This place is always busy, so we tried it. First off, this place has a general decor and atmosphere, which is really neat. I mean really neat. The owner is exceptionally nice and fun to talk to. Now, the Cajun food....not gonna be your top notch traditional Cajun food. Gumbo needs more seasoning and better shrimp. But hey, we're in Joplin Mo...(not) in the heart of Louisiana. Overall, I really enjoyed the place. And it's such a comfortable place to eat or have a cocktail! read more

See all

The atmosphere is great, and we genuinely loved the owner and staff everyone was incredibly kind and welcoming during our visit. The hot menu items we tried were good overall. Unfortunately, the seafood boils were very disappointing and fell far below expectations. The ingredients appeared low quality and were served lukewarm, which really impacted the experience. The crab legs were extremely difficult to crack, likely due to improper cooking and holding, making them nearly inedible. There was also a noticeable lack of seasoning across the boil no seasoning on the crab, crawfish, potatoes, or corn, and even the butter was unseasoned. I would also do away with oysters as they need to be extremely fresh to be served, and if we can't go above and beyond with fresh imports I don't see the point. On a positive note, the gator bites were excellent and absolutely deserve a permanent spot on the menu they were flavorful and clearly prepared with care. The Louisiana pan-fried special was also quite good. Unfortunately, the seafood boil alone was enough to keep us from returning unless significant improvements are made, this really shows the quality of the seafood and the integrity on this item isn't there with quality. read more

I usually don't leave reviews but the food was AWFUL! My buddy and I ordered the crayfish/shrimp boil and it literally came out with absolutely no seasoning, not even a sprinkle of salt. I was so confused but ate the food anyway. Don't even get me started on the raw oysters..... those tasted like dirt and had a foul fish taste. Looking at these past reviews I'm glad I didn't say anything while at the restaurant seeing as how when the owner gets confronted, he is a complete a**. Everyone was very nice but it just isn't worth the visit. read more

Nice place. Great dive bar atmosphere. Outside was cool though they do allow smoking. The food was good but some Of our shrimp was undercooked so be careful. The waitress/ bartender was great. Super nice. Great pours. I'd go back for a drink and maybe an app. read more

Excellent food. Exceptional service. And the ambiance brings you to a North Carolina coast...The oysters are sweet and clean! Start there and add an entree with some Guinness! read more

The first time I ever went here was a fantastic experience! Same with every time since. The owner is friendly and does a great job of checking in with every patron, of course he hangs out with his regulars a bit more but so would anybody given the choice. He manages to keep the atmosphere friendly and engaging while simultaneously allowing you privacy to eat, which is difficult to do even for the most seasoned managers/owners. While the fried food is not the best, it's good, great even. What really shines (and what you actually judge a seafood place for) is there fresh seafood. My absolute favorite menu item is their 'Louisiana Pan Roast', which is second to none. I've been to dozens of places in several southern states and quite a few places in N'awlens (New Orleans). Turtleheads does Cajun seafood justice! Ignore the high maintenance bad apples, Turtleheads is a real treat! read more

Turtleheads has been a very popular local dive for as long as I can remember. Lots of live music, fried food, and a real party vibe at all times of the day. There is an audience for that, of course, which is great. However, the lack of customer service is appalling. First things first: the food. I had curly fries, which were fine. You can't really screw up fries, although these had no color on them, as if they weren't cooked long enough (but they weren't raw). Just okay. The jalapeño hush puppies were good though. Not spicy, so not Intensely "jalapeño." Served with a creole mustard/maple syrup mix, which sounds weird but it was pretty tasty. Gator bites (breaded alligator tail) were fine. Served with the same sauce. And the stuffed shrimp was okay. They were stuffed with cream cheese and jalapeño and deep fried. Sounded better on paper though. Basically we ate a big batch of fried food. Was it freshly made or frozen from a box? Not sure - leaning toward frozen though, as nothing seemed crafted by hand. So while the food was just okay, the customer service was absolutely atrocious. We were there for a birthday party held in the back where the live music played. We had reserved tables; there were a bunch of us. The owner was livid we were taking all the tables that "belonged" to his regulars. What? So if I'm not a regular, my business isn't appreciated? That's what it felt like. We weren't just "taking up tables" - every single one of us was a paying customer - we all ate, we all had drinks. So believe the reviews from everyone on here who complained about the owner. And the responses from the owner are laughable. And fake. Oozing with condescension. For real, if you are not a regular, you are not important. read more

I've always liked Turtleheads. It was kind of a dive/biker place when I first started going years ago. Still liked it with its pool tables and cold beer and fresh oysters. Loved going for the AYCE snow crab legs. In the last few years the Owner has really cleaned the place up to where it can no longer be called a dive bar. It now has the feel of a locally owned, gulf coast seafood restaurant complete with all the usual tasty dishes. It reminds me of any of the cool small restaurants that one can find along the coast from Texas to Florida. read more

Food was unseasoned and plain as hell. Do not recommend whatsoever, got crab cakes that tasted like vegetable oil, crab that was way over cooked, shrimp that was just under cooked, and gator bites that were RAW. Owner ate off of one of our plates, when we said the food wasn't good.... instant red flag. They forgot our corn and potatoes with all three boils we ordered and owner seemed to be annoyed with us after he ATE off one of the plates we had. Only offered a refund on the crab cakes as he sat with us and tried to say they tasted fine. Not to forget the crawfish were not cleaned correctly (we live in the Midwest and understand how they should taste) and they tasted like dirt. read more

All around worth it, ordered 1 dz oysters ,shrimp tacos and crabcakes. Fried Green beans

We go here for crab legs. The sides are average tasting but the crab is so good. You cannot beat it for the price. Perfection! read more

Turtleheads Raw Bar - Crab legs - Bars Near Me - Joplin, Missouri

Waited a total of 1 hour for appetizer and an extra 20 minutes for our food. What came out wasn't ever what we ordered. Crab was over cooked & fish over seasoned. Not impressed. Went to Taco Bell after we left. read more

If I could give the owner a HALF of a star, I gladly would! He might be the most rude person I've ever met in my life, much less in a bar that I'm willing to spend my money in. He cursed at us in a way that was aggressive and made us feel like we were a burden. He will NEVER get another red cent from me and my friends. read more

If i could give zero stars i would. Just seemed like a lot of tension in the air with waitress staff and owner. Food was fair at best and priced for great! read more

Definitely a bar! Oyster strips were flavorless and way too chewy and okra served with hidden valley ranch. The Cajun pan roast was pretty good. It was served with store bought bread... Restaurant smelled of smoke but the service was excellent. Staff was very attentive. They also had great drink deals! read more

Turtleheads Raw Bar - The drinks and drink prices are the only good thing about this place. - Bars Near Me - Joplin, Missouri

Had a blast the other night listening to karaoke after a nice dinner at Turtleheads. Went with several friends and made new ones. I really enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere. read more

Turtleheads Raw Bar - Just posing for a fun photo! - Bars Near Me - Joplin, Missouri

Great vibe, drinks were tasty and oysters were very good!! The place should be on a beach somewhere!

I've been in Joplin all my life now and have tried to Paton this place multiple times. The service is very very poor and slow while the food is on it is over price fore the atmosphere and service. Tonight we came In at 8 pm with a reservation for7 ppl and waiting 45 mins for our appetizer only to be told 30 mins later the specials were gone that we had ordered. No problem. 5 mins later we are told the shrimp we ordered is gone. 5 mins later were told the stakes we ordered are gone. 5 mins after that the owner comes out reprimanding the waitress for switch orders and the kitchen is closed. Then they said they would accommodate us. We left. 35$ for 4 sodas and 13 oysters. Don't go. It's not worth your time. Dan you're the reason we finally left, after our 2 hour wait and our waitress coming to the table 5 different times to make us change our order because you were out of food that's in your menu, you then come out and tell us the kitchen is now closed... very rudely mind you. We will never be back! read more

It doesn't look like much walking in but the minute you hit door the Turtlehead magic begins! Loved the atmosphere & the people were incredibly friendly! Great happy hour drinks and the food was delish!!!! No desserts but who needs them after all of that food! read more

See all

What a neat little cajun gem! My husband ordered a dozen oysters and said they were quite possibly the best he's ever had. They were very fresh. I had the gumbo. It was perfect! Not too spicy but just enough to give it flavor. I'm pretty picky about spicy stuff, so this was a very pleasant surprise when it didn't make my mouth burn. The drinks were made perfectly from the bar. An all around fantastic experience and we WILL be back for more! Wednesday nights are all you can eat crab legs, and they have other specials during the week too. The only down side is that there are only two tables that can acomodate more than 4 people. read more

Turtleheads Raw Bar - Blue point oysters. - Bars Near Me - Joplin, Missouri

Waited 45-min for food, no refill of drinks, no waitress for 30 min. Rude manager unwilling to attempt to make situation better. DO NOT GO HERE. read more

I have stayed away from Turtleheads because I heard it was Smokey. It turns out, this has not been true for about 2 years. Smoking on the patio, not inside. We went to the Eagle drive-in and there was a half-hour wait so we thought I'd try Turtleheads and I'm glad we did. Dan the owner was friendly and attentive without being annoying or overbearing. Michael, our server, did an excellent job. I had the catfish special: 2 catfish fillets, very nicely battered with a thin cornmeal batter, served with curly fries and Island Slaw - $10, a great deal. My wife had snow crab legs with red potatoes and corn on the cob, a very nice portion of crab legs for $13.99. She shared two legs with me. The crab legs were perfectly cook and had very clean "shoulders", not all green and off-flavored. I'd recommend them over any other in town. I had two Bloody Marias (Tequila not Vodka). Perfectly spiced. My wife drank Boulevard's wheat beer. The bar was nicely stocked (I love looking at bars) though they didn't have mezcal (my favorite). We were there about 6 on a Friday and the place was calm and quiet. I know that it can get quite loud when the bands are playing, you can hear them from my father's house about diagonal block away. Surprisingly enjoyable meal. We'll be back here instead of Red Lobster. read more

The karaoke that was starting as we left was significantly better than our food. The crab cakes were so over salted, I literally couldn't finish them.. The slaw was overdressed and heavy on added grapes. My husband had the fish tacos and the tomatoes on it were canned. We had high hopes for this place because we've heard good things. It was not only nothing special, it was terrible. And a 45 minute wait for food to boot. Never again. The only positive thing I have to add is that my beer was $1 because it was ladies night read more

Great place for Cajun food. We had oysters and pan roast. The atmosphere is easy and the staff was friendly and attentive. Will definitely go back and enjoy the live music in the back room! read more

I ordered a dozen oysters there was no connection root and some the oysters were bigger than the shell. My opinion is they were added from bulk to existing shells. They probably actually shuck some but these were horrible read more

Good place for dinner or late lunch. If you are passing through on the interstate this is a perfect stop. Close to internet and by a gas station. Not a large menu but quality is always preferred over quantity. The grilled oysters are a nice treat and who wouldn't like the all you can eat crawfish?! They were out of corn on the cob for the crawfish which seems ridiculous....I mean send somebody to the store to grab some...it's corn. Instead they doubled up the potatoes. Coconut shrimp was A+. Drinks were good. We had Long Island's and they were good but not as good as the place next door. Maybe they could politely ask for their recipe. Service was very good. Waitress was attentive without hovering. I did appreciate the cleanliness. The decor was the typical nautical type stuff but what I REALLY noticed was the absence of dust and grime that you often see in the decor. It was refreshing to see a place that actually appears to clean. I look forward to going back and exploring the menu a bit more. read more

See all

I want to first say, I believe in second chances and I will give Turtleheads another shot. My first experience though was a little subpar. Our service was seriously lacking. Our server, while very nice, she was also working the patio where the band was and barely had enough time to take our order. A bartender brought our food (which came very quickly) and we didn't see her again until we needed our check. I sat with no drink for most of my dinner. I didn't get this because there was a server handling the rest of the floor with only a couple of tables. Our food was decent, could have used more seasoning though. I I hope our second visit next week is good, because the portions a large and the price is low. read more

Where to start... I'd love to give less than 1 star if possible.. yelled at by the owner, only 4 of our party of 6 actually got entrees. I mean . . . WOW. We went to Turtleheads for my daughter's 18th birthday. She really wanted some crab legs; which ended up being the only good thing about our entire three hour long experience here. When we came in we were optimistic; the owner greeted us and was friendly, warned us the kitchen was 30-40 minutes behind and asked if it would be ok with us to have to wait. We were there for the food and a good time so we said that was fine. Michael was our server and although he was over worked and overwhelmed, he did his best to make sure we were taken care of. We ended up waiting AN HOUR AND FORTY FIVE MINUTES for our food from the time we ordered. When our food came out, only four of our party of six got their plates. We told the girl that brought our food and she told the owner, who yelled at her to go greet another table. It seemed no one cared about our missing entrees! Fifteen minutes later, the owner came by and said sarcastically, "Oh you got food!?" as though laughing at us for having complained it was taking longer than an hour to get our items. My grandmother was on her phone taking photos of my daughter with her crab legs, and he GRABBED HER PLATE and acted like the was going to walk away (saying "Oh she doesn't need hers, she's on her phone!"). During a PANDEMIC!? This was after he grabbed her and tickled her as the butt of a poorly timed joke. Too much! Mike came over and apologized that we hadn't received our two remaining entrees. He had neglected to write the order down, so the kitchen never got it. At this point, nearly two hours from order time, we just told him not to worry about it. They would take $20 off our bill. We told the owner we wouldn't want to wait for the missing entrees (after we'd already handled it all with Mike), and he started YELLING at Mike - berating and belitting him across the bar so loudly that everyone was looking and Mike was near tears. It was DISPICABLE. The owner is the complete downfall of this poorly run, understaffed, dive bar and we will not be returning. read more

Good food. Terrible service. Very unwelcome if you're not a "regular". Went once and decided to give it another shot, service was even worse. read more

First off, we found this place because it was rated 5th on a list of "Top 10 Nightlife Spots in Joplin". I've learned that "nightlife" expectations should be held a bit lower in that area. However, we were mainly there for dinner, and this place serves some solid cajun food. Not a lot of parking on the small lot, but there weren't many cars on (Saturday night, around 9:40pm) so we were able to park on the side near the door. Live band outside on the patio sounded loud, but in the dining room it didn't make talking impossible. Quality of the seafood is high, though whoever designed the ratio of spice to food needs to learn that cajun food isn't meant to be bland. We were distinctly disappointed in the crawfish boil - though the mudbugs were meaty, they were drowned in a weak broth with no flavor whatsoever; I'm not just saying there was a lack of bite - there was a lack of any flavor denoting the dish cajun. Crab, shrimp, rice, and cream sauce dish, however was fantastic! And the "small" portion was what another restaurant would've deemed large. Fried okra was a healthy portion, not too much breading with thick vegetable slices. The dipping sauce drowned out the vegetable, but they were good enough to eat just on their own. They don't have the ingredients for a "Dark & Stormy" at this cajun bar. :-( Oyster shooter menu has 4 distinct types, a couple of which I'd never heard of; we ordered a few. It would be cool if they expanded or got creative with that menu. Prices are reasonable for both food and drink. Even with the crawfish disappointment, we didn't feel gouged. Service was pleasant and knowledgeable enough to give good suggestions and get us our dinners promptly. We may be back on our next visit through town. read more

Wow! What a surprise! We were looking for a new seafood place in Joplin and decided to give Turtleheads a try. We had the calamari appetizer. My husband had the fried oyster Po'boy and I had the Snow Crab Legs Boil Pot. The seafood was extremely fresh and flavorful for the Midwest and we had great service. We will definitely be back many times!! read more

It's a sad day when you see a place you've grown up loving go to absolute - you get the point. If you want mediocre table service and even worse management service YOU ARE LOOKING AT IT. I'll cut to the chase, we were seated, appropriately waited on and then 45 minutes after we ordered wondering where our food was and why we were stuck drinking foam from the bottom of our beer bottles. It took 45 minutes for our waitress to acknowledge our offset demeanor and instead of attempting to fix any unsettlement we had - we were ignored. An hour later we were greeted by the manager (who had been sitting at the bar the entire time) where he told us "look. Sorry about your wait, they just started your food" and walked off... HI AN HOUR LATER? The cat and mouse chase between my family and any type of attention from our waitress / the manager continued for about 20 more minutes before I confronted the manager again. He assured me "they were JUST ABOUT TO START on our food" HA. If you want amazing Cajun food. I would say head go here for a large Louisiana Pan Roast but not before you try some fried alligator... well ... I would have said that 3 years ago. Today I would tell you to hop in the car and go to Mississippi - the drive is much better than the way the management responded and carried the business. They had no desire to comp any drinks or food to make our time easier (like we were looking for free coin anyway). This place deserves negative stars. Like I said, two to three years ago, you all would be seeing a whole different review. I'll share similar stories in the comments - if I could go back and say something more to the manager of this establishment, it would be along the lines of "good luck staying open any longer than a year" read more

Shrimp cocktail was fantastic and the crawfish etouffee was the best I've had this side of Louisiana. Was clean with great service and family-friendly atmosphere. Would definitely recommend. read more

Wow you all weren't kidding when you said watch out for the loud obnoxious, rude and drunk owner that was wondering around. Food was a C- Only good thing was the 2 for 1 drinks till 7pm and the nice waitress. Besides that awful. SUPER SMOKY in there also. Won't go back. Peace Out. read more

Disappointing. Don't be fooled. Called ahead around 7PM on a Friday and was told we didn't need reservations and they would be open until 10 or later and we arrived at 830 after driving an hour. Walked in looked around for an adult.... greeted by an apologetic gentleman who asked us what we were doing - I said we were there to eat...he said the kitchen was closed. He said they were real busy earlier. Weak! Place looked like an old dive bar with a sketchy crowd and location. Probably shouldn't be classified as a restaurant. What a joke. Bait and switch at the Turdle-hole! Turtles head was in its shell tonight! read more

Been busy all week so I finally get the time last night and decide to drive from Pittsburg just to get some oysters I've been craving for bad. It's around 11:30PM as I arrive with my girlfriend and little sister. We get turned away, saying they hadn't had a customer in 3 hours.. like wow. I specially searched this establishment up to make sure that they weren't closed because hell im not gonna drive from Pittsburg and drive back just because they were.... well hell walked in with a big smile on my face ready to spend around $60 on food just to get turned away. Next time make sure you're putting it on your website that you're closing so people like me don't waste their time driving all the way here just to get turned away. Good day. read more

Check this place out!!! Blacked Salmon, coconut shrimp, grilled oysters, crab cake al' cart. Good Food! Atmosphere was quite with blues playing in the back ground! The menu has a lot of seafood favorites, so we will be back to try more! The owner came around several times checking on us, even told a joke... ( keep the day job) lol read more

See all

Very good, driving through on our way to MI and used yelp to find I had grilled oysters and then shrimp and crab that was yumm and my wife had a steak with grilled onions that was very good also all for a reasonable price read more

Tried it. Got there early and had not one but two waitresses. One apparently training the other. Neither knew the menu. Margaritas were too weak and sour for either of us to consume. When I brought it to her attention she argued with me. I can detect alcohol in a cocktail. No. We won't be darkening their door again. Never got to the food. read more

Wish I could give it a 0! I should have listened to the other negative reviews! We were literally yelled at by a guy (later found out is was the OWNER!?!) for trying to start the patio heater by our table because everyone else's was lit but ours. We apologized and asked him to light it, he completely ignored us and sat back down to keep partying with his friends!? The poor waitresses kept apologizing and the people around us were in shock. We left before even ordering because it was freezing and as we walked by him we said, "nevermind," and he replied with, "good, don't come back!?!?" What owner does that!?? Do not give this guy your money! It was unbelievable, I felt so sorry for the staff as it was clear this was the norm. read more