The Smoking Crab Food Truck Visits Lincoln

The traveling seafood boil operation, The Smoking Crab, is a multi-state enterprise with food trucks operating in Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, among others. The business, which started in a home kitchen in 2017 and officially launched in 2019, is led by Jonathan Benjamin and Bobby McCullum. The company has since expanded, offering both food truck and brick-and-mortar franchise opportunities. This weekend's visit is not the truck's first appearance in the city. The Smoking Crab has previously set up shop in Lincoln, with a past location noted at 21st and O Street, where it garnered positive feedback from residents, including praise from an East Coast transplant for its authentic seafood boil. The menu is centered around Southern-style seafood, featuring boiled items like snow crab and shrimp, often sold in combos with sausage, corn, egg, and potatoes. Beyond boils, the truck typically offers fried fish and shrimp, pastas, and sides like seafood mac & cheese and gumbo. The Smoking Crab offers a variety of signature butter sauces to accompany its seafood boils, including options like Cajun, garlic jalapeño, lemon pepper, and honey garlic. This allows for a customized flavor experience for their main dishes. While the food truck has a broad fan base, reviews can be mixed. Some customers praise the flavor and affordability, while others have noted long wait times, with some orders taking between 20 to 45 minutes to be ready. One review from a visit to Wichita mentioned that the seafood was overly salty and the crab legs were tough.