There is always a wait, so come prepared or put yourself on the waitlist before heading out to minimize the time. I've only been to this location once since having moved to San Marcos, but I have frequented OC locations for nearly 20 years. It's pretty consistent. Nice casual place (although loud) for a social dinner because you can talk over peeling the shells off. We ordered shrimp & crayfish with corn (i've added sausage in the past which is fine, while potays are just meh), fried catfish basket with fries, and lemon pepper chicken wings with a side of rice. All were tasty. My husband says it's a lot of work to peel the shell off so he likes to opt for other options, but I don't mind it because what do you expect coming here... read more

Food is great! Service was excellent! Ambiance is fine Deffinitely recommended Although the crawfishnlast night is a little dry. read more

Amazing service and food, will definitely come back. Great atmosphere, delicious food.

I love the food the service they are Friendly and the place it's nice and clean I will definitely go back

San Marcos the best location for boiling crab!! we always order to Go and they are very very friendly :) read more

The Boiling Crab - Seafood Near Me - San Marcos, California

The food is always great and the service is pretty quick. Really like the music they play as well.

The past times I've gone the food was delicious! I'm thankful for the service and the ingredients that the Boiling crab put together! And the cooks to cook the meal and the receptionist for being kind. The downfall is that the lines are long majority of the time I've gone. The great thing is that they have a waitlist. read more

Join the yelp waiting list ! The customer service team is always great! Food is always on point, hot and delicious. Try their wings they are delicious read more

We ordered 2 pounds of shrimp, 2 servings of rice, 3 potatoes, and 3 corns, which came to $140 plus a mandatory $28 tip. I'm not sure if this is considered "economical," but this was definitely the last time we ate here. The quality was disappointing--the corn wasn't properly steamed, and the shrimp didn't taste fresh. On top of that, the service was very slow; it took a long time for our food to be served. Overall, it was not worth the price. read more

Server was amazing! Food was incredible and the music is a vibe! Love that I can check in through the app and not have to wait outside the location! read more

Everything about this business is amazing! Staff is very friendly and gets food out in a timely manner! read more

The Boiling Crab - Snow crab, Corn and potatoes.. rajun cajun medium - Seafood Near Me - San Marcos, California

Welllllll, the sweet tea was on point !! Perhaps some of the best I've had in Cali. But when you are accustomed to Louisiana/Texas/Maryland seafood, especially crabs and crawfish you will be disappointed ! To pay a small fortune for a less than sub par appetizer portion is ridiculous ! I had a 1/2 lb snow crab that looked anorexic. Needless to say, I've never experienced leaving a seafood place HANGRY!! I had the anorexic crab w/a sweet tea and my bill was over $40‼‼ Service was very good. Pretty sure they earn $30-$40 an hour. I'm done ‍ read more

Food was good But server didn't have a good attitude to customers didn't check up on us yust begging to take order and didn't see her ever just to charge read more

I come here once a month because my family and I really love this place and the location. Mind you for years! However this past Sunday, our service was terrible. I am far from being a Karen and ever complain about anything because I'm also the understanding one. But this was different. Which I completely understand for a busy day, but the majority of the job is service so it's kinda hard to understand why it was off.. Our waitress kept forgetting to bring our items and hardly checked up on us. We also wanted to sit with our family at another booth to watch the World Cup! Which we did ask beforehand if it was possible and they respected it and said yes as long as we close out our current table and if we fit with them which we followed through and did exactly! While watching the game and having a good time with our family the manager comes up to us and tells us we need to leave because my nephew with AUTISM was "running" around but really he wasn't feeling the setting and he was literally standing by us. No where near running around... lol I think it's kinda weird that they wouldn't accommodate or ask if we wanted to move or really check in with what was needed. But instead we got kicked out. It was a bit disappointing because we are returning customers that come frequently we also drive and hour + just to eat great food. I understand it is human decency and life happens mistakes happen however, this felt very different. read more

Good service, delicious food I 100% recommend this restaurant and one of the best restaurants I've tried

Every time we have dinner here we have a great experience . Service is always great food is amazing

Amazing! Food is always great. Service is amazing! Staff are so nice, I never seen anyone frowning especially on busy times! Love the place, great music also showing the latest sports! read more

Went for my birthday. If you're going, make sure you bring a jacket because you might have to wait outside for a while. We had a party of eight so we had to wait an hour outside. It was freezing cold, but it was worth the weight. The staff was really nice and the food was delicious. Next time I go, I probably won't get the crawfish and I will probably just get the snow crab and shrimp. Make sure you ask for extra sauce on the side and it has all the spices in the cup and it's absolutely delicious. You could package it up and take the rest home to eat later. So you pick what you want in your boil. I got snow crab, crawfish and shrimp. 1lb snow crab, 1/2 pound crawfish 1 pound shrimp. spice level no spice w the whole shebang seasoning. My husband got spicy shebang. 'll be back soon but I need to ask them for scissors cuz I saw some ppl on TikTok had them and they only gave me plastic crab cracker lol I'll ask for some next time. It's a must go. I think it was like $200 for 3 of us. And we each got 2 pounds in our order. Worth it! Oh & my mom got the lobster but it was too chewy :) read more

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The food was very good, they did have Alaska king crab legs and most were fresh , one or two were reheated. I would go again. The flavors they use are excellent. read more

This is the third time I come to the San Marcos location. All the 3 times I have been here the shrimp and crab is overcooked. We have not complained about it. Not sure why the cooks are not consistent. The one is SAN DIEGO is the best ONE...I recommend driving there. You will be satisfied. read more

I found out on IG that this place was having their grand opening today. So we decided to go. We usually go to their Mira Mesa location. San Marcos is way closer to us. We got here just in time. We were one of the first groups to get in right away. The line to get in this restaurant was wrapped around the building. It got so packed. For being their grand opening, it went pretty flawlessly. We had to wait a bit for our food, but that was to be expected, it was pretty packed. We ordered the fried catfish basket. Which was pretty good. And we also ordered 1lb of shrimp. I picked for my seasoning the whole sha-bang and mild spice. Which was a little too hot for me. It had a bit of a kick to it. But still really good. I also order one corn on the cob and potatoes with a cup of steamed rice which was jasmine rice. A pound of shrimp set us back $17.00 a pound. We got 3 pounds of it. And with the add on. It all can add up pretty quick. This place is definitely pricey. But if you want to splurge a little bit. This place is definitely worth it. Everyone here was super nice and our waiter always checked on our table. They even gave up a free gift bag for coming on their grand opening. I would recommend this restaurant to my friends and family. We can't wait to come back again! read more

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LOVE boiling crab. I'm used to going to the one in LA off Kinross or the one in Santa Ana, but I moved to riverside county and this is the closest one to me! It's just like the others. In fact, it's a little bigger. They have a sink outside of the restrooms so you can wash your hands. That's great! Other stores don't have that. The only cruddy thing about boiling crab is the wait! It's almost always over an hour during dinner time. But that's the price you gotta pay. We just joined the waitlist online and then went to Walmart and target to waste some time. The food and staff are all great. Food was delicious as always. The staff is always super nice. My son was talking to the hostess a lot about the elf on the shelf they had. She really engaged him instead of brushing him off. Stuff like that really goes a long way and leaves a really good impression. That on top of the really good food makes me wanna come back. read more

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Ordered catfish baskets, oysters and 2 lbs shrimp for dinner, to go. Fried stuff was great, service good. But shrimp was BAD. Mushy and the skin is hard to peel - signs of old, bad shrimp. Very disappointed with this. read more

I took my mom for Mother's Day! Food was great, service was excellent and the ambiance was welcoming! I LOVED our server Karen! She was a literal angel read more

The Boiling Crab - My mom happy with her lobster! - Seafood Near Me - San Marcos, California

Great service, delicious food and fun atmosphere. There was a constant beeping sound from the kitchen that was a tad distracting but otherwise an overall pleasant experience. read more

The Boiling Crab - Shrimp boil with sausage and potatoes - Seafood Near Me - San Marcos, California

This place is crazy! The best way to get a table is to go through the Yelp app! The peel and eat shrimp with the whole sha bang sauce is delightful. We've come here several times and have had great service as well as down and dirty fun eating out of bags. The restaurant is casual and can get packed. The wings and onion rings are really gods as well. read more

Shrimp boil was great as usual and my friend loved the fried catfish which I'll try next time. Shout out to our server, Josh. He was great!

Sooo good and it was fast for a Friday night 10/10.... Customer service,...everything was read more

Service & food is great! I know the wait is typically long but it is worth it! 10/10 would recommend:)

Love this place! Great food, fast service and always great atmosphere! Bring back the limes and make the waitlist for greater than 7 people. read more

Absolutely delish! My son had king crab with clams, and I had snow crabs. We both added corn, potatoes, and sausage. We both had the Whole Sha'bang sauce, his mild and mine medium. Our waiter (I sadly forget his name) was so sweet and attentive, and made the best salt/pepper/lemon slurry I have ever had - I never once dipped my crab into cup of the melted butter, I just used his slurry! It was perfect to cut the richness of the Sha'bang. We will definitely be returning! read more

The Boiling Crab - Lemon juice, salt, and pepper slurry - delish! - Seafood Near Me - San Marcos, California

Seafood tastes fresh and delicious! Highly recommend the WHOLE SHA BANG ; including the mussels, sausage, and eggs The gloves are the only downside because it's hard to peel shrimp but otherwise it was all great and worth the $$$ especially the lobster and king crab read more

The Boiling Crab - My husband with his giant lobster lol - Seafood Near Me - San Marcos, California

Great place and good prices !! Loved it ! Will definitely come back again. Waiting times sometimes are long but it's worth it.

This restaurant is a top choice for family and friend gatherings, boasting outstanding food quality. While the prices may be slightly higher, the seafood options make it worthwhile. I highly recommend giving it a try if you haven't already. read more

i'm a HUGE seafood person and was so excited to try this place out and i'm happy to say it DID NOT disappoint! The flavors are amazing and so is the pricing! the only only reason i had to knock it down a star was because of the service. Of the 3 times i've been in the past month, 2 of those times were met with ok service. The second time I went with my family our server unfortunately looked like they didn't want to be there which is fully understandable because sometimes we just have off days, but our table felt neglected and we had to wait long periods of time before they would finally circle back to our table, and when they would get to us they looked bothered to attend to a request/need. My third time was a bit better, but our server that time accidentally rung us up for more food than we had asked for. That one is on us for not speaking up when the food that was brought out and it looked like too much, but we ate it all and paid as we should. But again, we were given more protein in our bag than we had asked for when we know we didn't ask for more than 1lb of food. There were a few other little things between my last 2 experiences that added up to feeling a little underwhelmed by the service, but the food and flavors are still great read more

I live this place sooo delicious and the staff members are great the service is excellent

this place has become our date night and comfort food, we love it here! we come at least once a month. everyone is very friendly and attentive. food is always great, vibe is cool, and at this point... we've gone so much that we've had about every server lol. place does not disappoint! read more

The Boiling Crab - half pound of shrimp, whole shabang non spicy, corn, sausage. - Seafood Near Me - San Marcos, California

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Ugh. I LOVE boiling crab. The servers are always so nice! Definitely add yourself to the waitlist ahead of time if you're planning to go Fri- Sun because it gets packed but it's sooo worth it! Also make sure you download the app so you can get rewards! read more

Truly exceptional staff. Very nice always smiling and welcoming. The food is really good with delicious flavor. We only got to go so far but the place looks really nice inside. One downfall, it is a bit more pricey than other cajun style seafood in the area as you have to have separate bag for each type of seafood and extra to add the sausage potato eggs etc. read more

soo delicious. ONE THING TO NOTE, you must come early because this place gets packed QUICK lol. i got here 10 mins before it opened and a whole line was already forming before you know it. that's how yk the food is good. i recommend getting their cajun fries alongside your crawfish and shrimp, its so good. read more

The Boiling Crab - cajun fries - Seafood Near Me - San Marcos, California

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