Strange place. Walk in and there are wanted posters of people who pulled the dine and dash at the hostess stand. Waited 15 minutes for a server to drop off a menus and say hi. She walked by my table twice in that time. Ordered the house salad, which was the only semi decent thing. Their house salad comes in a huge bowl, and contains 90% of californias daily export nationally. (Aka it was too large) Ordered the cra(b)P legs in a bag. I really don't like the seafood in a bag concept to begin with. It cheapens what should be a good experience to serve . Microplastics are the best thing since MSG according to most crab in a bag restaurants, they really add a certain umami to the dish what with the polyethylene and oil and natural gas derivatives... Sorry, I got off track... The bag came with two clusters, two potatoes that honestly seemed like they had been mashed and then reconstituted in a skin, and a half ear of soggy corn. The crab, if I can call it such, was pretty lackluster. Normally when one breaks a crab leg, there is a subtle dance of can I get the meat out in one piece? In this instance, every leg, and pincher I broke open was mush that would not pull out of the shell. I tried their gloves, only to realize what little meat I could force out with my fingers ended up on the table or the floor. After taking the gloves off, I found it slightly less difficult to ream my finger in a split shell and get the mush out. I love crab legs when prepared well. This place did not prepare crab legs well. Overcooked, or borderline past expiration.. 0/10 Will not return.. read more

Crafty Crab - Outdoor sign - Seafood Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

See all

Sat for 30 minutes and didn't even get served, no drinks waiter never came to the table place was not busy at all.

For Starter. I ordered twice for here in 4days . Both times I found Hair in my Seafood boil! Once I ordered take out for My Mother & I . Got home Halfway through I look down and see a Long 2" Blonde Hair just lounging in the BOOM SAUCE! Totally disgusting! Ruined my whole appetite. Just thinking about whose hair it could be, and with all the Viruses going around now ... What have I just Ingested? Am I now going to catch a virus or something?? Maybe It was just one time thing. Went to Urgent Care got a check up. So far so good! Fingers crossed! I give em another shot last Wednesday. While running errands I stop in for Happy Hour! Place empty so Felt more confident. How could they not pay attention, not violate any health codes , right ? WRONG ! What do I see attached to my boiled egg?? Another Hair . This time a Black short strand . He doe my hair is curly; the hair is Straight; definitely NOT mine... I bring it to the attention of the manager... And his res couple is I can tell you: So what you want to do about it, as If He still expects me to eat it or pay for or even allow them to Make me another order. Over 5 days STILL NO RESPONSE from the establishment. And Yes ! I did send email to corporate. read more

See all

No inside pictures or food pictures but the food was delicious. We ordered at the counter two seafood boils to go. They both came with corn and potatoes. We got the garlic butter seasoning and got it mild. Everything tasted really good. I didn't know this place was around but I will surely be back. It looks like it is in an old Applebees location. The front desk has cameras all around it and there are pictures of people who must've didn't pay. It looks like your typical establishment. Nothing fancy! read more

Food fresh every time! Great vibe and great prices! We frequently eat here! We normally grab takeout but the few times we dined it it was great! read more

We tried this while traveling g, so walked in with no expectations. The Pros: - quick friendly service - the okra was lightly breaded and not greasy The Cons: - the raw oysters had no flavor at all - the breading on the okra had no seasoning whatsoever - could not even pick up salt and pepper - the shrimp in the shrimp salad was over breaded with zero seasoning - you can have any salad dressing you want, as long as it is ranch in the little cups - I like having boiled eggs in my salad, but they tasted like they were just taken out of the pan - still too warm for a chilled salad - the boil also lacked flavor. Yes - I know you can get different heat levels, but seasoning should exist in all. - we were seated near the door. Every time someone came in or out we heard the bell and verbal alert. That is a real ambiance destroyer. Sadly, we cannot recommend this place. read more

Came for lunch on my birthday customer service from our waitress Keitura was great very patient with my shennigans... My lemon drop was the bomb and the food was delicious. I'll definitely be returning. Try them out!!! .... read more

Crafty Crab - Even a to go birthday cheesecake - Seafood Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

Food was great BUT it looked like a poce of hair was on the food, service was faster then I expected, the only problem was that TOILET WOULD NOT flush, over all not bad read more

Clean establishment. Servers are generous and kind. Our visit to the Crafty Cab couldn't have went any better. I had the 1/2 dozen steamed oysters with butter garlic and mild seasoning. My sides were hush puppies and fried Okra. My wife had the chicken tender basket with onion rings. Drinks were on point. Would highly recommend this place. read more

Crafty Crab - Chicken Tender Basket - Seafood Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

$60..look at the picture. I frequent this establishment and have NEVER experienced this! Then the manger got on the phone VERY disrespectful. I guest he can talk mess since he got my $60 for this crap. This location is scamming customer. I should have listen to the customer before me...she brought her food back!!! If you get take out from here... check it before leaving! Crafty Crab ONeil Ct. Columbia SC is a compl rip off. ticket#139 read more

Crafty Crab - Seafood Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

Such great food! Really thrilled with how well the staff takes care of me with my food allergy! Great service, and fair prices for what you get read more

See all

Service was good and they were very busy.....but my wife and I agree, it was probably the worst seafood we have ever tried tied eat. "Stale" comes to mind. Very oily and garlicky. Not sure why, but it may have been to cover up old seafood. We could only eat a few bites (best thing to us was the side order of onion rings we both ordered, and they were not that great, the breading was thick and kinda reminded me of what came out of a frozen bag before they deep fried it). 4 stars for service, but the food brought it down to 2 stars. We did leave a decent tip for the waitress, it wasn't her fault. read more

See all

I love seafood, especially crab! I'm not sure why but a year or two ago a bunch of these crab boil places opened up all at once, and they seemingly all have the same naming structure: (adjective that ends with a "y") + Crab. So many that I honestly have a hard time remembering which one is where. With that being said, these restaurants really need to be special in order to stand out. I thought Crafty Crab was fairly mediocre. I ordered the crab leg special, which came with 1 cluster of crab legs, potatoes, corn on the cob, sausage, and some shrimp. Crab legs and shrimp just didn't taste fresh. Their Crafty Cajun sauce was also fairly bland and lacking in flavor. Corn on the cob was also pretty soggy. The food wasn't necessarily terrible, but just painfully average. Service was great. Our waitress was very attentive and friendly. What I hated about the restaurant was their decision to blare music as if we were in some dance club. It's hard to socialize with the table over the thumping bass from the speakers. Another weird thing I noticed is the pictures of all the "dine and dash" patrons that are plastered (which adds to the overall cluttered atmosphere) along the pillars in the front. And when taking our orders, the waitress was adamant about making sure we were aware of what was included in our order. It's clear they get a lot of non-compliant customers, but it feels...a little offensive and condescending to be treated like I'm going to be the next one to dine and dash. Overall, there's just too many seafood places in Columbia. Just based on quality of food, I would go elsewhere for my seafood fix. read more

Crafty Crab - Crab leg special. Fun presentation with the blown up bags - Seafood Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

See all

Layla is awesome and food is amazing!! Highly recommend. I will return soon. This is my new favorite.

Keturah was amazing! Food was hot and fresh. Definitely will be returning soon. Highly recommend.

Service was great, Ambiance was great however the food was very unseasoned, (I ordered fried shrimp and fries) there was not a bit of flavor in either of those items. A family member of mine ordered a seafood boil and they even stated it could've been seasoned more. I think it would be better if they actually took time to season all of their food properly. read more

My favorite is there Crawfish, Crab, and Shrimp boil. ALL MIX! The drinks are good and the service is excellent!

Manager/Owner Eddie is rude af, saw me walking in behind him and kept walking didn't hold the door or acknowledge me. Menus to order from are disgusting, need to be re-typed and laminated. Will not go back‼ read more

I got sick right after eating a third oyster from this place and went running to the bathroom. I'm like wow first time coming here and honestly didn't work out. I'm disappointed. read more

The food is always GREAT but the service eh not so much , I've doordash , dine in , take out all the above and it's been awesome on seafood bag ! The spice and flavor is never a miss except for lemons, I don't know why they don't bring out lemons with seafood ! That should be mandatory although there might be some who's allergic to citrus but still ! It's not going to touch the food unless they squeeze it in . read more

Delicious seafood and fast service. We have eaten here twice and really like the food. You can pick different spice levels. The mussels are tender and cooked to perfection. I normally don't eat hush puppies but these were so good I couldn't resist. A touch of a sweet flavor and not super oily like most places. The decor is beautiful and tropical. My only complaint is that both times they were blaring rap music and it really kills the ambience. I would not want to bring children here for that reason. read more

See all

Food good service is needing help. Restrooms were not clean. Rather pricey for what you get but it's good

The ambiance of the place felt more like a teenage hang out than a restaurant however the food exceeded expectations and was delicious. As for the service, it was excellent. We had a shrimp boil, hush puppies and a margarita. read more

Food is consistently amazing. I get them to mix the sauce 1/2 fire 1/2 garlic butter. I have never dined in so I can't speak to that experience but everyone is always incredibly nice to me. I will add that I have ordered take out about 10 times and the order has been correct , and on point every time. I usually 1 lb of shrimp with extra potatoes in the bag. about 20 bucks - great value. read more

I didn't eat at the establishment however, the what I ordered was very delicious. I ordered the catfish platter with corn on the cob. My friend got the crawfish and shrimp boil with mild garlic butter sauce, half a pound of shrimp and the scallop platter. All the food was tasty in my opinion, the garlic butter sauce was just phenomenal. I even dipped my catfish in it because it was good. I will make one complaint regarding the scallop platter. One of the scallops was a hushpuppy which means the cook did not do a good job with packaging the food. The customer service was great. We walked in on a Friday night which is one of the busier days. I found the cashier to be very polite and patient while waiting for me to place my order. It was the first time I'd ever eaten at one of these establishments and my first experience with a seafood boil type dish. The prices were also very reasonable my total meal came to about $80. Overall, I recommend this place if you want to listen to music while enjoying a good meal. read more

Delicious! Our favorite sauce is "The Boom!"! Like specials!!!! Our favorite seafood restaurant!!! read more

See all

went monday for the first time, got home , started eating and there i found a dead roach inside the bag. i had to throw it away immediately. Now for 2 days, i've got food poisoning. Been nauseous, drowsy, vomiting, etc. Definitely won't be going there or eat seafood for a while. read more

Catfish lunch special. Bring seasoning and mustard. The fish taste like water. The wait time was about a 1/2 hour for a table of six. The restaurant wasn't crowded at all. The fries were good. read more

Crafty Crab - Catfish lunch special - Seafood Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

It was not great. I got two clusters, one ear of unsweetened corn and two potatoes for $21. It was ice cold and the seasoned butter was over powering. I didn't send it back because I was so hungry. This is the fourth crab restaurant I have been to and so far it was the worst. This was my daughter's first time at a crab house so she took some time looking over the menu. Our server was in a hurry and rushed us through the entire meal. We were still hungry when we left. I won't be going back. We also ordered Bush puppies. I didn't like them. I thought they were gummy and chewy but my daughter loved them. read more

Crafty Crab - Seafood Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

I've never had a seafood boil before and this was absolutely amazing! The staff is super kind and just great. I had the snow crab and shrimp with the BOOM seasoning and mild. It was absolutely beyond expectations. 10/10 recommend! read more

Crafty Crab - A. Snow Crab and Headless Shrimp - Seafood Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

See all

OMG!!! I don't like to amp things up too much but the crab legs were out of this world! I got the crab legs and headless shrimp with The boom flavor and mild spice with a side of hush puppies. The crab legs were cooked to perfection because the meat slid out flawlessly and was sweet and juicy. Combining all the flavors of spices made them taste amazing! The hush puppies were also good and came with a delicious sauce that had a little kick to it. Highly recommend trying this place out soon!! But you'll have to grab drinks elsewhere since they can't sell alcohol yet. Once they get it they'll be a great hangout spot for groups. Seriously though, Stop reading this and go now! read more

My family and I came out for a birthday dinner. I thought the service was pretty good and the food was okay. I wasn't overly impressed though. I thought the price point was okay for the amount of food you get but then again I ordered one of the specials and added an order of sausage. I thought the crab was cooked okay but it was almost too soft. I think it was removed from cooking just in time. I got the bomb sauce and I thought that was pretty good. I say give it it try and decide for yourself. read more

See all

I went in hoping for great things after reading the reviews. Bottom line it's a seafood chain pretty much like any other you would go to accept for the anticipation of the bar area. Fried oysters were great, fries were good, the bomb sauce as well as the crab legs...we'll just say I wouldn't reorder them. Hot wings skin was soggy. Service was excellent, however the food was underwhelming. read more

See all

So I took my mom and dad here today for lunch. We ordered the large seafood platter. It was superb; we loved it! The crab, shrimp, crawfish and mussel were fresh, juicy and succulent. The sauce hit the spot and great customer service;If you are new in Columbia and looking for a nice cajun seafood boil, look no further. A+++++ read more

Crafty Crab - Lunch with loves and loving it :) (Seafood platter) - Seafood Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

The food was out of this world. Oh my gosh. Jasmine was such a wonderful waitress. Loved the shrimp boil

The food and service were very good. I had the Lobster Tail Special. It had 1 Lobster Tail, 1 cluster of snow crab legs, and 1/2lb (didn't count) shrimp, 2 corn on the cob, 2 potatoes. I also added and extra boiled egg and a house salad. Salad- it was washed with water, and was fresh,crunchy, nice. Shrimp- cleaned, each one spilt down the back. Shell still on. At least a 2 bite size shrimp. Delicious Med/mixed- the sauce was just right. Bathroom- clean and stocked. Waitress-Nice friendly staff No alcohol available at the time I went. All in all a nice experience. I will return. read more

Good food jus a bit high for what they give you hav more sausage in the bag den anything

So far great customer service it is 4 and I am here right now my waiter is que great customer service great specials Monday through Thursday very clean area I will keep posting as I am here in the restaurant to be exact okay so I order my food at 4:02 got my food at 4:15 left at 4:24 to be honest the food was well-cooked it needed a lot of flavor I had ordered a buttery garlic and it was not to my expectation now because I came here one time I probably might give it another chance but it's going to be a big test for me to give it another try I'm going to blow the picture so you guys can see what I ordered I ordered one cluster a half a pound of shrimp 1/4 sausage two corn and two potato for 2099 that is a special of Monday through Thursday read more

See all

Paid 60 dollars for one crab cluster and 12 shrimp which the advertised as the combine em. The crab cluster was so small I felt as though my fingers had more meat in them than the crab. read more

My best friend and I had lunch and it was absolutely amazing. We had the crab legs and shrimp (item A) added sausage and eggs. We did the "Boom" sauce and medium spicy ......#Amazing. Our server "Shay" was great and provided outstanding customer service. The only problem is they don't serve alcohol yet. Once they get their liquor license straight this place will be awesome. read more