i'm pretty sure this place has existed for ages, because i went there about 14 years ago to have dinner. (according to its website, it's been there for over 25 years haha).
they have live seafood swimming around in tanks for your viewing pleasure, and there's the opportunity to sit either inside (generally an hour wait during lunch time) or outside, right on the ocean.
look at the crabs! they're ginormous (:
and it's even better when they're cooked, hehe!
between the 7 of us, we ordered one steamed local crab ($15.95), a crab sandwich ($10.95), crab cakes ($13.95), a pound of steamed mussels ($12.95), one clam chowder ($4.50), a caesar salad ($3.00), and some asian snacks that we had brought along for the road (we had one person allergic to seafood and 6 seafood lovers.. sad!).
here's the steamed crab:
it was super fresh. i can't even emphasise that enough. the meat was sweet and juicy, and you could totally tell it was taken right out of the ocean and cooked for you. YUM!
the orders came with onion rings, which i thought were nice but a bit too oily (especially with my crab cakes!)
i was only able to finish one crab cake because it was kind of greasy..
looks rather pretty though, doesn't it?
it DID taste quite good..it was just too oily for my taste. the outside was really crispy though - i'm the type of person who prefers the softer, meatier crab cakes rather than these crispy ones (i like them for crab eggs benedict though!).
the steamed mussels were really delicious and not salty at all!
it's meals like these that make me miss living by an ocean the second i'm away from it. (i remember ordering mussels at Bubba Gumps at Navy Pier in Chicago.. definitely not the same experience!).
overall, if you're walking the wharf and need a bite to eat, this is a nice place where you can get really fresh seafood. a bit on the pricier side, but it's worth it. the crab meat = heavenly. i'll have to wait until i finish schooling before i can get myself some more of this stuff (:
Santa Barbara Shellfish Company
230 Stearns Wharf
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
