If you’re a Las Vegas local, I’m sure you’ve heard about HOT N’ JUICY CRAWFISH located at the Chinatown area. If you haven’t heard about it yet, not allergic to seafood, a shellfish lover just like me, and ready to get DOWN AND DIRTY, then put on your party dress (Well, you don’t really have to, to be honest. Ordinary clothes will do as long as you’re covered lol), don’t wait another minute and check, this place, out!!!
The Hot N’ Juicy Crawfish’s popularity is its crawfish (the name, duh!), yet it offers other seafood faves, such as king crabs, oysters, squids, shrimps, to name a few. What makes it unique from other places is how they make their sauces. They have various seasonings to choose from: garlic-butter, juicy Cajun, lemon pepper, or the hot n juicy special, which is a combination of all three. Personally, the special is my favorite. I just love the garlic taste of it mixed with its spiciness and juiciness that I love to lick through my fingers as I eat. Yummooo!!!
Okay, when I said down and dirty, don’t think of anything nasty or dirty-dirty. I’ll explain by picturing how it is to eat there. When you get there, ask for a table (you may have to wait for a while since it’s a first-come-first-serve policy, so no reservations). Once seated at a plastic-covered table, you are given a plastic bib that you tie on your neck, then you order your drinks, what you want (specialty crawfish, shrimp, corn, sausage, etc…no fish though), choose the seasoning (the ones I mentioned above), and specify its spiciness (mild, medium, spicy, or extra spicy). When the server comes back, your order will be in a transparent plastic bag, with no utensils or plates, but just a roll of paper towel for cleaning your hands. That’s what I meant about getting down and dirty because you’ll have to eat with your hands! You don’t worry about the mess you make because all of that adds with its informal, feel-at-home, ambiance. For other people, they choose to ask for plastic gloves; yet, for me, I will dig through that bag with my two bare (and clean) hands. It’s definitely not a place for first dates or dinners with in-laws, but why not if everyone is aware of what they’re getting—well in this case, eating—into. Lol!
The food is delish and at a very reasonable price. Just watch how much you order, though, for it adds up in the end. On my first visit, I ordered the specialty crawfish that is steamed perfectly; yet, my favorite is their shrimp, seasoned with their hot n’ spicy special, level of spiciness, mild. I ordered the shrimp with spicy the last time I was there, just, you know, to try it, but man, did it burn my mouth! For someone like me who’s into spicy food and fairly handled ‘spicy,’ I wondered how extra spicy would be. That’ll probably put me to tears and get me water intoxicated for drinking too much (lol!), but yeah, if you can handle their extra spicy then go right ahead! Whatever that can make all of us happy, right? I love ordering oysters, too, but since the oil spill, I cut down on that and just stayed with my shrimp, and a few add-ons of corn and sausage and beer and my bill was just $38 bucks, and that was for two people already. Not bad huh?
The service was pretty good, too. The place is always packed and the wait for the food once seated is acceptable. It’s just that not being able to reserve is a bummer, but understandably, for a business as such, it’s a loss to keep tables empty just for reservation purposes. So there it is, an addition to Vegas’ Hot N’ Juicy spots, serving us every day, Mondays thru Fridays from 12pm to 10pm, and weekends until 11pm.
Hot N’ Juicy Crawfish is located at 4810 Spring Mountain Road Las Vegas, NV 89102-8783, telephone number (702) 891-8889.
