Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet
WESTMINSTER, Calif. — If you ever had a hankering to eat at the Boiling Crab, a seafood restaurant known up and down the California coast for its crawfish and Cajun-style cuisine, you’d have to come with a game plan and be prepared to wait. Above all else, you’d have to come in any color but white.
“We like making a mess so it’s fun coming here,” Neville Morgan, 23, of Downey said. “We went last week and decided we want to try to make it a weekly thing. It’s super laid-back and has a cool vibe.”
A closeup of a crawfish. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
The seafood restaurant, which came to popularity in 2004, brought the “down-home southern style” of Louisiana seafood boils to the West. The concept for the restaurant came from Sinh and Dada Nguyen, a husband-and-wife team behind the company’s success.
Sinh, 46, who has a background as a crabber in the Gulf of Mexico, came up with the recipe that is now the famous “whole shebang” sauce that consists of garlic, lemon pepper and Cajun seasonings.
“They have a love for seafood boils and always wanted to open up a place where their friends and family can come and eat, and drink an ice cold beer and hang out in a laid-back type of environment,” Winnie Vu, marketing manager for The Boiling Crab said.
Seafood is served in plastic bags to immerse the sauce and flavors.(Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
The restaurant — which has locations in Westminster, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, San Jose, Dallas, and Las Vegas – goes through 15,000 pounds of crawfish a week. Its first location, at 14241 Euclid St. in Garden Grove, Calif., started with just 11 tables. Today, the company has more than 15 restaurants and to-go locations with plans of opening up additional sites.
One of the distinguishing features of The Boiling Crab is the fact that customers are offered plastic bibs; utensils are nowhere to be found. Seafood is ordered by the pound, with options to add sausage, potatoes and corn. The food arrives steaming hot in a plastic bag, ready for consumption.
Customers enjoy their meal at The Boiling Crab. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
“It wasn’t so much an idea to provide bibs and paper on the table so much as it’s the norm down south,” Vu said. “Except in the south they would use newspaper and a napkin instead of bib to tuck into your shirt only. It’s pretty simple because it’s all about the food and eating with your hands.”
David Nguyen, the general manager for The Boiling Crab, said the management had no idea it would be this successful.
“We’ve always had copycats come and try to make a sale, but they don’t have that passion and knowledge for seafood that Dada and Sinh haves, so that’s what makes us different from the rest,” Nguyen said.
In the beginning, Dungeness and crawfish were the most popular items but as time went on, shrimp and crab legs became more popular. Without a doubt, most people order the whole shebang, and tailor the spice level to what they can handle. Customers can choose between four flavors: lemon pepper, rajun cajun, garlic garlic sauce, or the combo whole shebang.
While The Boiling Crab’s menu has just a few items to choose from, the customers appreciate the simplicity and directness of the restaurant.
Shrimp is one of the most popular items on The Boiling Crab’s menu. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
Pedro Cervantes, 34, of Santa Ana, who was in the middle of his feast, said, “The food is delicious. It’s really good. We always order the same thing every time.”
The “same thing” consists of three pounds of shrimp smothered in the whole shebang sauce, with a side of Cajun fries, sausage potatoes, corn, and also a dozen oysters.
“For this type of food, we only come here,” Cervantes said.
Cajun fries, crawfish with shrimp and dungeness crab are a few of the most popular items at The Boiling Crab.(Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
According to Nguyen, crawfish season runs from November to June and sometimes will last into July. The crawfish is flown in from Louisiana, but the restaurant also has farms in Sacramento to supply the need.
While the wait time can range anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours, most people don’t mind the wait. That’s because they know they will be in for a messy, at-ease meal when the hostess calls their name, and they get to walk in and get their bib.
“You don’t have to worry about being too proper. You just get in there and go at it,” Cervantes said. “And everyone is doing the same thing, so no one’s judging. It’s nice to have the freedom to just stuff your face.”
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