By Rick Clapp
The legendary “King of Crawfish” Alan Franks and business partner and friend, Paul Latour, have created another exciting Louisiana Cajun watering hole and eatery.
The original Crazy Alan Swamp Shack, which opened in 2010, is located near the Kemah Boardwalk. It has enjoyed steady growth and developed a good reputation of being a well respected restaurant with great drinks and fresh quality seafood at a fair price.
The new Crazy Alan Swamp Chic Shack is located at the Baybrook Mall area on Bay Area Boulevard. This new Cajun mecca features a fun and festive environment. As you walk into the Swamp Shack you will feel like you are entering one of New Orleans unique restaurants. The atmosphere is very eclectic, well decorated, and has a nice relaxed ambience.
The alligator bar, located at the center of the restaurant, is a great viewing area. It is fully stocked and loaded with call liquor, high quality spirits, and a variety of cold beer and wine. A most unique section is the restaurant’s Kids Zone. This area provides a place for children to play video games and state of the art computer games. In the meantime, parents can partake of a little adult time and relax while they enjoy their food and beverage.
Alan’s Crazy Swamp Shack was the creation of the indefatigable Alan Frank and Paul Latour. These two have different styles and have successfully created a winning restaurant concept. Both self-made men have worked hard. Franks started in 1982 as a barback at Cotton Eye Joes, bartender at Jason’s, and became owner of the renowned entertainment center Seabrook Beach Club.
According to Alan Franks, the original Alan’s Crazy Swamp Shack created by the dynamic duo opened in 2010 in Kemah. The partnership works very well. Franks handles daily operations, marketing, promotions and le tour. Latour handles the construction and interior design and decoration of the restaurant. Alan Franks attributes his success to the extremely hard work, attention to detail, and good employees and customer relations. He commends his long time staff — Lori Holzle, Bob Deering, Christina Jonsenser, Guillermo Miranda and General Manager Otasch Kadu Pov and Assistant Manager Mike Saucada.
Alan’s Crazy Swamp Chic Shack’s menu is the same as the Kemah location with food and beverages totally consistent at both locations. Their food offering is vast and has something for the seafood lover and the land lubber. Alan’s Crazy Swamp Shack is known for its tasty crawfish during season, but there’s much more to this quality restaurant. There select and popular menu items include the Crabvacado, Crab Corn Bisque, Crab Fingers, fried or sauteed is a must. Also try the Smoked Oysters and other fresh seafood entrees. These can be prepared either grilled or fried, whichever you prefer.
They also have juicy Burgers, Creole, Cajun Etouffee, Fried Oysters, Shrimp and Catfish dishes. For a special evening, try their signature crab and lobster entrees, one of their seafood pots or the boiled seafood feast. Yes, they’ve got crawfish, which is the best of the bay. Finish your dining experience with one of their decadent desserts. Enjoy Crazy Alan’s Strawberry Cake or the Crown Royale Bread Pudding.
Also, they have rooms for meetings, events and special occasions. As the illustrious Cajun chef Justin Wilson once said, “I ‘GAUR-en-tee’ you will like the Crazy Alan’s Swamp Chick Shack.”
We wish Crazy Alan’s Swamp Chic Shack success. Let’s support one of the Bay Area’s best. Crazy Alan’s Swamp Chick Shack at Baybrook is located at 1330 W. Bay Area Blvd. Friendswood, TX.77546. PH. 832-284-4895
I visited the new location and the atmosphere, food, and service were fine.
The restrooms, however, are a nightmare.
There are too few restrooms for a restaurant of this size.The women’s restroom is so small that it is difficult to get into the room. Once in, the hall and the stalls are much too small and very difficult to navigate.
The hall is much to narrow.
It’s difficult to open the stall doors. The stall doors are actually prevented from opening completely due to the location of the toilet paper dispensers. Upon entry, one almost needs to climb over the commode or sit on it sideways just to shut the door.
I’m pretty sure the handicap stall does not meed ADA regulation. It’s very hard to imagine even a very small wheelchair navigating the bathroom hall or the ADA stall.
Also, why would rough, chipped stonework be used in a restroom?
Restrooms can reasonably be expected to gather a lot of lint from clothing, tissue paper, and paper towels, so why use such rough and difficult to clean finishings that are practically designed to attract and hold dust and dirt is a place one would really want to present as being as clean as possible?
Whoever Swamp Shack used for this bathroom design should probably not be used again in the future.
I’ve been eating at Crazy Alan’s Swamp Shack ever since they opened in Kemah the food is fantastic an Allen gives back to the community when my son went to clear Falls High School football team I was on the booster Club Alan donated so wonderful food or are golf tournament to raise money for Clear Falls football it’s good to see so we’re giving back to the community. And when Alen opened the Baybrook restaurant WOW Alan did it right great food great service if fantastic surroundings and great music so for a great experience you need to check it out you will not be disappointed
My family was excited to come to the Swamp Shack tonight because of the great Catfish and Shrimp feast special they are offering right now Monday through Thursday $16.99. But after arriving and ordering drinks and appetizers as telling the waitress we came in for the special, she informs us that we cannot get the special because it is a holiday today – Columbus Day. There is no mention of this on the advertisement outside, on the website, or inside the restaurant. We spoke with the manager to no avail except a nice apology but we are still upset. This is false advertising. And made us end up spending much less than we would have. So did not work to their advantage. If your advertisement says a certain price, then you should honor that price. Simple.