For five years, Shell Shack has been a staple of Uptown, located on McKinney Avenue at the point where it divides into one-way streets, and it’s done well — well enough, that there are branches in Arlington, Plano and Mesquite. But as of 2 a.m. today, the Uptown location is no more. You don’t have to go far, though, to get your fill of crab legs, catfish, carrot cake and oysters, though. The new central Shell Shack, located on Henderson Avenue in the booming entertainment district that includes Sushi Axiom, Gemma, Barcadia and others, has already dumped it first bag of seasoned crustaceans on a plate. No word yet on whether it will juts be called Shell Shack Dallas (“Uptown” seems a stretch), but the spacious seafood joint is already hoppin’. There’s a mix of crab (king, snow, Dungeness and Biardi, the latter being a variety virtually exclusive in Texas to Shell Shack) with a potato and corn thrown in… ya know, so you can tell your mom you had your veggies. I was stuffed on my visit but still found room for a few bites of the carrot cake. Cheers!
— Arnold Wayne Jones
