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The Top 5 Places to Buy Live Crawfish in Houston

The Top 5 Places to Buy Live Crawfish in Houston

Our Criteria:

Crawfish Grades: Not every store provides graded crawfish. Therefore we chose places that offer select graded crawfish suitable for cooking and use in a boil.
Price: Since crawfish are sold by the pound at most stores rather than by piece, we considered the cost of crawfish for over ten pounds—enough to feed at least two.
Hygiene: We looked for stores that demonstrated hygienic practices in how they store the live crawfish and package it.
Freshness: When examining the crawfish selection at the selected stores, we examined the crawfish’s color and tail shape to determine if the crawfish was alive and fresh. 

1. Kris’es Wholesale Seafood 

Website: Kris’es Wholesale Seafood

Address: 14110 Aston St, Houston, TX 77040, United States

Contact Info:  +1 713-939-9393

Hours:  Monday – Saturday: 8 AM to 3 PM

  Sunday: 8 AM to 12 PM 

Google Reviews Score5/5
Yelp Reviews Score5/5
Facebook Reviews Score4.9/5
Total Reviews5/5
Score Consistency5/5
Crawfish Grades5/5
Price 4.8/5
Hygiene5/5
Freshness5/5

Pros

  • Fresh, healthy live crawfish
  • On-site catering
  • Massive selection of seafood
  • Worldwide shipping
  • Pleasant staff members

Cons

  • Expensive price per pound

Those in the community we spoke to told us Kris’es Wholesale Seafood is known for specializing in exporting not only cooked but also live crawfish. They also sell blue crabs, alligator meat, frog legs, wild catfish, oysters, and crabs imported from the gulf of Mexico.

Moreover, many raved about their unrivaled dedication to satisfying their customers and clients, whether local Houstonians or overseas. Yes, they offer worldwide shipping too. 

While we did not order anything from their website, we did visit their local Houston store. We liked how pleasant everyone we spoke to was and how the staff did not overcrowd us while we shopped around.

True to the claims, they have a vast selection of clean seafood with no overly strong fishy odor. 

Their live and cooked crabs were massive, as well as their live crawfish. 

Furthermore, we liked how fresh their live crawfish was. When we purchased a bag of crawfish from Kris’es, not only were all the crawfish bright red but there was not a single dead crawfish.  

We also liked how they do on-sight catering, serving up crawfish boils, fried catfish, steamed crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and etouffee. From what we tried, their shrimp was well seasoned and delicious, and their cooked crawfish was spicy.

Our only complaint is the price per pound was a little bit more expensive than our budget but nevertheless worth it for their healthy crawfish selection.

2. FRSH Seafood Market 

Website: FRSH Seafood Market 

Address: 2145 Shadowdale Dr, Houston, TX 77043, United States

Contact Info: +1 832-398-5036

Hours: Monday to Thursday: Closed

Friday: 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Saturday to Sunday: 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM 

Google Reviews Score4.7/5
Facebook Reviews Score4.8/5
Total Reviews4.7/5
Score Consistency4.7/5
Crawfish Grades4.7/5
Price 4.5/5
Hygiene4.6/5
Freshness4.3/5

Pros

  • Enormous crawfish selection
  • Savory cooked devilish crawfish

Cons

  • Grade-two crawfish
  • Credit card fees

FRSH Seafood Market stands out among the many businesses in Houston offering live crawfish today, claiming it’s a hidden gem. At least, that’s what some told us, so we went to check it out. 

From our experience at FRSH Seafood market, we noted FRSH Seafood Market has an enormous selection of crawfish. Yet, we did not like how we couldn’t choose which crawfish we wanted. 

Instead, we were given a bag of crawfish of nice size and quality. The price per pound was already written on the bag, and it was a fair price for the amount of grade-two crawfish we received. 

However, upon further looking in the bag, we didn’t like how some of the crawfish were fading in color, signifying declining health. We liked, though, how the staff assisting us allowed us to switch out the lousy crawfish for fresh, younger ones. 

FRSH Seafood Market also prepares devilish crawfish on-site, which there was a long line for. Their devilish crawfish is cajun style and pairs well with their savory evil sauce. 

We were pleased with the freshness and flavor, but when we looked at the receipt, we noticed that we had been charged a transaction fee for using a credit card.

So we didn’t like how we weren’t informed of a transaction fee by the staff.  We recommend paying with cash to avoid this fee.

3. L & L Seafood 

Address: 517 W Mt Houston Rd, Houston, TX 77037, United States

Contact Info:  +1 281-445-0044

Hours: Tuesday to Saturday: 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM 

Google Reviews Score4.4/5
Yelp Reviews Score4/5
Facebook Reviews Score4.9/5
Total Reviews4.5/5
Score Consistency4.5/5
Crawfish Grades4.4/5
Price 4.9/5
Hygiene4.7/5
Freshness4.4/5

Pros

  • Low costs
  • Generous portions

Cons

  • Limited business hours
  • 50-50 chance of a good crawfish pack
  • Cash only

From what we’ve observed at L & L Seafood, we can attest to the fact that their crawfish are sold at low costs and come in generous portions.

To start, the staff was friendly and diligent about fulfilling our orders. We liked how the crawfish L & L Seafood sells fresh from the bay the day you pick them up. 

However, since their business hours are limited, we recommend contacting them in the morning. Calling them a few days in advance to place an order is best. 

While the portion size was worth the inexpensive price, we didn’t like how the 50 pounds we recieved of crawfish were mixed-grade. 

Additionally, a quarter of the crawfish we purchased was dead. They also had a strange pungent odor to them. 

But, we liked how the staff we dealt with were accommodating and willing to go the extra mile to satisfy our order. 

True to what others have told us, their stock did disappear quickly. We had to wait another day. 

Still, we liked how they replaced our crawfish with a fresh premium grade catch and even added a few extra pounds at no cost.

By the way, they do not accept cards, so come prepared with cash to pay for your order of crawfish.

4. Best Crawfish LLC 

Website: Best Crawfish LLC 

Address: 10920 Jones Rd, Houston, TX 77065, United States

Contact Info:+1 346-775-1426 

Hours: Monday to Saturday: 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM 

Sunday: 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Google Reviews Score5/5
Facebook Reviews Score5/5
Total Reviews5/5
Score Consistency5/5
Crawfish Grades4.7/5
Price 4.9/5
Hygiene5/5
Freshness5/5

Pros

  • Low rates
  • Friendly service
  • Ships live crawfish nationwide
  • Comfortable shopping atmosphere

Cons

  • Mixed grade crawfish
  • Adequate sized crawfish

Those in the community claim that Best Crawfish LLC sells healthy fresh crawfish as their primary specialty. But really, their low rates and friendly service are what keep people coming back for more. 

Additionally, people raved to us about the quality of their shipment of crawfish nationwide. Not only are their shipped crawfish healthy, but they are generally alive upon receipt. 

We visited the primary site of Best Crawfish LLC. When we visited Best Crawfish LLC, we noted their immense parking lot and how clean their facilities were inside and out. 

We liked how from the moment we walked through the entrance, their staff approached us with kind smiles and greetings. We felt at ease during our entire shopping experience at Best Crawfish LLC. 

We never felt like someone was looming over our shoulders, pressuring us to pick random crawfish. We also liked how the staff washed the crawfish we selected before we paid for it.

True to the claims, their rates were low. However, this may be due to their selection of mixed-grade crawfish.

Furthermore, their crawfish were not large enough for a boil – but adequate for cooking meals. 

5. Coastal Seafood Market

Website: Coastal Seafood Market

Address: 883 Federal Rd Suite #G, Houston, TX 77015, United States

Contact Info: +1 281-513-7355

Hours: Monday to Sunday: 8:30 AM to 7:30 PM 

Google Reviews Score4.6/5
Yelp Reviews Score4/5
Facebook Reviews Score5/5
Total Reviews4.5/5
Score Consistency4.5/5
Crawfish Grades4.8/5
Price 4.7/5
Hygiene4/5
Freshness4.5/5

Pros

  • Healthy live crawfish 
  • Cajun spices available

Cons

  • Difficult parking
  • Facilities could use more cleaning

Coastal Seafood Market claims to provide fresh and flavorful seafood in abundance. Yes, this includes live crawfish, or so we’ve been told. 

First, we had difficulty parking as there were limited parking spaces available. Coastal Seafood Market appeared to be grimy from the outside, and the inside was not sparkling clean, either. 

Yet, the people working the front desk were polite and quite helpful. In fact, everyone we interacted with was cordial and competent. 

While Coastal Seafood Market does have a vast selection of seafood available at reasonable pricing, most of the fish they sell are already dead. 

Their selection of shrimps and salmon was sitting in salt with traces of blood left behind. Additionally, their crabs and oysters had an overwhelming fishy odor. 

However, we noted that they do sell live crawfish. The crawfish were kept in a tank near the back of the store, so it was a little hard to find at first. 

Despite their seeming issues with other seafood stock, their crawfish selection was all healthy, and none we were given had flat tails. 

We also liked how near the live crawfish tank, they displaced Cajun specialty spices, which can be used to bring flavor when cooking crawfish. 

By the way, their crawfish prices per pound were higher than their other fish selection. 

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