Not impressed...tables were wobbly and seats were tiny. We ordered some kind of bucket with steamed shellfish, potatoes and corn on the cob for two. There wasn't much to it for $40, and I've had better tasting shellfish. Other people in our group left plates half eaten. This is more bar food than good quality seafood...Would not recommend. Also, the women's bathroom smelled like cigarette smoke. read more

We ignored the not so good reviews and stopped by for a drink after jet skiing next door. We did order a few light bites/appetizers to hold us until dinner. The place looked pretty cool, it was a dive. All kinds of signs and random stuff everywhere. The service was slow and not super great. A few of us ordered margaritas, but they took a long time because they had to run to the store to get tequila! All while there was 3/4 full bottle of Patron happily sitting on the bar counter behind us. The hushpuppies were over fried and sad...I was looking for some good hushpuppies on our vacation, and these were not it. The fried pickles and calamari were not fresh or house made; I think they were from Walmart's frozen section to be honest. We also ordered local raw oysters, the seafood market is right next door and I think I could order gulf coast oysters in NM for cheaper than what I paid this day. They also came out steamed, not raw. It was probably a good thing though because I don't think it should be trusted to eat raw food from here. Everything was so expensive for being a seafood place on the coast. It was disappointing and sad. They automatically charge a 25% tip to the tab, so do not tip anymore. Not a place to be charging your tip for you, especially that much. Would not recommend. read more

Been going to Topsail for more than 20 years. It was good in the 90's, but has been consistently mediocre or bad since then. If the food could match the fun atmosphere, it would be a great place to visit, but it falls far, far short. Over priced, over cooked, over rated. Fun enough to grab a beer at the bar, but stay away from the kitchen. read more

You would think, being so close to the water, they would have fresh seafood. NOT the case here. The food was awful, full of sand, overcooked, and took forever to get our order The staff were horribly slow. They basically ignored us. It should have been a red flag that the restaurant was empty and we were the only table at dinner time. Bad, bad, bad experience. Do not go here, definitely a waste of time and money! If you want a decent seafood dinner in Topsail, go to Breezeway. read more

This was the one place we could find open for lunch that serves fried fish plates as well as steamed crab legs and such. It has a cool, beachy atmosphere, steamed crab legs were decent, fried mac and cheese was decent, but that's where the good stuff ends. Not very baby friendly. High chairs were too big for our 10 month old, had no straps, he would fall out the back if we didn't watch him, fish was way undercooked on the inside, crab cakes were just plain nasty, no refills on the watery cokes. Kids plate was $4 less than the adult plate but yet the same amount of food comes on it. Paid $20 per person for this. NOT worth it! read more

The worst restaurant I've ever ate at. We were told to get the steam pot and if you like red potatoes,a lot ,for a lot of money this is for you. This is not a family friendly place, not set up for infants. The only plus was nice lady bartender. My daughter got crab cakes and couldn't eat them they were so nasty. We should have paid attention to the health rating. My salad came in a container about 3 inches by 3 inches I almost finished that with one stab of the fork. We should have paid attention to the fact the place was empty on a sunday afternoon. Never again! read more

Will never eat here again. The food was no good, fish was raw, and very rude

I survived eating at Crab Pot. No air conditioning and slow service in July. Food was ok, drinks were good.

If you like your seafood deep-fried in so much grease it'll coat your throat for two days, try the Crab Pot. If not, don't even consider it. If you prefer fresh seafood, visit the fish market *behind* the restaurant. They have a great selection at reasonable prices. Pick up whatever's freshest, go buy yourself a little grill (the IGA on 50 has them for less than the price of two baskets of greasy fried stuff at the Pot) , and make yourself some way, way better food on your own patio. read more

This is a terrible place to eat!! Unsanitary workers, absolutely terrible food! I had to take my fish back because it was raw on the inside and it wasn't fresh fish - more like frozen... the flies are all over the food. They wanted to re-cook my fish. I just requested my money back and they did return it. Only one guy was rude, the others were all pleasant. read more

The food was great but it was a rip off. I got like barely any food for like $111100000089999989. I think there are better places, but I liked the atmosphere. read more

Ate at 6 different places during our week in topsail and this was by far the worst. Restaurant was maybe 1/3 full. We had a party of 9 and were seated quickly. After about 15 minutes of no server we had to go to the bar to ask for drinks. Its was hot, no water and no air conditioning where we were seated. The staff seemed to be much more interested in the college boys playing games at the bar than serving diners. Our server appeared a few minutes after that. We ordered drinks, which were ok, probably overpriced for the quality. Dropped off our drinks said she would be right back. 5 minutes later she took our order. Again, nothing out of the ordinary. While we were not in any big hurry it did seem to take a very long time to get our food. She brought out half of the meals. My wife and I split the steamer bucket, which was very bland. I make a better one at home in the Midwest. She said the other half were on their way. It took 20 minutes for them to bring out the rest. Her excuse was that she could not ring up big orders on one ticket. She had to split them into two, actually blamed the cook staff for that. "They get upset with big orders." I would have maybe given it two stars if they had offered to comp. meal or drink but I had to ask for something for the fact that half of us were finished eating when the second half of our food came. No manager, no apologies, just excuses. None of our party thought the food was that great. There are. plenty of better choices in topsail. Not that great of food for such trouble. Should have listened to a local who said to avoid the place. read more

Meh. Slow service, small portions, overpriced. The menu is unnecessarily complicated and they will not give you certain foods in certain quantities I.e you must get at least one pound of crab, you cannot get just half pound of crawdads unless it's paired with something else etc...It was like a game that put everyone immediately in a bad mood. Most everything is market price so you don't know what you're spending. Took 30 minutes to get a drink. The margaritas were made with that sugary generic mix. The shrimp and grits were NOT traditional as you may expect. More of a garlic shrimp scampi with a pitifully small portion of grits. The fried green tomatoes were greasy and soggy. The corn on the cob was mushy and cold. The steamed oysters and crab were fine but not enough to make this place anything special. read more

Had a family dinner on vacation at the Crab Pot. We were all looking forward to seafood and the Crab Pot didn't disappoint. I chose crab cakes and zucchini fries, both great. After seeing my Dad's steamer choice I was a bit envious. I would totally recommend spending the $ and getting a heaping steamer bucket filled with seafood. That will be my choice next time, lesson learned. It is hot, open air dining but adds to the authentic beach-dining experience. Everyone enjoyed their food that evening, and we would gladly return on the next vacation. The Crab Pot is an establishment at Topsail, surprising to see it with a low score so I am giving it the deserved five stars for great seafood and authentic ambiance. The Crab Pot isn't for pansies. Belly up and eat some seafood, period. read more

Our waitress was friendly and knowledgeable. We enjoyed the open air and quirky decorations for a dinner meal. Was very disappointed with the food. Each salad was served in a plastic container--like you might get at a grocery store salad bar, plastic ware, plastic cups and styrofoam!!! I thought it was an environmental nightmare-especially for a barrier island. Imagine eating clam chowder out of a styrofoam cup with a plastic spoon! Water was served in a single serve plastic bottles. The food was marginal. Disappointed overall. read more

Made the mistake of eating fried seafood here one night. One piece of flounder had soured which we sent back. Poorly prepared remainder gave us gastronomical fits the next day. They gave us $5 off which I would have gladly traded for a decent meal. Unless their steamed offerings are better, avoid this place. read more

Hot temperatures-no air or circulation, poor service, food not good at all: tastes like unchanged deep fryer grease. Food is cheap frozen fare, with nothing having the appearance of being fresh. Unfriendly servers and owner. Been going to Topsail for two decades and always stop at least once at the Crabpot, but for the past couple of years, it is much different-same looks, but not friendly at all. Very clannish group of people that treat you as an outsider. I'm wondering if the ownership may have changed? read more

The Crab Pot was great! Classic shag restuarant, very beachy feel. We ate here twice during our weeklong stay, first time for sandwiches, and the last to pick some crabs. We had a great time, and the food was excellent. There is a fresh seafood place in the same parking lot, and they get their crabs delivered fresh as they need them. read more

The bartender was extremely slow, and the steam pot was not worth the money, hardly any crab and they leave their tartar sauce out all day which is very dangerous and gross!!! No a/c either. The mussels were not great and the steamed oysters were a pain to open... read more

The place is a dump but worth visiting once every trip to the beach! The food is served in styrofoam containers, rolls of kitchen towel on the tables. The oysters are wonderful. The interior is novel and well worth "admiring" , captain sax may be there accompanying the music with his saxophone! read more

Ordered crab,it was old and gross. Ordered clams and they were full of sand. Ordered shrimp and the were over cooked and just not good. Best part was the check. Over $500 dollars for the table! Do not eat there!! read more

My wife and i drove past the restaurant every day for a week, always thinking it seemed a bit sketchy as the place isnt much to look at f. We ended up being curious enough to try it our last night in town after reading the other reviews. Dining choices in Surf City are pretty limited, and reviews of the the few places are fewer and far between. I had shrimp, fried green tomatoes and corn on the cob. My wife had shrimp, fish, slaw, and a salad. the shrimp was a bit on the small side, but competently prepared (fried). the fried green tomatoes were mushy, but tasted ok. The real downer was the corn. it was very soggy with no flavor at all. I'll probably eat here again if we come back. Seems to be well setup for big groups and there was some hilarious karaoke going on. read more

First of all, lower your expectations. This place is a fantastic dive bar/local hangout that just happens to be right beside the fresh seafood market. When you want to pick blue crabs, they check with the guys next door to make sure they caught some today. The crabs are fresh and cooked perfectly. I wish they used more seasoning (I'm used to Maryland blues) but the price and the atmosphere can't be beat. The fried foods were good and the beer was ice cold, what more could you ask for! There's no A/C, no waitstaff, you order at a window and eat out of styrofoam containers. I love it! read more

The food was the only good thing at this restaurant and that wasn't anything to get excited about. The service was the worst I've ever had. I don't recommend it at all! read more

Not sure why there are so many negative reviews...oh, wait most didn't even have what they are known for...crab!!! We had the "build your own pot" with 1lb snow crab, 1lb dungeness crab, and 1lb crawdads. It was absolutely delicious!! I probably could have eaten another 1lb of crab...I would have been miserable but oh well!! You do pay market price, which at this particular time of year wasn't too bad. I also had one of their signature drinks, the Goombay something or another which had like 5 shots of rum I swear!! So delicious!! Would definitely come back and recommend to all our friends that visit the area!!! read more

Crab Pot - Now that's what I call a dinner for 2!!! - Seafood Near Me - Surf City, North Carolina

I ate there once and I get the rude service is there gimmick but they didn't even have servers and the food tasted awful. The music was awful. I hated every second of it and the price was insane. Just awful. read more

Please do not eat here! We waited 15 minutes just to get our drinks, which was brought to us by a different waiter since ours was too busy. After an hour we asked the waiter where our food was which they soon brought out. We ordered a steam bucket for one, a soft shelled crab sandwich and fried oysters. We expected great food but were sorely disappointed! The oysters and crab were fried in old grease so they tasted burnt. The steam bucket was scarce and over cooked not to mention had no seasoning. The only thing that tasted good was the sweet potato fries and zucchini fries. Thankfully the food was fried or we may have ended up with food poisoning! Just one more mention, the hostess was prepping salads and kept constantly touching or wiping her nose! Completely disgusting! Avoid this place at all cost and save yourself a lot of money for low quality food. read more

We went to grab some fresh seafood from the seafood market and when we parked we noticed that there was a seafood place in front . We walked up and decided to give it a try. I am so glad we did! We loved this place! We ordered the steamed spiced shrimp and hush puppies. They were both delicious! We did ask for more old bay seasoning and they gave us more. So far, this is my favorite place to eat in the Topsail beach area! read more

The batter on the fried seafood & zucchini was light and crisp. Not a highly seasoned batter, but you could taste the seafood well through it & it wasn't soggy at all. The sauce that came with the fried zucchini is their own recipe, but we couldn't quite place what it was supposed to be. It was thinner than a tarter sauce, but wasn't a ranch. It wasn't bad, but we wouldn't seek it out. The waitress was very sweet, attentive, and helped me choose my meal of garlic snow crab legs. Basically minced garlic in butter or oil basted onto the legs. Messy yes, but also yummy & keeps the vampires at bay. We both left full and smiling. Our waitress told us there is music and entertainment Fri & Sat. They also have a full bar. read more

Crab Pot - The bar and restaraunt from the back booth. - Seafood Near Me - Surf City, North Carolina

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Is there a way to give zero stars?? So not only was the food bad but when was asked if I liked my dinner and said no, was then questioned by the owner nastily as to what was wrong with it. She stuck her nose in it and said she would experiment on it to see what was wrong. And all that after waiting forever for the food. No compensation. Just attitude. Our waitress was lovely. Food awful. read more

The food here was just horrible. The salad for nearly $4 was a few pieces of lettuce, two cherry tomatoes and a wilted slice of cucumber served in a small, plastic take-out container (and we were dine-in). The grilled grouper was so underdone I was expecting it to swim off of the paper plate and the zucchini sticks and onion rings were just food service frozen crap and dripping in grease. Server -- she had relatives in pennsylvania--was very nice and helpful with trying to correct this restaurant's missteps. She could do so much better at another restaurant! Will be back to surf city - but will not return to the Crab Pot. Avoid!!!!!!!!!! read more

This place is pretty pathetic. The food is from Sysco even though the front of the menu says "Chances are your dinner slept in the ocean last night". The stools hurt your butt, the food is not that good, our waitress was rude and it was very hot. I say, don't waste your money here and maybe one day it will go out of business. read more

Worst service I've ever experienced. Ended up walking out because we didn't get our order taken after waiting for 40 minutes.

1. They were out of blue crab. 2. The service was slow and there were multiple inaccuracies on the check. 3. The slaw was warm. 4. They were out of lettuce for salads. 5. The music was great. read more

I am truly shocked that anyone would rate this hole anything above a zero. Visited three times over three years and each time the experience was worse. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of choices on Topsail. The service was horrible each time and the food was nasty and expensive. Not to mention a real dose of attitude to go with it. Not talking about a schtick type attitude like Ed Debeviks or Dick's Last Resort. I'm talking about a genuine "you're an interruption to my day, please give me your Mastercard" attitude. Unnfortunately tourists like us will probably continue to flock to this pit in search of the "authentic" beach experience and then try to convince themselves that this is it. Trust the reviews here - save your money, go buy some drinks and order in pizza. read more

I can only speak from my own experience. We thought we'd give it a try as the other places we'd eaten on the island were pretty bad. We were not disappointed in this place. Now we only ordered peel and eat shrimp, tossed salad and hush puppies but it was all fantastic. Being an old NC boy I know a good hush puppy and I know good, fresh shrimp. This was all excellent. With drinks the bill came to $44.95 for three of us and we were full when we finished. I love dive bars and this was fun. If you're looking for white table clothes don't go. If you're looking for free refills of your favorite soda don't go (might I recommend Sonic). If you're looking for service like you get at Ruth's Chris don't go. Otherwise I'd give it a shot. There specialty is steamed seafood so we didn't try any fried items except the hush puppies which, like I said, were excellent. read more

I had read the menu online and was excited, except that the prices online were much lower than the current menu. The platter price was more than 50% higher from online menu. This was disturbing to many in our party of 20. Some just had chowder as a result. The waitress said that the manager wasnt in, and there wasn't anything that she could do. Terrible tasting ice tea costing $2.30. Won't go there again. read more

We went to this restaurant last night to place an order to go. We were going to wait at the bar and have a drink while we waited for the food. However, we were told we could not get food to go and the bartender was very rude. We ended up going next-door to Main Sail restaurant and they were very accommodating. I would definitely not recommend the crab pot. Go next-door to the Main Sail. read more

Know one even asked me what I wanted to drink, so I left after siting and waiting for 30 minutes and went to somewhere I knew I would get good service. I highly recommend shuckers just down the road. read more

DONOT waste your time- If I could give it 0 stars I would. We went around 7:30 pm on a Saturday and were seated immediately. The restaurant was crowded. Waitress came and took our drink orders and return 20 minutes later to take our food orders. We should have gotten a clue when it took her 20 minutes to get us drinks from the bar in which we were seated across from. She mentioned that it would take a little longer for our food to arrive as there was a party on the other side of the restaurant and chicken was "backed up". An hour and fifteen minutes later and half the tables clearing from people waking out - because their orders were not filled, someone from the kitchen who was drunk as sin came to tell us to not leave as he was going to attempt to make our order in the next five minutes. Claiming that there's one kitchen for two restaurants and they're "backed up". Horrible Experience- read more