Urban Lobster Shack

Delivery was very fast… not impressed with the lobster roll, coleslaw or macaroni. Overall very bland, not worth the price. Lobster roll is filled with shell. Eww. Clam chowder is good though.

A man with an official looking badge knocked on the sliding plastic window of the food cart.
«You can’t be in front of this building,» he said. «It’s a fire lane.»
The woman, who was making my Connecticut-​style lobster rolled, paused to respond. «I parked here all last year and it was fine.»
«You have to move. It’s a tow and ticket.»
She pleaded for some more time, and the man eventually went away, satisfied that would soon be no truck. But who was this man? He wasn’t a policeman or a health inspector. He was, the woman told me, «a nobody who thinks he’s boss.» He likely was a MTA worker from a nearby building, having spent half a lifetime telling other people about regulations. In other words, he was an asshole.
It was a peak into the vagaries of running a mobile business. Everyone thinks they know better than you, and frequently those people have the power to do something.
Let me add my opinion to the mix — these people need to do nothing differently, expect maybe a sprinkle of Old Bay seasoning on top of the roll. If you are going to spend nearly $ 20 on lunch (included an order of the hand-​cut chips, which seems like a good idea) do it here. You’ll get plenty of lobster meat, prepared the way you choose, along with a nice roll and friendly service.
Anyone who wants to prevent this from happening can go stuff it.

I’m not sure why this page says closed… I haven’t seen the truck around, but the Urban Lobster Shack on wheels is still kicking it in FiDi. I tried their classic «Famous Lobster Roll» and was pretty impressed. Having lived in New England for over 4 years, you could say I know a thing or two about a good lobster roll. It may not be the best I’ve ever had, but it certainly is one of the better ones I’ve had here in NYC.
As much as I’m sad to say it, this roll blew Luke’s (a short walk away) out of the water! It’s $ 2 less than Luke’s, twice the size, and filled with way more lobster. The quality of the meat seemed better too, and it was much more flavorful. They put the perfect amount of mayo on it, but you have the option to have the roll without mayo and with butter and lemon instead if you prefer that version.
I think it’s fun that they give you some fun twists on the classic as options, like an Asian version, a Sriracha version, and even a Scampi version for example, but why mess with a good thing? I’ll stick with the classic!

I got lobster rolls from the truck on Murray and Greenwich (across from Whole Foods). Some months ago, I got it on a pretzel roll and it was delicious. Today I got the Chive one and the lobster was kind of tasteless. So I hope it’s good again next time i get it.

This place was legit. When I worked on wall a few years back, I would stop in to see the guy atleast once a month for the scampi roll. Sometimes even got some soup for free. $ 11 for a roll, chips, and a soda. Hands down better than Luke’s over priced garbage.
Went back today. Closed. It’s too bad. Happy I knew about this true hole in the wall place.

I went to their truck near the intersection of Greenwich St /​Murray St to get a lobster roll. Unfortunately, I don’t think the $ 13 was worth it. First of all, it’s served in an ordinary (read: small) hot dog bun. Other places have served it with different types of buns or at least a jumbo hot dog bun, for about the same cost. The pieces of meat were also rather small; the smaller the lobster, the more it tastes like (less expensive) crab.
Now, I was quite surprised that the truck accepted credit cards. The guy used an iPad app to swipe my card using an attached card reader and I signed with my finger on the iPad screen.

Finding a lobster truck in TriBeCa is a YES at 6pm in the evening on a beautiful day. Unfortunately, I had the famous lobster roll for the first time today and it was a huge disappointment. For $ 13, I’m so sad to have to throw it away. I love lobster and I love lobster rolls. This was the worst I’ve had EVER. It didnt seem fresh and it wasnt very tasty. Maybe it was the end of the day, so it wasn’t as fresh? Maybe I should try a different roll? Who knows… But it was not appetizing at all. Sorry urban lobster shack!

Is this place still open?

3 varied lobster rolls, corn salad, pepper soup… ick
the latter two went untouched. The lobster rolls were eaten but highly mediocre… we were hungry after a full day of moving.
it also took over 1.5 hours to get the order.
Never again.

Stopped by this legit hole in the wall for lunch today and I’ve gotta say it really wasn’t bad.
I decided to try it out with one of my co-​workers, we both got the lunch special lobster roll with a small chowder. She got the old bay roll which she said was really good (maybe a little more old bay would’ve been nice, but still tasty). And I got the garlic scampi, I didn’t like the chunks of minced garlic on top which I scooped off so next time I’d ask for it without but it was really flavorful. We both had the spicy crab and veg chowder, which was more like a manhattan or rhode island style chowder which is not my thing so I didn’t end up eating it but my co-​worker did and she said it was just ok and a tad on the salty side.
All in all we both agreed way more flavor than Luke’s and better bang for your buck with roll and soup for $ 15.
Probability of return: very likely

I ordered the Old Bay Lobster Roll. I thought that the roll was going to be all lobster meat but there were bits of celery mixed in with the lobster. It was interesting… I would spit out a few pieces every now and then (because I’m not really a celery fan) but the celery didn’t ruin the roll. However, the texture of the lobster was different; it was tough and chewy. Unlike Luke’s Lobster, it’s not just lobster claw meat and has less butter/​mayo but again the texture is just a bit tough.
When I read the reviews about how it was a hole in a wall… I didn’t quite believe it… I figured it would be a little bigger. But it literally is a hole in the wall. When I was on line only one person would step inside to order at the counter while the rest of the line was out the door. The guy there was really nice and he packed in a lot of the lobster meat into the roll.

Urban Lobster Shack is so hard to find downtown. The tiny sign doesn’t do the store justice because it is literally a hole in the wall! It’s like trying to play Where’s Waldo.
If you go for lunch… try their Scampi Roll.
Described on their menu as the following:
Chef’s Special New England Lobster Scampi Roll
Served on Garlic Bread and Drizzled with our homemade Scampi Sauce
Lobster Rolls in comparison to Luke’s Lobster seems to have less butter on it but also a couple of bucks cheaper.
Just be prepared to load up on some breath freshener if you have an afternoon meeting!

It’s a closet. Lower your expectations.
Lobster roll is light on mayo, heavier on claw than otherwise (a plus if you like the claw meat), in a lightly toasted hot dog bun. A sprinkling of celery, but otherwise it’s a straightforward meal.
Walk over and pick it up, save yourself 4 bucks. Comes with chips and a tiny bit of slaw. Good for 11 bucks, considering it’s FiDi

I love this place… Its an actual «hole-​in-​the-​wall».
Tasty lobster roll + cole slaw + oyster crackers = $ 11. For an extra $ 4, you can have shrimp or lobster bisque, or corn on the cob.
Important note: This is strictly Cash only, pickup and delivery. There are no seats.

Consider the Urban Lobster Shack (sorry for the DFW joke but I forgot to slip it in my review of Luke’s). It’s definitely cash only (they have a card machine but I guess they only use it for large group orders over the phone or website). So for $ 11 you get a lobster roll and a small cole slaw. It’s not a bad deal but the cole slaw is flavorless, the roll was not toasted and the lobster has a lot of celery and lacks large chunks of claw meat.
Again, only $ 11 but the meat isn’t exactly spilling out of the roll. The guy at the counter was really nice and put up with people making «helpful» suggestions about suspending fryers from the ceiling and such. Now that their credit card-​accepting compeitition has moved in not too far away, I probably won’t be back much.

For $ 11, I got a lobster roll and a TINY tin of cole slaw. I don’t know if it was worth $ 11. The lobster roll was okay — I’ve been spoiled and have had really great rolls before.
It wasn’t very filling and the roll was a little stale.
I’m going to try Luke’s Lobster roll and see if this is the ‘norm’ in the city.

A new addition to the Seamless Web list in the downtown area — I was so excited! I was out of the country during the Maine Lobster Festival, so I never properly got my lobster roll fix this summer. Well, I suppose that still remains the case, as Urban Lobster Shack only offers up a crude approximation to the real thing.
For $ 20, I was able to order a lobster roll, a side of clam chowder, and some oyster crackers. The roll was a hot dog bun sliced at the top, in the traditional way, and robustly stuffed with lobster salad. The flavor of the lobster really failed to come through though with all of the mayonnaise and incidental bites of crisp celery. This was unfortunate. The whole point is to highlight the protein with flavorful notes in the background. What was accomplished here was the reverse, with the lobster effectively disguised all together. The clam chowder was much worse by comparison. The clear over use of inexpensive oil is visible in the photo. It was even more evident in the taste, producing the strangest of aftertastes. In short, nothing about this meal took me back to my journeys to Maine or more largely, New England. Pass.

Based on a friend’s recommendation, we gave this place a third attempt, and they were finally open during their normal business hours.
The lobster roll was full of chunks of lobster claw meat, with tasty seasoning but a bit heavy on the mayo. Cole slaw was ok. New England Clam chowder was thick, creamy and full of potatos and clams, BUT! 3 out of 4 clams contained sand, and when I was almost done with my chowder, a piece of it just wouldn’t soften in my mouth, so I took it out and it was a piece of wire!

When I first heard of this place, I thought about Maine lobster rolls; large chunks of lobster coated in melted butter stuffed inside a warm, toasted bun.yummm. However, the lobster rolls at this place were different and the filling was actually a mayonnaise-​based lobster salad. The filling wasn’t too heavy or overly drenched in mayo, although I would have still preferred larger chunks of lobster. Regardless, the rolls were still pretty good.
I also tried some of their clam chowder and lobster bisque… I preferred the bisque, but thought both were ok. The textures of the soups were smooth and creamy, but they needed more seafood flavor. Anyways, their lunch specials include a roll, soup, a very small side of slaw, a small bag of chips and a bottle of water for $ 15.
On a final note, this place is really just a shack… there’s no place to sit or eat in or outside. This wouldn’t have been that big of an issue, however, it was 20 degrees F that day… Just make sure you have somewhere nice and warm to eat your food.

Urban Lobster Shack opened this past Monday. It’s an offshoot of Urban Lobster in the LES (
).
I got the lobster roll combo for $ 15 – a medium-​sized lobster roll, a cup of clam chowder, a bag of Cape Cod chips, a condiment-​sized container or coleslaw, oyster crackers and a bottle of water. The lobster roll was unimpressive but the roll tasted like butter. I have a soft spot for buttery things. The chowder was creamy with a decent sized chunks of clam, but nothing special. For 15 bucks, it’s a good deal, but don’t expect too much.
The shack is a doorfront (like storefront?) of a shop. It’s a walk up counter along the street, there’s definitely no seating or standing room. It doesn’t look like there’s enough space in the closet-​sized area behind the counter to do any more than put people’s orders in bags, so my theory is that all of the food is cooked and prepared at their LES location and brought down to the shack. It’s probably safe to assume that the food is on par with their (not so highly rated) LES location.
Oh well, one more barely tolerable place to add to the lunch rotation. I should brown bag it more often. It’d give 2 stars, they get a bonus for adding a new genre to lunch in the Wall Street area.