The Tangy Crab (Kalamazoo)
4320 S. Westnedge AvenueContinuing my week of eating out alone while my family was gone, I was really in the mood for wings.
We had a gift card from Buffalo Wild Wings but every time I’ve tried to order online, I get to the cart and it tells me wings are “unavailable.” I thought about just going and sitting at the bar but I wanted to get home. The Kalamazoo Growlers were playing for the Northwoods League championship that night on ESPN+ and I wanted to watch some of it.
I have a couple of usual places for wings other than B-Dubs. Main Street Pub is good. So is Jac’s. I like Waldo’s every now and then too. I considered all three….but something got me thinking. Do all those crab places that have popped up around town also do chicken wings?
Turns out, they do.
I picked The Tangy Crab on South Westnedge because it wasn’t too far out of my way home…and they have online ordering.
The Tangy Crab is on South Westnedge near Pratt Road in the South Westnedge Neighborhood of Kalamazoo. The restaurant is in a building that used to be an Outback Steakhouse right next to The Root Beer Stand.
I really don’t get why all of these crab places popped up seemingly all at once in Kalamazoo. They’ve all taken over former chain restaurants in different parts of town.
The Tangy Crab did a little bit of renovation to the old Outback Steakhouse. I only ate there once way back in 2010 so I don’t really remember the place, but it doesn’t look like the Australian outback to me. The restaurant still has it’s chain restaurant feel with high back booths providing a little bit of privacy between the tables. There’s a huge bar area in the middle of the room that sort of divides the two dining rooms space.
The New Orleans crab shack scene is worked in with nets hanging from the ceilings with crabs, lobsters, and life rings hanging from it…..in case you forgot you were in a crab restaurant.
My order was waiting for me at the host stand when I walked in. I ordered Buffalo Wings and Cajun wings. Both come in order of 8 with fries. It was much more food than I actually wanted but I wanted to try two kinds and I figured any leftover would heat up in the air fryer at home.
I grabbed the box with the Cajun wings first when I got home. The wings are huge. The Cajun wings are breaded wings so that makes them even bigger. The breading is dusted with a Cajun seasoning after they come out of the fryer. The size is nice because you get a lot of meat and a lot of the breading in every bite but they do get a little bit tougher since they need to be cooked longer.
The other wings I got were the Buffalo wings. These are not breaded. The wings are bigger than most wings places but they’re not nearly as big as the breaded wings. The wings were pretty heavily sauced. It’s not’s a super hot sauce but you can taste the cayenne pepper.
Both of the boxes came with a lot of fries. They weren’t really anything special. They did have some of Cajun seasoning on them. These were actually really good when I heated them back up in the air fryer. They get a little soft in the box but all take out fries do that. Popped them in the air fryer the next day to crisp them back up and they were really good.
The cost for my meal was a little over $25 before tip, but I did get two full meals out of it. I wanted to try a lot and I figured the food would heat up well.
I know it’s weird to write a blog post about a crab place and talk only about chicken wings but the truth is, I don’t like seafood so I wouldn’t have eaten here otherwise.
My take on the wings is they’re alright. They’re not the best in town but you do get a lot of food for the price. I’ve paid that much at other wing joints and left hungry. That was not the case at The Tangy Crab. I got two really hearty meals.
SW Michigan Dining 