Pinchers Crab Shack has moved to Main Street at Lakewood Ranch from its Clark Road location. Does it live up to its full potential as a restaurant? I went to this new Pinchers location to find out.
Décor: Rating 5 out of 10
The décor has a Key West flavor with large (fake) fish, fishing and Key West signs, and little cute framed photos along the walls and near the booths. With the walls covered, it certainly had a lot to look at, yet it wasn’t overwhelming. There also were a good number of televisions from which to view sports games. I did not even mind that the tables were covered with what looked to be brown recycled paper when guests were seated, at least that way you know the table is clean.
However, there were a few décor flaws that fixed could have made Pinchers more appealing. Firstly, water was condensing on the ceiling and slowly dripping onto my table (and landed in my drink). Secondly, the space between the bar chairs and the high tables nearby was too small and inevitably I had to walk around the restaurant to exit because it was blocked even though there were not many people. Lastly, it was incredibly loud, suffering from the acoustic problem of solid floors and nothing on the ceiling breaking up the sound.
Menu: Rating 10 out of 10
The menu was impressively vast. It has a good selection of different fish, crab, and other sea foods. Wisely, they also offer non-seafood (mostly in the form of chicken) for non-seafood eaters. I especially enjoyed that they included a selection of seafood pastas and tacos on their menu which is somewhat atypical of seafood restaurants.
Food: Rating 7 out of 10
I did not taste a comprehensive number of items from the menu; however, I will mention the items that I did have and my opinions of those dishes.
Lump Crab Alfredo: It was a creamy, delicious, and incredibly heavy alfredo. It came with a choice of bowtie or angel hair pasta, I unwisely chose the angel hair and the pasta noodles broke under the weight of all the cream. It had too much rich sauce to the extent that it was almost a thick noddle soup. Nonetheless, I am still smacking my lips an hour later.
Shrimp 1-2-3: The shrimp 1-2-3 allows for personalization of your shrimp. It was delicious with only a little too much pepper for my taste.
Baked Beans: The baked beans side dish was boring and uninventive.
Garlic Mashed Potatoes: The garlic mashed potatoes side dish was delicious, but I think next time I will try something different.
Green Beans: The green beans were another snoozer, but at least they appeared to be fresh and not canned.
Boatload of Mussels: They were not lying when they wrote a Boatload of Mussels, it truly is a lot and could very well be an entrée (it was listed under appetizers). My suggestion would be to either have this as a meal or split it between 4 or 5 people as an appetizer.
Service: 6 out of 10
The service was nothing special to comment on. My waitress was pleasant, but not overly warm, and did not go above and beyond the call of duty. There was a mistake in our order that was corrected in a reasonable amount of time, she checked on my regularly, and food arrived quickly. However, she did not offer to move me when I pointed out that the ceiling was dripping onto the table.
Overall: 7 out of 10
Overall Pinchers Crab Shack was a good experience and I would go back, although I doubt it will ever be one of my favorite restaurants. As it has just recently opened, I expect that some elements that will improve with time. Furthermore, unless there are some unforeseen circumstances, I imagine it will do well and retain a steady number of customers.
You can visit the Pinchers Crab Shack website at http://www.pincherscrabshack.com/
