Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Hooked On Crab in Eastlake

“That’s why we give gloves. People should be messy.”

Da boys (from left) Daniel, Mike, Kelly, Ben
Da boys (from left) Daniel, Mike, Kelly, Ben

We came here for fish, but not this sort of fish.

Place

Hooked On Crab

872 Eastlake Parkway, #510, Chula Vista

Hank brought his rod to this totally cute little pond surrounded by houses. The lake that gives Eastlake its name, he says. But what he’s just heard ain’t so great: you can’t actually go and fish there, unless you’re a resident living around the pond, and have a resident’s membership card. And even then, it’s mandatory catch and release. And, rubbing salt in the wound: Hank says his friend spotted a huge, smug-looking catfish looking up at him from the bottom.

Hank’s skin-blackened salmon

So while we’re out here, we’re doing the next-best thing: retreating to this fish place Hank had noticed: Hooked On Crab. It’s one of the many eateries in this cute Euro-village-type mall, Village Walk at Eastlake. “Mabuhay,” says a sign on one of the double doors. “Welcome,” says the door beside it.

“So we know they’re pitching to Filipino customers,” says Hank. “Filipinos probably eat more seafood than anybody.”

We head into a big space filled with planky wooden tables, and plenty of stuffed mega fishes swimming through the air, a long counter bobbing with colored glass ball net buoys, and artifacts such as ships’ wheels strewn around the place. I see people eating by hand, except they’re all wearing plastic throwaway gloves. They’re tearing at crab claws, slurping oysters, sliding cheese-topped baked scallops into their maws, leaning back, taking giant breaths, then lunging in again.

Langoustine-lobster po’ boy

Only thing is, when you decide you’re gonna get hooked on crab, you’d better look at the prices. Mamma mia! The crab combos start at $45.99 and rocket up to $112.69.

“No way, dude,” I say.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Hank hesitates, keeps reading. “Way!” he says finally. “See? Monday Special: One pound of snow crab, $17.99. Mondays only. Today! Split that, nine bucks each.”

“Like, crab, and nothing but crab, for lunch?” I say. I know I’d like crab, but too much of a good thing?

“Alright... hey! Lunch specials!”

And he points to a separate page in a plastic pocket.

Seafood pasta is only $8.99 for a plate. Vegetable pasta is $7.99. Shrimp garlic noodle goes for $8.99, and hey, a half sandwich combo with cajun fries is $9.99. And you have a choice with this: a half po’ boy stuffed with langoustine lobster or shrimp, plus you get a small cup of clam chowder or a Caesar kale salad. Boy. This looks like the one.

Oysters- Six shucks for six bucks

Except, our server Romelyn — “my father’s name is Romeo, my mom’s Caroline” — comes by to the table next door where four guys are sitting. She’s carrying a plate of baked scallops, another of chicken wings, and then a plate of garlic-smelling pasta with every kind of seafood peaking through, like a kind of paella, but with noodles.

“What’s that?” I ask Romelyn.

“Seafood pasta,” she says.

“Eight-ninety-nine,” says Hank.

So forget the crab. Forget the lobsters. Now we’re having the half-lobster langoustine po’ boy, and the seafood pasta.

“We’re splitting this, right?” says Hank.

“Absolutely.”

“OK. I want the salmon too. See?”

He’s pointing to the blackboard above the bar. A 7-ounce chunk of skin-blackened salmon with veggies and red potatoes goes for $13.99.

Once we get eating, I know I have to be on my best game: Henry’s a fast eater. The one chunk of his salmon that I get to is totally delicious, specially with the house sauce of a cheese-tomato fondue.

Romelyn

But the real stuff of this place is in all the shellfish and crabs. The pasta tastes of pesto, and the calamari, the scallops, the shrimp, the mussels — plus the toasted bread — make for one sexy combination. It has that “from the sea” background taste, but nicely garlicky and subtle. And at $8.99, a really good deal.

Now I bite into the half po’ boy stuffed with langoustine lobster (And don’t even ask about how lobster and langoustine are related. All I know is, “langostinos” often come from the deeps off Chile, and restaurants often use them as cheaper stand-ins for lobster). Whatever, this is one delicious li’l sandwich, bolstered by the chowder that helps it all go down smoothly. Bread, too: it’s crispy-toasted but feathery delicate. Usually, I like my breads more robust and grainy, but this is perfect for helping to palliate the langoustine.

“Louisiana-Style seafood,” says this sign. Me, I’m looking at a table a mother and her grown daughters have just abandoned. It is a royal mess. “But that’s how it is supposed to be,” says Romelyn. “Like in the crab combos, you get everything from giant claws to crack open, king crab, snow crab, plus clams, shrimp, mussels and crawfish. One combo has a pound of each. You also get corn, potato, sausage or meatball, and our special sauce with Cajun spices. That’s why we give gloves. People should be messy.”

Scallops, $2 each

We’re a couple of hours too early, but they have a happy hour, too: apart from the usual fries/Brussels sprouts deals, they have a pound of clams for $6.99. Incredible. Or a pound of shrimp for $11.99. Comes with that house sauce, of course, at whatever spicy level you want.

Whew. Back out in the wintry sun. I like it here. This “mall” is more like a piazza, with plenty of eateries and tons of sauntering space. Have a feeling that, come warm weather, we’ll be lazily lunching on langoustines outside under these trees. The developers and the East Lakers they’ve brought along with them have created a nice community feel. I can see Hooked on Crab is a place to bring your business buddies for a big-time treat, but it’s good to see they still have deals to entice the rest of us in.

  • The Place: Hooked On Crab, 872 Eastlake Parkway, #510, Chula Vista, 619-737-9117
  • Hours: 11 am - 10 pm daily
  • Prices: 1 pound of clams, $6.99 (Happy Hour price); grilled street corn, $3.50 (HH); all-day snow crab, $17.99/lb, Mondays only; seafood pasta, $8.99 (lunchtimes only, Monday-Thursday 11 am-3 pm), $15.99 (dinner price); baked scallops, $11.49; 1/2 sandwich combo w/cajun fries (langoustine lobster or shrimp plus clam chowder or salad), $9.99; baked mussels, $9.19; vegetable pasta, $7.99; shrimp garlic noodles, $8.99; Hooked On Crab family combo deals, from $45.99 to $112.69
  • Bus: 707
  • Nearest Bus Stop: Miller Drive and Eastlake Parkway

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Elevated ice crystals lead to solar halos, Cottonwoods still showing their tawny foliage

New moon brings high tides this weekend
Next Article

La Clochette brings croissants—and cassoulet—to Mission Valley

Whatever's going on with this bakery business, Civita Park residents get a decent meal
Da boys (from left) Daniel, Mike, Kelly, Ben
Da boys (from left) Daniel, Mike, Kelly, Ben

We came here for fish, but not this sort of fish.

Place

Hooked On Crab

872 Eastlake Parkway, #510, Chula Vista

Hank brought his rod to this totally cute little pond surrounded by houses. The lake that gives Eastlake its name, he says. But what he’s just heard ain’t so great: you can’t actually go and fish there, unless you’re a resident living around the pond, and have a resident’s membership card. And even then, it’s mandatory catch and release. And, rubbing salt in the wound: Hank says his friend spotted a huge, smug-looking catfish looking up at him from the bottom.

Hank’s skin-blackened salmon

So while we’re out here, we’re doing the next-best thing: retreating to this fish place Hank had noticed: Hooked On Crab. It’s one of the many eateries in this cute Euro-village-type mall, Village Walk at Eastlake. “Mabuhay,” says a sign on one of the double doors. “Welcome,” says the door beside it.

“So we know they’re pitching to Filipino customers,” says Hank. “Filipinos probably eat more seafood than anybody.”

We head into a big space filled with planky wooden tables, and plenty of stuffed mega fishes swimming through the air, a long counter bobbing with colored glass ball net buoys, and artifacts such as ships’ wheels strewn around the place. I see people eating by hand, except they’re all wearing plastic throwaway gloves. They’re tearing at crab claws, slurping oysters, sliding cheese-topped baked scallops into their maws, leaning back, taking giant breaths, then lunging in again.

Langoustine-lobster po’ boy

Only thing is, when you decide you’re gonna get hooked on crab, you’d better look at the prices. Mamma mia! The crab combos start at $45.99 and rocket up to $112.69.

“No way, dude,” I say.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Hank hesitates, keeps reading. “Way!” he says finally. “See? Monday Special: One pound of snow crab, $17.99. Mondays only. Today! Split that, nine bucks each.”

“Like, crab, and nothing but crab, for lunch?” I say. I know I’d like crab, but too much of a good thing?

“Alright... hey! Lunch specials!”

And he points to a separate page in a plastic pocket.

Seafood pasta is only $8.99 for a plate. Vegetable pasta is $7.99. Shrimp garlic noodle goes for $8.99, and hey, a half sandwich combo with cajun fries is $9.99. And you have a choice with this: a half po’ boy stuffed with langoustine lobster or shrimp, plus you get a small cup of clam chowder or a Caesar kale salad. Boy. This looks like the one.

Oysters- Six shucks for six bucks

Except, our server Romelyn — “my father’s name is Romeo, my mom’s Caroline” — comes by to the table next door where four guys are sitting. She’s carrying a plate of baked scallops, another of chicken wings, and then a plate of garlic-smelling pasta with every kind of seafood peaking through, like a kind of paella, but with noodles.

“What’s that?” I ask Romelyn.

“Seafood pasta,” she says.

“Eight-ninety-nine,” says Hank.

So forget the crab. Forget the lobsters. Now we’re having the half-lobster langoustine po’ boy, and the seafood pasta.

“We’re splitting this, right?” says Hank.

“Absolutely.”

“OK. I want the salmon too. See?”

He’s pointing to the blackboard above the bar. A 7-ounce chunk of skin-blackened salmon with veggies and red potatoes goes for $13.99.

Once we get eating, I know I have to be on my best game: Henry’s a fast eater. The one chunk of his salmon that I get to is totally delicious, specially with the house sauce of a cheese-tomato fondue.

Romelyn

But the real stuff of this place is in all the shellfish and crabs. The pasta tastes of pesto, and the calamari, the scallops, the shrimp, the mussels — plus the toasted bread — make for one sexy combination. It has that “from the sea” background taste, but nicely garlicky and subtle. And at $8.99, a really good deal.

Now I bite into the half po’ boy stuffed with langoustine lobster (And don’t even ask about how lobster and langoustine are related. All I know is, “langostinos” often come from the deeps off Chile, and restaurants often use them as cheaper stand-ins for lobster). Whatever, this is one delicious li’l sandwich, bolstered by the chowder that helps it all go down smoothly. Bread, too: it’s crispy-toasted but feathery delicate. Usually, I like my breads more robust and grainy, but this is perfect for helping to palliate the langoustine.

“Louisiana-Style seafood,” says this sign. Me, I’m looking at a table a mother and her grown daughters have just abandoned. It is a royal mess. “But that’s how it is supposed to be,” says Romelyn. “Like in the crab combos, you get everything from giant claws to crack open, king crab, snow crab, plus clams, shrimp, mussels and crawfish. One combo has a pound of each. You also get corn, potato, sausage or meatball, and our special sauce with Cajun spices. That’s why we give gloves. People should be messy.”

Scallops, $2 each

We’re a couple of hours too early, but they have a happy hour, too: apart from the usual fries/Brussels sprouts deals, they have a pound of clams for $6.99. Incredible. Or a pound of shrimp for $11.99. Comes with that house sauce, of course, at whatever spicy level you want.

Whew. Back out in the wintry sun. I like it here. This “mall” is more like a piazza, with plenty of eateries and tons of sauntering space. Have a feeling that, come warm weather, we’ll be lazily lunching on langoustines outside under these trees. The developers and the East Lakers they’ve brought along with them have created a nice community feel. I can see Hooked on Crab is a place to bring your business buddies for a big-time treat, but it’s good to see they still have deals to entice the rest of us in.

  • The Place: Hooked On Crab, 872 Eastlake Parkway, #510, Chula Vista, 619-737-9117
  • Hours: 11 am - 10 pm daily
  • Prices: 1 pound of clams, $6.99 (Happy Hour price); grilled street corn, $3.50 (HH); all-day snow crab, $17.99/lb, Mondays only; seafood pasta, $8.99 (lunchtimes only, Monday-Thursday 11 am-3 pm), $15.99 (dinner price); baked scallops, $11.49; 1/2 sandwich combo w/cajun fries (langoustine lobster or shrimp plus clam chowder or salad), $9.99; baked mussels, $9.19; vegetable pasta, $7.99; shrimp garlic noodles, $8.99; Hooked On Crab family combo deals, from $45.99 to $112.69
  • Bus: 707
  • Nearest Bus Stop: Miller Drive and Eastlake Parkway
Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

For nutty pies at Pizza by Aromi in La Mesa

Sicilian cousins add to the Italian goodness they dish out around Lake Murray
Next Article

Elevated ice crystals lead to solar halos, Cottonwoods still showing their tawny foliage

New moon brings high tides this weekend
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader