Tracy's King Crab Shack - Juneau

On our trip to Alaska I had only one place down as a must-do meal: Tracy's King Crab Shack in Juneau. It is rated as the number one restaurant in Juneau on Trip Advisor and it serves fresh, never-frozen, Alaskan king crab legs, my very favorite food. Tracy's is right on the dock near where the cruise ships are located. 

The order shack.

The pick-up shack and some of the outdoor seating.

The logo. I love the splindly crab legs on the woman.

Unfortunately, our shore excursion for the day, a flight to Chichagof Island to see brown bears, ran a little late and we were short of time. I instructed the driver of our van, taking us back to the ship, to drop us off at Tracy's. Judy was a little dubious about this excursion, concerned that we would not get back to the ship in time. But I knew what I wanted. The Large King Crab Bucket - a half crab with 3 to 4 large legs, shoulder meat and a claw, at least 3 pounds worth. It also came with coleslaw. 

Steaming crab legs sit on the counter waiting to be served to customers.

You order at one shack, pick up the food at another shack, then eat outside or under a large tent. 

One of my partners said he'd talked to someone who'd eaten fresh king crab and was told that it had a different texture than previously frozen crab. I personally prefer king crab cold, just after it has thawed, dipped in warm butter. My experience is that warmed up king crab in restaurants is often dried out.

I would like to have had a more leisurely meal, but was thankful to have the meal at all. The coleslaw was so-so, but I wasn't there for that. The legs were warm and we had plenty of butter, and there was lots and lots of crab. 

The crab bucket with white wax paper, butter, rolls and lots of crab.

My take-away: I did not notice a difference between this crab and the good frozen crab I've had at home, and I still prefer the cool, just-thawed crab to the warm crab. 

The logo on the crab bucket.

I loved the atmosphere and I loved the posters with information about king crab posted around the seating area. It was a nice culinary event I'm glad I've had. 

I had no idea there are four kinds of king crab.