I enjoy how they usually have ingredients in stock unlike Boiling Crab across the street. Theres also no line so I rarely wait. The flavor is on the sweeter side than boiling crab but its minor difference rather than something drastic. I find it small enough that I can interchange the two. I do have to drop a star because the restaurant is chronically understaff which does mean I had to be more proactive in flagging down staff than I'm normally use to. But once I flag them down the customer service is pretty standard. read more

1 star for the free refills for soda and tasty garlic noodles. It is unacceptable to have to raise my hand for basic service from being ready to order the food to receiving the check. For context, my party of 3 came here on a Monday night. We did not get: - complete orders - check up more than once - overly charged for garlic butter sauce (3 for $20) that was never even ordered & given "as extra" Being given garlic butter sauce just seemed complementary, so only to get overcharged for it is definitely shady. Only come here if you are willing to waste money. Never coming back. read more

2/3 of the items(shrimp, crawfish and clams) are old and mixed with fresh items. Crawfish shrimp meat are soft 2-3 days old. It's like eating mashed food and not fresh chewable meat. They've reduced the quality and freshness using leftovers. I'm not going here anymore. read more

The Kickin' Crab - 2/3 of the items(shrimp, crawfish and clams) are old and mixed with fresh items. Crawfish shrimp meat are soft 2-3 days old. M - Cajun/Creole Near Me - San Jose, California

I love kicking crab and their food is my favorite, but both locations, including this one, the service is always terrible! Our order gets taken, food dropped off. And poof everyone just disappears and never checks up on you. This time around when I went, my calamari was overcooked and I wanted to send it back for a different one. Well no one ever came back to even check on us. And when they finally did, I was already 75% finish with the rest of our meal. By the time they got to me, I just sent it back without a remake. I always have to flag someone down for water refills, take out containers, and the check. Sometimes all at different times. Takes me forever to get out of there. Inside is really big and plentiful of tables. read more

The Kickin' Crab - Cajun/Creole Near Me - San Jose, California

We've been to this location multiple times, and it doesn't compare to the Milpitas location--the seafood and flavors there are always better. That said, this spot has its perks. You don't have to wait long to get a table, which is a big plus. They also offer great deals on their seafood options read more

See all

Came to Kickin' Crab when both Boiling Crab locations in the area had a 2 hour wait (Fridays during lent are NOT the days to go for seafood) and they only had a 29 minute wait. My friends and I got the #2 combo which we chose the lobster (got the entire lobster) a pound of shrimp and a pound of mussels and it came with sausage, potatoes and corn. Additionally we got the garlic noodles (AMAZING) and the Cajun fries. The total came out to what we normally pay at boiling crab but SO much more food! My only thing is their sauce is spicy even when you ask for non spicy so that's really the only flaw. Other than that, most seafood boil spots are going to be the same. read more

See all

This place's service is completely nonexistent. Came here as a party of 7 with the additional of two babies. We were told that since it's technically a party of 9, regardless if there's two babies, we are responsible for paying 18% for service charge. I don't mind paying for the service charge, but what service did they actually provide? They took our order and drop off our food. They didn't come once while we were actually eating to refill water or anything. $49 for service charge? Never again. read more

See all

Came here on Monday around 7:30 PM this week and it surpassed all of my expectations. I was honestly really iffy on going here due to all of the recent reviews but I decided to give it a try anyways. The restaurant itself is very spacious and has lots of seating. There was also no wait at all which was great. We were greeted by all the workers and had our order taken almost immediately. We decided on their combo with comes with corn, sausage, potatoes, 1lb shrimp, and 2lb clams with their kickin style medium sauce. The bag was huge! I've been to almost every seafood boil place in the Bay and 3lbs never looked so big. The sauce itself was really good but medium was pretty spicy. Our favorites of the night were their cajun fries and garlic noodles. The fries were so thin and crispy with the perfect amount of seasoning. The garlic noodles were the best I've had. So much flavor and the perfect texture of noodles. Overall, the service was really great. All of the workers were friendly and continued to check on us throughout our meal. This is now one of my top seafood boil places to visit! read more

See all

Garlic noodles I ordered was tasty, fish n' chips also the one I love for the appetizer, I can get free refills too. A lot of space inside the restaurant, food came out super quick, very nice. read more

I really enjoy the crab boil flavors here. They can get busy and the service gets a bit slow when they are packed, but that's expected. Definitely my go-to in the area when I want crab boil. read more

The overall experience was very disappointing. Food was honestly disgusting and the staff was very disrespectful. The shrimp we ordered didn't taste fresh at all and the flavor of it was very horrible. I communicated with the servers about the food and how it was unenjoyable. The servers then all proceed to talk about me in front of me instead of being direct to me about what they could do for me. I left unsatisfied and never going back again. read more

Been driving past this place for many years and decided to try it today opposed to my other go to seafood boil restaurant. Upon walking in, it was very busy. A lot of staff members were going around every table, whilst some were still setting up tables. It seemed very hectic. They were kind and friendly when we were ordering and asked for things like gloves, napkins, etc. However, it felt like we did not have one server. Just a bunch of servers asking if we had ordered it whatnot. Very unorganized. We ended up getting the three pound combo with 2lbs of clams and 1lbs of shrimp with mild kickin sauce. It came with 4 sausages, 2 potatoes, and 2 corn. The quality of the food itself was very disappointing. The clams did not have that nice chewy feeling but it was very grainy, majority of them were broken so some crunch also came from the shells, and they had this bean like texture. Did not taste fresh at all. The shrimp wasn't as juicy but felt overcooked and somewhat dry. The sauce wasn't flavorful. It just hits you with salt and that's pretty much it. Potatoes overcooked along with the corn. Out of the combo, the only good thing was the sausage. The quality of the seafood wasn't the best in our opinion. Had really high hopes for this place since friends have been talking about it and there seems to be a lot of people who dine here. Unfortunately, we would not be coming back again. read more

The Kickin' Crab - Cajun/Creole Near Me - San Jose, California

My man and I have been coming to this location for years now. We usually always get the same order, at one point we would come so often, the staff would remember our order! Great service and great food. Definitely recommend getting kickin style and spicy for the sauce. Get some of the sauce and add it to the garlic noodles for extra flavor. They now have bar drinks, which we get every now and then too. read more

The Kickin' Crab - 2lbs Shrimp & Garlic Noodles - Cajun/Creole Near Me - San Jose, California

Honestly, if i could i would give this place a 0. This place is HORRIBLE! We ordered 3 pounds of live crawfish but instead got rotten ones. We then asked for a discount and the most atrocious looking woman with red hair working on 6/6 said the best she could do was void our sprite which was no more than $3. Then, her and a few of her coworkers was huddled up and throwing the pieces of rotten crawfish at us. Every other worker was extremely nice except the asian lady with red hair. This place needs to check on their workers attitude towards customers. DON'T EAT HERE!! read more

The Kickin' Crab - Actual photo of the rotten crawfish - Cajun/Creole Near Me - San Jose, California

Came here on a weekday for dinner time and thankfully it wasn't too busy, my husband and I were seated right away and was able to order immediately and our food came out in a timely manner. Staff was friendly, welcoming and checked on us multiple times which was nice. Food was good, came out hot - we enjoyed the garlic noodles along with cajun fries and 1 lb of shrimp with head on. Family friend restaurant with plenty of seating and parking available in the big lot. read more

Before coming here I saw a lot of mix reviews but I still wanted to come try it out myself before judging. My mom and I came in around 3:30ish on a Thursday afternoon..it wasn't busy so they told us we could sit anywhere. The menu is digital..we decide on package one. We got 2lbs of shrimp head on and 1 lbs of mussels for our package..we also got an extra pound of shrimp too. We got hot with kickin style sauce. My mom and I also got fried calamari and garlic noodles. The food came out really quick!!! My mom and I really liked the kickin sauce!!! So freaking good over rice!!! The calamari was also very crunchy and good..and the garlic noodles were wonderful!!! Can't go wrong with garlic noodles!!! My expectations weren't really high coming here because of all the bad reviews..but Kickin Crab ended up being way better than I excepted. The waiters were great..they were extremely attentive and kept checking in on us. I want to note something..I saw other reviews that said things like they take really long here..my experience wasn't like this at all..but when my mom and I paid the table next to us had just ordered..and by the time my mom and I got our change the waiter already brought that table their seafood boil (super quick)..but then the table was like where is our fried food..seriously? A little patients goes a long way..their seafood boil came in less than 5 minutes from the time they ordered..and of course fried food would take longer than seafood boil. Come by and try Kickin Crab yourself..maybe you might have a great experience like my mom and I or maybe you won't..but it's better to come see for yourself. read more

I made a visit to Kickin crab for the first time this Mother's Day weekend since boiling crab had a 3 hour wait. My party of 7 were able to be seated after a 20 minute wait which was surprising with how busy they were! The food was cooked to perfection, none of the seafood was overcooked. Everything was so good, I would give it a 10/10. The seafood bags came out steaming and all at the same time. Will be making a trip back! we had ordered: - Cajun fries - combo #2 with crab and double shrimp (extra mild & mild) - combo #2 with crab, muscles and clams (medium) read more

me and my partner love getting snow crab boils so we come here probably once a month i got one cluster of snow crab, with corn and shared a sausage link. i also ordered a side of rice and Cajun fries to share. we got seated very quickly, and our server was super nice and attentive! the inside was super clean, not overly crowded and had the game going so that was a plus haha the only bad thing I would say is the corn tasted so nasty, it tasted old and it was my first time experiencing something like that here :( definitely not stopping me from coming back tho hehe it happens! read more

The Kickin' Crab - Snow crab cluster - Cajun/Creole Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

HUGE RACIAL DISCRIMINATION ISSUE: I left my wallet at the on Wednesday night. We were the last of 2 tables there because it was closing. I knew I left it there and the staff had it. Thursday I called at 6 and the host picked up. While he was asking the manager he left the phone laying down, however I could hear his conversation with the manager. I heard the manager ask if we were Asian after getting the description of the wallet from the host, and the host replied "No" clearly he was working on Wednesday and remembered us. Then I heard the manager reply " then No fuck them, we don't have it" I was out of town Thursday night so I had my dad go there to talk to them. They again said they didn't have it. So he drove another 25 minutes back home then when he was around the corner the manager called, and said hehad it. It was obviously there the whole time, he was racist, wasted our time, and probably would've stolen the wallet if we didn't act on it. Manager is a joke at this place! read more

Disappointed for my to go order today. Normally I order at least once a week and today not sure do they have new team in the kitchen? I ordered mussel with kicking (spicy spicy )but not feel spicy at all with another ordered shrimp with (spicy) kicking and both of them came out same thing with tasteless side. They only put less sauce than usual on bottom of the bag and put steam seafood on top and the sauce is not balance with the seafood even I mixed them all together by myself and not every single of them can cover with sauce. Today it seem like I ate steam frozen mussels that easy to make at home. Nothing special!!! read more

This rate is primarily for their service. A friend and I came here on Valentine's Day, right before the major rush. We were pretty much ignored, no one came to check in on us and any time we needed something, we had to flag someone down, even then it took awhile. When we needed more gloves, it was almost like they were annoyed... I mean it's not like the gloves were good quality. The food was good, we got the combo flavor but for whatever reason it was a bit bland. The corn and egg came in a separate bag.... Not in the bag of seafood, which was odd. I think they forgot who ordered what because we did order separate bags. The server either forgot or didn't take the order properly. We also had a hard time understanding him read more

tldr; Fast, casual, messy, and totally satisfying seafood boil. Despite the Yelp rating, I think this place has seafood boil totally figured out. Definitely on the pricier side compared to other options in SJ, though. recs: Garlic Noodles, Kickin' Seasoning for the seafood boil price: ~$30/person My friends and I came on a Sunday evening and pretty much found the entire city of San Jose here. Kickin' Crab is a well-run establishment specializing in seafood boil that is good for small and large parties alike. Despite arriving behind two large parties of 8-10 in an entirely full restaurant, it took about five minutes for us to get seated. The combo we got comes with two sausages, corn, and potatoes. The quality of the seafood was pretty standard, but the Kickin' Seasoning was superb -- tangy, sweet, and savory. Kickin' Crab was definitely on the pricier end, but we each took a ton of leftovers home. The takeout supplies are incredibly convenient since they provide a plastic bag for the boil, a container to hold the bag, and another bag to carry it all in -- no chance for spillage. Service was speedy and food came out fast. Really appreciate how well the team works together here :) read more

See all

This place has really gone downhill. The recipe for the kickin style has changed. The kickin style is just pure oil. It used to be this thicker consistency with many pieces of garlic. Now it's just pure liquid. Disappointing don't recommend read more

My husband and I came on a Sunday. It was pretty slow because of Football season probably. We were seated right away and the servers were very nice. Food came out quickly and was delicious. We ordered shrimp this time and had to add corn and potatoes. We usually get a side of white rice too. It's a nice spot to get quick lunch when your craving seafood. read more

The Kickin' Crab - Cajun/Creole Near Me - San Jose, California

Haven't been to The Kickin' Crab in years. My friend and I came on a Saturday around 9pm and it was not crowded at all. We were seated right away! I got an order of garlic noodles and a bag of shrimp with the head on. * garlic noodles: The noodles were yummy, full of garlic flavor and a bit buttery. I love that they have big chunks of garlic in there which adds someone texture. I always love getting a side of garlic noodles with my seafood. * Shrimp: I decided I wanted shrimp with the head on because I love sucking up the sauce. I got this with the kickin style sauce level spicy. I usually can handle spice as my tolerance is high but the more I ate this the more heat I felt. If you can really handle spice I suggest getting the spicy spicy sauce which is the most spiciest. The shrimp was cooked well and the flavor of the sauce was really good! If I could I would've added corn and sausages to my bag. I think the sauce would also pair well with some white rice. The inside of the place is nice and does give seafood boil vibes. I love that there are tables and booths to sit at. The service was very friendly and they checked in with us a lot. The only complaint my friend had was that they forgot the rice even though she asked but it ended up coming out much later. Other than that I would totally come to kickin crab again. read more

See all

The seafood boil is very nice. Wait is short on the weekdays, however when I went on the weekend there was a short line.

The food that day came out very good We got deal #2 and garlic noodles and Cajun fries but we were only there for 35 minutes and only had like 20 minutes to eat... the waiter went up to us gave us the check asked how many boxes we need then counted up how many she thought we needed as if we were done .. so we felt rushed packed out food paid and left.. I still tipped to.. she never even came up to us before that do ask if we needed anything I didn't catch her name read more

We came here for our first date of the year and were quite upset at the prices. We wanted crab because the place is literally called kicking crab but we realized that the cost of combo #2 means a singular crab somewhere between 1.5-2lb (which we feel like we got less than 1.5 lbs) costs about $70. This is an outrageous price for a singular crab. We figured the mussels/clams/etc options each cost around $21.6 with combo 1 being $64.99. So the fact that combo 2 is $113.99 with only 2 of those options mean that singular crab is $70. That is insane. We were told this is market value of a singular crab and I find this hard to believe especially when it is crab season right now (Nov-Dec). For a very rough idea, a 1.75lb crab from Safeway is $25. Spoke to someone about it and they did not assist us in any way with this dissatisfaction. Wish they did more to show they cared for their customers, I was beyond excited to be taken here for a date and it leaves a very sour taste in my mouth feeling like my boyfriend and I were scammed. Don't recommend or at least don't bother with the crab. Get combo 1 for any value for your money. read more

The Kickin' Crab - Menu - Cajun/Creole Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

Favorite crab spots in San Jose! Not sure why this place is only rated 3 starts because the food was delicious I mean every single bit! Moving on to the service amazing! We had Dustin and he definitely showed us good time and service full of laughs. Went her for a girls night/ birthday dinner for a friend! The crab is definitely Kickin here check them out read more

The Kickin' Crab - King Crab Legs - Cajun/Creole Near Me - San Jose, California

I came here with a group of 5 and we were seated in the corner. it was nice since we got a lot of privacy from the loud restaurant. the service was great! we had many servers come by to make sure that we were doing okay. everyone was very attentive and nice. the only issue was we had ordered appetizers and entrees and finished it all before we got our seafood. when we asked for them to check on our seafood, they found out that the kitchen never got the order ticket. we were kinda bummed out since we planned on eating everything together but ended up just having the seafood by itself. the combo was enough for the 4 outta 5 of us that were eating :) i've tried many seafood boil places and i always come back to kickin crab because no other sauce compares to the kickin style! by the way the menu picture is from 2 years agoZ the combo 1 is now $54.99 read more

The Kickin' Crab - combo deals - Cajun/Creole Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

The hostess seated someone and gave us a list for us to write our names on a binder paper sheet saying the words "Sunday" even though it was Saturday night and then disappeared for 25 mins. Another hostess came and had another binder people started writing their names and she disappeared again, and then came back and sat a huge family who came in after us, and was about to seat another family til I had to remind them we've been there for 35 mins and was there first. After we sat down, no one came to help us for another 15 mins. And multiple tables were just like us. We got up and left. We went to the Boiling Crab across the street, definitely recommend more than this place. Super disorganized and bad service. read more

First time here. We came to celebrate my twin daughter's bday and after we arrived we did wait a minute to take our order. Honestly the flavors and buckets were god just for the price it would be nice to have more potatoes and corn in the bag just thought it was a bit low on the amount you get in your bucket. The Cajun fries were good we got garlic noodles were a hit and calamari was good too. The vibes were chill everyone just enjoying their meal with their families. I was caught up in the moment with the family I didn't get to take any pictures of our food but I do say it's worth a try just wish there was more in the buckets you can chose from read more

Just stop coming here- the kitchen does not care, we ordered 2 pounds head on shrimp. They quality is gone, the whole boil was in the bag-pure oil and barely sauce. My stomach has been upset for days with the overwhelming . The service was ok, not approachable enough to ask them to remake the bag full of water/oil- I hope they find better days. Ambiance was so weird with the slow romantic music for our whole dinner. Just not the worth it anymore no matter how bad the craving, this ain't the place. read more

Restaurant is clean and has a nice theme. Our service was attentive and food came out hot and tasted great. This restaurant also has several TVs playing sports so if you're a sports fan like me you can go out with friends and still keep up with the score. read more

See all

Always a good time at kicking crab. The garlic noodles are it. Order yourself 2 of them and call it a day. Got the kicking combo #1 with crawfish, shrimp, and clams. The sauce was kicking style which is what everyone goes with. This place never disappoints. Again, get the garlic noodles, get one togo, get one for your family. This location is roomy and covered in wood, it feels a lot cleaner than the other locations I've been to. This place can get busy at night so if you have a big group, be prepared to wait. read more

The Kickin' Crab - Cajun/Creole Near Me - San Jose, California

Not the best spot for seafood boil... First off, they charge 50 cents for water which is honestly a wild concept... They also charged us extra for sodas compared to what their menu has the price listed at. The combos are a bit pricier here than other places - it's $60 for 3 lbs of seafood and sausages, corn, potatoes. The potatoes are on the smaller side and the corn isn't sweet at all. We got 2lbs of head on shrimp and 1lb of mussels and the shrimp was SMALL. The smallest shrimp I've ever seen in cajun boil.... They give quite a bit of sauce and garlic though. The service was ok but could've been more attentive especially if they are automatically charging gratuity for a larger group. They just placed the bags of seafood boil on the table without telling us which was which so we were moving bags around trying to figure out who ordered what. Steamed rice was yellowish(???) and soggy/mushy. Everything came out piping hot which was nice and the garlic noodles and fries were good. However, overall not the best experience. Definitely some better spots around. read more

This location is nooooooot good. We even asked if they changed the recipe because it tasted so different. There weren't a lot of garlic pieces and the spices separated from the oil. Also, I still don't agree with charging for water. I wouldn't recommend kicking crab anymore! read more

*take out* I'm so appalled that they let lemons like these leave their kitchen and go home with the customers, I'm also not surprised after I tried my shrimp it wasn't very fresh (little mushy). The clams were also fishy tasting. I also wish they would mix the boil bag more, the sauce only stayed at the bottom and quite a few clams were left untouched by the sauce. I can't say I will come back. read more

See all

My favorite seafood boil restaurant! It satisfies my cravings every time. I came here around 6:30 on a Saturday night with a group of 6 and there was no wait. Food: - Garlic Noodles: 4/5 Very garlicky and tasty, but nothing special. - Fried Oysters: 4/5 Nice, crispy coating and oysters are good too! I think there is a bit too much coating though. - Cajun Fries: 4/5 Good seasoning, but they are just normal fries haha - Seafood: 5/5 I normally order the Kickin' Combo Deal #1 with 2 lbs of shrimp and 1 lb of clams and Kickin' Style seasoning (medium spice level). I really like this option because I get to pick the seafood I want, and it comes with corn, potatoes, and sausage! The shrimp and clams are always a good size and super flavorful. Service: Servers here have always been friendly and bring everything out quickly! Ambiance: Very good restaurant for large groups. It is pretty loud, but very casual and good atmosphere. Clean restaurant. The tables are wobbly though. Price: $$ Reasonably priced for seafood! Worth the price for the quality. Parking: Lots of plaza parking! I can't wait to come back and munch!! read more

Price went up and the quality has gone down. Very stingy on the sauce. Brought it home and almost no sauce! This is not how you treat customers. You can visit 1000x with good service but one bad service, customer will not forget!! Be generous with the sauce! Probably cost you about 50cents but imagine the repeat business. Simple, good food and service = repeat customer. Bad food n service = no more customers. read more

The Kickin' Crab - Mold around sink area - Cajun/Creole Near Me - San Jose, California