Overview
Get cracking, southsiders: Brisbane now has not one but two Claw BBQ crab shacks serving up shellfish feasts and boozy slushies over sports and arcade games, with the second opening in Carindale. The suburb's shopping centre dining precinct underneath Event Cinema is fresh from a revamp, and this red- and white-hued, American-inspired joint is one of the big new additions. There's bibs, seafood, screens aplenty and a 4.5-metre boat built into the ceiling.
It was back in August 2023 that Claw BBQ first launched on King Street — a move that's clearly gone well enough to inspire an expansion to another part of town. The chain announced in July that it was doubling its local footprint come spring, and also that that boat would give the new venue quite a point of difference.
Food-wise, this is a place with a bucket list. One chilled option comes packed with bugs, prawns and crab. Another is all prawns, whether you're keen on a half kilo or the full thing. From the hot buckets, you can go with prawns, crawfish, sand crab and Moreton Bay bugs alone, all in kilo servings with corn and potato — or for two different mixes, including one with lobster tails.
Louisiana-style crab claws are on the appetisers lineup, too, as are everything from cheeseburger spring rolls to fried calamari. The rest of the menu extends to fried chicken, whole grilled chooks, barbecue ribs, striploins, seven types of burgers and more.
In a space with those large-screen televisions broadcasting sport, and consoles for you to mash buttons at, the brand's eating challenges have also made the jump. Adventurous (and hungry) patrons can attempt to wolf down a one-kilogram burg with a side of fries in just half an hour or half a kilogram of hot wings in 20 minutes.
The new crustacean-slinging eatery boasts ice cream shakes (in banoffee pie, rocky road and chocolate peanut butter) and mocktails among its drinks range, sitting alongside a hefty number of tap beers, a small wine list, and cocktail choices such as cactus apple margaritas, strawberry and kiwi mojitos, frozen cola with rum and lime, mango macadamia piña coladas and sangria towers.
Find Claw BBQ Carindale at Carindale Shopping Centre, 1151 Creek Road, Carindale — open from 11am–late daily. Head to the venue's website for more details.