Shaking up seafood: Casual shellfish restaurants sweep Southwest Florida
Southwest Florida knows seafood. Broiled, steamed, fried — you name it, we’ve served it.
And now a new seafood trend is sweeping the area.
Several casual seafood restaurants have cropped up in recent months, many of them specializing in Cajun-inspired, shaken-in-a-bag seafood. These restaurants offer seafood boils where crawfish, shrimp, clams, crabs and other shellfish are purchased by weight, then steamed and served with potatoes and corn. Diners can customize their bags of seafood by adding flavored sauces such as garlic butter and lemon pepper.
The dishes come with bibs and gloves for messy, laid-back eating fun. Often, the eateries are owned by restaurateurs from Asian countries, though their menus reflect a distinctively Louisiana vibe.
“This is kind of a new concept,” said Lily Ren, the manager of Mr. and Mrs. Crab, which is opening in Cape Coral in 2019. “It’s a new styling of Louisiana seafood, and it has been growing in every city of the state.”
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Ren works for the Chen group, which is in the process of opening five Mr. and Mrs. Crab restaurants across Florida. Chen's stores meld Cajun and Szechuan flavors, while other outlets put Vietnamese and various other twists on their seafood boils.
These casual, shaken-in-a-bag concepts abound in the Orlando and Tampa areas, and at least five have opened across Lee County in the past few months. Here’s a look.
Shaking Crab
This is the first shaken-in-a-bag seafood restaurant for owner Yong “Tommy” Dong, a San Carlos Park resident who has also operated The Grand Buffet for more than 17 years in East Naples. Dong said Shaking Crab gives diners a chance to play with their food and get messy.
“Open the bag and eat it with your hands or it can be put in a bowl and eaten with utensils,” he said. “I love it because you have food and have fun.”
The “Get Your Hands Dirty” section of Shaking Crab's menu includes a pound or half-pound of more than 10 varieties of seafood served with corn and potatoes. Options range from crawfish or clams at $6 per half-pound, to a pound of king crab legs at $33. Other choices include blue crabs, snow crab legs, Dungeness crabs, green or black mussels, lobster tails and shrimp with heads on or off.
Diners also can choose the type of seasoning and heat level. Choices include Cajun, garlic butter, lemon pepper or all of the above. Spice levels include mild, medium, hot and extra hot.
More:In the Know: New Shaking Crab serves Cajun-style seafood in Bonita
Address: 25201 Chamber of Commerce Drive, Bonita Springs
Price range: $6-$33
Contact: 239-301-2176, shakingcrabfl.com
Trap House Krab
Trap House opened off Fowler Street in Fort Myers in August, next to the long-standing Ocean Seafood. Owner Jack Tokotaha has cooked in seafood restaurants for years, though this is the first restaurant of his own.
Tokotaha specializes in seafood platters — mostly steamed, plus a few fried options — and a homemade butter-garlic sauce that customers say is “out of this world.” He also offers a changing lunch special daily.
Trap House gets its blue crabs locally from the Caloosahatchee and the Everglades. The restaurant offers six tables for eat-in dining, plus carryout.
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Address: 2150 Fowler St., Fort Myers
Price range: $11-$25
Contact: 239-203-5364, facebook.com/traphousekrab239
J&C Crab
Open since July in Fort Myers, J&C offers Cajun seafood boils plus fried seafood baskets. The seafood boils are the largest part of its menu, and customers can select from a range of options such as blue crabs, shrimp, mussels and crawfish, plus combination platters.
Each seafood selection comes with corn on the cob and boiled potatoes and can be combined with a choice of seasonings — Cajun, garlic butter, lemon pepper or the juicy special, which is all of the seasonings together. Seafood choices are purchased by the pound or half pound at market price.
Address: 9321 Six Mile Cypress Drive, Fort Myers
Price range: $10-$32
Contact: 239-690-7088, jccrab.com
King Crab Cajun Seafood
King Crab offers seafood boil standbys including blue crabs, king crab legs, Dungeness crab legs, crawfish, clams and mussels. King sticks to the go-to seasoning options of Cajun, garlic butter and lemon pepper (or a combination of all three).
The menu also features fried seafood baskets, fried whole snapper, po’ boys, shrimp or fish tacos and garlic noodles with sausage, clams or shrimp. King Crab opened in July in the Crossroads Shopping Center in Lehigh.
Address: 5781 Lee Blvd., Lehigh Acres
Price range: $8-$32
Contact: 239-461-2600, kingcrabfl.com
Mr. and Mrs. Crab
Coming to the former Bob Evans space at Del Prado Boulevard and Veterans Parkway in Cape Coral in 2019, Mr. And Mrs. Crab specializes in fresh boiled seafood and flavored sauce combinations. The restaurant’s seafood is sold by weight. The seafood is mixed with a sauce and served in a steam bag, and customers eat with their hands with bibs, gloves, crackers and mallets provided.
The flavors at Mr. and Mrs. Crab combine Cajun inspiration with the heat of Chinese Szechuan spices. The menu also includes fried baskets, chicken wings, soups, salads and appetizers.
Address: 2414 Del Prado Blvd., Cape Coral
Price range: $11-$34
Contact: mrandmrscrabcapecoral.com
Staff writer Tim Aten contributed reporting. Artis Henderson is a freelance writer and author, her first book earned a New York Times Editors’ Choice; find her at artishenderson.com and on Twitter.