SJ Crawfish on Irving

[PegS]

So, yesterday we hit the newish "SJ Crawfish" in the Sunset, which is in the same building as Coco's used to be. Unlike Coco (and Red Crawfish in the Tenderloin), their hours are a blessed 11am - 11pm. The earlier opening hours make it much more convenient for this East Bayer.

I asked for my sauce mild 'plus,' which is definitely more mild than the old Coco's, but probably only slightly milder than the medium at Red Crawfish. It's flavorful, with a slight tingle, but mild enough for just about anyone other than those who can't eat spicy at all. The sauce tastes somewhat sweeter---more cinnamony--than the sauce at Red Crawfish. We ordered 4lb bags so, perhaps because of it, it was a tad difficult to get the crawfish properly bathed in the sauce. I ended up fishing crawfish from the bottom of the bag which helped. Bigger bags, allowing more sauce, would help too. We were quite pleased with the mix of medium and small, with the occasional jumbo. They were fresh and there were almost none that appeared to have expired before cooking. Also, they seemed better purged than the ones at Red Crawfish.

Still cash only, which is annoying, but at least on Irving there's the Wells Fargo and other banks close by.

When we were there, mid-afternoon, the place was empty. There was one guy working--the amiable owner--and I imagine if the place were busier he would have been slammed. He was an awfully nice guy, though, and between the quality of the crawfish and the dearth of crawfish locations compared to the South Bay, I hope he does well. I'd like to think if we went during dinner the place would be busier (and he'd have more waiters).

It seems to be pricier than Red Crawfish, but I don't know how it compares to Boiling Crab etc. For the 8lbs of crawfish, plus a pound of clams (about 10 littlenecks cooked in a lighter bath of the same sauce), 3 sausages and three corn we ended at $124 before tip.

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SJ Crawfish
2333 Irving St, San Francisco, CA 94122

Red Crawfish
611 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA

The Boiling Crab
1631 E Capitol Expy, San Jose, CA 95121