Tiffany C.

Currently sitting here while waiting for half the order to come out. We got seated at 6:08. It is now 7:43pm. No one came to apologize for the long delay. We asked a server to check on our order and never came back to update us. We asked a second waiter and he noted that something happened with the kitchen and it's been really busy for them. If you're running a business, you need to be considerate of other people's times. Don't seat and take people's order more than you can take, only to piss them off and not tell them it's going to be a 2 hour wait for food to come out. Not to mention, they have a self serve bar. Nothing was being replenished. There are 3 wait staff and they weren't going around being apologetic that the kitchen is being slow. I might've been more understanding, but 2 hours for this experience is awful. We received our seafood plate 1.5 hour into being seated. All our sides didn't even come out yet and we were already finished eating the entire seafood. We're also missing an entree still. Almost 2 hours. Never coming back. Go to boiling crab. Food isn't even that good.

Stephanie C.

2nd time coming. This time for my bday! We were ready to order the combo again, but they got a new extensive menu and zoomed in on the roasted fish!! My friend doesn't like spicy so we got the garlic sauce and side of rice. This fish fed 3 people! Plus we were munching on the free appetizers. Fish was phenomenal! We got the same server. Perfect service as always! She even remembered us from the previous time!

Van T.

Came here with my husband and our twin girls, and it turned out to be such a great experience! We ordered Combo A and went with 1 lb of shrimp and 1 lb of crawfish, plus fries, corn, and potatoes--medium spicy with the mix of all sauce. Everything came out flavorful, saucy, and messy in the best way possible. The sauce combo was seriously delicious, and the spice level had just the right kick without being overwhelming. One thing that really stood out was their complimentary sides bar--it's kind of like a mini buffet with lots of options to add to your meal, which we didn't expect but definitely appreciated! The portions were generous too--we actually had leftovers and made sure to take extra sauce to go (it's that good). What really made the visit extra special though was the owner. She was so sweet and thoughtful--on our way out, she gave our twins some snacks, which totally made their day. Great food, great service, and a welcoming, family-friendly vibe. We'll definitely be back!

Lina C.

Good addition to the East Pasadena dining scene with a variety of Chinese/Cantonese style dishes as well as their popular seafood broil. We opted for the flavorful garlic butter, but there are lots of spicy options if you want some heat. There are self serve appetizer and snacks stations included with your meal selection. Nice owner and plenty of parking in the rear lot.

David C.

This is a popular, relatively new seafood boil place that also mixes in Chinese food on their menu. I would have to say that our experience was overall pretty good, with a few hiccups that hopefully they will work out in the near future. First off, they opened in a really nondescript building in what is now one of the sketchier, abandoned areas of East Pasadena now overrun with homeless, prostitutes, and mentally ill people wandering around. While this is not their fault in the least, it does make someone who knows the area wonder why here. The outside is still the same bleak, run down exterior of the previous tenant - a long running, now closed Japanese restaurant. The interior, though, while nothing fancy has cleaned up nice. They offer a rather large free buffet bar for all diners full of all kinds of specifically authentic Chinese appetizers, from cucumber salad to sweet red bean soup to all kinds of innards and spicy tofu. So, people seem to really enjoy all that free stuff. Parking is also easy here, either on the street or in the lot they have in back. Tonight, on a Sunday, it was very busy. While there was no wait to be seated, there was only one server and one host. Then a couple more male servers seemed to appear to help out over time. The fact they're so understaffed is one of the bigger drawbacks right now. The servers are friendly and helpful in general, but when it is packed they can only run around so fast. They need to hire more staff for when they are busy. I assume the kitchen has the same issues, as it took almost an hour to get scallion pancakes and 25 minutes to get a 1/2 lb of sausage we forgot to originally order with our meal (This must be one of the only boil places where they don't include sausage but give you broccoli). We got the Combo B, which was $90 for 4 lbs of seafood, four half pieces of corn that add up to one cob total, a couple of potatoes, two hard boiled eggs, and broccoli, along with your choice of 3 "fried items". We got 1 lb. of snow crab and 3 lbs. of peeled shrimp in their everything sauce, spicy. It was a good sauce and a large amount of shrimp. The potatoes were quite a bit hard and undercooked, but oh well. For the fried items we had the onion rings, which were chewy inside and still a bit raw, the french fries, which they completely forgot to salt at all, and the garlic bread (2 pieces). The sides weren't great. Real bad was the $10 for 1/2 lb. of average sausage, not andouille, as is custom. It didn't finally make it out until everything else was eaten. And, worst of all were the $11 scallion pancakes. They took nearly an hour to come out, came out way near the end of eating, and were dreadfully uncooked, floppy, and drowning in oil. One bite and I threw in the towel. Don't order the sausage or the scallion pancakes! So, would I go back? I think so. I did like their sauce. I might try their Chinese food menu items for their lunch specials. It will be better once they get their liquor license, which they are still waiting on. Lose the broccoli and put a 1/4 lb. of sausage in the regular boil. And please find more staff as soon as possible. Still, despite these problems, probably due to the fact they've been open less than a year, people seem excited to try the place and I believe things will get better and smoother. Give it a try.

Betty M.

The place is huge and can accommodate large party! All the entrees come with a large selection of cold dishes. Spicy beef with tongue, duck necks, edamame, fried peanuts, sweet Chinese dessert soup and many others. We had mild combo A with shrimp and spicy beef dry hot pot. The dry hot was very, very spicy for us and we can take the heat. The combo A served with different type of sauce and we had the Cajun style. It was mediocre, didn't taste the Cajun spices at all. All the portions are huge when combined with the cold dishes appetizers bar, we didn't even make a dent. The services are excellent and very attentive. Plenty of free parking in the back and off street parking as well.

Doreen T.

A great spot for sharing a seafood boil! The four of us ordered a combo with clams, snow crab legs, and a double portion of peeled shrimp. It also came with vegetables, corn, and potatoes, and we chose the garlic butter flavor, which was delicious. The combo includes a choice of sides as well, and we went with onion rings, egg rolls, and XLB. Before the seafood arrived, we helped ourselves to the self-serve bar, which had a variety of small dishes like cucumber salad, shredded potato salad, tofu, and seaweed salad. There were plenty of options to choose from. I did noticed many items were spicy so watch out. The service was friendly and welcoming, with smiles all around. We arrived early around 5pm, but the restaurant quickly filled up and was packed by dinner time on a Friday night. We had a great meal here and would definitely recommend it--and happily come back again.

Fiona T.

Looking for a unique dining experience that perfectly blends Eastern and Western flavors? Crab Grabber in Pasadena is your next must-visit spot! Start off with unlimited Asian appetizers -- yes, you read that right: UNLIMITED cold dishes including salads, spicy duck feet and pig ears, desserts, and much more. For the main dish, the Cajun seafood is the star -- so delicious and perfect to pair with all those appetizers. We also loved their new items, especially the tea-smoked duck. IG: socalhkfoodies

Amanda L.

We came to Crab Grabber with friends after seeing many glowing reviews and raving TikTok/reel videos, which were already a bit suspicious. Crab Grabber offers seafood boil and also traditional Chinese dishes, so it seems to be very abundant in options. The crab boil deals also seem to be such a steal since it includes your seafood of choice as well as sides. They even have a serve yourself buffet area where you can get some salads or very niche Chinese dishes that you don't typically see which is really cool. However, I feel that with so much that Crab Grabber is trying to do - complimentary buffet section, crab boil, Chinese food, they fall short in truly excelling or doing one exceptionally well. Crab boil is what we came for and it was pretty lackluster in flavor. Not enough seasoning. Do not be expecting your typical Cajun experience here. They're pretty skimpy on the sides. We were rationing them between our group. We didn't particularly like any of the complimentary sides either. Same thing - big batch but no flavor. I think the price point is very compelling so this is would be a great option for crab boil on a budget!

Janet S.

This place is off of Colorado in Pasadena - close to the Cadillac dealership. Don't be fooled by the outside/signage - this place is delicious and very generous with their portions. I'd describe it as a combination of boiling crab and Phoenix Chinese restaurant. The service by Kelli was outstanding! They have a large parking lot in the back and street parking in front. We tried kung pao shrimp, the fried "dry" spicy fish, cabbage dish, and the peeled shrimp with corn, potato and eggs. You can customize your spice level for every dish. They have a complimentary snack. Will definitely be back!

Lily V.

I came with my family here two days in a row, first was a trial whether the place is good or not. My uncle and aunt love to try new places and they saw this place in social media. The place is decorated with adorable colorful seafood and sea creatures, my son enjoyed finding and naming them all! Parking is on the back, the first time there was parking and second time it was packed but finding a spot wasn't hard! Street parking is an option. My aunt is not a big seafood eater, so I'm surprised she chose this place! But this place isn't just seafood! They also serve unlimited cold Chinese side dishes such as pig ear, spicy duck, seaweed salad, shrimp chips, sesame balls, and more! They also have traditional Chinese dishes, lunch special, fried appetizers, and à la carte seafood! The servers are very nice, quick and helpful. They gave us free kettle popcorn when seated and took our orders and answered our questions. The nonspicy is garlic butter which I definitely enjoyed for combo A (1lb shrimp and 1lb mussels)! The level 1 spicy isn't too spicy so I was able to try some of them from my family's combo B (snow crab, shrimp, mussels). We also got chicken wings, onion rings, sweet potato fries, and fries that are sides for the combos. We ate so much of the free cold dishes and slowly enjoyed the seafood which we were able to take to go. We enjoyed it so much we will be back! The owner is very nice! She and my family talked a lot and apparently she used to own a sichuan restarting in San Gabriel before! Which is where all the recipes for the spicy cold dishes came from!

Xu S.

Heard so many people recommend this place before coming to Pasadena, and it absolutely lived up to the hype! The highlight is definitely the self-serve braised snack bar -- and yes, it's FREE. Peanuts, cold dishes, braised meats, desserts, sweet soups... over 20 items and all surprisingly good. Honestly felt like the owner might go broke from how much people can eat We came as a family with kids and grandparents, and it turned out to be perfect for all ages. We ordered the seafood boil combo for four, where you can choose four types of seafood. It also comes with corn, broccoli, potatoes, eggs, and three appetizers. Combined with the free snack bar, it's incredible value -- around $20 per person and we were completely stuffed. We chose the lemon garlic butter flavor, and everything was fresh, juicy, and well-seasoned. They even provide tools for cracking snow crab legs, which made it super easy to enjoy. Besides the seafood boil, their Chinese dishes are also amazing: - The spicy crawfish was very clean, large in size, and full of flavor. We ordered mild spicy and it was perfect. - The crispy tea-smoked duck was outstanding -- rich but not greasy, with a subtle tea aroma that balanced everything beautifully. - The Sichuan grilled fish (we chose garlic flavor) was a huge portion and a big hit with my son. Overall, a great place for family dining with generous portions, great flavors, and amazing value. Definitely worth the trip!

Ash Y.

came here for the seafood boil and it was pretty solid overall. portions were generous and everything came out well seasoned. the shrimp, crawfish, and clams all tasted fresh, and the corn actually soaked up the sauce which i liked. they also have an ayce appetizer bar with things like fries and onion rings. nothing crazy but it's nice to have something to snack on while waiting, and it makes the meal feel more worth it. we also ordered the spicy steamed fish and that ended up being the highlight. it came out in a big tray with chili oil, peppers, peanuts, and vegetables. the fish itself was really tender and absorbed a lot of the flavor from the broth. it had a good level of spice without being overwhelming. service was amazing. staff was attentive and checked in often without being overbearing and everything came out pretty quickly. the place is pretty casual. definitely more of a come with friends, share food, and expect a bit of a mess type of spot. i'd come back again to try more of the menu