Angry Crab Shack

Angry Crab

2740 S Alma School Rd
Ste 13
Mesa, AZ 85210

If you love seafood and like spice and don't mind getting a bit messy, then this is the place for you.

Companion and I were seated immediately, and were given a list of current available seafood and prices. All seafood is sold by the pound.

I started with a dozen oysters on the half shell, and companion started with the cooked oysters. The oysters were adequate and large, but nothing to write home about.

We ordered a pound of shrimp, a pound of blue crabs, and a pound of mussels. We also ordered corn on the cob and sausage as well. Unfortunately, they were sold out of mud bugs (crawfish) and clams, so they will have to wait for the next trip. They offer 5 different sauces and 5 levels of heat ranging from nothing at all, to a mouth blistering inferno of spice that I don't know anyone that can finish it.

In a reasonable amount of time our waitress brought us bibs (be sure to wear one and old clothes if you have them), and a plastic bag filled with shrimp and loads of sauce. The shrimp come with heads and shell on. Following normal New Orleans style, you pinch the head off (just like a crawfish), and suck the wonderful juices out. Next, came the shrimp itself. Companion opted to remove the shell, and I opted to eat the shell and all. The shrimp were perfectly cooked, big and succulent and dripping with the wonderful sauce. By the time we finished the first bag of food we were already starting to get messy, but with food this good, who cares?

Next came the crabs. Two crabs weighed a pound, which tells you they were really big blue crabs. As with the shrimp, they too were wonderful, and I had fun picking all the morsels of meat out of the various nooks and crannies. We took a break from the seafood to eat the corn. It too had been swimming in a pool of the sauce, and was a real experience to eat. We also ate the sausage at this time, and I could have cheerfully made a meal just out of that.

Lastly, came the sack of mussels. Probably the best mussels I have ever eaten. Moist, succulent and floating in that wonderful sauce, it was a true experience to eat them. Although we were stuffed, we opted to have dessert, and while they were not at the same level as the rest of the meal, they were satisfying and tasty, especially the cheesecake.

The place was clean, tables were bussed quickly, and our waitress was attentive to our needs. I can't wait to go back again.

4 stars for quality, quantity, and cleanliness