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GAO's Kabob & Crab

4.4 (982 reviews)
ModerateSeafood, Kebab, Beer Bar
Closed 12:00 pm - 2:00 am (Next day)

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GAO'S KABOB & CRAB ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Divey
Hipster
Casual

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Recommended Reviews - GAO's Kabob & Crab

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Anthony Z.

If you want to come for happy hour, come early because it gets full FAST! The $1 skewers are to die for, and they have a good amount of other options to keep you from getting sick of the countless $1 lamb skewers you'd be ordering. The lamb is not gamey. I came a few minutes after they opened at 5PM and it was already almost full. The happy hour menu is really to die for, because the skewers are really that good. You scan to order, and the food comes out quite fast, even when you see other parties ordering countless skewers. The skewers come seasoned, but they also have extra seasoning options on the table in case you want to adjust the house flavors. Some of the lamb skewers were a bit overcooked but I'm not the one complaining when they're $1 per skewer lol. The vibe feels like a nightclub/karaoke bar skewer house in China, full of neon signs, lower lighting, and towers of alcohol. A great hangout spot for all hours, and given how late they're open, they must have a great customer base for people coming in to drink and eat skewers. Solid menu diversity, great prices, and fast service considering it to be freshly grilled Chinese BBQ, it's no wonder this place is the GOAT for skewers. After eating about 10 lamb skewers, I started to truly get sick of the lamb and forced myself to finish the rest... Just make sure to come early or you will be stuck waiting a while since it fills up so fast.

N V.

We had lunch here with a group of 9 people, and the experience was pretty disappointing. The food took about 45 minutes to come out, and we had to track down the waiter just to find out what was going on. We were the 4th table seated, but somehow our table seemed to be the last one getting food and skewers. To make things worse, an item were out of stock, but we were still charged for them. We pointed it out to the waiter, and they did remove the charges. The part that really bothered me was the tip situation. I already added the standard 18% tip, even though the service basically non existent. Then the waiter came back and told us that because we had 10 people, we were required to tip 20%. At the time I didn't think much about it, but later I checked the policy and it clearly says 20% is only for parties of MORE than 10 people. We only had 9. It's not even about the extra 2%, on a $200 bill that's only about $4. It's the fact that after late food, over billed us, they still tried to pressure us into paying more by giving false information. That just didn't sit right with me.

Lamb skewers
Trinh D.

I really hate that I have to make this update but we went back again today and got seated at 6:10 PM. We immediately placed an order for lamb skewers and follows up ten minutes later witj rice, dan dan noodle and tofu skewer. The Dan Dan noodles came out in less than 5 minutes and the tofu maybe 10 minutes later. Our lamb skewers are no where to be found and it's been 25 minutes or so. We assumed maybe they're back logged because it's happy hour and they have a full house. But then we noticed tables getting skewers that came In after us. At around 6:45 someone finally comes by and asks if we've gotten everything. Please note, our table literally has one skewer stick and one dan dan noodle... so it was obvious we didn't. We told them we're still waiting for our skewers and rice. They nod and walk away. It seemed like our order was forgotten about or lost since other tables that came after us even got theirs. 15 minutes later at 7 PM (50 MINUTES after we ordered) we finally get the rice and skewers. This is honestly absurd. No apologies or recognition for the wait. Honestly don't know if it's worth coming back even for happy hour. The service was horrid

3lbs crawfish combo
Kelly L.

Ever since we found out about the 3lbs crawfish combo special,y fiancé and I come here once a week sometimes even twice! It's crawfish season so it's freshhhh and huge!!! The deal is soooo good, 3lbs of crawfish or 1 lobster tail and crab with choice of entree (my fav choice are cold noodle or shrimp fried rice), 6 fried buns, 2 chicken skewer, 2 lamb skewer, 2 wagyu beef skewer, 10 corn kernel skewer, 10 chicken skin skewer, and choice of 1 bottle of soju or 2 milk tea for just $80!!! What a steal!!! Every-time I go, there's still leftovers. I also love how the place closes at 2am because I always go around 11pm for late night drinks and food. On weekends, there some time a live singer! It's very lively during the weekend and tends to be a wait during dinner hours. I recommend this place to all my friends and will be soo sad once the deal is over. They also have other deals that are pretty great too like $2 lamb skewer and BOGO beer.

King of Eggplant
Henry D.

My friends and I came here on a weekend for their special deal of $1 lamb skewers and $2 Wagyu beef skewers. The place itself is pretty small, but we were able to get seated right away. Each table has a QR code for ordering, which made it easy for everyone to place their own orders. Since it was my first time, I didn't expect the wait for the skewers to be so long. We only ordered a couple rounds per person, but it still took quite a while for them to come out. We also ordered a few other dishes, and those took even longer, with one dish never arriving at all. The skewers are placed on a small grill at the table, but it's not actually heated, so you have to eat them quickly before they start to harden. That said, the seasoning was really good, and I especially enjoyed the lamb skewers. I also liked the squid and chicken hearts, and the eggplant dish was surprisingly good as well. Overall, the food was decent, but the long wait times and service issues made the experience a bit frustrating. I probably wouldn't come back.

Beef Sashimi Skewers (12) 东北灵魂生串(12)
Catherine N.

This is hands down the best crawfish boil you can get in the bay! They have live crawfish, which taste better than any other place serving frozen ones. The non-spicy cajun sauce was also full of garlic and had a pleasant sweetness that went well with the heads. Plus, the deal to buy 5 pounds and get the 6th free is a steal (for $104!). We got quite a few jumbos that were at least 6-7 inches long! I also enjoyed the skewers, but I'll admit I have no benchmark to compare to. Every meat we tried was well seasoned, but I particularly liked the pork intestines with garlic. It has a great texture and the whole garlic clove was very sweet/tender. My brain didn't process that the beef sashimi was intended to be raw, so that was a surprise. I thought the sashimi would be grilled on the hot plate on the table. But, the grill looking thing was not ever hot or turned on. The onions rings and egg fried noodles were fine, but nothing special. They did taste very good with everything else though! Overall, it was a fun experience and I could see Gao being an excellent place for drunchies after a night out. Service was a bit slow, but the waiters would come whenever you asked for help using the app to order.

Small Beef Skewer Skewers (12) 秘制小牛肉(12)
Caitlin N.

Overall food was ok...everything started to taste the same after the spice fried my taste buds...be aware...most dishes are super spicy! 3 dishes worth mentioning: special fried shrimp, pepper beef skewers and foil clam and vermicelli noodles...pass on the overpriced wagyu beef skewers that was tough and chewy as well as under seasoned...service was kinda slow...glad I tried so I can cross off list...it was ok but not worth a return visit

Mei K.

Gao's BBQ delivers on both food quality and atmosphere. The décor and ambiance transport you straight to the late-night street food scene in Asia -- big screens, great music, and glowing LED signs all add to the lively mood. The skewers are tender and well-marinated, pairing perfectly with rice or any side dish you choose. The standout, though, was the shrimp -- the sauce is a perfect balance of lightly spicy and subtly sweet, and honestly makes everything taste better. It goes especially well with rice or vermicelli. We went with the clams and vermicelli to complement the meat, and it was a great pairing -- just note that it runs a little spicy. Beyond the food, the menu is impressively varied, and the drink selection is equally solid, with options like milk tea, fresh juices, and more. Service was quick and friendly, making the whole experience even more enjoyable. This has easily become one of my go-to late-night spots. The one small drawback: the brown paper roll they use for wiping down is rough, a bit unpleasant to use, and has a noticeable smell. A simple upgrade here would go a long way.

Northern Cold Noodle (Cold) 朝鲜大冷面(凉)
Jennifer

Very conflicted on this place because they have great deals and food, but it can be pricier without the deals and the wait time for food can be LONG. Overall, the taste was good and the parking was easy so I still had a good experience. It's definitely a sit and chill type of place not a quick restaurant so come in with a leisure mindset. Bonus they sometimes have live music. I personally am a fan of the corn and cold noodles. My friends really loved the pork and a-choy. The cucumber had a bit too much garlic for me and the okra wasn't quite right. Everything else was yummy!

AiVi N.

Great spot for eats and yaps during happy hours! Our party of 4 visited on Sunday around 12:30PM and was seated right away. The restaurant was already pretty filled around this time so I can definitely imagine having to wait during peak times. The interior is neon lights forward and vibey. The happy hour deal for $1 lamb skewer and $2 wagyu skewer is great! We dd venture out and got other skewers like toast, okra, chicken gizzard Would not recommend the gizzard as it was super dry and chewy. The northern dan dan noodles was GREAT. It was so refreshing and flavorful. I ended up mixing some skewer meats into it as well. Still thinking about it now :') Would def come back during happy hours for the beef and lamb skewers and the dan dan noodles!

lamb skewers
Phoebe S.

We wanted to check this spot out after hearing about it from our friends. The interior is pretty cool, with neon signage that gives it a cyberpunk vibe. Unfortunately, that's kind of where the excitement ended, as the service was painfully slow. We came specifically for the happy hour deals ($1 lamb and $2 wagyu skewers) which sounded great in theory, but getting the food took forever. The skewer orders came out one at a time. Even with my already very snail-like eating pace, I would finish one and wait another 15 minutes for the next. The wagyu in particular took so long that we eventually asked if we could just get a refund for it. They then told us it was "about to be done," so we waited even longer. The kitchen seemed bottlenecked, which is unfortunate but it really killed the experience. It was a shame because the space otherwise had a fun atmosphere :/

Rich L.

We stopped in for their valentine special. For $88 we were served more than enough food. While the skewered meats were tasty and the mini hamachi kept them hot, they all had the same seasoning on them. The seafood boil was finally a different flavor and very delicious. I wish they would have had better gloves to handle the crab and lobster rather than the cheap plastic ones. The Golden Fried Buns were the second thing served, we thought they were trying to fill us up on these before the meats came out. If it wasn't for this, the service was outstanding. We will be back.

Inside
Jonathan B.

I got the small beef skewers and some chicken skewers to go and I expected them to have some more meat than what was given. The portions are kind of small and the meat itself is bland, except for the beef. The chicken one did not taste like much. For around $16, this wasn't worth in my opinion.

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2 months ago

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21 days ago

Amazing skewers, great food. Service was great and the vibe and ambiance was fantastic. Cant wait to come back!

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GAO's Kabob & Crab Reviews in Other Languages

Ask the Community - GAO's Kabob & Crab

Is happy hour offered on weekends? I'm seeing inconsistent reports about it. I see a comment that says weekdays only but I've seen elsewhere that it's everyday. Even the hours listed vary, some say it's still 5-6:30 while others say it's 12-6:30

They have happy hours on both weekdays (5–6:30 PM) and weekends (12–6:30 PM). I uploaded a photo of the poster on their door — it’s written in Chinese, but Google Translate confirms those times. You can check the picture on my profile.

What time and date is the happy hour?

Monday-Friday 5:00pm-630pm $1 Lamb Skewers

Still have happy hour 1$ lamb skewers? 5-6:30? My birthday coming so I want to check before I get

Yes they still have it! It's Monday-Friday.

Do they still have 1 dollar happy hour lamb skewers?

Yes they do

What time is happy hour?

According to one of the reviews, it's 5-6:30pm

Can I make a reservation for table of 4 dinner for tomorrow 6/16?

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GAO's Kabob & Crab - seafood - Updated May 2026

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