Marie B.

I looked forward to checking out Crawfish Chef because despite being in the PacNW, never had a seafood boil. I remember seeing folks dining with absolute bliss back at a Baltimore restaurant after attending a conference decades ago. That memory stuck with me. Parking is tight in the Roosevelt District. However, there are a variety of Metro bus lines and its proximity to the Roosevelt stop via light rail. I did manage to find a 2 hour zoned parking stop two blocks away near Roosevelt High School, score! The Homie and I were enthusiastically welcomed upon entering (4/13/26). Most likely because we arrived right at 3pm, lol. Upon seating, we were provided with menus, ice waters, and four sauce samples. This was very helpful to decide what our respective sauce bases would be. We were also provided gloves, bibs, and additional Cajun spice and lime wedges. This restaurant has floor to ceiling windows to allow for natural light, albeit tinted. Nice airy feeling with additional lighting. With the exposed ceiling, probably gets a bit loud and lively when its full capacity. Decent music playing while onsite. There's specific table and counter seating for 21+. The rest of the dining room has lots of tables with 2, 4, and 6 top configurations. This was our first visit to Crawfish Chef. Our helpful and knowledgeable waitperson, Kay, said that they had been open for approximately one year. Clearly, I had been blind when flying southbound on Roosevelt Way. There is quite the selection for beverages and the variety of menu items for apps/sides, rice & noodle dishes, seafood boil choices, seafood baskets, group combos, wings, po boy sammies, two choice kids menu, and dessert specials. Note: the posted market price on the white board for particular seafood/shellfish items. Wait staff is helpful to provide additional info about happy hour and group combo deals (like $5 cocktails at HH!). The Homie ordered garlic cheese bread and the headless shrimp with the house sauce. This comes with potato and corn in the seafood boil bag. Once opened and placed in the dining tray, he added more Cajun seasoning and lime juice. I selected the shrimp egg rolls (has also pork, taro, carrot & other veg) with sweet chili sauce (like Mae Ploy). These are generously filled four egg rolls. Terrific appetizer! I'm usually a shrimp fanatic, but decided to go a different route and selected clams with garlic butter for my seafood boil. Throughout our meal, we were checked on by Kay and her other two colleagues. Water refilled. Our respective sauces were also kindly placed in takeout containers...this will be amazing with pasta at home! Pro tips: pull out napkins out of the dispenser before placing on gloves. Definitely, don the provided gloves and bibs. Folks with long hair - time to break out the clips or scrunchies. Use the straws in your bevs. This was an enjoyable, unique, delicious, and generous dining experience. We both left full. We skipped the cocktail and dessert options this time. But after this initial try, we'll definitely be back! **Props to Kay, our wait person. She was really personable, helpful, and knowledgeable during our visit**

Vanessa H.

Such a fun place to enjoy seafood boil! Near u district! We had shrimps (head on) with lemon butter (sauce on the side) and we also got 1lb of fresh crawfish with house sauce, along with the crab fries for a little appetizer ($17). We wanted to try the fish tacos or ceviche appetizer, but they were sold out so we ended up going with the crab fries with spicy mayo on the side. It was a great carb to help break up all the seafood it provided a nice balance. The seafood boil with sauces and the salt / lime mixture were a little bit rich after a while so I'm glad we got all the sauces on the side. Between my husband and I we actually finished all the food, but we were definitely full after the meal. Great service and fun atmosphere! They provide bibs and gloves which help keep things somewhat tidy. We have been to other locations, but glad we got to try the Seattle location this time around! Free parking for 2 hrs in the garage and also there is free street parking as well.

Sean Anthony P.

I love doing seafood boils a couple times a year. This is the second location I've visited, and I think Crawfish Chef may be my favorite seafood boil restaurant. The food was amazing. The staff was very friendly. Their sauce was delicious. I really appreciated that they brought out the sauces to taste test so we could see what we liked. Seafood isn't cheap so prepare for that. But the shrimp and crawfish were very good sized. It was very filling. My only complaint is the music wasn't really family friendly, but it's in the background. Not a big deal. I highly recommend this location.

Wen C.

I regret not getting their Thai tea after seeing the photos from other Yelpers! Since it was our first time visiting, the waitress gave us a sample of their different sauces for the seafood boil. I think I liked the Garlic Butter the most, with the Lemon Pepper the second. As for the food: The crab fried rice was amazing. Separated grains that aren't clumpy is the hallmark of a good fried rice, and this one met the mark. I liked how the crab was real crab, not "krab" and it had the sweet taste of fresh crab. I think they hand pick the meat themselves since there was a bit of crab tendon in the rice (not an issue for me). Good ratio of rice to other ingredients with slices of cucumber and tomato to help refresh your palate. The catfish po boy sandwich was pretty good. The fry on the catfish is amazing. Poorly fried fish will have the breading slough off the meat in an unappetizing sheet, but this breading was rock solid and did not come off! The Cajun fries were heavily seasoned which made it a bit too salty for me. The Parmesan garlic fries - wow they give you a lot. The fries are fried a little past having the perfect fluffy interior, but I would rather slightly over fried than under fried. They do not taste fishy at all (a concern I always have when I get fried non-seafood items at a seafood place). I ate these with the garlic butter sauce sample to amp up the allium. Also, I've never had a seafood boil before, so watching other people enjoying it inspires me to get one next time. I love how it looks like the restaurant give you thick vinyl gloves to slip on before you indulge in the sensory experience of cracking into succulent seafood! The table next to ours ordered a side of white rice to drizzle the sauce over, which is an excellent idea. Definitely going to keep that in mind next time. Protip: The 1 line light rail station is one block away, so consider taking it as opposed to driving since street parking can be difficult to find.

Paul K.

Four of us came to the Crawfish Chef on Roosevelt in Seattle to try a seafood boil and specifically the Crawfish as I don't believe I've ever had these crispy crustaceans before. Everything was super flavorful and freshly prepared. The sauces that we chose were also pretty good. We had the lemon garlic butter and the Cajun butter. The boil contained crab, shrimp, and crawfish, corn on the cob and potatoes all served in our chosen lemon garlic butter. The Cajun butter cost extra and was served in a container on the side. The venue was very large with a two story ceiling which made it very spacious but loud. The server we had was super friendly and helpful and offered to open the steaming hot boil bag for us and gave us tips on using the utensils. This was a fun experience for two of my kids that joined us as they hadn't had a seafood boil before. Great event to try something new.

Darrion H.

Their crab fried rice is special. Yes I know they are a seafood boil place, but that crab fried rice was probably the best crab fried rice ive ever had. I also tried 'very well made' fried catfish basket with 'tasty' fries and a 'delicious' alcoholic drink who's name I cant remember. Dont even ask what the appetizer i ordered because we ate it so fast; Either I had to have been that hungry or it had to be that good. I do however remember my amazing service. They didnt make me feel neglected in any way and really helped us with the ordering process. Solid down do earth waitresses indeed. However, i must admit they weren't busy, which was a surprise based on the quality and price range. Meh, my food came out quick and I had amazing service ao them not being busy probably worked out in my favore. The interior was also decorated very appropriately for a seafood boil spot. Very open design that still had separate dinning zones. The mirror next to our table provided additional fun photo opportunities. Oh yea, and They passed my clean utensils test as well as my drinking water test, as most seattle area restaraunts do these days. One thing im disappointed about was missing their happy hour. Their drinks are delicious and the happy hour prices are great. Its only been a week or so and im already planning my next visit for more food and happy hour drinks....

Abhinav S.

Service: super friendly, regularly checking in you, ya get your food fast. Location: close to u district, plenty of parking by the Roosevelt track, safe neighborhood Ambience: big restaurant, clean, lots of tables, crab decor is cool Food: delicious! Crab fried rice had a nice wok hay, catfish was crunchy, Thai tea wasn't too sweet, fresh fries. Good food portions Will be back to try more of their menu! Do check them out!

Timothy H.

Good seafood boil to try here! We had their combo with snow crab and shrimp and it was good! You're able to choose their sauce prior to have it cooked with the seafood. I forgot which one it was (likely had garlic), but it was pretty good! The snow crab was very tasty and there was a decent amount of it. The shrimp was okay. The biggest problem for me was that it was a bit overcooked. It also came with corn and potatoes which was nice. The service was iffy. The server was nice, but the service was extremely slow. It seemed they were short staff as well. The combo cost around $70 which is a bit pricey. The ambiance is decent. There's plenty of seating but I didn't enjoy how all of the TVs were playing kid shows.

Stacy I.

I really enjoyed this. The staff was friendly, constantly checking on us. The Crab Fried Rice was well seasoned and a nice brightness with the fresh green onion. The Soft Shell Crab basket was so good! The fries were crispy, the Soft Shell Crab was well seasoned, crispy and delicious! We also added some fresh raw oysters that were sweet and briny. I got the Shrimp Boil with the House sauce. Tangy, garlic with a delicious butter flavor. The shrimp came out tender and succulent. This really was a delicious treat!

Kurt P.

My wife and I came here for dinner the other night and had a good time we got a pound of shrimp and crab fries. It was plenty of food for two people. I really enjoyed the boil I thought it was well seasoned. The crab fries were a bit disappointing. The crab didn't taste like much. Service was friendly and we were well equipped to keep our clothes clean. I would happily return here.

Trish O.

Crawfish Chef has good food overall, especially the sauce. The flavors are solid and I appreciated that they offer sauce samples before you order. It's a nice touch and helps you choose what you'll actually enjoy. The seafood itself was cooked well and tasted fresh. That said, there isn't anything particularly unique or memorable about the restaurant compared to other Asian seafood boil spots. Parking is also difficult to find, which can be frustrating. The prices are noticeably higher than average: the combo boils are about $10-12 more than most similar Asian seafood boil restaurants, and the sides are very expensive for what you get. The raw oysters were especially overpriced. Market price was about $5ish per oyster if you order 6, and $55ish for 12, which is even more expensive than some luxury oyster bars in Seattle and much higher than other Vietnamese or Asian seafood boil restaurants. Overall, the food and sauce are good, but the higher prices and lack of standout features make it hard to justify choosing this place over other options unless convenience or specific sauce flavors matter most to you.

Diana C.

The food was all very very good and we will def come back and try the seafood boil some time soon. The service was good except for a small hiccup with the bill but we got it sorted out quickly and without much fuss. There's lots of big windows so good lighting and it's close to the link stop which is nice too.

Hani K.

The cajun sauce is soo good and spice level med isn't too spicy it's perfect if you enjoy spice and still taste the flavor of the food. They give you samples of the sauces before you order so you can taste and choose! You can also customize your own but they have combos available which I think are pretty good. Servers are very attentive and they check up on you frequently. The place is spacious, there's a lot of seating!