What an experience! We had the Valentine's Day special. Snow crab legs, sausage, shrimp, potatoes & corn on the cob! All steamed in Cajun seasonings. It was delicious! Danielle was awesome as our server! Helpful, informative & friendly! We loved it! read more

See all

My wife and I stopped in for lunch she had the shrimp basket with union rings. She loved both the shrimp was cooked to perfection. I had the catfish basket with sweet potato fries. T he fish was amazing cooked perfectly nice golden crust and moist and delicious. The fries were good needs a little seasoning but good. The service was awesome and friendly. This is a great place for some good food. If you are in the area stop in give them a try overall 8.9 score read more

See all

Such a yummy fun experience !! Very comfortable environment and the food.. so flavorful!! Good music too read more

Crafty Crab - Brandon - Seafood Near Me - Brandon, Florida

Healthy portion of Catfish breaded lightly, pleasantly flavored and served hot, nicely presented. Seated quickly in booth versus table during weekday lunch hour, thankfully. Background country music easily heard but not overly loud. Inside and outside decor consistent with restaurant name. Lunchtime arrival perfect for parking, seating and service. Conversation with Dani (Attendant), percentage-wise, more customers during evening hour, so very glad I arrived for lunch. Although this was first time to this restaurant, viewed the menu on-line, knew what to order and confirmed catfish (my seafood favorite) was available. Placed order as soon as Dani arrived with beverage (i.e., Pepsi products served). Extremely delicious and satisfying meal arrived within 10 minutes perfectly presented, along with tartar sauce, plasticware, condiments & hand cleaners. Though requested tartar sauce, this was not needed, the seasoning on the catfish was sufficient. Overall, very pleased with the meal, the price ($16.99 Fried 4pc Catfish Basket (took some home, again, healthy portion) with side of coleslaw)) along with the service plus information provided by Dani. Useful location detail: Crafty Crab is located on the north side of Brandon Blvd, east of Ridgeway Ave. read more

See all

Great portions, tons of flavor, and they always have new specials! The Hot Shrimp Summer was my favorite special and hubby enjoyed The Shell Yeah Special read more

Friendly service in a relaxed atmosphere. The food has always been well prepared and served with care and attention. Enjoy

Food was great tonight (as always). Layla our server was fantastic. We like "the boom" seasoning and medium spice. read more

Amazing place to dine, I came come one day and the staff was friendly and outgoing. This place is a must try read more

Crafty Crab - Brandon - Entrance - Seafood Near Me - Brandon, Florida

Came here on a Sunday after the idea to visit came up on a Friday evening. Had been craving seafood for literally months! Parking wasn't too bad and the back lot under the trees provided great shade. We walked in and were greeted and sat rather quickly. Dani was our server and was so sweet and patient as this was our first time. She let us know what was included and what the best bang for our buck was. The food was AMAZING! So flavorful, hot and the portion sizes were great. Thanks to Dani for her service and the staff in the back that deserve recognition as well! read more

See all

Crafty Crab was the very first seafood boil restaurant to open in Brandon. I've tried all the other restaurants with the same concept in this area. Yep, there are three other places. So, why not save the first one that opened in Brandon for last? That makes no sense at all, but I'm glad that I did. There were only a few patrons dining the whole time I was there between noon and 1pm. Fortunately, I had my choice of seating. The restaurant is clean, cool, and comfortable. The menu varies in price range from just under $10 for a half pound of your choice of seafood to a little over $70 for a pound of king crab legs. There are four sauces that you can get at different heat levels. The last of the four is a combination of Cajun, garlic butter, and lemon pepper, and it's called "The Boom" sauce. Sounds familiar, right? I decided to go with what I love. I usually get a half dozen steamed oysters as an appetizer along with a half pound of green mussels in the combo sauce. What I think is unique is that you can also add ramen noodles to your boil bag for an additional charge. In fact, this is the only restaurant of its type in the area that does this. It seriously is the best way to soak up that yummy sauce (besides a side of steamed rice). I wish all the seafood boil restaurants had ramen as an add on. Anyway, all was good with the exception of the sauce. The Boom sauce was extremely salty in the bag. I didn't notice it being that way on the steamed oysters, so I'm not sure why it tasted so salty in the bag. I do want to go back and try the garlic butter next time just to compare the two sauces. I think that was the only issue I had. The mussels were a good size and tasty. The potatoes were a generous size as well. The service was fantastic! Charli made sure I had everything that I needed, and she checked in on me often to make sure I was happy. She was super sweet & helpful, and I hope I get her again next time. There will be more lunch time visits. Especially since they offer ramen noodles. read more

See all

Best breaded shrimp (and boiled shrimp in a bag) around!!! And their onion rings are to die for!!! We love visiting Crafty Crab whenever we're in town! read more

I have visited in the past to crafty on Brandon and had a good experience, but this time was not good at all. When food came out: * steamed oysters were cold and slimy. * crab bag had no flavor (I requested the boom medium, which I have got many times) *the gentleman waitor working never checked on us after delivering food, not once. Usually they ask is everything ok, do you need anything he never stop and said anything. We had to stop him while he went to other tables just to ask for check and more drink. I was unable to eat and left very frustrated. For all the money spent this should have been a better experience. read more

Have had a great experience every time whether dining in or taking out. Similar to most places, very pricey, but I guess that's what it takes to have seafood. Hemos tenido una gran experiencia cada vez, sea cenando adentro o llevando a casa. Similar a la mayoría de los lugares, es muy caro, pero supongo que eso es lo que se necesita para comer langosta, cangrejo, camarones, etc. read more

Great food ALWAYS!!!! Perfect place to take children too! Kids eat free on Tuesdays! It's a wonderful place for large families too. Service is good and our young server went about and beyond for us!! read more

Brought my wife here on a Wednesday night. 1 Pound shrimp boil w/ potatoes and corn and a fry basket with catfish and oysters all for $35. DELICIOUS!!! read more

We started with a dozen oysters, and ended up wishing we hadn't. They were fine, size was good and they were clean. But my boyfriend and I prefer briney oysters, and these were pretty flavorless. To me, for raw seafood, no saltiness is a little off putting. The second part of our meal did not disappoint. We both agreed the boom sauce was the way to go. Kevin's comments on scallops & headless shrimp: properly cooked, delicious in the sauce. I would have to agree on my side of the order (crawfish and head on shrimp) French fries were crispy, fluffy inside, flavorful, 10/10 Side note regarding alcohol- Jameson shots were way too expensive lol. $10 per shot is extreme Final verdict looking forward to coming back just for the seafood boil read more

Food is great and ambiance is fun. No complaint. Will try it again for sure. Just wish they had more fish options.

We were on the way to visit family and stopped here for lunch. Their specialty are boils -- and the presentation is dramatic. Large puffed up with air plastic bags that are filled at the bottom with seafood in a sauce of your choice are presented to the table. You order by weight and the menu is done so they can change the prices to reflect market conditions. We didn't have the patience or time to try one of their seafood boils. And I didn't want to smell like garlic butter or Cajun seasoning. So we tried another portion of their menu -- fried seafood baskets. We wanted a combo of two types of seafood, but that wasn't offered on the menu. So I ordered their fried oysters and he ordered the fried shrimp and we shared. The fried orders come with a choice of one side. I chose their onion rings and he chose "potato" (it's singular on the menu). The food came out in a reasonable amount of time. The oysters were a bit small and tasted preprocessed and pre breaded. They were okay. The onion rings were barely okay. On the other hand, the fried shrimp was wonderful -- delicious in a light flour batter. The "potato" was steamed in sauce and served in a small plastic bag of its own. He opted for a combo of the sauces; the boiled potatoes (2 small ones) were drenched in sauce. They also have a separate section of steamed oysters (and scallops) so maybe I'd try that next time we are in the area. The menu has calamari, gumbo, sides, and even salads, along with a couple desserts. Service was good. Every booth was occupied so they are certainly popular. read more

See all

After moving to Apollo Beach earlier this year, we were happy to find a Crafty Crab in Brandon!!!!! It did not disappoint at all!!!! I'm not going to name our server because then you guys will ask for her and she won't be available! I'm kidding.. Crafty needs to clone Jasmine, our server 2 out of the 3 times we've been. She's friendly, helpful and a ball of energy!!! What more could you ask for with your dining experience?! Ok, let's get to the food! Every time we go, we order the same items: - Lobster Tail special; a good mix of all things seafood! It comes with a lobster tail, half lb of snow crab legs, half lb of headless shrimp and your choice of sausage or eggs- I normally do sausage. I get that sauce mild or medium (spicier) and get the mix of potatoes and corn which is included. My seasoning is garlic butter because it doesn't taste as salty- DELICIOUS! 20000/10 - Fried oyster basket with fries; fried to perfection! Oysters are always sweet and fresh10/10 - Catfish basket with Fries; Now this isn't Mississippi catfish that I'm used to but it's still incredibly tasty! Grab a side of hush puppies (another can't miss item!) 9/10 If you haven't been by, take a chance, ask for Jasmine and have a great seafood experience! read more

Crafty Crab - Brandon - Time to eat! - Seafood Near Me - Brandon, Florida

See all

The food here is awesome! I have been 4 times in the past 2 weeks. I relocated from TX to FL two years ago and have been missing and craving real southern style cajun food. Crafty Crab opened just in time for crawfish boiling season. I haven't had the crawfish yet, but their fried catfish, the shrimp and sausage boils are super flavorful and very tasty. Crawfish is next on my menu, probably heading over today. Hits just the right spot for seafood lovers. I have not experienced bad service or long waits others have commented about yet. Just have to have patience here just like any other brand new place. The food is 100% worth the wait times. read more

Crafty Crab - Brandon - Catfish and onion rings - Seafood Near Me - Brandon, Florida

See all

This place is so good! First time trying crawfish so there's that! The crab legs were cooked to perfection, came right out the shell! The decor is super 'sea'rific! Great lil chain in Tampa for some good seafood! read more

Way too seasoned and spicy for the level that I requested. I feel like the Ramen should be cooked with out any seasoning before adding to the boil. I ended up throwing the Ramen out. read more

Went to CC for the first time a month ago and was not impressed. The crab was rubbery and tasted over cooked or reheated. Everything else was okay. Our server was FANTASTIC I wish I could remember his name. Reggie or Ronald, not sure but he's why I gave it an extra star. I'll stick to Mr. & Mrs. Crab read more

See all

Wow where to begin. The Dungeness Crab platter with garlic butter sauce and mild in heat. Comes with 1/2 pound shrimp, 1/2 pound dungeness Crab, 1 pound crayfish 2 pieces of corn and 2 potatoes and finally your choice of 1/2 pound sausage or 2 boiled eggs. The side of hush puppies came with like a raumalaud sauce. The catfish basket came with a choice of 1 side, which we chose coleslaw. I have been to a lot of seafood restaurants and cookouts. This is the first place that knew how to use the old bay seasoning. It was there but so was the taste of the corn, potatoes, Crab, shrimp, crayfish, and sausage. You could taste every bit of the garlic and butter sauce. It's the best seafood experience I have had since going to the Original crabby Bill's. This place was very clean and Carmen our server did a great job and was very pleasant. I can't wait to go back again!!! If you think it's pricey, well by the time you buy everything in the store and caught it yourself, well you can imagine how much it would be. I really do thank Carmen for a great experience!!!! read more

See all

I would love to write this review based off the food but we were denied being seated. They close at 10 but will not seat you after 9 on Sunday's. Arrived at 9:15 and was advised by the hostess that we can order to go. Then she walked away... they are rude and have no sense of customer service. Will not attempt to go back. read more

Crafty Crab - Brandon - Beware before you make the drive... - Seafood Near Me - Brandon, Florida

Decided to stop by on a weekday afternoon at about 4 PM. The restaurant was mostly empty, so I was greeted and seated rather quickly. My server was friendly and pleasant and handed me a menu and took my drink order. I decided (bet you can guess) on the fried shrimp platter. My Coca Cola was delivered in a minute and the food was brought around 10 minutes later. The shrimp tasted fresh, perfectly breaded, and perfectly cooked. They were large shrimp and just delicious. My side of fries was average. For a rather empty restaurant my server could have stopped by a little more frequently to refill my soda. I found the meal heavenly, if not a little expensive, though certainly worth it. The next time I decide to splurge on lunch, the Crafty Crab will definitely be one of my top choices. A well deserved 4 stars. Slightly better service, slightly more shrimp, and slightly lower prices would have made this a 5 star review. read more

See all

Food was amazing so this review has NOTHING to do with the food!! 5 for food Service is crap. Been here twice and both times the service was so bad it was almost awkward. JuJu was our server this evening and she literally couldn't have cared any less for us. Waited about 5-8 minutes to be greeted. Waited an additional 20 minutes for some waters and one draft beer. Immediately ordered the whole dinner and still waited about 15 for some hush puppies and an additional 15 for entrees. After dinner, we waited about 10 minutes for a bag and another 10 for the check. We even told her that we were on a time crunch after our entrees. It takes A LOT for me to not tip 20%. Especially with being in the business myself. Hope you start to retrain employees and not to overwhelm them with tables, even though I think JuJu only had 3 tables.... some people just aren't meant to be servers. read more

We tried this place based on the recommendation of one of Lay's co-workers. We have driven all the way to Orlando to this style of food before, so we were hoping this would be as good...to save a couple of hours driving. Turns out it was just as good. To start, it is not a huge menu, but they do what they do (seafood) very well. Lay likes the cajun style and got two pounds of blue crab (we brought a lot home). He got the Boom sauce, which is a mix of three, and wanted the highest spice level. Remember, he likes to be sweating when he eats. This came up a tad short of that, but he was satisfied with the spice level and found the crabs to be very fresh and well prepared. I got six raw oysters on the half-shell which were large and quite fresh and well cleaned. For the entree, I got fried catfish with onion rings. The onion rings were OK but likely frozen. Not bad, just nothing special. The fried catfish was well done in a nice cornmeal batter that wasn't too thick. The batter was crisp, but the fish not at all over-done as sometimes happens. The bill came to $60, so not cheap but we felt we got our money's worth. The service came up just a little short. It wasn't busy at all, but we still had to wait a bit to be seated (I mean no line, they just took a while to seat us). We were told the wait can be quite long on weekends. Today being the 4th of July you can't tell what a normal day would be like. Our waiter took a bit to get by to get us started. It wasn't excessive, but given how slow it was, it could have been better. He was pleasant, and everything came out at about the pace you'd expect. However, once we got the food, it was a long time before we saw him again. My drink had been empty for a while. That's the reason for four stars instead of five. They've only been open a few months, so maybe there's still some training needed. I'm hoping that will improve and I can up them to five, but for good seafood, we'd highly recommend the place. read more

Crafty Crab - Brandon - Fried Catfish and Onion Rings - Seafood Near Me - Brandon, Florida

I will start by saying that Crafty Crab is definitely a "Must try" seafood spot! The seasoning is absolutely mouth watering. I was highly impressed with quality of seafood. I started with the raw oysters as an appetizer, it tasted fresh and they were bigggg! I had the small bucket with everything in it and it was a pound of crab legs and half of pound of crawfish, clams, shrimp, and mussels with a side of potatoes and corn. Absolutely flavorful, I did not speak the whole time because I was so invested in this dish. Not many alcohol beverage selections, only wine and beer options. Unfortunately, the moscato was of low quality and served hot. It was distasteful and not a good pairing with food. Service: I was very disappointed by the whole service in general. I was meeting my friend here and thankfully he arrived before me. He was informed that the wait time would be 20minutes but ended up waiting 35 minutes. Once we were seated, our waiter did provide us with menu, we were informed that there was no drinks menu. We placed our orders and oysters came out shortly after, but my friends appetizer took long. After waiting for 30 minutes for our order, our waiter informed us that it would take longer because they made it wrong and there were now more orders in front of us. Safe to say maybe it was never put in to begin with. Staff was not well informed on menu options for food or drinks. There was constant back and forth for questions. I will be going back for more seafood, since the flavors were amazing. Hopefully service is better. read more

See all

I absolutely loved this place. The food was great and they gave a generous portion. I tried the shrimp boil and snow crabs boil. I like how they provide you with bibs and gloves to help keep your hands clean and prevent food from getting on your clothing. We also ordered a side of boiled eggs and had it put in the sauce of the boils. Boy was it delicious. The sauces are great! I don't know if this was the norm but I must admit the sauce was a little highly seasoned they can ease off the salt just a tad bit. Our server was excellent and very accommodating. She checked in on us and made sure we had everything we needed. The restaurant was clean and very spacious. From the outside it didn't look like the dining area was the size that it was. I will definitely be back to try some of the other delicious looking dishes. read more

Crafty Crab - Brandon - Seafood Near Me - Brandon, Florida

Very tasty crabs! I got the crab legs and shrimp combo and added fries and wings. Everything was very delicious. We went around 2:00pm on a Friday and was seated immediately. It wasn't too pack so maybe before 4:00pm is a good time because it started to get packed as we were leaving. The staff were very nice and friendly. I will be returning. Thank you! read more

Crafty Crab - Brandon - Seafood Near Me - Brandon, Florida

See all

Should have known not to eat at a seafood restaurant that was empty, but we had little choice. The sushi joint we wanted to eat at was closed. But I digress. This place had the charm of a converted iHop with an inferiority complex. Lots of crab traps and surfboards and sticky menus. We started with a dozen oysters. They were large and pretty good but there were two problems. The first is that they didn't being out cocktail sauce. The second is that one of my bro's ate one of my oysters. Dude, 4 each. One of you ate 5. Hmmm. We all ordered crab and they bring it out in a huge inflated trash bag. The food was super hot and filled with lots of gooey sauce, but that's where the joy ends. The crab was over cooked. Super, over cooked. Like the crab came out of the shell in tiny pieces. It was a pain to eat. Also, it had zero flavor. Like we thought we all had COVID as we couldn't taste anything. Literally no flavor at all. We've been to a bunch of these crab joints and they are all great. This one wasn't. read more

I love seafood but for some reason the sauce ( The BOOM! ) at this place was a bit salty so I couldn't eat much in one sitting. And the drink was pretty but I'm not even sure it was liquor in there from how sweet it was. Another thing I wasn't happy about was the pricing was a bit different than what it is in Miami as in it was at least $6 more per meal but hey Try this place at your own discretion. I will be givin read more

See all

Had to fulfill my craving for seafood! I ordered delivery from here. Overall it was worth it, I would do it again. I did not like that the food was so cold once it arrived. Maybe better packaging to try and uphold the temp. The seafood was fresh and juicy and properly cooked. I chose the spiciest flavor possible and it tasted pretty mild, flavorful but not spicy at all. But my craving was fulfilled! read more

Crafty Crab - Brandon - Seafood Near Me - Brandon, Florida

See all

we ordered calamari for and appetizer and it came out half cold. It was a shame for they were very big. as other people have commented they are severely overpriced For what you get. We ordered the blue crab special and found the shrimp and sausage to be over cooked and tough . the crabs were very small and trashy. You would be better off going to Long John Silvers for better seafood. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME COMNG HERE, you will feel disappointed and robbed. read more

This is our seafood hot spot. When we need to get our crab boil on, this is where we go. We steer clear of the lemon pepper seasoning though because it is really salty. Garlic, Cajun and fire seasoning. There is no spice in the fire, it's all flavor. Worth the extra $4 for the heads shrimp also. Usually a long wait so we call and order food for pick up. Then tackle it at home where we feel free to make a mess of ourselves. read more

Crafty Crab - Brandon - Sauce!! - Seafood Near Me - Brandon, Florida

We have had this place book marked for a while and finally came by for an early dinner. The place is decorated with the typical seafood restaurant decor, brown paper table cloths and tables with benches. We had a great waitress Jasmine both knowledgable, very friendly and attentive. We ordered fried calamari($9.99) for and appetizer, Small cajun mild seafood platter ($42.99) and hush puppies($4.55) The fried calamari came out quickly and tasted great. The platter made quite the arrival in a puffed up bag over the pan. The platter had two sets of crab legs, crawfish, shrimp, mussels, corn and potatoes. Note: WEAR THE GLOVES! What a fun dinner, the taste was great the crab legs peeled pretty easy, the shrimp not as much but tasted good. The crawfish were good and mussels as well. I liked the corn which had been sitting in all the seasoning, my other half liked the potatoes. The hush puppies were also very good especially dipped in the sauce from the platter. The price is a little high and not an every weekend kind of place but fun for birthdays or special occasion or every once in a while. We will be back with the family. read more

See all

I love their food. Food the food is extremely tasty! Lots of flavor. The prices are reasonable and service is superb! The staff is very knowledgeable of the menu and have excellent customer service. read more

Located in a nook of US301. Its worth the short wait that may happen. The restaurant doe not use all of its tables; so there's a bit of a wait. The staff is happy and pleasurable. The food is seasoned very well and perfected described. The seafood comes in a plastic bag which is a bit ironic since that is what's killing the ocean. The only truly negative thing that I can bring up is that the phone for the restaurant has rang at-least four times and no one answered it and it rang over 10 times each. PROS: Seasoned perfect Great staff Good portions Properly priced CONS: No ones answers the phone The use a lot of plastic!!! read more

See all

This review is customer service focused. The Situation: A portion of my to-go order was the 6-piece lemon pepper chicken wings. I requested two individual containers of blue cheese dressing for which to dip the chicken wings. Once home, I take the lid off one of the containers of blue cheese dressing, and I am quickly hit with a very rancid smell. More specifically, is smelled like vomit. After taking a closer smell of the blue cheese dressing, I immediately identify it as the source of the bad smell. I check the other container as well. It too has the same smell. As a result, I call Crafty Crab to notify them that they are serving what I believe is expired blue cheese dressing, register my personal complaint regarding my dish, and receive some form of appropriate consolation. Emphasis on the word appropriate. The Resolution: I spoke to a manager named Jazmine (not sure of the spelling as I did not ask), who identified the expired blue cheese dressing in less than one minute of being on the phone with me. Jazmine proceeded to apologize for the situation. Here is where Crafty Crab lost my family and I as customers. After issuing an apology, Jazmine indicated that she was closing the call. She offered no form of consolation beyond a verbal apology for serving a customer expired food. The fact that it was a condiment as opposed to a main dish should not matter. Beyond a moral obligation, I had no obligation to call and notify the Crafty Crab of the issue. They should have procedures in place to prevent such incidents. It is a restaurant. As Jazmine attempted to close the call with me, I asked her if the restaurant would provide some form of consolation for the specific meal. I was not looking for a major refund on my entire order. For example, I would have been fine with a refund of the wings or a free entrée of equivalent price in the future. I also want to highlight that I made the proposal, and the manager gave no indication of providing any form of consolation beyond a verbal apology. After I asked the question about reconciliation, Jazmine placed me on hold. After about two minutes, Jazmine returned to the call and offered me a 10% discount the next time I come in and order wings. She further explained that it is the most she could offer given that there was noting wrong with the wings. So, I spend $65 ($65.65 to be exact) with the Crafty Crab tonight, get served an extremely rancid and expired condiment for my meal, notify Crafty Crab of expired food in their inventory, have to ask Crafty Crab for consolation (vice Crafty Crab doing so of their own volition for the sake of customer satisfaction/what's right) and in return Crafty Crab only offers me a verbal apology (which I do appreciate by the way) and a $0.70 discount on an order of chicken wings (wings are $6.99 for an order of 6) the next time I am there. Thanks, but no thanks if this is what you think of your customers. read more