Recently I visited Joe’s Crab Shack on International Drive, one of five in the Orlando area, for a Lunch and Learn about some of their great offerings. I was fortunate enough to experience this great luncheon with a handful of others to taste many of the menu items. Joe’s Crab Shack was founded in 1991 in Houston and now has over a hundred locations in more than 30 states.Their menu features great seafood from Alaska, New England and the Gulf Coast.
The lunch was hosted by Chef George, who had come in from Texas just for this event. As he introduced each item samples were brought out for us to try. First we tried the Gulf shrimp first, both hot and cold, served with Old Bay seasoning, ready to peel. These were amazing! I loved these. I had a slight preference for them chilled as opposed to warm, but both were great.
Before we tasted the food, Chef George made sure he let us know the best way to approach each type of seafood. For instance, I learned that snow crab is sweet and mild and their crab legs can be opened using a zipper. The also sweet king crab can also be opened using the zipper, but the more mild Dungeness crab legs need to use a cracker. We each had an opportunity to try the different kinds of crab that are the stars of most of the Steampots on the menu. Different crab appetizers and entrees make up half of the entire menu at Joe’s. Don’t worry, even if seafood isn’t your thing, they have plenty of items like steak, pasta, chicken and burgers as well as salads for the vegetarians.
The food was all incredible, and the luncheon was very informative. I have never been to Joe’s Crab Shack before, but have always been a huge fan of seafood, and I even learned some new things. For instance, a 1 1/4 lb. lobster only is about 90 calories. The kids’ menu was inspired by Chef George’s son and is color coded to make picking different options fun for the kids. Fun fact, one person’s job is just to shuck corn all day. Joe’s sells between 1 and 1.5 million crab legs each year. Crab legs are very low in calories and have the good kind of cholesterol.
After having tried a good portion of the menu items, we came to the consensus that the favorite was the Samuel Adams Steampot, which has snow crab, a pound of clams, lobster claws and smoked sausage that have all been steamed in Sam Adams. This was the most delicious thing that I tried hands down! Everything was fabulous, but the flavors complemented each other so well and the Sam Adams just married them all together perfectly. To finish up, we sampled some of the new drinks on the menu and then had the delectable Homemade Berry Cobbler for dessert.
I learned a lot about the variety of menu items Joe’s Crab Shack has to offer. The food and service were awesome and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend any and all of what I tried to anyone who enjoys seafood. I cannot wait to go back to Joe’s sometime soon and highly encourage you to go visit your nearest Joe’s Crab Shack soon. They even have a great playground area for kids and tons of outdoor seating and sometimes offer live entertainment. With lots of seating inside and out, Joe’s Crab Shack is a great venue for parties of all kinds and sizes. Check out Joe’s on your next visit to the Orlando area or find your nearest Joe’s here. Thank you to Joe’s for hosting such a great event and I look forward to visiting again soon!
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