King's Crab Shack & Oyster Bar
Located on the true "main" street of downtown Winston-Salem, Fourth Street, King's Crab Shack & Oyster Bar is a fantastic home-away-from-home for the lubbers of beach cuisine and coastal atmosphere. Owned by Norb Cooper and top-chef Will Kingery, this is a wonderful eatery for those with an "aye" out for nautical food treasures.Offering traditional seafood fare, their specialties are oysters and crab. The oysters are prepared to your liking: raw, steamed, fried, and basically any way you can imagine; from half dozen to full pecks. They have stone crab, blue crab and king crab, even offering seasonal soft shell crab. If you're daring, you can try the Dreamy Steamy Bucket, full of crab legs, mussels, clams, scallops, peel-and-eat shrimp, and of course, oysters. You may even get a pearl, who knows. Not a fan of raw or steamed seafood? There are po'boys, oyster and shrimp; burgers, jerk-style or traditional; super salads; chicken (can you say BBQ?) or tuna sandwiches; and appetizers and deserts you will find to be quite delectable.
Equipped with "the longest bar in Winston," you get liquor, wine and beer with 14 taps to choose from and, of course, oyster shots. We HIGHLY recommend The Less Desirables shot, named after Tim (me) and the pop culture podcast (www.thelessdesirables.com) that he hosts. Stephanie found one of her favorite wines ever, the Cupcake Muscato at King's. Sparkling, sweet and served in a champagne flute. Tim had the Porter from Greenman Brewing in Asheville, NC.
They have a call-ahead program to put you "in line." The restaurant does get quite busy in the evenings, especially on the weekends. This is like putting your name, well... "in line." There is a seating area outside to mimic a patio and it is quite entertaining to sit out and watch the passersby. Sit inside and watch sports and other spectacles on 6 HD TV screens.
Reservations/Call Ahead
Not used
Ambiance/Appearance
There is an definite focus on the bar, but that's not a bad thing. The theme is "beach" and you get it in abundance, at least as close as you can get in Winston-Salem. It has a tendency to get crowded and the narrow breadth of the room makes things tight. When you order a lot of food, it's hard to sometimes fit it all on the tables you're allotted. That would be the only real complaint.
Chopsticks: 4
Service
Our server was Meredith. She was quite on top of things and our water glasses (as well as any libations we wanted) were never below 3/4 empty. She was helpful with the menu and always had a smile on her face. While all the servers seemed to be good at what they do, Meredith was a true joy to have serving us.
Chopsticks: 5
Appetizer
We enjoyed the Prince Edward Island Mussels in a creamy wine sauce. Stephanie loved them. The bruschetta-style bread with rosemary is wonderful to dip in the wine sauce. The wine is prevalent but not overpowering. The portion is more than most places' for an appetizer. You could eat them alone and it could be enough to fill you up. Tim thought they were great as well. It is recommended you share.
In addition we had a half dozen raw oysters. Tim eats his with horseradish, Tabasco, butter and lemon juice on saltine crackers. Stephanie likes hers with a few drops of lemon juice and saltines.
Chopsticks: 5 (for both apps)
Entree
Tim had the Dreamy Steamy Bucket (for one) with steamed potatoes. Tim: "To me, this is what King's is all about. You get a bit, and by bit, I mean a lot, of everything King's has to offer, from scallops and shrimp to oysters, mussels, clams and crab legs." It has something for anyone who wants to sample it all. All steamed to perfection and enough to fill one person up completely. There is a 2-person portion available as well. Delicious. Stephanie had the Oyster Po'boy with fries. Stephanie: "The oysters were really big which made it hard to keep together, but when has that been a problem with a sandwich? It wasn't too spicy, even with the hot sauce. If you like spicy you need to tell them to add more hot sauce. The fries were really crunchy." The bread was fresh and the lettuce was crisp. A delicious sandwich.
Chopsticks: 5
Dessert
Tim had pineapple cheesecake and Stephanie, the key lime pie. We both sampled each. The pineapple cheesecake was creamy and good, but we weren't exactly excited about it. The key lime pie, however, was amazing. Tangy and tart without being too much so. The crust was firm and not soggy as some deserts have the tendency to be. Our only complaint is it wasn't a big enough piece, but then again, when is it ever? The rating represents both desserts, although the key lime would probably get a 5.
Chopsticks: 4.5
Libations
Tim had a The Less Desirables Oyster Shot. It was made with tequila (although he recommends it with Peppar Vodka, usually), horseradish, old bay and pepper. It was a major treat.
Chopsticks: 5
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Recap:
Reservations: N/AAmbiance/Appearance: 4
Service: 5
Appetizer: 5
Entree: 5
Dessert: 4.5
Libations: 5
Overall
Chopsticks: 4.75
King's Crab Shack & Oyster Bar
239 West Fourth Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101
336-306-9567
www.kingscrabshack.com
Facebook - www.facebook.com/kingscrabshack
Twitter - www.twitter.com/kingscrabshack
Tim and Stephanie highly recommend King's Crab Shack, their Dreamy Steamy Bucket and The Less Desirables oyster shot!
