Angry Crab Shack owner Daniel Sevilla says he wants to "to put [his] restaurants in the people's backyards."
That's why, over the past few months, he's been paying attention to where the people who flock to his restaurants in Mesa and Phoenix come from. At both restaurants — Angry Crab Shack in Mesa and Angry Crab Shack and BBQ in Phoenix — customers sometimes face waits of an hour or more, Sevilla says.
To change that, he's planning to open at least three additional Angry Crab locations this year.
The first of the upcoming restaurants will be located in the South Phoenix suburb of Ahwatukee, specifically at 3820 East Ray Road in Phoenix. Sevilla says this third restaurant should be open within the next four weeks.
He estimates the Goodyear location will open about two months after Ahwatukee, followed by the Peoria restaurant about two months after that.
Like the Phoenix restaurant, which opened in fall 2014, the Ahwatukee location will serve both seafood by the pound and a menu of barbecued meat. The original Mesa location does not serve barbecue, and Sevilla says neither will the restaurants in Peoria and Goodyear.
Sevilla also hopes to secure a location for a restaurant in east Mesa. That restaurant would open before the end of 2015.
"Then we're going to sit back next year and work on tightening up everything," he says.
With the recent explosion of seafood restaurants in the Valley it only makes sense that a well-established local brand like Angry Crab, which has been open in Mesa for years, would want to expand. The restaurant specializes in traditional seafood boils, and serves crab, shrimp, crawfish, and more by the pound in plastic bags. Customers can choose a seasoning and heat level for their seafood, don plastic bibs during the meal, and use metal buckets to discard shells.
For more information about Angry Crab Shack check out the restaurant's website and Facebook page.
Follow Chow Bella on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.