Public Health Shuts Down Happy Crab Buffet in Auburn, Employees Displaced

Public Health Seattle & King County ordered the immediate closure of Happy Crab, also called Happy Crab Buffet, at 22 A Street SW in Auburn after inspectors documented multiple critical food-safety violations, shutting the restaurant at 3 p.m. on Feb. 18, 2026. Auburn Examiner reporting and the county closure listing show the agency removed the establishment from service after finding conditions that posed an acute risk to public health.

Inspectors flagged inadequate handwashing facilities for staff and cited improper food storage and temperature controls, according to the agency summary preserved in the original report. Auburn Examiner detailed additional findings, including improper storage of raw foods that could lead to cross contamination, room temperature storage of food that must be refrigerated for safety, improper hot and cold holding temperatures, and improper procedures for cooling cooked food quickly. The Auburn Examiner also recorded inadequate documentation of parasite destruction procedures for raw fish products in the inspection findings.

The original Public Health summary available in the compiled materials contains a truncated phrase, reading in part that inspectors documented “inadequate pa,” with the remainder of that wording unavailable in the supplied excerpts. Auburn Examiner characterized the overall situation as an “excessive number of critical food safety violations,” though no source provided a numeric count of critical citations in the available material.

King County’s Public Health closure listing shows the establishment was allowed to be partially reopened on Feb. 20, 2026, with a clear regulatory condition: buffet and self-service counters remained closed until the person-in-charge completes a Plan Review process for that service. The county page notes that closure information for restaurants closed by Public Health will remain online for a minimum of seven days after the establishment is reopened.

A social media post on Instagram noted the shutdown as well, posting verbatim: “The Hapy Crab restaurant Auburn, WA, shut down by Public Health- Seattle County on February critical safety violations.” The Instagram entry contains a misspelling of the business name and a truncated timeline in its text.

Public Health’s partial reopening on Feb. 20 allowed limited operations to resume, but the requirement that the person-in-charge complete a Plan Review for buffet service makes any return to full self-service contingent on documented corrective actions and county approval. The closure and the county’s posted conditions leave the restaurant’s full-service timeline dependent on the Plan Review and any further inspections or paperwork required by Public Health Seattle & King County.