Two Degrees Of Separation

Spent the early part of the evening at Joe's Crab Shack. "Joe's" is a fairly popular national chain specializing in (what else?) crab, served in a weather-worn beach shack kinda motif.

I've never been there, and a work buddy suggested we check the place out to celebrate my expanding abilities to feed myself. He'd never been there,either. And as a small-town Midwestern jock who still indulges in typical, hearty-style eating habits, he was rather moved by my plight, took it to heart, and was waiting... waiting... for this day to party a bit and just celebrate life for a while.


We started off with a round of Landsharks, on tap. Not a great beer, it's basically Anheuser-Busch's knock off of Corona: marketed as a summer-time-at-the-beach, quench your thirst, light bodied lager. Much like Corona in many ways, but without that skunk piss smell and after taste. I've never liked Corona. But I like Landshark when served in it's proper context. Add a slice of lime, better still.
It was a perfect fit: a mild, smooth taste; slightly sweet with little noticeable hoppiness. It didn't overpower the subtle flavors of the crab and shrimp, and complimented rather well.

Appetizers: Crab Stuffed Mushrooms were mushrooms, filled with crab and topped with jack cheese. Creamy and cheesy, these were yum.

The Calamari, on the other hand, sucked ass. Worst. Ever.
Calamari, done proper, is suppose to be lightly breaded, crisp and chewy. These were like beer-battered, or something. Crunchy. Crunchy is not the same as crispy. The batter over powered the calamari so strongly that all I could taste was the thick,crunchy stuff. The calamari itself, for all intents and purposes, may as well not have been there at all. That is, if it was actually there. I couldn't tell, and I'm not convinced that it was. I should have sent it back. Next time.

Another round of Landsharks...
leads to another...

I ordered the Joe's Classic Steam Pot: a cluster each of Snow and Dungeness Crabs, half dozen large shrimp, smoked sausage, cob corn, spuds... all steamed together with garlic and Old Bay seasoning. Tasty. The crab was meaty and tender. And everything else was cooked just right.
Not a lot of food. But at around $22 for a good crab dinner, I left satisfied that I got my money's worth. A full belly, but not painfully so.

Overall, a satisfying and entertaining dining experience. We took our two-man party out on the patio. (In Orange County, late November, we can do this.)
We talked a little football, and bagged on Tiger Woods getting beat on by his old lady(nyah,nyah).

Oh, and the separation:
One of these jovial fellas was a student of Lovie's back in the early 80's, when he was coaching linebackers at the University of Tulsa.