CrawDaddy’s

NO LONGER CRAWDADDY’S!!! i have no idea how many times i’ve come here looking for decent crawfish, and every time i came, it was closed. well, it was open this time when i came, however, it was no longer crawdaddy’s — it is now «SOJU TOWN.» it advertises «midnight phở,» and i think drinks or some crap. i don’t know. i’m skeptical. i definitely want to go see how the phở will fare here. so sad, crawdaddy’s existed less than a year =(

my family and I have been going to Crawdaddy’s since it opened. I am from Louisiana and I believe their food is pretty close to real cajun food. Plus, they get their shrimp and crawfish from Louisiana, not overseas.
I recommend trying the dessert.
Also, I told them I liked my okra spicy and they added spices to my order. The service has always been fast and I have never ordered anything that wasn“t good.

I meant to write a review sooner. I greatly regret not having done so, but it’s better late than never.
I order the shrimp and the crawfish (of course). I like the idea that I can order a side of extra sauce (I prefer the combination of spicy cajun, lemon pepper, and garlic butter). They have a wide selection to order from. I’ve also had the calamari, the oysters, french fries, and for dessert the beignets (which is very popular).
In my most recent visit, they’ve added a karaōke system and a couple pool tables :)

I went Saturday night with a group of friends — at first we were a litle more than surprised with the atmosphere. Once we sat down, we got passed that. We noticed there was only one waiter however, it seems that the table behind us was either owners or family of the establishment.
Our food took a long time to get to the table. It was a little busy however since most of the food is fried or boiled, you would think it would be quick but they may only have one cook in the back.
Here’s what we all ordered and if you don’t mind the lack of service then you will enjoy the food:
Fish/​Chips — it was superb, they use Swai which is not fatty or fishy like catfish.
Fried Okra — it was yummy — no slime!
Popcorn Crawfish — it was tasty
and the Beignets (probably spelled wrong) was pretty good.
Overall, the food made up for the areas they lacked in. I would encourage the owner to make sure they have enough staff especially on a weekend night and me and my group of friends love to eat but we especially love good service and we’re very generous when we receive awesome service…

This place is the messiest place I have ever eaten, but in a good way, unless you enjoy wearing the color white.
The prerequisite bib that you wear will only superficially shield you from the plastic bags of succulent crustaceans that you will pull apart in the most primitive way possible.
It’s very good, not for the faint of heart, and kind of an ethnic thing (for those of you expecting Joe’s Crab Shack [which appears to be the case in a lot of these reviews])

Well after my less than glowing review below coupled with a recommendation for another outfit which I think knocks the socks off of Crawdaddy’s you’d think I would have stayed away from the place. As fate would have it Crawdaddy’s found me. One of the divisions in my office decided to have a crawfish boil and to provide food for the event they chose Crawdaddy’s. So I seized the opportunity to give it another shot on someone else’s nickel.
Well with the prompt service aspect of my first review removed I could concentrate 100% on the food. Again, it’s gross. The crawfish are just not good. They are bland as can be and in this particular instance some of them were white. Unilocal I saw albino crawfish.
So if you’re entertaining the idea of having a significant amount of crawfish catered in, avoid this place like the plague. You will get a boat load of gross crawfish some of which will be white. I don’t think it would be the crowd pleaser you are going for.
The four star rating on this place baffles me.

RIDICULOUSLY slow service… shrimp that’s not deveined and the bread that the Po boy was served on was stale…
The jumbo was pretty good —- very spicy but good.
I wanted to like this place, I really really did… don’t know that I’ll be back.

The dining environment of Crawdaddy’s has a lot of potential: Wide bench and booth seating and a separate area with 2 pool tables and a few video games. And despite the fact that they are sandwiched between a korean bbq joint and a korean barber shop in a hard to see nook of a restaurant saturated area, they boldly market a saturday night after hours event for 18 and up patrons, featuring a dj and discounted beers.
However, restaurants are about food and if your aim is to rise out of the shadow of the neighboring Crab Hut as the go-​to cajun joint in the area, then you better bring your «A» game to the kitchen. I ordered the Shrimp Gumbo for lunch ($ 7.95) with the Beignets for dessert ($ 5.95) with the suggested Chickory Coffee ($ 2.50) to go with it. The Gumbo didn’t have the spice drenched flavor that I was expecting (even for SoCal standards) and the portion was super small. The Beignets, on the other hand, was a fairly large portion for 1 person (6 pieces) coated liberally with powdered sugar. I tried this dessert since other reviewers said it was good. eh, it was ok but nothing special. The Chickory Coffee tasted like is was filtered through a bag filled with old vietnam veteran pubes.
I know that this joint (along with it’s competitor, Crab Hut) specializes in the boils (which i didn’t try.) Having said that, the pseudo-​sports bar ambience of Crawdaddy’s lends itself better to a nice group dining/​drinking experience however, if you came to eat… i recommend going down the street to Crab Hut.

I’m rating this place first on fun factor and then second on flavor.
1. This place is fun. I mean, what’s not fun about peel and eat shrimp and crawdads! Mind you it is messy — so that’s all you need to be prepared about. The boils get dropped on the paper topped table for all to share «family style».
2. Yum! everyone needs to experience crawdads. They’re like tiny bits of heaven!
Been here twice now, once by myself and on Friday I brought 5 of the office crew — some of whom have only seen a crawdad on Bill Dance Outdoors as bait. We had so much fun! We ate 5# of shrimp and crawdad boil, 1# of corn on the cob and ½# of sasage and it cost $ 98 with the tip — so not too bad at all.

It’s not the best gulf coast cuisine but it works for me. The jambalaya was a little overcooked, was missing the proper flavor, and needed stewed tomatoes and the gumbo needs way less rice but I am not in New Orleans, I am in San Diego. Aside from having to cook it myself I’ll take what I can get. Compared to other places claiming to be Cajun etc. this one is good so I am a happy camper.
The beignets weren’t half bad either.
We ordered carry out and I didn’t go in so I can’t comment on the décor but we’ll be back because the BF loves Hoegaarden and I am dying for a decent fried oyster po boy.
Looking forward to also trying Bud’s.

The first time i tried to go here, they were out of Craw fish — unfortunately that’s what we were craving seeing that we went to CrawDaddy’s??? Lol but that’s ok, it happens and I’m willing to forgive and forget ;)
We were regulars at Crab Hut up until our last visit — which killed it for us and we will NEVER go to Crab Hut again (check out my review for them too).
It was Father’s Day and we wanted to show my dad how we get down and dirty with our food. He’s really into that kind of thing so we were really disappointed with Crab Hut. We remembered CrawDaddy’s across the street so we all took a walk there (parking is hell anywhere on Convoy during dinner time). CrawDaddy’s really saved us! Their craw fish was yummy — the seasoning (full house) was perfect! Not too strong, not too bland and i loved how buttery it was :) My mom had the dungenous crab and I’ve never seen her finish the whole thing like she did! She thought it was delicious. Needless to say, my dad had a great time and so did we. I really appreciate how they don’t just toss the bag full of craw fish and sauce in front of you — they actually put the bag in a metal tin/​basket thingy which makes it a bit less messy!
Every time we’ve been — it’s been pretty quiet there. I think it looks empty because of how big the venue is. The décor is adorable — i really love the little balcony thingy going on LOL. I just think with a little more advertising etc, they’ll do great. Without advertising though I’m not too sure. Their location is really terrible — you can barely spot them from the street! Hopefully they’ll get more exposure soon.
We will definitely be returning.
:)

It’s no Bud’s but «this dawg’ll hunt»! Yes, Bud’s is sorely missed but just to let ya’ll know it’s openin back up in Tierra Santa. Don’t know when. Oh… sorry this is a review for Crawdaddies.
Small place but the food is actually good. Clean, great service. Well… we were the only people there, it better be clean and we were the only people to service.
They had great German beer, Hoegaarden (haha! Hoe Garden!). Weird and outta left field in a cajun joint, but hey, good none the less. I had the Étouffée and corn bread. The Étouffée was excellent, the corn bread not too bad either. I think its insta-​cornbread in a box though, it aint dirty. You haven’t had «Cown» Bread til you had it from the Dirty Dirty Sowth! Haha! It’ll do considering the rarity of good cajun places here in Daygo. The Jumbalaya is pretty good too.
This place is something different especially when your trying to decide where to go and eat on Convoy. Everyone going to eat here generally has the same conversation. «What do you wanna eat?», «Well… we have four choices: Asian, Mexican (Super Sergios), Yogurt, and Boba.»

This place is nasty.
Dennis you should really read
before you write a review on your own place. «this place is going to blow up?» … it already blows.
The okra and catfish were good. The crab. foul.
The texture of the blue crab was actually kind of liquid. This means that the crab has been dead for a really long time and has decomposed. Note to crawdaddys … dont serve rotten food of any kind. its kind of gross. Also, the last time I was in VA I went to a crab shack right on the James River. I ordered blues, the order was 8 crab. The order at crawdaddy’s was 2. What am I supposed to do with 2 blues? That is like 2 shrimp for dinner.
Also, to all restaurants serving dunganess crab. CLEAN THE CRAB. Crack the top off and wash the guts of the crab out in the back. Then season the crab. If you want to serve it with the shell back on fine. I am not sure what pouring sauce on the crab shell is all about. I am not going to eat the shell.

If only I could give this place 10 stars!!!
What more can I say, GREAT FOOD and TOP NOTCH service. Get in, order, get served in NO TIME, leave Happy/​Stuffed/​Smelling like Louisiana… this place is the best thing to hit San Diego!
A lot of other reviewers mention how the seating is «dead in there»… try going on a saturday night, or during monday night football!
Keep in mind folks, this is a rather new establishment… enjoy the quick service while we can… this place is going to blow up!!!

Started with the fried okra which I loved! It wasn’t greasy at all and was a generous portion. We also had the crawfish in the spicy cajun sauce which was really really salty. But from what I hear that’s authentic for cajun food. I might have to have them water it down or try a different sauce next time.

Roll up your sleeves, get ready to dive into some delicious matrimony of spice+ seafood. For their boiled entrees, I had the steaming hot crawfish & large crab legs (must be eaten quickly before they get cold) which was an adventure in man handling away.
For those who aren’t too fond of seafood or can’t get their fingernails dirty, their menu offers rice dishes such as gumbo or jambalya, po’ boy sandwiches.
Finished off our night with a favorite late night snack of begniets. Biting into that warm, sweet powdery goodness brought back my fond memories of the late nights in the French Quarters.
While you’re waiting for your food, sit back & relax to good old mellow jazz music playing in the background.

Yes, it’s very interesting to find this Louisiana cuisine restaurant smack in the middle Convoy.
CrawDaddy’s has only been open for a month, which may explain all the vacant tables. Don’t be decieved, the food is excellent especially the Boils. LIVE crawfish straight from Louisiana, cooked in any combo of spices in any level of spiciness. The waiter told us they are the only place in the area that can get crawfish live from Louisiana.
It’s a great place to bring the gang, order a few pounds (cost weighed by the market price) of crawfish (or crab or shrimp). Paper table cloths and bibs make it easy to get down and dirty.
Great atmosphere, décor, and service. Jazz music in the background helps get you in the mood! I just hope their business picks up a little bit (but not too much — I don’t want to have to fight for a table!)

I have to admit, I was very surprised to see this place in the middle of Asia-​ville USA. But after reading a few reviews here on Unilocal we decided to give it a try.
We went last night about 7-​ish and it was empty. Just like one of these other reviewers said… not a good sign, right? And then there was an asian dude serving us. Now I don’t know about you but when I think Louisiana I think bayou, mardi gras, old cajun men speaking broken english… the last thing I expected was to be served by an asian dude at a cajun restaurant!!! That’s like having mexicans working in the kitchen @ a chinese restaurant! (Oh wait, I’ve actually seen that before.) But we were pleasantly surprised by the quick & friendly service and the GREAT food. Now, I’ve never been to the south so I don’t know first hand what a real shrimp/​crawfish boil is like but we really liked the food here. We ordered a pound of the shrimp, fried okra, & a catfish po’ boy sandwich. All the food was really, really good. And the beer… Hoegaarden. One word… BOMBDIGGITY!
So if you haven’t figured it out yet, I like this place so go check it out!

I have been missing my cajun fix ever since Bud’s closed down, so I thought I’d try this for lunch today. I brought a couple of friends with me so that we could try a bunch of stuff.
I don’t know what was going on but it was dead in there. No one in there but us. That would normally scare me off right away, but the place is new, right? The menu was not extensive — just your basic cajun food staples — po’boys, gumbo, jambalaya, ettoufee and catfish.
We decided on a sampler that had wings and fried catfish, crawfish, and calamari. I ordered the ettoufee and my friends ordered the catfish and jambalaya. It seemed like it took forever to get our food and when it came out, we got our main entrees before the sampler. Come on guys, get the timing right. But it was worth the wait. The sampler came with a bunch of different dipping sauces — the remoulade was top notch. The batter was light and spiced well and the seafood was perfect (not overcooked). As far as the entrees are concerned, they also met our approval. I had ordered my ettoufee medium spicy and they got that right. They give you a choice of what meat to put in it, so I chose crawfish and sausage. Both were flavorful and complemented the ettoufee well. Though it seemed like the sauce was not the traditional brown roux, it was more like the jambalaya sauce.
Overall, not a bad spot. I’ll give it a couple more tries to see if things improve. (I should have ordered some beignets to go… my bad.) Oh and they share a parking lot with the all you can eat Korean place, so try to avoid the busy lunch crowd or you may end up having to hang out to wait for a spot.
updated ¹⁄₁₀: back already and have bumped them up a star for getting the beignets and fried okra right. They still need to work on their timing though.

Great food! I went there for lunch and had a catfish sandwich and fries.
Everything was good: Food, service, ambiance and price. Check it out if you like Cajun food in Clairemont /​Kearney Mesa area.