Crustacean lovers, prepare to get messy, because a new venue dedicated to all things shellfish just landed in Bowen Hills. Taking over the old home of Welcome To Bowen Hills on King Street is Claw, the latest offering from Potentia Leisure, who you may know from their other venues, Soko, Lina Rooftop and the recently opened Carmen.
Inspired by classic California crab shacks, this 1000-seater eatery is seriously massive, with endless seating both outside in the laneway and inside underneath an array of Americana on the walls. The colour scheme is of course red, white and blue, with roomy red booths, tables adorned in classic red and white chequered tablecloths and plenty of big screen TVs that will play any and every sporting event.
That’s not all the entertainment you’ll find here—there’s also vintage arcade games to try and get a high score on, and a beer pong table for some friendly competition. All the while, 80s tunes rule the speakers, with resident DJs on rotation—so prepare to sing along with some iconic tunes.
As you might guess, the menu is heavy on the seafood, with everything from crab buckets loaded with Baja-style king crab clusters, chilled shrimp, oysters and cocktail sauce to peel ‘n eat shrimp. While the venue might be California-inspired, the eats are decidedly more Southern, covering Southern fried chicken, Texas beef brisket, burgers, steaks (which you can top with grilled shrimp of course) and wings.
There’s plenty of drinks to wash it all down, including a range of craft beers, wines, spirits, slushie cocktails, and beer towers. And don’t worry, a sports bar Claw may be, but this is a Potentia Leisure venue so the cocktails are on point—think liquid apple pies, root beer floats and a concoction called the Elvis Juice we’re dying to try, featuring peanut butter whiskey, berry and banana liqueur, housemade maple bitters and maple bacon.
Claw officially opens Saturday 12 August with a reduced menu for Ekka week. Following that, they’ll be worth checking out every night of the week, with deals like half-priced ribs and wings on Mondays, half-priced steak on Tuesdays, two-for-one burgers on Thursdays and 20% off seafood bucket on Saturdays—check out their full weekly line up here.
Check out what else is opening in Brisbane soon here.
Image credit: Fortem Media