It’s OK to wear a bib, no matter your age, and get your hands dirty in return for delicious seafood boils and fried foods at Shell Shack Lake Highlands.
Shell Shack is known for its customizable platters and variety of crab. The establishment, which opened at Abrams and Skillman in January, offers Dungeness and King crab along with Bairdi crab from the Bering Sea and Opilio crab from the North Pacific.
The restaurant’s director of marketing, Michael Colatarci, says of Lake Highlands, “We just love this area,” says Michael Colatarci, the restaurant’s director of marketing. “It has always been a desirable part of Dallas.”
While Shell Shack has opened six locations “from corner to corner” in North Texas, the Lake Highlands store marks the chain’s first partnership with investment company TriSpan.
One of the top-selling menu items is The VIP — two snow crab clusters, one pound of boiled shrimp, corn, potatoes and three sausages.
One of Colatarci’s personal favorites, The MVP, a combo boil that he created, includes one cluster of snow crab, ½ pound of boiled shrimp, corn, potatoes and sausages.
Daily specials include $9 shrimp baskets, crawfish, catfish and boiled shrimp dishes. “Shacky Hour,” featuring discounted cocktails, happens 3-7 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Exclusive to the Lake Highlands location, and popular among customers, is a pair of medium snow crab clusters for $23.
Our neighborhood Shell Shack also hosts live acoustic music performances from local artists every Friday.
Shell Shack offers on-site private events and catering, including “Truck & Trailer” rentals. That catering service includes a trailer with a deck of oil pots used to boil seafood at remote locations.
Shell Shack partners with nearby Oak Highlands Brewery for weekly Truck & Trailer Saturdays.
Colatarci encourages seafood lovers to come inside, ask about discounts for locals, enjoy the ambience and leave their worries at the door.
“I think that the experience of cracking the crab legs, eating the crawfish and making a mess at the table is what makes Shell Shack so special,” he says. “It’s the atmosphere. You know, we want you to get messy. It’s a fun experience. I think the atmosphere is different from anywhere else.”
