This place is awesome! Keep in mind it is a bar atmosphere so, I would not advise taking your kids. Not many placed to sit, I actually had to walk out on my second visit because no one would seat us and I could not find a place to sit on my own. Very crowded but they do have some good fix-ins and worth a visit for a night out. Not much parking so be prepared to park way out on the street. read more

Service is terribly slow. It's Wednesday which should be all you can eat crab legs. We arrived at 730 we're told they were out of crab legs. 20 minutes later two young ladies were seated and served crab legs. Ordered grilled oyster appetizer and a shrimp cocktail. Took 35 minutes to get that. It's was good the cocktail sauce was really good but that's just way too long to wait for a dish that doesn't even require cooking. Our server checked on us once and our drinks were empty for ten minutes before someone, not our server filled them. Server came by said she had no control over the kitchen they were very busy. Only four tables occupied on our side of the restaurant I can't say about the other side I couldn't see it. The blackened salmon is delicious as was the shrimp boil. The owner came to apologize for the delay But we saw two couples leave because they hadn't been served read more

Super GRATEFUL and surprised with this awesome little paradise gem tucked away in little Missouri. Micheal is the main bartender he is great at what he does, the food was phenomenal again VERY surprised considering my husband and I are both San Diego ca, natives ( meaning I have eaten my share of GREAT sea food). We will be back, oh and I'm not even going to get into the owners AWSOME eclectic style and atmosphere!!! 10 thumbs up.... Thank you for giving us a small moment on a deserted Galapagos island. read more

Great homemade dishes. Most are hits, a couple misses but all are good. Best fried clams. Of great oysters. Hubby & I love the Pan pot. Salmon chowder was a miss - one piece of salmon and too cheesy for me. Great staff read more

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Unreal! We heard this place was amazing, so we decided to check it out. Our server said she wasn't able to take our food order until after she brought us our appetizer since the ticket was in the back....???? We thought it was odd, but went along with it. We were told multiple times that our order was up "next." After an hour and 45 minutes our food was finally delivered to another table. I've never walked out of a restaurant without eating before. What's unfortunate is that we really wanted to try the food. read more

We went to this place wanting the fresh oysters the advertise all over their building & signs. Well the place stunk of old fish smell, the bartender had the attitude of a snail, the drinks were hand measured using the half shot side (saw with my own eyes) which made for a drink that tasted like nothing, when we finally got the so called fresh oysters they were store bought-not at all fresh-just ask to see the oysters before their shucked ( I was raised on the coast & know fresh seafood ), there's nothing fresh about this place. Wont be back there again read more

I don't come here looking for high class, bright lights, and trendy drinks. I like it for its character....that and the gumbo. The pan roast is always tasty and the bread on the Po Boy is on point. Sitting and visiting with people at the bar is always an enlightening time. It's amazing what you learn when you sit and listen. read more

Good food, great place to get oysters, service is usually slow, so you may not want to go if your looking for a place to get your food quick! They also have good specials on beer and drinks. read more

Turtleheads Raw Bar - Bars Near Me - Joplin, Missouri

Great little joint!!! Fast Eddie is the bomb with karaoke!!! Owner is great!! This will be a regular stop. Good food great drink specials. Local flavor is great!!! read more

I love Turtleheads! Love the crab night and the coconut shrimp...good music, great atmosphere...as a matter of fact...today is my 65th Birthday and it's my first choice place for my Birthday! The drinks are always good to as well as the service....I live in Bella Vista Arkansas now not sure why it's showing sedalia read more

Just got to visit again last night! Love this place, the staff is great and always make me feel like family every time I go in! Food is awesome, I recommend the alligator tail or shrimp platter... though my boyfriend swears they have the best burgers in town! If you're looking for something to do, they have lots of live music and a couple nights of karaoke. Can't wait until my next visit! read more

It is a bar, so don't take your kids. But don't be intimidated by the fact that they have biker events there either. This is the only place for good Cajun food in the area. Excellent food and raw oysters are hard to come by in Joplin, MO. read more

The bar service is great and the outside area is fun but the food is not cajun or creole. It attempts to be but apparently the chef hasn't been to Louisiana or southeast Texas. I had crawfish and shrimp while the shrimp was just ok the crawfish was horrible. It was frozen from a bag crawfish that you get in the freezer section at the local grocery store. YUCK!!! And the owner is loud and obnoxious. We were there on karaoke night and he hogged the mic. He was very unprofessional sitting at the bar half drunk and never closing his mouth. The bartender was great and very attentive. The waitress was prompt in making sure we didn't wait long for drinks. read more

Calamari was good....after one hour and 45 minutes waiting on the entrees our food went to the wrong table....steer clear.....should have listened to the table beside us that got their food after an hour and 20 minutes!!! read more

The flamboyant sailfish on their website reeled me in but, like the fish, I was hung out to dry. Don't get me wrong--we like dives--not necessarily the smoky ones like Turtleheads but fun, friendly, engaging "we're glad you're here" ones with great bar service. Big minus: terrible beer selection. Big plus: lots of good blues on the soundtrack before the karaoke started. Big minus: poor service. Big plus: decent food. Go only if you're starved for raw oysters. Don't go if you hate smoke and terrible cocktail and bar selections. read more

Look it is a dive bar. Don't expect the ritz, go for all you can eat crab and arrive early on Wednesday. Crab is amazing. You will not be disappointed. The service will be slow but it is dirt cheap. What do you expect for pennies on the dollar read more

Went there for lunch and was told it was a biker crowd. We beat the lunch rush and wasn't hardly anyone there so that was nice. Our waitress did a fantastic job! She is what made this place 4 stars for me. She did a great job of just making sure everything was taken care of. The food was pretty good too. I got the shrimp boil with side of jalapeno hushpuppies and some potato wedges that I didn't care for too much. Wife got a po-boy with some salmon soup and it was really good as well. The place wreaked of cigarette smoke on the inside but we were lucky and had a nice enough day to sit outside of the smoke chamber. It's a place I'd go for lunch, not for supper simply because of the crowd. Beer drinkers and hell-raisers. read more

We showed up as they opened on a Friday evening with a party of 8-10 (and a few more on the way) for drinks and dinner. And the welcome we got from the owner was a rude "well Thank you for making reservations". They acted put out for the business and the waitress was matter of fact- to the point and on the verge of rude the entire time. The next waitress that took over was super nice though. The food was good. But if you're not a regular- don't count on a friendly attitude . Also the owner/manager thought it was okay to do sex talk with one of the ladies in our party as she was headed to the bathroom. Customer service seriously needs help. read more

its a bar with a great atmosphere, and usually has good live music, it can get a bit loud when there is a band, but hey, its a live band. the food is great cajan style, and you wont find much like it in the area. they have 2 selections of oysters that are shucked fresh and are actually pretty good for the mid west. be prepared to spend a benjamin if your planning on drinking and eating a descent fill. the food is a little pricing but you wont be disapointed. service can be slow on the weekend but in their deffence it can get pretty crowded. alot of people i know complain about the owner being rude, i think he is just mis understood :) and its his bar, be sure to try the alligator, and oysters shots, and leave a message on the chalk board in the bathrooms. if you have a large group you will need to reserve some tables, and fill them when you say you are going to, or they will fill the seats for you. read more

First I thought when I walked in was how interesting the seating was! I loved the menu choices as well, so much to choose from. Their daily specials are awesome. Gator tail wasn't chewy. It was delicious! This place makes me want to perfect my hush puppies as well. I do wish they had a drink menu but the food absolutely makes up for that! read more

Turtleheads has it's own iPhone app - seriously! Good live bands (usually 60s & 70s rock) on Friday & Saturday night. Decent to great Cajun food, and lots of beer. Indoor bar, seating area and pool tables. Also outdoor bar, seating area, and stage. Outdoor has sliding roof, so is in use all year. Dancing allowed next to stage, but is not a real dance floor. Funky beach and biker bar decor. Bras hang from ceiling. Bikers hang out here, but so does everyone else. But not for young kids. Inside can get smokey, but outside is usually ok except when roof is closed in cold weather. $2 cover when live bands play. A unique and fun dive. read more

DO NOT EAT HERE!!!! I wasn't going to write this until people who ate the crab legs started getting sick and throwing up last night! Where do I start! I am a business owner and have never written a negative review as I understand the repercussions of this in our society today, however the experience we had last night was literally out of this world wrong on so many levels! We arrived with a large group after being referred by a local. This was our first vacation for over a year and we wanted to celebrate! This night was literally ruined by this establishment! The owner who kept calling himself the head bus boy told us upon entry that we would have an hour wait to sit a group as large as ours which was 8 people, I asked if we split up could we be sat. He cleared off two tables and sat us immediately next to each other, never saying anything about how short staffed they were how slow the kitchen was or anything about him deciding to close the kitchen in an hour due to the band in the back. After 15 minutes we were greeted and put drink orders in . 20 minutes later got our drinks then placed our orders. During our following 1.5 hour wait for food we witnessed two groups of people sat around us get up and leave after 30 minutes of no one even coming to their table to say hello. Our waitress kept throwing jokes out about wanting to just cry but never alluded to a problem with the kitchen. After the apps came out after 1.5 hrs the owner came over rudely commenting to us as if he was intoxicated and irritated that we were upset that it was taking so long for the food. By this time everyone in the group was hangry and over his nasty comments. The food finally started trickling in about 15 minutes later. Overcooked rubbery steaks like when you microwave them! Cold fries, cold Gumbo, cold crab legs with a foul smell, over seasoned dishes that were literally inedible, then the best treat of the evening, the owner coming back over and literally started mocking us! Saying if the food is cold fine, he'll take it away and we won't have to pay for it but not offering anything else to replace it! It was unreal how he was treating us like we had done something to wrong him in some way! No joke another 30 minutes goes by and not a soul to check in on us, 3 separate times we went to the bar to ask for our tickets so we could leave. We were all standing up by this time demanding our tickets so we could just leave! Not one thing had been discounted not one apology for the horrific service all we got was the owner taunting us with his group of drunk friends at the bar as we walked out! To the owner/head bus boy: you are a lucky man! If 3 grown men hadn't held my husband back you would have gotten the beating of your lifetime for being such a nasty person! We will never be back and our over two hour experience sucked worse than your terrible food! You were the rudest person we have ever dealt with and sending your girlfriend over to our table at the end of the night was pathetic! We will be reporting you to the local health department and better business bureau! read more

The staff is very friendly and they have a great happy hour...just ignore the urge to punch the smart ass bar owner in the nose and you will be good to go. read more

stopped in unannounced with about 20 of my biker friends,, on a weekend, middle of the afternoon. It was crowded and chaotic,, but the staff did a good job accomadating everyone. The food was excellent,, prices fair. I will be stopping in again. read more

This menu looks good but I should not have expected to get good Cajun food in the Midwest. The prices for what I ordered were somewhat high. I ordered the Louisiana Pot Roast, first it was too much juice and not enough substance. The flavor was good and a little spicy as expected. It has a shrimp creole flavor needed more rice. It had a mussel in it that was added pleasure. It comes with French bread to sop it up hence why so much juice. read more

Had alligator and it was good but really liked the smoked oysters

Middle aged and older crowd. Perfect place any day of the week to have a drink and visit. Sit at the bar or enjoy restaurant seating for a great meal in a smoke free environment or open the doors to the enclosed patio for some music and dancing and smoke a cig. Supports local mc while maintaining a friendly safe atmosphere. Drink and food specials worth asking about. read more

Geat service and the best oysters I've found in the area. i've called and had someone tell me when the oysters were shipped in and that was wonderful. My hubby & I drive over from Mount Vernon just to get the oysters on the half shell - they're hard to find here and these are great for Southwest Missouri. I lived on the gulf coast, in Texas and in Florida for years, and these are the best we've found here. Remember that it is a bar and not a kiddie place, but for a great date with good eats...AWESOME!! read more

do NOT, I repeat, do NOT go to Turtleheads in Joplin! For years I have promoted this quaint little dive, but no more. Don't know what has happened, but the food has declined badly. Gator was overcooked, clams so overdone that you couldn't bite or chew through them. Raw oysters were beautiful, but gritty. Tried the grilled oysters, nice flavor but FULL of sand. Had to spit it out into my napkin and sent them back immediately. Perhaps the second time in my life I have had to send a dish back as completely inedible. THEN the owner charged us for them! Had the waitress (a delightful young lady named Autumn) send the owner over who immediately lit into me, saying they were the same oysters we had on the half shell (so?) and that he couldn't do anything with them now since we'd sent them back. Finally said he would discount them. Um, no. At the end he said he would take them off (gee, thanks) and then shook his finger at me saying, "but don't you ever do this again!!" What???? Not going to be a problem, buddy. I have never seen anything remotely like this in a professional establishment. It was still a $60.00 bill that I wasn't quibbling about. I don't feel anyone should pay for something inedible. Just wash the damn shells before shucking, idiot! read more