HARD-SHELLS

Let’s get
crackin’

In the Old Line State, picking crab is both an art form and a local sport.

Captain James Landing

Fells Point

For those who prefer to have their crab feast in the city rather than further afield in, say, Essex or the Eastern Shore, Captain James is a waterfront restaurant conveniently located on Boston Street. You can eat all manner of seafood dishes in their iconically ship-shaped building across the street, or at a long table outside on the waterfront deck patio. There, while you watch the boats sail into the Inner Harbor, your server will spill a bucket of perfectly cooked crabs across your paper-lined table—as many of them as you can eat during the two-hour time limit, if you go on a weeknight. Accompany your feast with a pitcher of beer or one of the many crushes on the menu, and round it out with a basket of the marvelous hush puppies.

Conrad’s Seafood Restaurant

Perry Hall

The Perry Hall location of Tony Conrad’s mini blue crab empire moved across Belair Road last year, setting up shop in the home of a former Mexican restaurant. Legions of fans of his namesake crab houses (there’s also one in Abingdon and markets in Parkville and Bel Air) have made the quarter-mile move with him. The larger, bright restaurant includes a lively bar area and is filled with the sounds of slurping (both drinks and raw oysters) and mallets hitting shells that, more than likely, were very recently in the water. Many of the restaurant’s signature touches, like the free bucket of popcorn delivered before the meal, have stayed the same. There are a host of great crab dishes, including broiled oysters topped with Maryland lump crab meat, cream of crab, provolone, and seafood spice. The real stars, of course, are the steamed blue crabs, which come coated in the restaurant’s proprietary seafood blend.

Costas Inn

Dundalk

On some summer nights, the scent of steamed crabs fills the air as you approach Costas Inn, a beacon on the side of North Point Boulevard. Since 1971, this family-owned crab house (with a dash of Greek diner thrown in) has been churning out some of the most delicious blue crabs in the area. Served piping hot and doused in spicy seasoning, they’re a year-round treat (in the off-season they’re sourced primarily from the Gulf of Mexico). Costas is also known for its crab cakes (which can be shipped throughout the U.S.) and other crab dishes that dot the menu. One of the best is Salmon St. Michael; the broiled fish is topped with a huge heap of crabmeat and served with diced tomatoes in a cream sauce. It’s terrific, as is the atmosphere in the open dining room and adjacent bar, where the jukebox kicks out tunes, the bartenders pour ice-cold draft beer, and the Keno cards always seem to come up one number short. Fans now have even more to love—they are opening a second location in Timonium.

Jimmy Cantler’s Inn

Annapolis

For more than half a century, crab lovers have been winding their way along residential backroads to find a seat at this Annapolis institution, tucked away on a quiet creek around the bend from the Naval Academy and set on the Severn River. Seven days a week, 12 months a year, Cantler’s straight-outta-1974 dining room and simple outdoor deck are a lure for both locals and tourists—their paper-wrapped tables topped with heavy hard-shells that hail from Chesapeake waters in season (and the Gulf of Mexico through winter—or out of season if they are open year-round). They’re all steamed to order (aka never reheated, as has become the unfortunate custom of many even Maryland seafood houses) and topped with a hefty coating of J.O. seasoning (if you know, you know). We always opt to sit outside and usually order at least one soft-shell sandwich—served extra crispy and hauled in from the restaurant’s own riverside shedding tanks—plus a side of local summer sweet corn and an ice-cold bucket of Baltimore beer. Somehow, after all these years, even with a full parking lot, it still feels like a best-kept secret.

Mr. Bill’s Terrace Inn

Essex

Through three generations of family ownership, Mr. Bill’s (named after late owner Steve Eliades’ father) has been a no frills go-to spot for steamed crabs. In addition to its consistency—the crabs are always fairly priced, properly sized, and steamed just so—the restaurant’s seasoning sets it apart. It’s a house-made blend that includes some combination of cinnamon or nutmeg that gives it an almost sweet and spicy flavor. In addition to steamed hard-shells, there’s an entire section of the menu dedicated to crab appetizers, including delicious crab toast: four toasted baguettes served with alfredo marinara sauce and topped with jumbo lump crab imperial. While it may sound odd, trust us—it’s a combination that works. With plenty of TVs and sports memorabilia on the walls, Mr. Bill’s emits a bit of a sports bar vibe, which feels appropriate for a place that has hosted its share of Orioles greats.

Nick’s Fish House

Port Covington

Don’t fret when you see that the dirt parking lot at Nick’s Fish House is filled. In addition to an overflow lot, there’s a nearby parking garage, where a branded golf cart will gladly ferry you to the crab shack, which only adds to the merriment of one of the most convivial crab houses in town. (On Game Day, they even have shuttles to deposit you at M&T Bank Stadium.) Long before the Baltimore Peninsula took root, Nick’s—where Key West meets Key Highway, you might say—was destination dining. From the dock-side picnic tables, live music, and tropical drinks, to the Capital Gazette tray liners, the kitschy signs (“Please feel free to wash your claws”), and even a new swag shed at the entrance, this 21-year-old crab shack encapsulates all the quintessential charms of a Maryland crab house. Of course, the stars of the show are the steamed crabs, pictured above—hot, heavy, crusted in crab seasoning. But the massive menu is filled with other wonders, too, from mahi tacos to a cold seafood platter piled high with oysters, steamed shrimp, clams, and snow crabs. Wash it all down with a Sagamore crush (the distillery is right down the road). It doesn’t get more Maryland than this.

Ocean Odyssey

Cambridge

When you’re heading downy ocean—across the Bay Bridge, along Route 50, bound for those salty waves—this white-shack crab house is a required pit stop. A little more than halfway to the beach, Ocean Odyssey is only open April through October, aka prime crab season here in Maryland, meaning there’s no mystery about where your crabs are coming from: local watermen in Dorchester County. The Todd family has been slinging seafood since the 1940s, and regulars revere their cozy restaurant not only for its extra-crispy crab cakes, made entirely of local meat, but also a craft beer list featuring shore-made brews, craft-cocktail spritzes, and a moderntwist menu, like fresh-catch fish tacos featuring blackened cobia with charred corn salsa and tomatillo crema on one spring visit. Snag a picnic table for a brief reprieve before hopping back on the road to Ocean City.

Schultz’s Crab House

Essex

This old-school restaurant has been serving steamed crabs and other local specialties in a corner brick complex in Essex since 1969. In 2017 it was given the James Beard Foundation’s coveted American Classic award, and for good reason: The place is a glorious timewarp, its dark wood-paneled interior is crowded with regulars enjoying piles of blue crabs, but also sour beef and dumplings, crab fluff, and an excellent Maryland crab soup. There’s a well-populated bar, TVs showing O’s games, marlins on the walls, and nononsense servers. Still family-owned, Schultz’s is well worth any wait—they don’t take reservations. Though we’ve never had to wait for a table, if you do, you can get in a game of Keno and buy a commemorative T-shirt, as old-school as the red pleather upholstery.

CRAB CAKES

Let them
eat cakes

While we love to pick crabs, eating our crustaceans in cake form is all about the getting the max for the minimum (that is, the maximum amount of meat for the minimum amount of work).

Faidley Seafood

Downtown

Never have crab cakes gotten so much attention as the mountains of meat at this 139-year-old seafood stall inside historic Lexington Market. Every inch of every wall at this stellar stand is lined with praise, from Gourmet, which called the cakes “the most beautiful hunk of seafood anywhere on the East Coast” to R.W. Apple Jr.’s review in The New York Times, which reads: “Delicate, delicious, creamy and sweet, it may not quite be heaven, but by my reckoning, it’s a persuasive preview.” This is not hyperbole—it is both a fact and a closely guarded state secret. The ginormous cakes, some eight ounces of pure Maryland meat—are mixed with broken bits of Saltines and a proprietary sauce made by owner Nancy Devine, who shapes them by hand. You can eat them on-site (standing at a high wooden table is a Baltimore rite of passage) or get them to-go, along with a pint of Maryland crab soup. This is Maryland in a meal.

Gertrude’s

Hopkins-Homewood

The crab cakes at Gertrude’s Chesapeake Kitchen, chef John Shields’ swank restaurant at the Baltimore Museum of Art, are also an homage to Shields’ grandmother. They’re the soul of the place, her signature dish (and now her grandson’s), a hearty, purist version of the local specialty. Six ounces of dense, lump crab bound and broiled to a nice bronze, they’re accompanied by house-made fries, apple-fennel slaw, a slice of lemon, and basil-caper tartar sauce. There’s also a crab cake sampler option, with four mini cakes and remoulade, which is best if you’re with friends and wanting to share. For those who prefer museum-ing alone, the single, plump cake is a perfect lunch or light dinner, and as much of an aesthetic experience as the world-class museum next-door.

Jimmy’s Famous Seafood

Dundalk

Jimmy’s Famous Seafood hasn’t changed their recipe in the 50 years they’ve been open in a roadside complex in Dundalk. Well, almost—the cakes historically had a small amount of breadcrumbs added to the mix, but they were taken out recently to make the dish gluten-free. Served with housemade crackers, Old Bay tartar sauce, and a grilled half-lemon, the cakes are 8-oz. domes of broiled lump crab and a secret mixture of Old Bay, seasoning, and binders. Available singly, in pairs, and in a massive, one-pound iteration called “The Boss” that’s the size of a tea-cup saucer, these are no-fuss, old-school classics, sporting some of the biggest lumps of crabmeat we’ve found in local crab cakes. Yes, they’re massive, but settle in and enjoy while you wait for the pile of steamed blues coming your way.

Koco’s Pub

Hamilton

There’s a tanginess to a Koco’s crab cake that sets it apart. Like the other notable cakes around town, Koco’s lets the crab be the hero. But while the filler is minimal, it is not invisible. When combined with the crab meat, the result is a creamy, almost rich delicacy of which each bite is divine. The 11-ounce crab cake platter (market price, check the chalkboards) comes with fries, cole slaw, and a thickcut tomato slice doused with Old Bay; everything on the plate is fantastic. That explains why the small, funky neighborhood joint is always bustling. Call for a reservation or take your chances finding a seat at the usually packed bar. You may see your friend, your neighbor, a local VIP like Mayor Brandon Scott, or a celeb like Jim Belushi. They all know what we’ve known for decades—Koco’s is crustacean heaven.

Pappas Restaurant & Sports Bar

Parkville (original) and other locations

Consistency is a goal many restaurants strive for but only a few achieve. Pappas has made it to the mountaintop. This Parkville legend has been making some of the region’s best crab cakes since 1972. Every time we sink our teeth into one of these eight-ounce beauties, we’re reminded of why we continually return. The large chunks of crab, the minimal amount of filler, the hint of creaminess never seem to change. That’s not a surprise: While the exact recipe is a secret, it has remained the same for more than a half-century. We’re betting that there is no secret formula, just a base of quality ingredients and the consistent preparation that only time can perfect.

Thames Street Oyster House

Fells Point

There are many reasons to grab a bite at this Fells Point rowhouse tavern, and at the top of that list is their excellent crab cake. Possibly the prettiest version in town, as it’s served in a cast-iron skillet, Thames Street’s cake is a golden marvel, loaded with lump crab and paired with Eastern Shore cocktail sauce. What comes with it varies with the season, maybe roasted sweet potatoes and Swiss chard, and you could do worse than adding something from the splendid raw bar. Chef-owner Eric Houseknecht also does a terrific lobster roll, but it’s the crab cakes that we come back for, as we have since the place opened more than a decade ago.

True Chesapeake

Hampden-Woodberry

The first oyster farm turned restaurant might be known for its beautiful bivalves but the simple crab cake—either a generous five ounces of lump crab or jumbo lump, depending on your whims and wallet— with little filler is killer. The recipe is a harmonious blend of mayo, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and Old Bay, and a bit of chives and parsley thrown in for good measure. A squishy potato bun complements the whole affair. Go during happy hour, sit at the bar surrounded by Jay Fleming nautical photos and made of recycled mollusk shells, throw in a cutrate ($6) Old-Fashioned, and get ready for, as the name of the restaurant implies, an authentic Chesapeake experience.

Woodberry Tavern

Hampden-Woodberry

When you order a crab cake from Woodberry Tavern, you are guaranteed to get Maryland meat. (Sadly, in our great crustacean state, this is more of a rarity than you might think.) The crabs here come from Taylor’s Island on the Eastern Shore, as touted on chef Steven Kenney’s menu. And when it comes to the crab cakes, there’s blissfully little to get in the way of that meat. Expect five ounces of heavy-on-hunks jumbo lump crab. The cakes—capped with a crackly crust made from locally grown and milled spelt bread—are a minimalist feat with exactly eight ingredients to make the mound, then burnished to perfection. While the presentation changes, our favorite iteration includes sweet-corn pudding and tomato confit. In fact, in high season (roughly August through October), our state crustacean gets top billing across the menu. On one early fall menu, there’s corn flour linguine with tomato crab gravy and crab fritters, a signature crab pot made with more of that Taylor’s Island blue crab that arrives sizzling in a skillet and served with house-made crackers and crudité, and a pot pie filled with a rich mixture of crab, sweet corn, squash, pole beans, and thyme.

CRABBY DISHES

It’s a crab,
crab world

From pizza to bagels, we want crab blanketed, stuffed, and folded into everything we eat.

From left: The crab dip bagel at Café Dear Leon; Crab hash and fried green tomato eggs Benedict at Miss Shirley’s.

Crab Empanadas

Franchesca’s Empanadas

Another variation on the traditional ways Marylanders consume their favorite seafood is to transform the crab into empanadas. At Franchesca’s Empanadas Café, Franchesca Nunez has created a cozy, colorful space in a Highlandtown rowhouse where she offers a wide variety of the Latin American handheld pastries. Nunez’s empanadas—the Spanish verb “empanar” means to wrap or coat in bread—are small, addictive pies that contain a variety of fillings, such as chicken, spinach and ricotta, ham and cheese, plantains and cheese, and of course crab. Imagine a crab cake wrapped in pastry and then deep-fried, its fluted edges crunchy and golden.

Crab Curry

The Dara

More accurately called gaeng ga-ti pu, the crab curry at The Dara, the Thai restaurant in an old Fells Point rowhouse, is a masterwork. House-made curry is paired with Maryland jumbo lump crab, a fried softshell, cornflower blue butterfly pea flower rice, and a jammy soft-boiled egg. Chef and co-owner Putthipat “Jeff” Wannapithipat synthesizes all this into a dish that pays homage to both of the chef’s homes: his native Bangkok and his adopted Baltimore. Blue crab curry is a traditional dish in Thailand, where it’s usually made with noodles and served with fresh vegetables. Wannapithipat loads his coconut-milk yellow curry with lump crab then nestles a soft-shell atop both the curry and a bed of blue rice, adding a chiffonade of makrut lime leaves and a thatch of cilantro. Marylanders are used to having some spice with their crab; the heat and jolt of the curry is both new and somehow wonderfully familiar.

Crabby Fries

Clark Burger

Order crab dip at most bars or taverns and it will come paired with crackers, chips, or maybe rounds of toasted bread—all worthwhile ways to scoop up our favorite Maryland treat. But at Clark Burger, the Govans burger-and-poutine joint, crab dip comes heaped atop a hefty pile of French fries, and once you try it this way, you won’t go back to crackers. Clark Burger makes very good fries, hand-cutting the potatoes and frying them while you wait. The crabby fries are a newish addition to the menu, exceedingly popular, and come in small and large versions, the large being a massive pile of crispy fries topped with the crab-rich dip and studded with scallions. Although an order is an excellent accompaniment to a burger, it’s a full meal on its own, especially consumed while taking in a show next-door at the Senator Theater. Just don’t forget the napkins.

Crab Malabar

Peerce’s

Crab Malabar is a celebration of India’s coastal cuisine and this traditional take is among our favorite things to order at Binda and Keir Singh’s elegant restaurant along a pastoral stretch of Dulaney Valley Road. Even in Maryland, it’s not something you see on most menus. Named for the Malabar region of Southern India, the dish is rife with tender clumps of crab flecked with kernels of corn, bits of Vidalia onion, and a squeeze of lime, plus a serving of basmati rice and creamed spinach that arrives with almost every entree. It’s subtly seasoned so as not to interfere with the sweetness of the meat. Be sure to order at least one basket of naan or onion kulcha to clean your plate of every last fleck of food, then, as you pay your bill, make a vow (or even a reservation) to return.

Crab Pie

Crust By Mack

Amanda Mack’s crab pie is the stuff of local legend, a combination of buttermilk dough and her mother’s crab dip recipe, transformed into a heavenly pastry dusted with Old Bay and accompanied by a cup of drawn butter. Yes, extra butter, because there is no such thing as a too-rich pastry. Crust By Mack began life as a pop-up in 2018 and now operates as a Black-owned, family-run, perfectly pink bakery in Harborplace, where Mack, who is “grandmother-taught,” bakes those pies—plus brown-butter pecan cookies, vanilla-bean French toast, sweet potato “crustinies”—in a second-floor shop with views of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

Crab Palacinke

Little Donna’s

Tucked into the ground floor of a Fells Point rowhouse, Little Donna’s serves idiosyncratic and extremely skillful tavern food. In the hands of chef-owner Robbie Tutlewski, this translates into thin-crust pizzas and his take on both local specialties and those he learned from his Serbian-born grandmother, for whom Little Donna’s is named. Along with pierogies topped with chile crisp and schnitzel stuffed with kielbasa from a sausage maker down the street, there are crab palacinkes, thin Balkan-style crepes filled with crabmeat and paired with apple-fennel salad and hot-pepper jam. It’s a perfect Baltimore dish, tailoring our crab obsession to our region’s large Eastern European population and heritage.

Crab Papusa

El Paraiso

If you love crab but are wanting something a little more interesting—and international— than a pile of steamed blues or a crab cake, consider heading to a Reisterstown strip mall. There, in a small, family-run shop, El Paraiso has been turning out crab pupusas for more than two decades. The national dish of El Salvador, a pupusa is a thick, griddled corn pancake that’s usually stuffed with loroco, a regional green with edible flowers, cheese, beans, or meats. At El Paraiso, they also come filled with crabmeat and a bit of cheese that spills out of the cakes and toasts on the griddle. Paired with a cup of spicy slaw, these are hearty wonders. And if you’re somehow still hungry afterwards, there’s also a case filled with bakery treats.

Imperial Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

Kislings Tavern

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the imperial crab stuffed mushrooms at Kislings Tavern, the Canton bar known for its wings, is that the mushroom is as good as the crab. The lump crab meat—chunky, lightly seasoned—is of course fantastic. But the mushroom caps in which they are delivered are so much more than just vessels. Fat, fresh, and juicy, they produce complex flavor with every bite. Because they’re so bold, each morsel of the broiled dish provides as much mushroom taste as crab. If you’re a shroom fan who loves crab (there are plenty of us out there), this dish is for you.

Crab Hash and Fried Green Tomato Eggs Benedict

Miss Shirley’s Cafe

Miss Shirley’s turns 20 this year, and we recommend that you celebrate like we have: over a plate of crab hash and fried green tomato eggs Benedict. Even on a menu crowded with crowd-pleasers, this dish stands above. Perfectly poached eggs sit atop crisp fried green tomatoes at the corners of the plate. Between them: a colorful collection of asparagus, corn, red peppers, green onions, and, of course, plenty of jumbo lump crabmeat. Pierce the egg and the consistency of the hash becomes gooey and even greater. Garnished with hollandaise and chives and dusted with Old Bay, it all works together beautifully. Wash it all down with one of the delightful breakfast cocktails and toast to another 20 years of brunch at Miss Shirley’s.

The Granchio Bianche pizza at Verde is topped with crabmeat.

Granchio Bianche Pizza

Verde

With so many spectacular Neapolitan pizzas to choose from at Verde, the fabulous neighborhood Italian spot in Canton, you can be excused if you haven’t yet tried the Granchio Bianche. At first glance it might seem an odd combo: homemade mozzarella topped with lump crab meat, artichokes, Pecorino Romano, garlic, and lemon slices. But, like everything here, it works. The crabmeat is plentiful and the crust is expertly charred and pillowy. But it’s those slices of lemon that create an acidity that elevates everything else in your mouth. This is worlds away from the standard Baltimore-style crab pizza, which—and trust us, we’re not knocking it—usually features gooey crab dip. The Granchio Bianche treats crab like the delicacy it is.

Crab Soup

Linwoods

The Maryland crab soup at this Owings Mills fine-dining institution is a paragon of the form. It’s hearty—rife with corn, bean, peas, potatoes, and tomato in a kicky tomato-based broth and comes served in a tureen-sized bowl. There’s enough of the prized jumbo lump folded into the broth and floating across the surface to sate your cravings (and even make a meal), but if you still have space, and you’re on a crabby kick, consider the stupendous crab cake as an entrée for a truly fine feast.

Crab Dip Bagel

Café Dear Leon

The lines up O’Donnell Street for Café Dear Leon have always been long, but last November they got even longer, like TikTok long, after the bakery’s founders, Cheolsoo Lee, Sungae Lee, and Min Kim, added crab dip bagels to their menu. These are not New York-style bagels but a variation of Korean garlic bread embedded with crab dip and topped with lump crab, corn kernels, and some decorative herbs. The result is an incredibly rich, incredibly flavorful, Maryland-friendly mash-up, beautifully realized in the hands of bakers with Korean heritage, trained at the Culinary Institute of America, and happily installed in Canton. Is it worth standing in line for an hour? Only you can answer that, but it is arguably the best iteration of crab dip in town.