Great crabs and seasoned seafood! We had a wonderful first visit to Backfins Crab House! Everything we ordered was perfectly seasoned and absolutely delicious. The food was fresh, flavorful, and the portions were very generous. My husband ordered the Seafood platter and couldn't even finish it because there was so much food. I had the combo platter with shrimp and flounder, and it was outstanding. Every bite was cooked perfectly and full of flavor. A special shoutout to our server, Lily, who made our experience even better. As first-time visitors, we appreciated how friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful she was. She answered all of our questions, made great recommendations, and made us feel welcome from the moment we arrived. Between the excellent food, generous portions, and outstanding service, Backfins Crab House earned a return visit from us. We can't wait to come back! read more

Backfins Crab House - Combo platter with flounder and shrimp - Seafood Near Me - Wake Forest, North Carolina

See all

If you've ever had a real 'Bald-i-more' crab cake this place is like that. I NEVER order crabcakes anywhere outside of Maryland because they're flat, fried, breaded discs of special, not lump and certainly not jumbo lump. Their crabcakes are the real deal. The snow crab legs are also outstanding and the service is always great. One of our go-tos. read more

As a Maryland gal, I loved this spot!!! The only place I've found cream of crab soup here. We really enjoyed our dinner. We got soup, oysters, and the seafood broil. The atmosphere was casual but the service was great. The food was flavorful and delicious and totally reasonably priced. Would come back for sure read more

Backfins Crab House - Seafood Near Me - Wake Forest, North Carolina

See all

I love Backfins. The flounder and shrimp are so good. You can get them blackened or grilled. Their hushpuppies and onion rings are also good. They give you good portions as well. It's small inside so we always get Togo but it never disappoints. read more

See all

I have frequented this restaurant on numerous occasions . The food has always been really good except yesterday. I ordered lemon pepper flounder with blackened shrimp. The flounder came out. It was not hot at all. The skin tasted burnt so I asked for another fresh piece, the cook comes out and tries to convince me that the fish is not burnt that this is the skin. I have been on this earth for sixty nine years and I know the difference between burnt and lemon pepper His tone was condescending and duly noted. However he did return with a blackened fish that I requested and it was delicious and properly cooked his attitude and sarcasm was unnecessary as he repeated the fish was not burnt. I REPEAT, IT TASTED BURNT TO ME!! read more

Service was amazing and food was really good and decent prices for the quality of the food. 100% going back in the future. read more

Backfins Crab House - the snow grab platter - Seafood Near Me - Wake Forest, North Carolina

It was my first time going to this restaurant over the weekend. And I really have nothing but great things to stay. They're fish and fries are so good. I can't stop thinking about it. They are very fresh. They are very friendly. Their service is great. The ambience is awesome too. I really enjoy this atmosphere. I love their hush puppies and can't stop thinking about their cheese curds. Will be back. read more

Haven't been back here in a long time and it absolutely did not disappoint!!! Excellent service and excellent food!! They very quickly and nicely accommodated our group of eight and everyone absolutely loved their meals! We will be back!! read more

Very reasonable prices, especially when compared to other restaurants with the same quality of food. I had a fried seafood combo, which included approximately 12 fried oysters, one ample-sized flounder, fries, and coleslaw. (I won't get the coleslaw again. It contained way too much liquid.) It was my daughter's bday, and she is pregnant, and she ordered a crazy amount of food, including a seafood boil, but it was steamed. She also got the key lime pie for dessert. She and her husband said that the crab legs were not their favorite. Daughter said they tasted "fishy." The waitress was perfectly attentive and provided everything we required throughout the meal.We brought bakery cupcakes to the restaurant and were pleased to discover there was no upcharge for bringing in food. Our waitress even supplied plates for us to eat our cupcakes on! read more

First time and last time. Came for dinner with my son after a local recommended. We were stoked to try out a new spot as we both love all things seafood, especially crab. I ordered the combo with crab legs, shrimp, potatoes and green beans. My son ordered the crabby melt ( described as a grilled cheese with crab added) and fries. Service was quick and food hot. My son worked on his fries and let the sandwich cool down a bit before taking 2 bites. He immediately said the crab didn't taste right and then complained it wasn't sitting right with his stomach. It took a good 10-15 minutes before we were able to flag the server down and explain the situation and send the food back. My son declined another sandwich or other food. (It bothered him that much- he arrived very hungry!) The bill came and we were charged for the full crabby melt meal. Now, he ate some of the fries and perhaps shouldn't receive a full refund but a discount would have been appreciated. At the very least, if we were going to pay for the full price meal, I should have been given the food to take home to my dog. I'm surprised and annoyed that in today's economy, we were charged full price for a meal that was not edible. Being our first experience with the location, that's enough of a turn off to keep us from coming back. read more

Amazing seafood at an affordable price. This is my go to seafood restaurant. The staff is polite and friendly while accommodating. I'd recommend this restaurant to anyone. read more

Overall, the food was good and reasonably priced. The service, however, requires significant improvement. I will revisit once they address these issues. Ordering was odd because the person who took our drink order couldn't take our food order. The menu has options for everyone who doesn't want seafood. I enjoyed my seafood combination steamed with crawfish, shrimp, and sausage. In summary, good food at a fair price. I look forward to returning once they resolve the current problems. read more

Backfins Crab House - Crawfish, Snow Crab, Seafood Boil Combo Plate featuring Crawfish, Snow Crab, Shrimp with Sausage and Corn - Seafood Near Me - Wake Forest, North Carolina

Food is super fresh straight from Maryland! Soups are delicious! I always get the Trio Platter and it never disappoints! Fresh snow crab legs, limp meat crab cakes pan seared and delicious shrimp. I've never had anything on the menu I didn't like. The hush puppies . Service and ambience are great! read more

Very happy with our experience here. Our friendly waitress was helpful and stayed right on top of things. Casual place with very high quality seafood. Raw oysters were very good, well selected and shucked nicely. Pasta with shrimp was delicious. Very nice garlicky sauce that complimented the blackened shrimp perfectly. Snow crabs were great, served with a nice coleslaw. Will definitely be back! read more

I was seated immediately by the hostess when I came in. The noise level was moderate with23 people inside ( room for at least 42 inside them more room outside in their enclosed terrace. They have no free WiFi it turns out it's for the business. I got the fried sampler which came out in 5 minutes (even though they were fairly busy) it was nice and hot. I'm testing this as a place I can bring my parents one of which is on reduced salt. The cheese curds would be a no for him but for me I loved them!very cheesy with garlic!! The marinara pairs well with them. The oysters are not salty with a light crispy breading excellent even if you don't use the cocktail sauce. The shrimp are medium sized ( half dollar) lightly breaded lightly salted compared to the oysters dad would probably not risk them. The onion rings have the same type of batter as the shrimp but aren't salty at all. Dad will wolf these down! The cocktail sauce is a tad on the sweet side so it does mute the saltiness of anything . All the patrons seemed to be happy with no complaints voiced while I was here. Menu prices aren't on the menus you have to scan a place on the menu for prices or ask the wait staff. They offer char grilled and seared options as well as a kids menu . I will definitely be back to try more items. I wasn't super hungry today read more

See all

I love their crab melt and hush puppies. Great spot for lunch. Service is fine. Ambiance is not anything special but the food is good!

Love the Maryland style crabs and crabcakes! We like to go here on special occasions because it's kind of far and they close too early. but it's the only authentic MD seafood place we've found down here. My biggest complaint is that they close so early even on weekends! Like 8pm! I'm usually just getting out around then. read more

We really enjoy this restaurant. The food and service is good. It's not a big place but they have some outside seating. read more

Backfins Crab House - Seafood platter - Seafood Near Me - Wake Forest, North Carolina

Backfins Crab House is a good place to dine. I do think they need to update their menus as the prices are blacked out but more than that the to go menu online overs many more options than the current menu. Almost everything on the current menu is fried. But the online ordering had fried shrimp; broiled shrimp; peel and eat offered for the shrimp baskets. I went with the broiled shrimp basket and choose fries and corn as my sides. The shrimp portion was plentiful. I hadn't expected so many. I was very happy with what I ordered. Service was exceptional for the large group we had. read more

See all

Fantastic food! Crabshack atmosphere on point. First visit and we happened to be there on a day they had fresh blue crabs. What a treat and they were delicious! Lily, our waitress, was a joy. We'll be back! read more

Backfins Crab House - Steamed, spiced crabs and hushpuppies. Yum! - Seafood Near Me - Wake Forest, North Carolina

Ever since I heard the owners are from Maryland and offer a great crab cake I've wanted to dine here. Yesterday we finally made it over. I decided to get one crab cake and a cluster of crabs. I'm so glad I choose that rather than just crab cakes. These were some of the biggest, most perfectly cooked, and sweet snow crab legs I've had in a long time. They cracked perfectly and the meat came out without any struggle. The claw itself was massive. I wish I'd just gotten two crab clusters because the crab cake was just so-so, which was disappointing. Not much flavor at all and I choose no remulaude sauce to boot. My standard is from G&M Restaurant in MD and these are a far cry, plus not broiled, which makes a huge difference for flavor compared to pan seared or deep fried. My spouse got the fried scallops, which she really enjoyed. Hush puppies aren't complimentary as at other local seafood places, but avail as a side. The platers come with two sides. I had corn that was tough and very little flavor and a mustardy potato salad, which was not that great. My spouse liked the fries, but didn't care for the cole slaw. It's much smaller inside than I expected, tiny by most standards. They do have outside seating, but it was just too hot out. We were lucky to get there Saturday as they're closed for the rest of the 4th holiday weekend. We'll be returning and look forward to those crab legs! read more

Backfins Crab House - Crab cake & a huge crab cluster. - Seafood Near Me - Wake Forest, North Carolina

See all

Great food, great atmosphere and the prices are somewhat reasonable.It gets pretty crowded, but it's worth it.

Food was very good. MD crab cakes are the best. Service was outstanding. Highly recommend this restaurant.

Delicious meaty crab cakes, perfect onion rings, great cole slaw and the garlic cheese curds to die for. Highly recommended place to eat lunch or dinner. Not inexpensive anymore, thanks to Joe. Let's Go Brandon! read more

Backfins Crab House - Front entrance in mini-mall, lunch with my sweetheart Carol. - Seafood Near Me - Wake Forest, North Carolina

Overall, this was a pretty good visit. We went for lunch on a Sunday, and it was moderately busy, as we had a 20 minute wait. The hostess was initially neutral but warmed up to us. Once we were seated, our server greeted us pretty quickly. She was good about answering our menu questions, and seemed friendly enough. The restaurant was a little small but had a nice atmosphere. Now, on to the food. We had the fried platter combos. Between our table, we had fish, shrimp, oysters, crab legs,and scallops. Everything was perfectly fried and well-seasoned The scallops were especially juicy, but you don't expect a lot of them. Still, we would definitely order this again The fish was a huge portion, as were the shrimp and oysters. As far as the sides, I would skip the fries. They were boring and not as good as the other items. The slaw and hushpuppies were excellent. The hushpuppies tasted homemade. Don't skip the butter on them. The crab legs were excellent and didn't need butter. Now, a word of caution. The combo platters are pretty pricey. On that day, it was like $34.00. In fact, we had to use a QR code to see the daily prices, but definitely worth it. We definitely come back to try the blue crabs, which looked amazing. The service was prompt and friendly. In all, this restaurant is pricey but worth it!!! read more

See all

We were looking for a casual option for seafood and specifically crab cakes. We were very happy with the crab cakes and the hush puppies were great too. They also had good options for our youngest that is not a fan of seafood. Our wait staff was great. read more

Best crab, best sides, best service. We've been here a million times and it never disappoints.

Raleigh native, but I work in wake forest & I always come here on my lunch break. The food is always great & hot! My go to order is the fried oysters basket!! Best seafood in town! Service is always great & the staff are always friendly. Location is always clean & the patio is nice! They also have a bar, which is always great. Can't wait to bring my family so we can order the Maryland crabs cause they look & I heard they are so good. I'm slowly becoming a regular. read more

Backfins Crab House - Fried oysters, onion rings, and coleslaw - Seafood Near Me - Wake Forest, North Carolina

See all

I feel torn with this place. The food was good, but the portions vary too much. For instance, a combo platter is ~$40, that includes two sides. One of our sides was potato salad, and you know those little sauce containers? That's what they put our side of potato salad in. Far too little portion for what was paid. The food portions overall were not as large as I would have liked for the price. 4 pieces of scallop and 2 pieces of flounder for the platter. They didn't skimp on the fried sides (fries, onion rings, etc) but the mains were lacking. Service was fine. Overall, be careful what you order as they are very stingy with the portions. But the food is good. read more

Lunch adventures.... Backfins Crabhouse again .... lol Missed out on dino ribs at Prime ... :-( So no steamed blue crabs today so opted for Crab Cake and shrimp! So glad I did ! Truly the best crab cakes in the area. ... only gripe is that I wish it had more jumbo lump in it :-( But it's ok.. it hits the spot for crab cakes outside of the Easton shores of MD.. Shrimp has the signature Capt Pells seasoning and flavor And definitely ask for more JO seasoning for your potatoes, shrimp, cake and fries lol And vinegar for your fries to make it like Thrashers Boardwalk fries ;-) Definitely John and his brother bring a piece of home to North Carolina for sure ! read more

See all

Was in the area and decided to order takeout --fried cheese curds (great, but a little greasy so it must be eaten immediately before turning soggy), bacon wrapped scallops stuffed with crab meat, and peel & eat shrimp. The staff was very nice and had our order done pretty fast. Truly appreciate great fast service nowadays! Their menu is completely different from the others posted online so I'd suggest dining in or ordering in person vs online. read more

See all

I am used to Maryland backfin crab cakes, because I moved here from Baltimore. The crab cakes were the closest to Maryland. Will be going back!!! read more

Thank you for a fantastic meal and great service! We appreciated the way we were treated. Everyone was very friendly and kind! Definitely our favorite restaurant in wake Forest! read more

My husband and I have just moved to the area and have eaten at Backfins 2 weeks in a row because it is THAT GOOD! The batter on the fried shrimp is to die for, the hush puppies are so buttery, and the fries are delicious. Not to mention, if you are a Ranch person like me, they have the GOOD ranch. You know what I mean. My husband even really loves the Oysters which is saying a lot because he is an Oyster snob Anyways, the wait is never terrible and both times we had pretty good service! Will continue to return a ton I am sure! read more

Backfins Crab House - Fried Shrimp Basket with Hush Puppies and Fries. Oysters. - Seafood Near Me - Wake Forest, North Carolina

As a former Marylander; dinner here gave us the crab cakes we have been missing! You can tell the owners are from Maryland who know seafood. NC has been a huge disappointment for crab, so many false advertisements of lump crab cakes. Will be back when I need to fulfill my crab craving again. read more

We have been going to Back Fins since they where in Downtown Wake Forest. They are consistently delicious! We have eaten at plenty of seafood restaurants at the coast and Back Fins continues to have them beat! read more

Simply perfection. Fresh, delicious seafood. Combo platter with snow crab legs, pan seared scallops, new potatoes and green beans. Crab Cake Sandwich with fresh cut fries. AND...some delicious cold beverages ... Served with pride and eaten with joy. They just keep getting better and better. Support small business and eat local folks! read more

See all

We finally made it over to the new location - we visited the old location years ago, and wanted to see the new place! This location is much smaller than the former, but very bright and cheery. The touches of sea/ocean decor are very friendly and welcoming. The seating (actual chairs) were very outdated looking and didn't really fit the charm of the restaurant. We were seated near the kitchen - I personally don't like it when restaurants leave the kitchen/prep area open to the public. From our table, we could see employees talking in the back, cleaning silverware and we could see some appliances. I was surprised that Backfins doesn't offer free hush puppies or any bread while you wait for your main course. Hush puppies are offered as a side to a meal, no freebies. Many other seafood places we visit offer hush puppies free. We both ordered two combos - scallops and crab cake for me, crab leg and crab cake for my daughter. The crab leg was good, we both liked the crab cakes (generous size!), and my scallops were pan seared and perfect. The big letdown were the side items - green beans lacked any flavor, the cole slaw was meh (KFC has better cole slaw), the hush puppies tasted bland (no seasoning at all), and my onion rings were very average. I ate two and left the rest. We would definitely eat here again but would choose completely different side items. And, we'd prefer to not sit near the kitchen. $54 before tip for two combo plates. A little pricey, seafood isn't cheap! read more

See all

I ate here when they were still in down Wake Forest and while the decor is not as homey at the new spot, the food is still excellent. Usually always stop in once per trip to NC. I've gotten the Combo Basket here both times with fried shrimp and fried oysters. Of course you're gonna get it with hush puppies and onion rings. Good portion, good price, and great taste as you'd expect it to. They also serve Red Oak, which is a delicious red ale from a place off of I40 near Greensboro. Gonna have to branch out and try some different items next time. Another spot in NC where its obvious why they're so highly rated. Eat here with no doubt you're going to get a good Southern style seafood meal! read more

Backfins Crab House - Combo basket Fried Oysters, Fried Shrimp, Hush Puppies, Onion Rings - Seafood Near Me - Wake Forest, North Carolina

See all

Went here on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I had hear multiple times that the crab cakes are to die for so I decided to give them a try. I ordered the crab cake and the crab legs with fries and hush puppies. The crab cake was really good. It had lump crab on top and throughout. They were survived with a yummy sauce. You can't really go wrong with crab legs. The service was also very good. The food came quickly and the waitress even showed me how to open the crab legs easier. It came with a lot of hush puppies so I wasn't able to finish them all. But overall it was an awesome meal! read more

Backfins Crab House - Crab cake and crab legs - Seafood Near Me - Wake Forest, North Carolina