- © 2024 Annapolis Home Magazine
- All Rights Reserved
By Christine Fillat
Crab Feast, © Jay Fleming
The scene: a table on a shady waterfront deck. Your favorite people are sitting with you, and the conversation bubbles. Brown butcher paper is covering the table. A couple of ice-cold bottles of your favorite beverage leave rings of sweat on the paper. You have ordered a side of hush puppies, cole slaw, and corn on the cob. Perhaps a plate of sliced tomatoes. A tray of steaming hot spicy crabs is deposited in the middle of the table. Everyone grabs a crab. And the merriment begins.
Eating crabs is a social activity. It takes time. You don’t want to miss any of the precious, sweet meat. This is a ritual that is time-worn and deserves to be taken at a leisurely pace.
Eating crabs is nothing new. 90,000 years ago, Neanderthals ate brown crabs in an oceanside Portuguese cave. It is surmised from scorch marks on the crab shells that the crabs were roasted and eaten. Archeological evidence suggests that crabs have been consumed in the Chesapeake Bay region since 1200 BC. Native Americans ate crabs, and crab remains have been found at Mount Vernon Estate and at a 19th-20th century African-American domestic site. In other words, crabs have been eaten here for a heck of a long time.
While crabs can be found all along the East Coast from Nova Scotia to Argentina and in the Gulf of Mexico, one-third of all the crabs consumed nationwide come from the Chesapeake Bay.
There is a reason Chesapeake Bay crabs are a delicacy.
Generally, crabs have a lifespan of three to four years. Once the water temperature hits 50 degrees in the Chesapeake Bay’s estuaries in the Spring, crabs meander, rise up out of the mud, and settle into underwater grasses in shallow, warm waters until Fall. Curiously, male crabs prefer less salty waters to the north. Female crabs mate once in their lifetime but can store the male crab’s sperm and release millions of larvae up to three times in a season. After migrating to the salty waters near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, female crabs release the larvae into these spawning grounds, where the larvae will mature and then migrate all over the region.
The population of the blue crab fluctuates from year to year. In an effort to understand and control the population of the blue crab, scientists in Maryland and Virginia have been conducting an annual winter-time dredge survey of the crab population in the Chesapeake Bay since 1988. Numbers have ranged from a high of 828 million in 1991 to the present population of 317 million.
Currently, limits to harvesting female crabs are in place, resulting in a greater population of female crabs. Under the careful watch of the Department of Natural Resources, the total population of blue crabs is presently at a sustainable level.
Seeking out crab houses in the Delmarva region is quite the treasure hunt. Blue crabs can be rather expensive, and the crabs need to be fresh. Friends are consulted for their favorite haunts. “I only get my crabs from local watermen,” says one fortunate, resourceful friend.
But, lucky for us, there are a lot of places we can go for crabs. The following is a list of some sit-down crab houses on the Eastern Shore. Some are indoors, some are on waterfront decks, and some are simply picnic tables on the side of the road. As of the writing of this story, average prices for crabs are $60/dozen for medium, $80/dozen for large, and $120/dozen for extra-large. For up-to-date quotes, be sure to call the venue.
Consumer Alert! When you order crabs in Maryland or any place that offers “Maryland crab cakes,” you may not be eating crabs from the Chesapeake Bay. With the limited number and costs of Maryland crabs, many restaurants serve crabs from Louisiana, Venezuela (for crab meat), or elsewhere. Be sure to ask your server; hopefully, they will answer accurately.
CHESAPEAKE LANDING: 23713 St. Michaels Road, St. Michaels, MD 21663 | 410.745.9600 | chesapeakelandingrestaurant.com
CLAWS SEAFOOD HOUSE: 167 Rehoboth Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 | 302.227.2529 | 227claw.com
THE CRAB CLAW: 304 Burns Street, St. Michaels, MD 21663 | 410.745.2900 | thecrabclaw.com
FISHERMAN’S CRAB DECK: 3032 Kent Narrows Way S., Grasonville, MD 21638 | 410.827.6666 | crabdeck.com
HARRIS CRAB HOUSE: 433 Kent Narrows Way N., Grasonville, MD 21638 | 410.827.9500 | harriscrabhouse.com
THE JETTY: 201 Wells Cove Road, Grasonville, MD 21638 | 410.827.4959 | jettydockbar.com
KENTMORR BEACH BAR & GRILL: 910 Kentmorr Road, Stevensville, MD 21666 | 410.643.2263 | thekentmorr.com
STEVENSVILLE CRAB SHACK: 116 Pier 1 Road, Stevensville, MD 21666 | 410.604.2722 | stevensvillecrabshack.com
SUICIDE BRIDGE RESTAURANT: 6304 Suicide Bridge Road, Hurlock, MD 21643 | 410.943.4689 | suicide-bridge-restaurant.com
TICKLER’S CRAB SHACK & RESTAURANT: 21551 Chesapeake House Drive, Tilghman, MD 21671 | 877.818.1922 | wylderhotels.com/tilghman-island/dining/
VICTORIA’S SEAFOOD & CRABS: 81st Street 4 Coastal Highway, Ocean City, MD 21842 | 410.390.7248 | crabsoceancity.com
WATERMAN’S SEAFOOD: 12505 Ocean Gateway, Ocean City, MD 21842 | 410.213.1020 | watermansoc.com/menu
WATERMAN’S CRAB HOUSE: 21055 W. Sharp Street, Rock Hall, MD 21661 | 410.639.6860 | watermanscrabhouse.com
© Annapolis Home Magazine
Vol. 15, No. 4 2024