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Crabby Bill's Seafood Shack

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By JEFF KORBELIK / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Nov 02, 2007 - 12:14:07 am CDT

Finally, Lincoln has another seafood restaurant.

The Star City has been without one to rival Red Lobster since Charlie’s closed several years ago.

And, no, Long John Silvers doesn’t count.

Story Photo
Crabby Bill's Chef Perry Kudlacek shows off the restaurant's Tuna Tar Tar and Trout Almondine. (Eric Gregory)
Crabby Bill's Seafood Shack

803 Q St.

Atmosphere: Casual

Specialty: Seafood

Payment: Cash, major credit cards; no checks

Cost: Entrees, $12.95 to $38.95; sandwiches, $6.95 to $8.95

Hours: 4-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 4-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Phone: (402) 435-3888

Notes: On-street parking, takeout, alcohol





Food: 3 stars

Atmosphere: 3 stars

Service: 3 stars

Vegetarian friendly: 1 star

The Last Bite: Lincoln finally has another restaurant specializing in seafood, and it's a pretty good one. Crabby Bill's offers a variety of seafood entrees, including scallops, shrimp, lobster, crab and more.

Rating system: Excellent 4 stars; Good 3 stars; Fair or uneven 2 stars; Poor 1 star

Several fine restaurants have seafood on the menu, but none specialize in it.

“That was part of the thinking,” said Bill Whitley, who co-owns the new Crabby Bill’s Seafood Shack in the Haymarket.

“We’re filling a niche.”

Thank goodness. Lincoln diners can enjoy such seafood dishes as Chilean sea bass, Canadian walleye, King crab legs, bourbon glazed salmon and barbecued shrimp.

Crabby Bill’s opened Oct. 3 in Arturo’s location at Eighth and Q streets.

The restaurant is owned and operated by the people behind Vincenzo’s, the Haymarket restaurant boasting some of the best Italian cuisine in the city.

Owners are Whitley, Mike Frank, Mark Johnson and Steve Nagle, who’s been Vincenzo’s executive chef for 14 years. The chef is Perry Kudlacek, who comes to Bill’s by way of the Yankee Hill and Hillcrest country clubs.

The concept is Frank’s, whose father retired in the Florida Keys years ago and was active in bill fishing.

Frank spent a great deal of time with his father and grew fond of the fun, very casual old Florida crab shacks that are so popular in the the Keys and throughout South Florida.

“We’ve knocked around the idea in our heads for a couple of years now,” Whitley said.

And when the Arturo’s space became available …

“It seemed to be a great fit,” he said.

The owners kept Arturo’s layout the same, with booths along the east and west walls, tables down the middle and the bar in the back. It’s even using some of Arturo’s tables and chairs.

The decor reflects its seafood theme, with blue paint, a bunch of angling photos and a few giant fish mounted on the walls. It’s quite casual, right down to Jimmy Buffet crooning from the sound system.

The menu, in addition to seafood appetizers and entrees, features several non-seafood items such as a 12-ounce pork chop ($12.95), 8-ounce flat iron steak ($12.95), a grilled chicken sandwich ($6.95) and an 8-ounce cheeseburger ($6.95).

“If you come in with a group, there are some people who don’t care for seafood,” Whitley said. “We wanted to offer something for those people.”

Mainly, though, it’s about the seafood, which Crabby Bill’s is bringing in fresh every other day from a variety of vendors, including the Seattle Fish Company.

I took my best friend and his family out for a Sunday dinner and we came away impressed.

We started with some fried oysters ($6.95), served with a cocktail sauce.

For entrees, we tried the Chilean sea bass ($23.95) in a pineapple cream sauce, seared sea scallops topped with a Pernod butter sauce ($16.95), broiled shrimp in a garlic, butter and citrus sauce ($14.95) and the steamed shellfish pot, featuring mussels, shrimp, clams and crab in white wine, garlic and butter ($20.95).

Each entree comes with salad and choice of sailor spuds (au gratin-type potato), French or sweet potato fries.

All four entrees are must-tries, especially the extremely tender and juicy sea bass and scallops.

The shellfish pot, Whitley said, has been a customer favorite, as has been the fried seafood platter (shrimp, tilapia, soft-shelled crab and oysters, $16.95) and the barbecued shrimp ($14.95).

Crabby Bill’s did have a few things surprisingly missing from its menu. Among them, fish and chips, calamari and fried clams. Whitley said they are in the process of tinkering with the offerings.

The sides were disappointing. The fries were thinly cut and came out of the kitchen cold. And the sailor spuds were nothing to write home about as well. I also would have liked a clam chowder — New England and/or Manhattan — as a menu and side option.

The entrees, however, were exceptional. I’m quite pleased Lincoln has another restaurant specializing in seafood. You will be too.

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.


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L. Greg B. wrote on November 2, 2007 7:46 am:
" I've never been a seafood eater, but I guess I'll give it a try. I prefer steak and sausages. "
susan peterson wrote on November 2, 2007 8:56 am:
" I went to dinner at Crabby Bill's and was very disappointed. I had the Grouper and it was frozen fish that had defrosted into the sauce, which was frozen also, watering it down. The salad was douched in bad dressing. Typical of Lincoln restaurants. It tasted like frozen entree. I can't believe you could rate this anything but disappointing. In this day and age if you have a place that is seafood and charge fresh seafood prices you should serve fresh seafood with a made to order sauce. Why is it Omaha can have fabulous restaurant and Lincoln settles for less. "
Champion Golfer of the Year wrote on November 2, 2007 11:36 am:
" There's a reason the other seafood restaurant in town is known more affably as "Dead Lobster." Long John Silver's is a better value. So I'm sure Crabby Bill's can only be better than Dead Lobster. I'll try it and find out, that's for sure. I grew up on the NC shore so I'm sure it won't be five-star to me, and seafood certainly isn't the specialty of Nebraska. But if it's edible it'll be the best seafood restaurant in Lincoln. "
Stacey wrote on November 2, 2007 12:14 pm:
" My husband and I went to Crabby Bill's 2 days after it opened for our Anniversary. We love seafood and have been waiting for something to open since Charlie's closed(it was our favorite restaurant). Since it was our anniversary, we splurged and ordered the lobster. We were the first to have it! It was wonderful! Cooked to perfection. We got the sailor spuds as our side dish and that too, was awesome! My husband also tried 2 of the specialty drinks and said they were delicious. We were very impressed with Crabby Bills-it may become our new favorite! Thank you for finally giving Lincoln a 'real' seafood restaurant! "
The ratings were accurate wrote on November 2, 2007 2:38 pm:
" We went a week ago and enjoyed our meal. The seafood we had was cooked just right and tasted quite fresh. Our sides (salad and potato) could have a been a little better, but I'm sure they'll learn and change things a bit. It would have been nice to have a few more choices (different types of shrimp...like blackened). I'm sure we'll return. I feel sorry for those that had a bad experience. Maybe they took the name too seriously... "
AZ wrote on November 2, 2007 4:49 pm:
" This place sounds disappointing. Why is it that so many restaurants either overcook their fish or fry it? I like fried fish too--who doesn't?--but a fish restaurant should be able to conjure up some decent grilled/broiled fish. Lame. "
Been there, liked it. wrote on November 2, 2007 9:20 pm:
" It has quite a few "non-fried, perfectly cooked" entrees. "Lame" is critiquing a restaurant without even trying it. "
Jim Larson wrote on November 2, 2007 10:46 pm:
" While I do prefer fresh fish to frozen fish if both are in prime condition, frozen might be the best bet for seafood in Nebraska. We are a little landlocked. Frozen is less likely to be contain parasites. I can't wait to try this new seafood shop, I hope it's good. I also hope they don't serve anything unsustainable. "
JW wrote on November 6, 2007 12:59 pm:
" The people who are disapointed are the same people who are mad when they get a bad steak on the coast. "
Interesting.... wrote on November 9, 2007 5:22 am:
" Lincolnites have become far too used to "fried" foods. Red Lobster is NOT the "seafood" place it once was. To me it's simply an overpriced fast food place. To have some competition thrown at it may make things better. As for the fare at the new place. Perhaps a second chance should be given. Remember, it's a NEW restaurant and I am sure that they are working some "bugs" out. If you were unhappy with the food you should have mentioned it to the manager. I'm sure that things would have been done to make the meal a pleasureable experience. I'm sure I'll get down there one of these days. But I always like to give a new place a chance to get going before I start knocking the food. As for Long John Silvers???? This is NOT seafood, plain and simple. To bread it and throw it into a deep fat fryer is NOT the way to cook seafood. "
hehe wrote on November 16, 2007 8:03 am:
" How could the atmosphere get a ‘good’ rating? At prices around 20$ per entrée I expect a little interior design, a little lighting, a little ambiance. Not some hokey ‘spounge bob square pants’ décor. "
kay wrote on November 25, 2007 2:09 pm:
" I found their prices are way too high for the quality of the food and the service . My fries also were very thin and cold. "
Disappointed wrote on December 7, 2007 1:56 pm:
" This place is horrible, especially since it proclaims to specialize in fresh fish. If you want fresh fish flown in daily, try Lalzo's, who gets their seafood from absolutely fresh in Omaha. The sauces and the fish tasted like a child prepared them. How can a brewpub beat out a "specialty" restaurant. For a few dollars more, and a little drive, Bonefish in Regency Court in Omaha is amazing for fresh seafood. "
Sherry wrote on December 11, 2007 11:29 pm:
" Loved the yellowfine tuna, my husband had the BBQ shrimp and it was awesome. It's nice to have a seafood place in Lincoln again. "
beerorkid wrote on December 19, 2007 8:12 pm:
" vivited last night and enjoyed it. The have calamari which is really good and also now have fish and chips. "
P wrote on March 26, 2008 10:28 am:
" I think it would be absolutely wonderful if they carried Shrimp Po'Boys (sandwiches)! That's one of my favorites and it would make an excellent addition to the menu "
bktit wrote on June 11, 2008 1:51 pm:
" Not that great I think Red Lobster is better. Would like to see a place with live crab, stone crab claws. I had the sea bass and was O.K. I don't think we will ever get a truth crab shack in Lincoln. "

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