BLUECRAB.INFO - Crab Houses & Restaurants

My definition of a crab house is any restaurant that serves hot steamed Maryland-style hard shell crabs. You know that you're in a crab house as soon as you walk through the door, the smell of steamed crabs is in the air and you hear the sound of wooden mallets banging against crab and table as hungry diners crack into the succulent claws. As you look around you see paper-covered tables with trays of cooked bright orange crabs, mounds of discarded shells, pitchers of ice cold beer, shakers of Old Bay seafood seasoning, and bottles of apple cider vinegar. And, yes, there's the occasional basket of piping hot shell-on spiced shrimp! Ah, the memories... there's nothing quite like the atmosphere of a genuine Chesapeake Bay crab house.

Most crab houses are located on the water where they can be reached by car or boat, but there are some good land-locked crab houses too. This list is by no means complete as it would be impossible for me to know of every single crab house. So, if you know of a good crab house that's not listed here, please send me a note so that I can include it!

Please note that a "Recommended" crab house is one that I've visited personally (or one that a trusted friend has visited.) In order for a crab house to earn a "recommended" ranking, the crab house must serve "steamed to order" hard shell crabs. This means that the crabs take a minimum of twenty minutes to arrive at your table because that's how long it takes to steam up a batch of fresh blue crabs; any sooner and you're probably being served warmed-up crabs. As my good friend Whitey Schmidt always says, "If the crabs show up at the table in ten minutes or less, send them back!"

Gabler's Shore	OUT OF BUSINESS	Aberdeen, MD
Hillside Inn Restaurant	Rt 213	Centreville, MD	410-758-1300
Howard House Tavern	101 West Main St	Elkton, MD	410-398-4646
Marylander Crab Shack	1004 Proving Ground Rd	Aberdeen, MD	410-273-7815
Price's Seafood	654 Water St	Havre De Grace, MD	410-939-2782
Wet Willy's Crab Deck	2207 Pulaski Highway	Edgewood, MD	410-679-3939
The Tap Room	201 Bohemia Ave	Chesapeake City, MD	410-885-2344
Woody's Crab House	29 S Main St	North East, MD	410-287-3541

Al's Seafood Restaurant	1551 Eastern Blvd	Essex, MD	410-687-3264
The Barn Crab House	Joppa & Harford Rds	Carney, MD	410-882-6182
Bill's Terrace Inn	200 Eastern Blvd	Essex, MD	410-687-5994
Bo Brooks Crab House	2701 Boston Street	Baltimore, MD	410-558-0202
Crab Shanty	3410 Plumtree Dr	Ellicott City, MD	410-465-9660
Costas Inn	4100 Northpoint Blvd	Dundalk, MD	410-477-1975
Glenmore Gardens	4813 Belair Rd	Baltimore, MD	410-488-2366
Gunning's	3901 S. Hanover St	Baltimore, MD	410-354-0085
Mariner's Landing	601 Wise Ave	Dundalk, MD	410-477-1261
Obrycki's	1727 East Pratt St	Baltimore, MD	410-732-6399
Ocean Pride	1534 York Rd	Lutherville, MD	410-321-7744
Salty Dogs	4011 North Point Blvd	Baltimore, MD	410-388-0515
Schultz's	1732 Old Eastern Ave	Essex, MD	410-687-1020
Sea Hut Inn	729 Frederick Rd	Cantonsville, MD	410-788-0388
Sea King Seafood Market	8219 Liberty Rd	Baltimore, MD	410-655-0110

Blue Channel Inn	1258 Bay Dale Dr	Arnold, MD	410-974-0777
Bellas Sports Bar & Restaurant	1052 Cape Saint Claire Rd	Annapolis, MD	410-757-0747
Buddy's Crabs and Ribs	100 Main St	Annapolis, MD	410-626-1100
Cantler's Riverside Inn	458 Forest Beach Rd	Annapolis, MD	410-757-1467
Cheshire Crab	1701 Poplar Ridge Rd	Pasadena, MD	410-360-2220
Hayman's Crab House	310 Solomons Island Rd	Edgewater, MD	410-956-5656
Kaufmann's Tavern	329 Gambrills Rd	Gambrills, MD	410-923-2005
Kentmorr Restaurant	910 Kentmorr Rd	Stevensville, MD	410-643-1362
Maritime Cafe at McNasby's	723 Second St	Annapolis, MD	410-295-9022
Mike's Crab House	3030 Old Riva Rd	Riva, MD	410-956-2784

Abner's Crab House	3748 Harbor Rd	Chesapeake Beach, MD	410-257-3689
Bobby D's Chesapeake Grille	421 Deale Rd	Deale, MD	410-867-0750
Buckmaster Seafood	34 Mears Ave	Chesapeake Beach, MD	410-257-7113
Captain Leonards	Route 235	Mechanicsville, MD	301-884-3701
Captain's Galley	OUT OF BUSINESS	Crisfield, MD
Chesapeake Landing	Route 33	St. Michaels, MD	410-745-9600
Clarke's Landing Restaurant	Clarke's Landing Rd	Hollywood, MD	301-373-8468
The Crab Claw	Mill St	St. Michaels, MD	410-745-2900
Drift Inn	41301 Riverview Rd	Oraville, MD	301-884-3470
Fisherman's Crab Deck	3032 Kent Narrows Way	Grasonville, MD	410-827-6666
Harris Crab House	433 Kent Narrows Way	Grasonville, MD	410-827-8104
Harrison's Chesapeake House	Route 33	Tilghman, MD	410-886-2121
Higgins Crab House	1216 S Talbot St	St. Michaels, MD	410-745-5056
Pier Street Restaurant	104 W Pier St	Oxford, MD	410-226-5171
The Red Roost	2670 Clara Rd	Whitehaven, MD	410-546-5443
St. Michaels Crab House	305 Mulberry St	St. Michaels, MD	410-745-3737
Sandgates Inn	1555 Sandgates Rd	Mechanicsville, MD	301-373-5100
Seabreeze Restaurant & Crab House	1505 Sandgates Rd	Mechanicsville, MD	301-373-5217
Side Street Seafood	10th & Main St	Crisfield, MD	410-968-2442
Skipper's Pier	6158 Drum Point Rd	Deale, MD	410-867-7110
Solomon's Crab House	Route 2 & Route 4	Solomon's Island, MD	410-326-2800
Stoney's Seafood House	3944 Oyster House Rd	Broomes Island, MD	410-586-1888
Suicide Bridge Restaurant	6304 Suicide Bridge Rd	Hurlock, MD	410-943-4689
Surfside 7	48 South River Rd	Edgewater, MD	410-956-8075
Waterman's Crab House	21055 Sharp St	Rock Hall, MD	410-639-2261

Barefoot Green Restaurant	1017 Sophia St	Fredericksburg, VA	540-373-2012
Bethesda Crab House	4958 Bethesda Ave	Bethesda, MD	301-652-9754
Captain Billy's	Popes Creek Rd	Newburg, MD	301-932-4323
Captain Jack's Crab Shack	8624 Courthouse Rd	Spotsylvania, VA	540-582-5359
Captain John's Crab House	Route 254	Cobb Island, MD	301-259-2315
Captain Pell's	8815 Lee Highway	Fairfax, VA	703-560-0060
Captain White's	7305 Richmond Highway	Alexandria, VA	703-765-7900
The Dancing Crab	4611 Wisconsin Ave, NW	Washington, DC	202-244-1882
Ernie's Original Crab House	1623 Fern St	Alexandria, VA	703-836-1623
Evan's Seafood Restaurant	Rt 249	St. George Island, MD	301-994-2299
Fairfax Crab House	8815 Lee Highway	Fairfax, VA	703-560-0060
Gena's Hot Steamed Crabs	OUT OF BUSINESS	Clinton, MD
Parker's Crab Shore	OUT OF BUSINESS	Colonial Beach, VA
The Quarterdeck	1200 Fort Meyer Dr	Arlington, VA	703-528-2722
Robertson's Crab House	11455 Popes Creek Rd	Newburg, MD	301-934-3300
Tim's Rivershore Crab House	1510 Cherry Hill Rd	Dumfries, VA	703-441-1375
Tim's II Restaurant & Crab House	5411 Pavilion Dr	Fairview Beach, VA	540-775-7500
Wilkerson's	3900 McKinney Blvd	Colonial Beach, VA	804-224-7117

Crab Shack	OUT OF BUSINESS	Kilmarnock, VA
Eddies Chesapeake Bay Crab House	2952 Campostella Rd	Chesapeake, VA	757-543-7009
Landmark Crab House	6162 Main St	Chincoteague, VA	804-336-5552
River's Inn	8109 Yacht Haven Dr	Gloucester Point, VA	804-642-9942
Wright's Seafood Restaurant	Wright Rd	Atlantic, VA	757-824-4012