# Are shrimp cocktail and crab claws still commonly served as appetizers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196 "2019-12-21T20:46:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/21 "2019-12-22T01:30:55Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Appetizers in general have changed being much larger than they used to be, often with notes ‘enough to share’ - and often are a substitute for a full meal, sometimes for 2 or more people (speaking mainly fo nachos on that last part). I think that has something to do with it, shrimp cocktails just don’t fit that image. Aren’t appetizers typically portions enough to share? I mean, in most restaurants I’ve been in the last 20 years, they have been. Typically one orders a couple appetizers “for the table.” If I go out with four, we may order 1-2 appetizers to share. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/22 "2019-12-22T01:40:15Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > … > I do see canned crab in the fish section for $30-$40 a can, but that is picked over shrimp, not claws. > … Canned crab is picked over shrimp? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/23 "2019-12-22T02:15:11Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Aren’t appetizers typically portions enough to share? I mean, in most restaurants I’ve been in the last 20 years, they have been. Typically one orders a couple appetizers “for the table.” If I go out with four, we may order 1-2 appetizers to share. Not that I recall, well perhaps up to 20 years ago they were, but maybe 30 years ago I do remember them as smaller portions. Not that one can’t share them but then they were more of a taste then a appetizer and I recall getting a few server’s warning’s about that when I suggested sharing . ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/24 "2019-12-22T02:27:36Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Aren’t appetizers typically portions enough to share? I mean, in most restaurants I’ve been in the last 20 years, they have been. Typically one orders a couple appetizers “for the table.” If I go out with four, we may order 1-2 appetizers to share. Not at fancy restaurants. Each person orders a starter, or maybe no one does. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/25 "2019-12-22T02:28:54Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Not at fancy restaurants. Each person orders a starter, or maybe no one does. You’re correct. Not at upscale restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/26 "2019-12-22T02:36:04Z")
Growing up, my mom would “treat” us to those little shrimp cocktails that came in fancy glass containers. A google search comes up with the brand name Sau-Sea Shrimp Cocktails; apparently they come in a plastic tub nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/27 "2019-12-22T02:39:10Z")
Around here, the most common appetizers are deep fried cheese curds. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/28 "2019-12-22T02:54:10Z")
Neither shrimp nor crabs are harvested near Boston. It’s easy to get shrimp in Boston because it’s cheap and widely available, but it’s not local, it’s frozen stuff from somewhere else. You don’t usually see crab in Boston. What you see in Boston is lobster, clams, oysters, mussels, and assorted fin fish. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/29 "2019-12-22T04:22:46Z")
In NYC, shrimp cocktail is still available at dinosaur restaurants, especially Italian ones, which are my favorites. A couple weeks back I had a lovely dinner at Gene’s, on West 11th Street in Greenwich Village, which is celebrating their 100th anniversary. They have a $14.95 shrimp cocktail on the menu, but I opted for baked clams, another dinosaur appetizer. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/30 "2019-12-22T05:40:24Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Canned crab is picked over shrimp? I made an error, I am so so sorry. The canned crab is picked over CRAB. Not shrimp. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/31 "2019-12-22T06:21:38Z")
Just looked at the local steakhouse’s menu. Yep, shrimp cocktail is an appetizer. My local sports bar, and two or three other places I haunt, do not have shrimp cocktail on the menu. ---
**Author:** ![Saturn\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Saturn\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/32 "2019-12-22T06:36:42Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > What say you dopers? Do you often see any seafood (pun intended) as an appetizer? You realize this question is different from the one in the title, right? I’ve always seen a seafood option from the choice of appetizers. I can’t imagine a menu that doesn’t offer that, unless it’s vegan I guess. As for the question in the title, pretty much every (good?) steakhouse I’ve been to in the USA offered shrimp cocktail, and almost always jumbo at that. They may have not had crab claws per se, but they’ve always had some kind of crab or lobster-based appetizer as well whether in the form of fried cakes or lump meat. If you’re going to be in Boston and are interested in trying some good local seafood, may I suggest [Atlantic Fish Co](https://www.atlanticfish.com/) in the Back Bay area. They have an assorted seafood platter where you can try both the crab meat and chilled shrimps. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/33 "2019-12-22T12:46:39Z")
**[Moderating]** **Qadgop** and **Two Many Cats** , I have no idea what that’s about, but whatever it is, it stops here. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/34 "2019-12-22T13:00:24Z")
> [@Saturn\_Dreams](#): > > You realize this question is different from the one in the title, right? I’ve always seen a seafood option from the choice of appetizers. I can’t imagine a menu that doesn’t offer that, unless it’s vegan I guess. > > As for the question in the title, pretty much every (good?) steakhouse I’ve been to in the USA offered shrimp cocktail, and almost always jumbo at that. They may have not had crab claws per se, but they’ve always had some kind of crab or lobster-based appetizer as well whether in the form of fried cakes or lump meat. > > If you’re going to be in Boston and are interested in trying some good local seafood, may I suggest [Atlantic Fish Co](https://www.atlanticfish.com/) in the Back Bay area. They have an assorted seafood platter where you can try both the crab meat and chilled shrimps. But the shrimp won’t be local: > **[New England shrimp won’t be available at all this year - The Boston Globe](https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/11/25/new-england-shrimp-won-available-all-this-year/M20aSh5dD6kU1ycmLhDcuM/story.html)** > > A small amount of New England shrimp has been available to the public despite a fishing shutdown in recent years, but that will not be the case this winter. I can’t find a good reference for crab, because “Boston crab” is the name of both a wrestling move and a sex position. But there’s not much crab harvested locally in Boston, either. Whereas the lobster, scallops, and clams on that platter will likely be local. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/35 "2019-12-22T14:45:39Z")
One of the standard choices on cruises I have been on. The choice of appetizer rotated, but shrimp cocktail was always an option. Brian ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/36 "2019-12-22T15:40:35Z")
The restaurants we go to have shrimp cocktail, but we tend to share an order of mussels as an appetizer instead. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/37 "2019-12-22T16:59:22Z")
\ Holy shitballs, I’ve never seen QtheM get fussed at by a mod! Is the apocalypse coming? Feels like watching the valedictorian getting arrested or something. \ Clickbait Headline: Millennials Are Killing The Shrimp Cocktail Industry! ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/38 "2019-12-22T19:53:35Z")
Fresh shrimp has always been a staple restaurant and fish camp entree in my neck of the woods (NE Florida), but shrimp _cocktail_ is not as popular as it once was as an appetizer (maybe it still is in New Jersey, where I grew up, I dunno). I love it, though, so I make my own once in a while (with lot’s of horseradish in the sauce). Years ago, my office manager, Sylvia, and her husband had a house on the St. Johns river (one of the few rivers in America that flows north) with a very long dock extending nearly 1/6 across the river. Sylvia was an old cracker and an expert cast-netter. She would net enough shrimp each year during the summer run of Mayport shrimp up the river to stock her fridge, freezer and ancillary freezer for the year and still have enough to give to friends and family. To say she had shrimp coming out of her ears is an understatement. She taught me how to cast net (it’s harder than it looks, trust me) and invited me to her dock every year during the shrimp run (~July-September). She started me on a 3’ net and I eventually graduated to an 8-footer. She could spin a 12-footer like a prima ballerina. It was easy peasy netting ~10lbs of large to jumbo shrimp in one night during the runs. This was also the time when blackened redfish was a thing. I always caught my legal limit of 18-27” redfish on ultra-light tackle or fly fishing (yeah, fly fishing isn’t just for hoity-toity trout fishermen). Landing an 8-lb redfish on a 6-lb line is a thrill. Good times! But, man, did my family and I get burned out on blackened shrimp and redfish! I don’t fish or cast-net anymore. I don’t make blackened anything anymore, either. But, I do still make a mean Charleston-style Shrimp or Crawfish & Grits once in a while! And, it’s da bomb! ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/39 "2019-12-22T20:08:41Z")
I don’t remember the last time I saw shrimp cocktail on a menu - not even at a steakhouse or Italian restaurant with other seafood appetizers on the menu. What I see all the time at buffets or other restaurants with a salad bar ( like churrascurias) is one or more types of “peel and eat “ shrimp, which is basically shrimp cocktail without the fancy glass. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Deltree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Deltree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deltree)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196/40 "2019-12-22T22:56:38Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > **“Are shrimp cocktail and crab claws still commonly served as appetizers?”** I don’t know about restaurants, but I was in the meat-market getting my Christmas ham, today, and a guy was asking his (presumably) son, “Should we get the shrimp or the crab?”, and they were talking about Christmas dinner, and since that’s not a traditional main course, I assume they were talking about appetizers. It sounded like they were planning a big dinner for a lot of people, since they were talking about getting two pounds of whichever they decided on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-shrimp-cocktail-and-crab-claws-still-commonly-served-as-appetizers/845196.md?page=3)