Got to sleep in a bit and enjoy a cup or two of Java with out the usual morning rush of packing lunch for my son and catching the bus at 6:47...needless to say, it was Labor Day and I was not going to do anything that I didn't want to do except enjoy my family and go get some good food!
Around noon we decided to avoid the tourist and venture over to Topsail and visit our old faithful Buddy's Crab Shack & Oyster Bar. Having gone there for many years I knew we would not be disappointed..it was going to be a good day indeed!
As we cross the bridge I had that old feeling come back of a very familiar place...Topsail reminds me of days growing up in Atlantic Beach and the Crystal Coast. Topsail just gives me that feeling of a "Locals Only" town and I love that. I can't wait to sit down in the open air atmosphere that Buddy's offers and enjoy a cold beer with my best friends...my husband & my son...of course my son had a sweet tea..no beer for little man..LOL!
We pick the table in the left hand corner of the out side bar so we can have a good view of the left over Irene swell that the line up was so eagerly waiting for. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, humidity low and the beach was trickled with enough but not to many sun worshipers. The barkeep comes over to us, hands us menus and we order our drinks. After a few minutes she returns with my Blue Moon, a sweet tea for the little man and a Miller Lite for my husband....all is good except he didn't order a Miller Lite but rather a Bud Lite...she was gone before he could even point out the mistake...whatever, a beer is a beer and it was cold.
A few minutes later another server comes over and takes our order...what happened to the bar keep? No big deal...it happens. A good waitstaff helps each other out and they were busy...nearly every table in the joint was full with shrimp peeling, oyster shucking and beer drinking patrons and that's a good thing! I proceed to order a dozen steamed oysters for my son (med please) and my husband got the Calamari. I myself had to have the Steam Bucket for 1...and I had no intentions of sharing...LOL! We order another round of beer and take in the scenery...did I mention it was a gorgeous day!
About 20 Min's later our food arrives from yet another server. Little man is so excited and can't wait to dig into his oysters and I am pretty stoked about the bucket set before me with Oysters, Shrimp, Crab Legs, New Potatoes & Corn on the cob....wait, where are my Clams? Excuse me...but my clams are missing? Our "third" server was glad to check on that and would be right back. Promptly she returns and tells me that they are out of clams and our "other" server told me that and they put extra shrimp and oysters as a replacement. Ok....well, I was never told that by the "other" server but that was fine...I'll take extra for the other..not a big deal...but I am thinking to myself...I was not told that. I just love it when some servers place blame on the customer for their lack of information to the guest...Clue #1: It's called 86...when the kitchen is out of a menu item the FIRST thing you do before taking an order is to inform the guest what they are not able to order...hello!
Anyway...I being a beach baby and raised around the ocean know a good oyster when I taste it. Being that its September and we are not yet in Oyster Season here I already knew that that oysters that we ordered are coming from the Gulf...big, very juicy and NO FLAVOR! Clue #2: Brine them!!! Kosher Salt...steam them in Salted Water...not that hard! Steam them until the Shell opens....let the Salt creep in...makes a HUGE difference! If you are going to over charge for oysters at least help them out with a little flavor. However, my plethora of shrimp were steamed to perfection along with my yummy sweet crab legs and the accompanying sides were just as tasty. My husbands calamari was...ok he said. That means he didn't like them...LOL. After 10 years of marriage I know his "food lingo"..and "ok" means....it's "ok"...LOL. I didn't sample...I was to busy helping little man open his "closed" oysters...and he knows how to crack open those guys...they were not cooked to preferred temp to say the least. All in all the food was "ok", but the atmosphere was AWESOME!!
To sum up our experience we had a great time. If you are looking for a cool place full of locals, good music on the juke box, cold beer, an amazing ocean breeze and good steamed shrimp Buddy's is your place!
Critics Advice ~
1.If you are a server there...please introduce yourself and let us know if we are going to be passed off.
2. If the kitchen is out of a menu item, inform the guest so we can make another choice..it happens.
3. Listen to your guest...when they order a beer make sure you bring them the beer that they ordered and hang around long enough for the them to point out the mistake...again, it happens.
Visit their website at
http://www.buddyscrabhouse.com/
...they have a lot of great links on there as well as hours for both locations and the menu.
They also have another location in Wrightsville Beach, NC at the foot of Johnny Mercers Pier...I have never eaten there but I will say I LOVE to sit at the open air bar, drink a few cold ones and watch the people pass by. The bartenders there are ALWAYS on point and it's always a friendly & welcoming place to sit and let your cares flow into the sea air.
Cheers!
Ratings
3.6 Forks out of 5 Forks
Atmosphere: 5 Forks
Service: 3 Forks
Menu: 4 Forks
Food: 3 Forks
Value: 3 Forks
