persad

The service was wonderful, food arrived quickly. Its my friends birthday so we decided to try this place and we were not disappointed. First, the seafood is reasonably priced and very tasty. We got gator bites and sweet potato fries as and app but were not able to finish. Crispy and great favor. I ordered 1 lb of shrimp in a caj-sian sauce. Essentially Cajun spice, chili pepper, & tons of awesome garlic. Very spicy but tasty. When I go back Ill go w the medium. I got 12 huge shrimp w the heads on, red potato, corn, & French bread. Is trade out the french bread for a different side option just to be different (side salad, corn bread, etc.) My friend got sea food pho which came in a nice light broth. She finished it and she enjoyed it. They surprised her w free birthday beignets. Service was awesome. They give you a bib, gloves, & a bucket for your seafood. The sauce was delicious but very spicy so our waitress brought over a pitcher of water and left it at the table. If you love seafood, GO. We got three entrees: $42.50. Worth it. Excited to go back and try the different Cajun dishes like etouffe and gumbo.

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JO

John Tran

The moment we came in we were greeted and seated promptly. Our server brought us the menu as soon as we sat down. Normally any place would take our drink or appetizers but not here. We sat there for 15 min watching 5 different waiters checking on their tables and even our supposed waiter walking by and ignoring us. This was around 7 pm on a Sunday when we came in so it wasnt anywhere near closing time and the place I would say was 1/4 full. Definitely not packed or busy. We waved for some service but got no response. Finally we got tired of being hungry and decided to get up and leave. We put on our jackets and was thanked by one of the other waiters for stopping by. Are you serious?! We got no service and was thanked for leaving. We tried to ask for a manager but was told no manager was present until opening the next day. If you live in MD like me and are looking for a place like Chasin Tails but local, do yourself a favor and make the hike to VA or some other place. Chasin Tails is definitely worth the drive.

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MA

Matt Muzzatti

I tried. I really did. When they first opened I was in love with it. The food was great...however, after some time we came back and the seafood was turning to crap. The crawfish were tiny and somehow they turned the shrimp into goo which was strange. We figured it was an off night. Time passed and we tried grubhub. We got an email after 90 minutes of waiting saying the restaurant will not deliver because theyre now closed. Whatever. Tried one more time. Restaurant wasnt packed by no means but still waited 15 minutes just to be seen. Youd think the staff would be like "oh man we forgot about them! Well rectify that!".. No not really. Was there for an hour and got one drink, an appetizer that wasnt what we ordered, and ended getting held hostage for another ten minutes to bring our check. I didnt get to see if the seafood got better but oh well. Save your time and your money. This place is way too expensive to be selling you low rate seafood anyways.

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