OK, are you ready to feast like royalty? That’s what your experience will be like, in a fun and casual style, at Auggie’s House of Crab in Leucadia. One gentle warning: You are going to make a mess ... and enjoy doing it. You’ll be hammering and cracking with mallets and claw crackers, and that roll of paper towels on your table will definitely come in handy. But, that’s what it’s all about at Auggie’s, a very casual Cajun-style crab house where seafood feasts are presented cooked and steamed at your table in a large bowl and then spilled on the butcher shop paper that covers your table. Owner Auggie Scalercio and his wife, Rosario, opened their restaurant back in January and are drawing folks from all over the county. Auggie learned all about the crab house concept in his early 20s while working at Shrimply Delicious Crab House in Encinitas in the ’80s. After the place was sold, Auggie – a willing-to-try-anything, risk-taking kind of guy – went to work as “Gus the Gorilla” at Balloon-a-Grams and even did a short stint as the Padres’ Friar. He said he eventually decided to open a crab house of his own because, “I wanted to go back to my 20s, it was so much fun.” He’s already considering opening another location.

As mentioned, Auggie’s is casual, very family-friendly, with Southern blues playing on the sound system. Currently, they are offering happy hour all day with $5 appetizers and $2 Coronitas. Stone Pale Ale is available on draft for $4.50 a pint. On Tuesdays, kids eat free and – if it’s your birthday – let ’em know and get a nice little surprise. Also, on the next few Sundays, Santa Claus will be working the place, as well.

Begin your meal with and appetizer such as crab cakes, fried shrimp, stuffed jalapeño, calamari, chicken wings or a street-style shrimp cocktail. Other notable starters and side dishes are Rosario’s homemade Chayo seafood soup, a small bowl of jambalaya or spicy gumbo, or a seafood or Caesar salad. Splitting the very tasty shrimp burger with someone also makes a good starter. Other sandwiches include a BLT and an andouille sausage sandwich. Several pizzas are also listed, but it’s the “feasts” that are the signature dishes here. There are basically two to choose from: Auggie’s “Feast” or Auggie’s “Big Feast.” The Feast ($15.95 for one, $31.85 for two) consists of heads-on shrimp, snow crab, andouille sausage, corn on the cob and red potato. The Big Feast ($21.95 for one, $43.85 for two) has the same items, but also include mussels, clams and king crab. You can order a variety of seafood items by the pound, as well. For example, I love green-lip mussels and you can get them here for $9.95 per pound. King crab legs are $19.95 per pound.

Open nightly and for lunch on weekends, Auggie’s is at 1468 N. Coast Highway 101. Call (760) 634-CRAB (2722).