Walk in the door of The Boxing Crab and immediately be greeted by a server who rips a large swath of paper from a giant roll to cover your table, guides you to a vacant booth and hands you a few plastic bibs. Being that different seafoods are cooked and the contents are dumped on the table for easy access, this protects everyone from potential and inevitable messes.

Welcome to the time-honored tradition of a Seafood Boil.

A Seafood Boil hails from coastal areas in the eastern and southern USA and generally denotes a meal based around shellfish, potatoes and corn boiled in a single pot.

The Louisiana style is a spicy version with cayenne, paprika, lemon, onion, and garlic the main spices. Put on a bib and don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. Cool off your palate with an icy drink-usually a beer, but you can also try a flavored Soju- a Korean distilled alcoholic beverage. (Just a word of caution, these can be high in alcohol, so pace yourself.)

The Boxing Crab, new to the College area, offers a “Choose Your Seafood Boil;” of King Crab Legs, Snow Crab Legs, Whole Blue Crabs, Dungeness Clusters, Manila Clams, Mediterranean Mussels, Shrimp, Crawfish, and Lobster Tails, all depending on the seasons. “Choose Your Seafood Combos” where you can combine seafoods.

There are a variety of choices of “How you like it” sauces such as Cajun, Cajun Garlic Butter, Cajun Lemon Pepper, One N’ Only Sauce which is tangy and savory and perfectly complements the shrimp and crab. A disclaimer on the menu reads “If you cannot handle spicy, please try mild first”. Spicy levels range from Mile to Hella Spicy and KO.

For a taste of Cajun food, try the Gumbo, filled with roasted chicken, shrimp, crawfish and sausages. Just add hot sauce to please your palate.

Choose “I Like it Fried” and try some Cajun-style side dishes such as Cajun Fries, Sweet Potato Fries or Cajun Waffle Fries

Drinks offered are a multi-cultural array. Soju, a Korean distilled alcoholic beverage which comes in different flavors such as Peach, Lychee, Grapefruit or Peach Mango. A Mexican Sangria, Mexican Coke or Jarritos Mandarin Soda represents South of the Border refreshments. Japanese beers as well as local San Diego and USA brews can cool your palate.

No need to worry about getting messy, they have washing stations, plastic gloves, bibs and plenty of napkins.

Located at 6663 El Cajon Blvd., phone (619) 467-7290, they are open daily from 12 p.m. – 9 p.m. (9:30 p.m. on weekends).

See their menu at: boxingcrab.com.