Barking Crab

08/12/09

DISAPPOINTED

by Pucci69 at Citysearch

Having the restaurant name "Crab" one would think the crab cakes would be delicious.. WRONG, THEY WERE AWEFUL!!! the long island oysters were nothing to write home about.. If your in the area go to Legal Seafood instead.. it'll be worth it..

• Pros: location
• Cons: bad crab cakes,,

03/16/09

Visitors not welcome here

by BeantownChic at Citysearch

I took out-of-town guests for dinner on Saturday night. We didn't have a reservation, but were quoted a 40-minute wait so we decided to hang around. After 45 minutes were were told it would be 20 minutes more. After the second wait expired, the hostess told us she had no idea when we'd get a table but it might be another 15 or 20 minutes.

Other parties who had come in after us were seated before us. There was one other group complaining of the same wait problems. The restaurant takes a phone number to call when your table is ready; our common thread was that we'd both provided an out-of-town phone number.

A manager finally seated us. After we were seated, there we several open tables and no additional parties waiting at the door -- this was a little suspect considering the number of groups who'd checked in while we were waiting.

The oysters were fresh and tasted great. The lobster roll was a bit overcooked. The other dishes our table ordered were fried and hard to screw up. Our server was friendly, as were the bartenders, but the overall experience was disappointing.

If you're going to go with out-of-towners, check in with a local number. Better yet, skip this restaurant and take your guests somewhere they'll feel welcome.

• Pros: Quintessential waterfront dive, hard to see another plus.
• Cons: Rude hostess, waited twice as long as we were quoted

03/14/09

Cool Place. You have to check it out!

by Vicky at Citysearch

We eat here at least twice a month. This is one of the coolest restaurants in Boston! They have really turned the place around from years past---great food and an amazing microbrew list. It's informal and fun here---summer all year long. You can't go wrong here!

• Pros: Good food and cold beer
• Cons: needs more parking

01/23/09

Worst Experience Ever!

by tourist08 at Citysearch

Over the summer, my fiance and I took a week-long vacation to the east coast. We decided to stop by the Crab for our last night before we went home since we had heard about the place from many of the locals who mentioned that it was a must-see before we went back to Chicago. My fiance and I are a regular fun couple who do not require anything fancy and enjoy a fun night of good beers and good food. Upon entering the Crab, I got the whole easy-going vibe with the open tent atmosphere and picknic tables and thought this could be alot of fun. We couldn't have been more wrong!

There are just too many things that went wrong to go into but I will try to touch on the highlights. We waited over an hour and a half to sit at a crowded picknic table with a bunch of roudy kids. Our waiter didn't come over to us for twenty minutes after we had been seated. When he finally came around, we ordered a lobster and a bucket of crab legs to share. We never saw the waiter again for the night except to give us our bill. Someone else served the lobster and legs in plastic buckets to us and when we asked for utensils and plates, mentioned that the waiter will be able to help us. We ended up walking around the restaurant looking to see if we could borrow a paper plate from someone else. When I finally got to the lobster, I had to break it open with my hand since the kids were playing drums with the supplied table rock. The lobster exploded into juice and shells, turning my borrowed paper plate into a nice paste and leaving me with a fishy cologne to wear for the rest of the night. We went out to eat every night on our trip to some really great places, but we ended up paying significantly more at the Crab than anywhere else.

Long story short, I felt like I was robbed. I left the place broke, covered in fish guts, and still hungry. The only thing I got out of this experience is the "Worst meal of my life" story. DO NOT GO HERE!!!!!

• Pros: Nothing that I could see
• Cons: Service, Food, Prices

08/25/08

Just OK

by priscilla1920 at Citysearch

The rustic atmosphere -- paper plates!-- leads one to expect rustic prices. Not the case! The "New England clambake," which is priced "seasonally", can cost up to $75, which is ludicrous, given the ordinary quality-- the overboiled lobster, doapy corn on the cob, etc.! Parking is also a problem. The staff is super-nice, the service is efficient. On the whole, OK, just OK. Legal is a better value, and the Dolphin, in Cambridge, is superb.

• Pros: You're near the water... sort of...
• Cons: Overpriced

06/20/08

Extremeeeeely fresh seafood!

by sheena514 at Citysearch

The Barking Crab may be pricey, but compared to other seafood restaurants, it's worth it! The atmosphere is really casual and you'll always find the after work crowd here (the financial district IS right across the bridge). My family and I went and shared the crab bowl (I think that's what it's called?), and for around $80 we got a crapload of King crab legs, snow crab legs, and dungeoness legs. SO good!! We also got the garlic bread and corn as sides, and the corn was sweet and ripe (garlic bread was run of the mill).

• Pros: Great seafood, accessibility
• Cons: Parking

06/03/08

Great experience on a beautiful summer day!

by tidgr2 at Citysearch

My boyfriend and I ended up here on Sunday for a late lunch. It was busy when we arrived, but we were immediately seated at a great table near the channel. We had a perfect view of Boston (and unfortunately the burnt remains of James Hook & Co). I have been on a tasting tour of sangria lately and the Barking Crab's sangria rates at the top (not too pricey at $7/glass). I had the crabby patty (delicious with a little Barking Crab hot sauce) and my boyfriend had the prosciutto and tuna (the tuna was a superb sushi-grade). We were both extremely happy with the food. It's also a great place to socialize, since you share a large picnic table with others if you are a small group. I'm not sure where the other reviewers have been eating, but this Boston landmark is still top-rated in my book.

• Pros: View, food, drinks
• Cons: wait can be long

04/25/08

No can do

by TakeTheCannoli at Citysearch

Overpriced food....way overpriced and not very good. Ordered king crab legs and they looked as if they came from an anexoric crab. Fine for a few beers but not worth the $$ for the food - far better places in that part of Boston on the water that are of better value.

Oh and the service was on subpar. The waitress actually said that LegalSeafood has better food...thats not a good sign.

Save your money and go elsewhere.

04/12/08

good place to eat in the summer

by freewilly7 at Citysearch

went there for drinks & bar food. portions of both categories came below expectation. i don't know how much they actually charged me for those cocktails that i downed--the size of a CLEAR PLASTIC CUP!

haven't had their seafood there, so i can't say. i do agree service is a bit slow, probably because the place is too big for the wait staff to go around.

it's a nice place to chill in the summer, though; open area w/roof top. could be a wait if you go around meal time.

i think there's a paid parking lot right around there (or one across the court house).

:)

• Pros: anything w/open-air; place to have a good time
• Cons: could be a wait; bathroom super tiny

11/24/07

Best tuna ever

by hummer02 at Citysearch

I went to there to have a lobster roll, but when my server told about the specials i did change my mind, and chose the grill tuna with saute praws over gnoccchi and lemon grass sauce...That's was great, the flavor made my mouth explode, and ask for more. the service was slow, but the food was great. My friends got the roasted salmon, they say this is goood...and the drinks was good too. I'll be back here very soon.

• Pros: Food and Drinks
• Cons: Service slow,