The MOST INCREDIBLE seafood feast we have ever had. Worth every penny and more!! Shiggy was amazing and made our evening one to truly be remembered. His service was so wonderful, we had to ask if he was the owner! This man needs to be the face of this restaurant because they're both equally out of this world. read more

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In town visiting, came across Shaking Crab since it was nearby and took a flyer on it. Happy to say food and service were great. Had the lobster roll and shrimp. Medium spicy was actually a little light but brought out the flavors better, not buried in hot pepper. Place was busy but our server kept up. Thumbs up! read more

So, while ubering, we asked our driver about some places with good seafood and he mentioned this spot. The initial customer interaction from the host/waitress was awkward. She was very nonchalant and not very attentive. So we walked in around 2:57 in which she indicated that they don't ope til three and by the time we finished interacting with her it was 2:59 but we weren't seated about 3:10 but I digress. Long story short the service needs some work. There were others that checked in once that were much better. So what saves them is the food. I had the catfish basket in which I added cajun to the catfish and fries. It was very delicious. I was impressed. I think the portion size was little lacking portion wise compared to other places in a similar price point but it was good. I also tried some my friends lobster roll and it was so good and full of meat. It was seasoned well and the toasted butted bread it was served on was a nice touch. It was a good portion size. Lastly, I tried my other friends buffalo chicken tenders. They were good safe choice also. read more

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Good EXCELLENT and Service, Riken, also EXCELLENT 5 Stars! We had the lobster roll, kid's catfish and clam chowder- all sooooo good!

loving coming to shaking crab. I have mostly ordered off of uber eats but it's never been an issue with mobile order. Ive ordered for events with family. I love seafood so naturally , I loving coming to shaking and crab when I need my fix. This is a great place and I have always recommended it to friends and family who love seafood. Its right in the commons and not too far of a walk if you are the downtown area to begin with. This particular location tends to get busy pretty quickly so I would recommend making a reservation prior to coming in. You can use the app "Open Table" and just book your reservation so you aren't waiting 10-20+ minutes for a table. read more

It was good testy food- thanks gays! Place is small... service is good! My daughter loves crayfish not me... Thank you for good time in restaurant I'm recommend for everyone! Thanks read more

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TLDR: Cajun seafood in a warm bag Had a ton of fun eating at this place. Pick your seafood and have it presented to you in a bag full of spices of your choosing. Prices are fair and food is yummy. It's a bit of a mess and you get gloves to eat the food so don't show up in your tux unless youre a true pro at eating. read more

TOPICS COVERED: Customer Service (picture included), portion sizes, take-out experience, and bar service Twice I've come here to pick up food. The open dining area on the bottom floor is really small so I wouldn't recommend eating there unless you're with a small group. The first time I sat at the bar and got a drink, which was alright. The only unsettling thing was they duped my cup into a bucket, an actual bucket, of what appeared to be juice or a mixer. It was very odd. The food stayed hot until I got home which was a good 45 minute travel time. I always get the shrimp and snow crab with Cajun sauce. This time around the shrimp weren't cleaned! In the past, order from here and their Quincy location I remember having cleaned shrimp. Also the portion sizes vary, based on location. I find Quincy gives more than the Boston location. Yet this past visit on 7/26/19 they gave me a lot of shrimp (though unclean) and two clusters of snow crab....in the past I've received one. On my last visit 7/26/19 @ 4 pm My biggest upset was the customer service. Ordering before hand over the phone was a seamless process so picking it up should be just as easy. Not this time around. Though the host desk is literally two feet from the front entrance, I had to stand and wait watching the host text on his phone, while I was waiting to pick up my order. Luckily another server came by to help me out, otherwise who knows how long I would have been standing there. Also he remained on this phone the entire time I was there, only stopping (with the phone still in hand) to ring up my order through Apple Pay on the store iPad. read more

Shaking Crab - Boston Common - He was very much concerned with his text message conversation, more so than servicing me! - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Delicious! Crab, shrimp and lobster was amazing!! Great services and the yummiest food!!! read more

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My family and I really enjoyed this! Great seafood at a pretty fair pricepoint. Loved that they gave us bibs, gloves, and all the tools we needed. I liked that they put a wax paper (?) sheet over the table too for sanitary reasons. read more

Disappointing. Was hopeful we would have a reasonable meal, but turned up to a pretty empty place. Not clear where the restaurant was! Turned out to be on a 2nd floor. Menu only online and confusing. Food seemed overpriced for what we had. I'm sure I could find better value seafood elsewhere. This is basically a street-food place in a building. If it was street-food anywhere else on the world it would be 100 times better - consider finding somewhere else. (Plus the a/c cranked to sub-zero all evening)! read more

Great service. Shiggy was great and very considerate as our server! It's the little things. Our food was good too! read more

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My boyfriend's favorite place he's ever eaten. Go ahead, ask him! He loved how huge the pieces of crab were and loved being able to see the cemetery across the street from our table. read more

So much food and so much seafood options. Definitely worth it to try here....their crab and lobster are great. Be ready to mess the table . Try everything. read more

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Went here for my friend's birthday and everything was perfect! She has a few dietary restrictions and they accommodated her without any issue and even gave her a free shot. I will say it was a little pricier than places I've been to before, esp because you have to order everything separately like corn and potatoes but the food and sauces were great. Def get the calamari appetizer, it's big enough to share for 3, maybe even 4 people and has fried banana peppers. My friend and I split a fishbowl and even though it tasted good, it was def low on alc so if that's what you're into, order something stronger. Server's name was Steven he was great! read more

Throw on a bib and dig in! Shaking Crab is a chain restaurant with five locations in Boston. The whole concept is that you pick your seafood, pick a sauce, and they bring the cooked seafood out in a bag. You don't actually do any shaking because the servers take care of that for you. They give you bibs, gloves, and seafood crackers to get right into the meat. It's a really fun experience because you have to work for your food! Two of us walked in for dinner around 730PM on a Saturday night before a show at the Wilber. There was no wait and we were seated right away. At this location they had a special menu with three different combos. (It's cheaper than ordering everything separately from the menu.) We picked the middle combo which included a choice of appetizer, two pounds of snow crab legs + half a pound of shrimp, two add ons, and one side. We had the fried oysters as the appetizer and they were delicious! They were perfectly fried and juicy on the inside and they came with two types of dipping sauces. For our seafood we added sausage and corn and selected the Shakin' sauce (house Cajun). For the side we ordered the garlic noodles. The Shakin' sauce was flavorful and mildly spicy. The garlic noodles were decent and worked as a filler. We ate everything and we were stuffed! Overall this is a great spot for a saucy seafood fix! read more

Shaking Crab - Boston Common - 2 pounds snow crab legs + 1/2 pound of shrimp with corn and sausage - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Disappointed! Love the concept. My son's 13 birthday wish was to go to this restaurant and drown himself in seafood. They got 3 stars because of the watermelon martini and the service - the food was horrible. You could tell they boiled all seafood in bland water then dumped garlic juice on top instead of cooking the seafood in the sauce. It was tasteless and left me so sad. Although my son didn't enjoy it - he took home the left over put in on the stove added seasoning and recooked it. OMG what a difference! The service, the drinks were top notch! read more

It was a bit too pricey so we left, as not what we were looking for that night in town but food looked like a good seafood broil to go visit. Reminded me of Louisiana's Cajun seafood broils. read more

This was a great place and for our last night in Boston, it definitely hit the spot. Family friendly and service was great. Jennifer deserves a raise for her friendliness and attentiveness to details. We ordered the shrimp and clams combo with the envie, added sausage and corn. Just right for the kids and not spicy at all, but just enough flavors. The garlic noodles is a must. Highly recommend this place for locals and visitors! read more

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Fun place to catch up with an old friend (which is exactly why I was here). For 2 people, the waiter recommended 3 pounds of seafood or 2 pounds of seafood plus side dishes. My friend and I opted for 1 pound of mussels with medium Shaking sauce and 1 pound of crawfish with hot Seoul sauce. We got a side of sweet potato fries as well. Since we are quite thorough with eating seafood, we just sat there for a couple hours, shooting the sh*t as we devoured two pounds of sea critters. They do provide bibs (which saved our shirts) and plastic gloves if you want to be less messy. In terms of flavor, I think I slightly preferred the Seoul sauce, though both sauces tasted relatively similar. The "hot" level had a decent kick but not enough where I was gulping water, a good place for me. Sweet potato fries were cooked well but were bland (I think you can ask for seasoning but we just decided to dip them into the extra sauce in our bags, lol). Overall, I enjoyed my visit and would be happy to come back! read more

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Four of us shared two combo bags: 1lbs shrimp + 1/2lbs of clams and 1lbs shrimp + 1/2lbs of mussels. We added half a pound of shrimp, potatoes, and sausage to each of the combos and also ordered the BBQ wings as an app. We opted for the Seoul and Shakin for flavors but couldn't tell the difference between the two when we were eating.The shrimps were large and fresh! Surprisingly, we were all full by the end of the meal. I definitely recommend sharing with friends so you can all try the different flavors and seafood. read more

Shaking Crab - Boston Common - Menu - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

So so in love with this restaurant! My first time ever trying anything like this and it is now one of my favorites. This location is fairly new since it has only been open for one month and they sure left a lasting impression. Great selection of seafood, prices and drinks. Service: our waitress was very bubbly, gave us recommendations and earned herself a great tip. Eating here is quite unique as you won't be eating with forks, spoons or even plates. They set a sheet of white paper on the table, hand you a bag that brings wet wipes, gloves, a plastic bag and a bib. Everything is essential since eating will probably be pretty messy. I got the Argentinian shrimp with head off (this was an additional dollar). My flavor was "shakin" which was the house Cajun. For spice level I got hot. It was in fact really hot but, I enjoyed it a lot more than the medium spice. If you like a little bit of spicy but not too much I would go with the medium. My boyfriend got the blue crab, but he also wanted to add shrimp to it. Since you can add sides to your order the waitress suggested to get the "shake it up" as a side this included a 1/2lb of shrimp with a side of fries. Everything we ordered was perfect, a little messy but delicious. The flavor was my favorite part as well as the spice. Prices here are very reasonable. I feel as though we got a great deal for the amount of food we got. In my order alone, I got over 20 plus jumbo shrimps, talk about generous portions. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone. I haven't been to the other locations yet, but so far this one takes the cake. The location is prime right in the middle of Boston common and for the great service I received I have zero complaints. I will most definitely be back again! read more

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Cool concept. I love the put your phone down and enjoy some messy food and shared drinks. I was confused when I saw warnings about the "no phone" policy until I saw a massive spread of crab, bibs, sauce, sides and juices flying. So we made a reservation and still had to wait a bit so they definitely get busy and I would try for a reservation. Service was friendly but inconsistent. After we got our food we weren't really checked on. My spouse and his mom did not receive those utensils for cracking crabs. I grabbed them some where I thought they might be. They were slammed to be fair. I had some of the chicken strips, shrimp and crab. I love their concept of crab boil and choose your sauce, but I didn't think the flavors permeated enough. The chicken strips came with a heavy paste dumped on top so that flavor was weird too but the texture of the chicken was on point. Tables are kind of close together, so mind your juices a flyin. Sides were ok. Mac and cheese and coleslaw were standard. Overall, I love the fusion idea of NE seafood and Louisiana flavor, but this had me missing the gulfs crab. Cocktails and shareable drinks were crowd pleasers. My spouses mom had a great time and I have to give them props for that. Loud music and TVs just FYI. Parking is hard but it's in a good spot so I think T is expected. read more

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This is your basic Cajun seafood restaurant. Quality food, decent portions, pricey bill... so it all came down to the quality of service. Our waiter seemed a little annoyed that we were taking so long to decide our orders, and then he disappeared after taking them down. In terms of food, we ordered 1/2lb of snow crab legs, 1/2lb of headless shrimp, and 1lb of mussels. For sides, we got Cajun fries, fried shrimp, garlic noodles, and corn. Everything was so good, but I wouldn't order the mussels because half of them couldn't be opened. We also ordered the Pineapple Express, which I would recommend if you're going with a big group and willing to spend $40 on drinks. read more

Shaking Crab - Boston Common - Snow crab legs, mussels, shrimp, garlic noodles, fried shrimp basket, grilled cheese & fries, and Pineapple Express - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

when i tell you... THIS IS THE BEST LOBSTER ROLL IVE EVER HAD. the price might be a bit tooo much in my opinion but due to the fact that this was soooooooo amazing, i might have to purchase again. read more

Shaking Crab - Boston Common - Classic Lobster Roll - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

How exciting that a "boiling crab" style restaurant finally made its way to Boston! Haven't tried any of the other branches, but this was great. This just opened on Jan 23, so the service was still in its teething phase; it was little bit haphazard. Our servers were very pleasant though. We came at around 7 on a Saturday and there wasn't much crowd, probably because the place is barely a week old. Food itself was tasty! I had the combo shrimp and clam bag ($19), husband got the shrimp and crawfish ($21) and my friend got the snow crab ($23). Would recommend the add on of potato and corn if you are hungry. We tried the Shaking Crab and House Cajun, but I couldn't rly tell the difference between the two. The sauce itself wasn't overly garlicky or salty which I think can very easily happen. Spice levels were as expected: spicy is actually spicy and medium is medium. We also got some Cajun fries ($5) which was GREAT-- well fried chips with old bay seasoning. I'd definitely come back if I was craving a seafood boil. Pro tip: if you check in on Yelp, you get free garlic noodles. Extra tip: the sweet tea isn't overly sweet and didn't give me a toothache. Order one if you like iced teas. Enjoy! read more

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The door sticks! We tried to open it but someone had to let us in. Came during a soft opening on 1/24. The place was empty. Our servers were really attentive and nice - our water/cokes were refilled and the food came promptly. My friend and I took advantage of the free garlic noodles with a check in on FB promotion. In addition we got snow crab legs, clams, and shrimp with sausage and quail eggs as sides. The quail eggs were dissappointing as they were cold and flavorless but the rest of the food was spicy and delicious! read more

As a shaking crab lover this location definitely impressed me. My all time favorite location was Newton and then Quincy but this one taste just like Newton! My favorite sauces are the Seoul and envy. Seoul is the sweet chili miso which is my go-to sauce, but if I want something a little lighter I'll go with the envy. I usually like the envy for my clams. Garlic noodles are a must. And last but not least if you're going with a group of friends you have to get the Pineapple Express (For 3+ people) it's soooooo good! And it's super cute. Totally Instagram worthy read more

Shaking Crab - Boston Common - Pineapple Express! Sorry for the horrible picture I had to screenshot a video - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Being a big fan of Cajun food, this is a must check-out place if you want cheap tasty seafood in Boston. It was such a big portion for the price comparing to similar places in NYC and Chicago ( the Boil or the Lost Cajun ). Got there when the restaurant is about to close and realized that most of the customers are Canton speaking, it is probably featured in some Hong Kong Boston Guidebook. We ordered a combo set of shrimps and clams as well as a blue crab, with garlic noodles and white rice on the side. There are a few options of sauces which we can choose for different bags of seafood. We went for the Classic Cajun sauce and the Korean Chilli Miso, medium spice. Honestly, I dont feel a big difference between them but they are both good ! Blue crab was so meaty and fresh, taste almost like sashimi. And the Shrimps and Clams are with gigantic portion which we failed to finish. Definitely add corns and garlic noodles the seafood, such an add-on. Super satisfying meal which you can afford a large portion of seafood and may even not be able to finish them. read more

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I've had better Cajun food in the city, I had 1 lb of shrimp with potatoes and a side of rice. Normally with this type of meal the shrimp is sitting in some type of boil seasoning, this was not. There was barely any seasoning in the bag to dip the shrimp in. I did ask for a side of seasoning for my rice but the seasoning is more gritty than boil seasoning. They also have a drink menu, I tried the Don Julio margarita $13 it's a very small cup but it's a strong pour. read more

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Jo koy is hilarious. He has nothing to do with the restaurant itself. But we actually stopped here with a group of friends after seeing one of his shows at the Wilbur. When you walk in, the place looks pretty small. But they actually have an upstairs dining area so that's pretty cool. There was a 25 min wait even on a Saturday around 930pm lol. The place honestly wasn't TOO packed though. We didn't mind waiting, we were with good company and decided to chill by the bar while we waited for a table. A little while after we were brought up stairs and put in our order. We had garlic noodles, Cajun fries, snow crab legs, and the shrimp and crawfish combo. The garlic noodles were Sooo good. But so heavy, please don't eat this all by yourself and share lol. I love garlic and noodles. So this was like a perfect garlic buttery bomb. It was good to cut the strong bold, spicy flavors on the seafood. The Cajun fries were also sooo good lol. Especially when they came out hot and fresh. I love eating fries when they're so hot they burn your tongue a little. The Cajun seasoning wasn't too overpowering. Now onto the main event, the seafood, I forgot what the house sauce is called. But it's basically the best combination of every sauce they offer so you should just get that to get the full experience. Their lowest level of spice here is medium. Their medium was actually pretty spicy. To me it's a good spice cause I love spicy food. But for my husband It got a little overwhelming. The sauce itself was pretty good. I've had others that were better. But It was still worth eating. The seafood seemed really small though, which was a bit disappointing. It was so much work peeling just to get a tiny piece of crawfish. The crab legs also weren't that meaty. I feel like this place is good, but the seafood should be the star. It should be the one shining and unfortunately this time It didn't. The staff and service was great though. We had lots of laughs with them and I'm sure It was because half our party was drinking lol. They were pretty cool and nice to talk to. We even had our picture taken and put on their board! Overall, I'm pretty disappointed that I'm giving this place a 3 Star. Because my experience was great, but the seafood should've been the star. And It left me a little unsatisfied. I wouldn't come out of my way to eat here. But I would give It a second chance. read more

Delicious! For my NY/CA peeps, I would say this location is better than Boiling Point but not quite to The Boil level. My husband and I ordered two pounds of shrimp with their Shaking seasoning and another bag of the Seoul. Both sauces were delicious and I wouldn't be able to tell you which one I liked better. We went on a Friday night and they were not that busy but it seemed like there was some miscommunication with the server and the kitchen. We ordered a garlic noodle on the side but it never arrived. Luckily thought the shrimp was more than filling. read more

I have to say - the flavor and seasoning is amazing in the seafood bags. I'm giving this a lower rating because after going to the Newton location and the Boston Common location, the service at each place was not the best. At Newton, we had to send back all of our food because IT CAME TO THE TABLE COLD. It was as if they cooked our combo bags, the food sat there, and forgot to deliver. We had to send it back for another. I thought I'd give it another shot at the Boston Common location. Although it was only a party of two, we ordered quite a bit of food, yet they would not seat us at a larger table. The restaurant was not busy, so it wasn't like we were taking table space away from other customers. It wasn't until we asked the server twice, and a manager overheard, that they pulled the table next to us over. With all the bags, buckets, etc. it would've been impossible to enjoy our boil with such small table space. We ordered a combo special for two (which was not on the main menu - it was a small side menu that almost looked like the drink menu). This included 1 lb of snow crab legs/clams and 1lb of shrimp (all have corn and potatoes) with a bonus of garlic noodles and calamari. The bill should have only been approx $80 with food and cocktails, but it was double! We were charged double for everything, and our waiter insisted that we ate 2 lbs of EACH order (not sure how someone can eat that much in one sitting) and charged us for each side individually. After a long discussion and having to point out exactly what was listed on the menu, we solved the issue, but decided to not leave a tip due to our issues all night. Disappointing because the food really is delicious, but not worth the headache if I'm going to deal with crappy service. read more

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Our server Jern was attentive and with a smile. This always is key for me to a nice dining experience. The food had great flavor...I had the shrimp and clams w the sausage and had it "hot" next time I will try the super hot. Portions were ample and great value especially for the city. I would def recommend for locals or tourists. We also got very lucky w free parking on a holiday weekend. read more

Shaking Crab - Boston Common - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

The food was delicious, but we paid $80 for three people and we are all still hungry!! If you are looking for a great flavor and fresh seafood I would recommend this place, but it will be an expensive appetizer preceding your follow up meal at the Taqueria down the street. read more

If I could rate negative stars I would. My wife and I flew in from St Louis MO and were extremely disappointed in our first Boston Seafood Experience. $180.00 for two people, we ordered steamed dungeness, shrimp, and blue crab with corn and sausage. We also tried, the lobster macoroni, clam chowder, and a lobster roll. When we got there we were the only ones on the second floor, one waiter was plenty. Shortly there after, several more patrons came in and still only one waiter, however three more staff members were hanging out downstairs. All of the steamed foods were tremendously over cooked, rubbery shrimp, tasteless crab, soggy corn, rubbery grey sausage, and the blue crab were tiny, without the famous swimming leg for that big lump of meat. Honestly, seagulls leave better portions. I asked for a refill on the iced tea I was drinking and was told that there was no more tea to be had. Overall, a waste of time, money, and a less than flattering presentation of Boston culinary specialties. If you find yourself about to go in, keep walking, there is a Dunkin Doughnuts just around the corner. read more

Good Food! Ate here last week and really enjoyed the food. Went with the shrimp and mussel boil and a side of potatoes. The sauce was delicious, I am a big fan of garlic and they certainly delivered on that! One downside was the spice level; I requested the highest level of spice and it was what most would probably consider medium. The value here was great and the seafood was quite good. If you are planning on bringing a large group MAKE SURE TO CALL AHAEAD THE DAY BEFORE! They do not take reservations the day of and there is very limited seating. Service was pretty good, didn't take too long to get our food (~8 minutes). Overall the experience was good compared to other establishments that serve boils (Bootleg Special-where I got a boil and food poisoning). Enjoy! read more

Took my little cousin here for her 13th bday. She had a great time and enjoyed the food. The drinks are great, alcoholic and non alcoholic. Our order came out in a timely fashion and the waiter was friendly! Loved that they had mochi as a dessert option. Overall good time. read more

Shaking Crab - Boston Common - Menu - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Sweet Tea was amazing ! Being from Alabama that says a lot. The catfish and shrimp boil were also delicious. I will definitely be back. read more

Shaking Crab - Boston Common - Argentina Shrimp and Catfish Basket - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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I would give negative score if I can!! This restaurant is not welcome anyone after 9pm although it says closed at 10! Arrived at 8:50, the waitress won't allow us to sit. When waiting for takeout, the waitress tried to stop us sitting at the "closed area" which was designated for waiting. Although we eventually have a seat, the waitress had to put all the chairs upside down on the table including those non-occupied ones on our table.. ridiculous!! When back to home with the order, you would note that you wouldn't get what you should. All the sausage and corns were not in the bag.. called the restaurant and they would say, oh sorry! You didn't check the bag? Anyway, they are free, so we didn't charge you... OMG, they are free so you should keep them? Am I supposed to check otherwise would be my own fault? read more

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