dragged to Barking Crab, what's not awful?

[shellicopter]

So another post about what to get at a subpar restaurant...anything not too pricey and not too terrible to tide me over with my beer while going solely for social purposes?

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The Barking Crab
88 Sleeper Street, Boston, MA 02210

[ScubaSteve]

the only thing i find not awful about the BC is when i'm there early on a hot summer's night when it's not too crowded and having some shrimps, crab legs and a few PBRs while a reggae band plays. anything over than that and the place sucks.

oh, it's also a better time when Dave Andleman is not there.

[ipsofatso]

Steamers, bottled beer - sanitary, safe and hard to F*&$ up.

[MC Slim JB]

Bottled beer I'll buy: the draft always tastes of dirty tap lines. But steamers? That seems iffier to me.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[StriperGuy]

Yah, I wouldn't risk the steamers myself.

[yumyum]

You should steer clear of the crabs too.

[MC Slim JB]

Dinner somewhere else first, followed by "I had a late lunch." That place is vile.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[purple bot]

Ditto.

[Spike]

LOL. I'll have to remember the "I had a late lunch" trick.

Ditto bottled drinks only...seafood is a waste of money there unless you like overcooked horrible tasting cardboard :-P

[shellicopter]

Thanks guys, this is more or less what I was expecting to hear...looking at the menu, a chicken sandwich and fries is only $2 more than the onion rings, do you think that might be edible or not worth the $2?

[Bob Dobalina]

You are asking the wrong crowd here - this place is an oft-beaten dead horse to chowhounds.

You might be better off looking for suggestions here - http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-barking-crab-boston

Some recent reviews are remarkably upbeat. Maybe all of this...http://bostonist.com/2008/03/27/barki...... is a thing of the past...

[Wannabfoode]

maybe the artichoke and crab dip with chips. its frozen crab and canned artichokes, but its hard to mess up; actually its probably a prebought mix

[shellicopter]

gross, yeah i'm snobby when it comes to food but was trying to put on a good front for my non-snobby friends...the crab dip sounds terrible, thanks for all the advice!

[Mike5966]

What did you end up getting? How was it?

[shellicopter]

I ended up getting a couple tall boys of Narragansett and nibbling some table apps of fried clams and squid...they were okay but definitely not great...some people got oyster shooter which was an oyster in the shell with a side "shot" of vodka mixed with tobasco...they didn't have shot glasses so all shots, wine and draft beer came in plastic cups. Apparently the draft beer tasted a bit funky. We were mostly just chilling and drinking so our waiter kind of left us alone, I think I'd call the service slow but we were in no rush. I ended up mooching some of my boyfriend's fish sandwich which was weird...definitely frozen, definitely not worth it, fries were nothing special either...tried some crab cake which was very bready and flavorful but not crabby whatsoever. Also there was some sort of manager who was walking around with a 10 lb lobster (on the menu for $185) and bringing it to tables for people to take pics of...pretty weird. The bill ended up being huge, the food is definitely overpriced and clearly not particularly good. I enjoyed the summery and cheerful soundtrack, the relaxed atmosphere and I'd imagine when its nicer out it would be nice to be near the water, but I think I've had my fill of the Crab for a lifetime.

[StriperGuy]

Bottled beer.

[jjbourgeois]

Exactly what I was going to say.

[shellicopter]

okay, bottled beer, onion rings, are the sandwiches or oysters safe?

[Delhiwala]

No.

[pemma]

The steamers are fine. I've had a fish sandwhich there and it was OK.

[catsmeow]

I've actually enjoyed the steamers too.

[Delhiwala]

Order the onion rings - which is the only good thing on the menu.

[harryharry]

I was going to mention those too....