Great Crabs for Free!

Joe’s Crab Shack opens its doors in Palisades Mall, 100 lucky customers win free crabs

By Michael Riconda

After months of anticipation, Joe’s Crab Shack finally opened on April 16 in its newest location in the Palisades Center Mall in West Nyack.

Long lines wrapping around the restaurant and the adjacent area in front of AMC Theater gathered in anticipation of receiving free food from Joe’s for a year, a prize for the first 100 customers. The mood was cheerful and filled with excitement as music played and the new wait staff put on a show with synchronized dancing. After the ribbon was cut and customers began to walk in, the staff also offered a baseball-style line of high fives.

“As you can see, there’s a lot of energy here,” Joe’s Crab Shack Director of Operations Glenn Bucello explained. “We’re jumping out of our skin to open up in West Nyack. We’re very excited.”

According to Bucello, the location was chosen because as the first location in Rockland County, it was anticipated to be an excellent draw for locals. Before Joe’s opened in the Palisades Center, the closest location was in Clifton, New Jersey.

Joe’s Crab Shack was founded in 1991 in Houston, Texas and has expanded nationally since then. Its menu is based on Gulf Coast crab shacks specializing in southern-style seafood including steam pots and buckets of crab, shrimp and fish platters, and non-seafood items such as chicken and steak. Joe’s has made a major move in the Northeastern market in the past year and previously was considered a southern-centric brand.

  free crabs, joe’s crab shack, Palisades Mall