I have a very clear recollection of visiting The Crab Claw in St. Michaels on a road trip with my parents and eating crabs at an outdoor picnic table on a wide lawn surrounded by other groups doing the same. When I planned this trip I made sure to be in St. Michaels at lunch time in order to visit The Crab Claw and recreate the experience with my own children. Once we arrived I was surprised to see that there was no lawn in sight, just an array of picnic tables in a rather nondescript covered deck. The jumbo crabs were exorbitantly expensive and didn't seem particularly large and the boiled corn the server suggested was charged at six bucks for each half ear. Not really the nostalgic experience I had hoped for. I guess a lot can change in fifty years.
Arnulfo Chapa
Great place, great food, very accessible, on scooter đ
Food: 5
Xeniya Kameneva
Best blue crabs and lobsters!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
parigino48
My wife and I ate lunch here on 10/15/25 and swore ânever again.â The crab cake that I ordered was tasteless and âoffâ and *very* expensive at $36. It was accompanied by a baked potato that was just meh and applesauce that obviously had been spooned out of a supermarket-bought jar. The only tasty and satisfying part of the entire meal was the Smith Island cake that, by the waitressâs own admission, had been bought from a commercial bakery. My wifeâs feelings about her order of crabmeat sandwich and french fries were pretty much the same as mine about my order. Worse, we were both quite ill later that afternoon and evening with various unpleasant stomach and intestinal symptoms. We also didnât enjoy the seating on hard campground-style benches. The next day, 10/16/25, we stopped for a seafood lunch at the Fishermanâs Inn at Grasonville in Kent Narrows, one of our favorite restaurants, and as always had a delicious seafood meal there. The crab cake my wife ate there was far, far superior to the Crab Clawâs, and was much cheaper at $23 than the Crab Clawâs ($36). My dish of broiled flounder in lemon-and-chive beurre blanc was outstanding, and the Fishermanâs Innâs delicious applesauce is home-made. The Fishermanâs Inn also boasts a very comfortable and pleasant dining room, unlike the Crab Clawâs uncomfortable open-air shed. Avoid the Crab Claw in St Michaelâs like the plague !!!
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Ian Lever
Atmosphere is nice by the water. Food is alright and service was great to start; but as it got more crowded, it was tough for the servers to cover all the tables.
All in all, a good spot if youâre more focused on the vibes
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Douglas Bathurst
Ate inside as it was windy. Good crabcake.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
P
Worst experience ever!!! DON'T GO HERE!! This place needs a major staff change and management change. The way they run their restaurant is not good at all. There were tons of servers yesterday just standing around. Why did it take over 20 minutes for someone to wait on our party. We had to get someone's attention to let them know hello we are here to eat and we would like to place are order with you. The outside bartender was rude and the guy waiter we had was rude as well. He was more focused on helping the larger party towards the back of the deck then helping us. He stopped mid way while taking our order to help run food to them. Isn't that a job for the food runners at a restaurant not the waiters job. ALSO THIS WAS MY MOM'S FIRST TIME COMING HERE AND MY MOM SAID IT WILL BE HER LAST TIME EVER GOING THERE AGAIN!!!! SHE SAID ONE AND DONE!! NEVER EVER AGAIN!! It's so sad because she was looking forward to enjoying the water views and having some yummy crabcakes. Well the unfortunate thing is know one in our party received our lunch yesterday. It took so long just to get the appetizers it was really ridiculous!!!! We sat there well over 1 hour and still no lunch in sight. However the tables next to us who sat down a good while after us received their food. Does that make any sense at all? NOPE!! There was a guy server vaping near the soda area. Not professional at all and super grose too!! This restaurant used to be so good back in the day not anymore. Very sad and disappointing to say the least!!! PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF THE TIME AND ENGERY AND GO SOMEWHERE ELSE WHO WILL MAKE YOUR DINNING EXPERIENCE WONDERFUL!!!!!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
K H
The first thing I wanted to say is PLEASE DON'T GO HERE EVER!!!!!!! STAY AWAY!!!! The outside is where we sat and let me tell you we should had left 15 minutes after we ordered our food. The server had a bad attitude and keep rushing us so he could attend to a huge party. Of course he was because he knew he was going to get a large amount of a tip from them. HOW RUDE AND RIDICULOUS!!! My friends ordered the oyster casino for a appetizer and they were so flat. The cocktail sauce was just dumped on the plate and not in any kind of small dish. There was barley any cheese or bacon on them. VERY DISPOINTING!! The oyster casino was supposed to be hot and they were cold. Not okay! We sat there for over 1 hour and 30 minutes waiting patiently for our food that never came. He didn't want to answer any questions for us. I had a food allergy and it didn't seem to matter at all. That's so disturbing. They took over 30 minutes just to bring out a side of hush puppies,a basket of hush puppies, and the oyster casino. We had to yell to catch the servers attention just to get refills. $4.00 dollars for soda is also ridiculous and over priced. They no longer carry there bread basket while you wait or their signature dessert which was fresh strawberry pie or their New York Cheesecake. They have been there for 60 years and this place you to be the place to go for steamed crabs đŠ and crabcakes NOT ANYMORE!! This place was so good many years ago and it's so sad that they went down the hill. Also one of the guy waiters was near the outside soda drink station vaping. NOT OKAY!! SOME PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF HAS ASTHMA AND CAN'T BREATHE CORRECTLY WHEN PEOPLE ARE DOING THAT. HE WAS DOING THIS IN FRONT OF THE CUSTOMERS. When we sat down it took forever just for the server to take our order then we noticed that people sitting to our left and right were getting their food before us. NOT OKAY!! WE WERE THERE FIRST!! IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A SEAFOOD RESTAURANT TO GO TO CHECK OUT....CHEASPEAKE LANDING IN MCDANIEL,Maryland less then 10 miles from Crab Claw restaurant. YOU'LL LOVE CHEASPEAKE LANDING RESTAURANT!! GO THERE INSTEAD!!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Sola Stulus
One of the best secret on the eastern shore.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Chris Waddell
fantastic spot to sit on the water and eat seafood !
I thought it was just a little bit like bar food, and the prices were twice as high as they should be
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 2
Dave Shoemaker
The flounder was the best, most fresh flounder I have had that I didn't catch.
The crabs were excellent.
The service was awesome
Knotoncall2
We are six Marylanders with more than three centuries of steamed crab eating between us so why did we come here? Well it was to savor the great view. By reputation, we did not expect much from the food. Our expectations were confirmed on both counts. First the view was excellent on a beautiful day with the harbor filling up with pleasure boats for the Labor Day weekend. Our server was a bit rushed but he took great care of us. The crabs were $11 each and allegedly size âlargeâ but although they were flavorful, some were very, very small; with tiny little claws the width of a pencil. I would hate to see their size medium crabs! In addition to the price of meals, of course they add a credit card fee, tax, the Maryland 9% tax on alcohol, and for parties 6 and over a 20% gratuity (on the entire meal including tax and alcohol tax). If you are from out of state, this is a fine restaurant to enjoy the view of St. Michaelâs harbor and gain some semblance of an experience eating steamed crabs. But if you want to really have an authentic crab eating experience with decent sized crabs, you should go somewhere else.
Kathleen McCann
We ordered hard crabs. The biggest they had were large. All were almost entirely devoid of crabmeat. No backfin lump. Just a few shreds of crabmeat. I complained to the waitress and showed her an empty shell. She took it to the manager and they gave us half off. What we got wasnât even worth that. The picture shows the backfin area just after opening it. Empty!
Food: 1
michaelsS7417FJ
Went for lunch with the family. We were a party of 5 adults. had two pitchers of beer, 2 bloody mary's, 1 lemonade, bowl of cream of crab, clam strips and 5 sandwiches. Our total bill was $277.00 before tip. We ate at a picnic table with paper plates and plastic silverware. Just seemed outrageously expensive.
I have a very clear recollection of visiting The Crab Claw in St. Michaels on a road trip with my parents and eating crabs at an outdoor picnic table on a wide lawn surrounded by other groups doing the same. When I planned this trip I made sure to be in St. Michaels at lunch time in order to visit The Crab Claw and recreate the experience with my own children. Once we arrived I was surprised to see that there was no lawn in sight, just an array of picnic tables in a rather nondescript covered deck. The jumbo crabs were exorbitantly expensive and didn't seem particularly large and the boiled corn the server suggested was charged at six bucks for each half ear. Not really the nostalgic experience I had hoped for. I guess a lot can change in fifty years.
Great place, great food, very accessible, on scooter đ
Food: 5
Best blue crabs and lobsters!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
My wife and I ate lunch here on 10/15/25 and swore ânever again.â The crab cake that I ordered was tasteless and âoffâ and *very* expensive at $36. It was accompanied by a baked potato that was just meh and applesauce that obviously had been spooned out of a supermarket-bought jar. The only tasty and satisfying part of the entire meal was the Smith Island cake that, by the waitressâs own admission, had been bought from a commercial bakery. My wifeâs feelings about her order of crabmeat sandwich and french fries were pretty much the same as mine about my order. Worse, we were both quite ill later that afternoon and evening with various unpleasant stomach and intestinal symptoms. We also didnât enjoy the seating on hard campground-style benches. The next day, 10/16/25, we stopped for a seafood lunch at the Fishermanâs Inn at Grasonville in Kent Narrows, one of our favorite restaurants, and as always had a delicious seafood meal there. The crab cake my wife ate there was far, far superior to the Crab Clawâs, and was much cheaper at $23 than the Crab Clawâs ($36). My dish of broiled flounder in lemon-and-chive beurre blanc was outstanding, and the Fishermanâs Innâs delicious applesauce is home-made. The Fishermanâs Inn also boasts a very comfortable and pleasant dining room, unlike the Crab Clawâs uncomfortable open-air shed. Avoid the Crab Claw in St Michaelâs like the plague !!!
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Atmosphere is nice by the water. Food is alright and service was great to start; but as it got more crowded, it was tough for the servers to cover all the tables.
All in all, a good spot if youâre more focused on the vibes
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Ate inside as it was windy. Good crabcake.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Worst experience ever!!! DON'T GO HERE!! This place needs a major staff change and management change. The way they run their restaurant is not good at all. There were tons of servers yesterday just standing around. Why did it take over 20 minutes for someone to wait on our party. We had to get someone's attention to let them know hello we are here to eat and we would like to place are order with you. The outside bartender was rude and the guy waiter we had was rude as well. He was more focused on helping the larger party towards the back of the deck then helping us. He stopped mid way while taking our order to help run food to them. Isn't that a job for the food runners at a restaurant not the waiters job. ALSO THIS WAS MY MOM'S FIRST TIME COMING HERE AND MY MOM SAID IT WILL BE HER LAST TIME EVER GOING THERE AGAIN!!!! SHE SAID ONE AND DONE!! NEVER EVER AGAIN!! It's so sad because she was looking forward to enjoying the water views and having some yummy crabcakes. Well the unfortunate thing is know one in our party received our lunch yesterday. It took so long just to get the appetizers it was really ridiculous!!!! We sat there well over 1 hour and still no lunch in sight. However the tables next to us who sat down a good while after us received their food. Does that make any sense at all? NOPE!! There was a guy server vaping near the soda area. Not professional at all and super grose too!! This restaurant used to be so good back in the day not anymore. Very sad and disappointing to say the least!!! PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF THE TIME AND ENGERY AND GO SOMEWHERE ELSE WHO WILL MAKE YOUR DINNING EXPERIENCE WONDERFUL!!!!!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
The first thing I wanted to say is PLEASE DON'T GO HERE EVER!!!!!!! STAY AWAY!!!! The outside is where we sat and let me tell you we should had left 15 minutes after we ordered our food. The server had a bad attitude and keep rushing us so he could attend to a huge party. Of course he was because he knew he was going to get a large amount of a tip from them. HOW RUDE AND RIDICULOUS!!! My friends ordered the oyster casino for a appetizer and they were so flat. The cocktail sauce was just dumped on the plate and not in any kind of small dish. There was barley any cheese or bacon on them. VERY DISPOINTING!! The oyster casino was supposed to be hot and they were cold. Not okay! We sat there for over 1 hour and 30 minutes waiting patiently for our food that never came. He didn't want to answer any questions for us. I had a food allergy and it didn't seem to matter at all. That's so disturbing. They took over 30 minutes just to bring out a side of hush puppies,a basket of hush puppies, and the oyster casino. We had to yell to catch the servers attention just to get refills. $4.00 dollars for soda is also ridiculous and over priced. They no longer carry there bread basket while you wait or their signature dessert which was fresh strawberry pie or their New York Cheesecake. They have been there for 60 years and this place you to be the place to go for steamed crabs đŠ and crabcakes NOT ANYMORE!! This place was so good many years ago and it's so sad that they went down the hill. Also one of the guy waiters was near the outside soda drink station vaping. NOT OKAY!! SOME PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF HAS ASTHMA AND CAN'T BREATHE CORRECTLY WHEN PEOPLE ARE DOING THAT. HE WAS DOING THIS IN FRONT OF THE CUSTOMERS. When we sat down it took forever just for the server to take our order then we noticed that people sitting to our left and right were getting their food before us. NOT OKAY!! WE WERE THERE FIRST!! IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A SEAFOOD RESTAURANT TO GO TO CHECK OUT....CHEASPEAKE LANDING IN MCDANIEL,Maryland less then 10 miles from Crab Claw restaurant. YOU'LL LOVE CHEASPEAKE LANDING RESTAURANT!! GO THERE INSTEAD!!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
One of the best secret on the eastern shore.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
fantastic spot to sit on the water and eat seafood !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
I thought it was just a little bit like bar food, and the prices were twice as high as they should be
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 2
The flounder was the best, most fresh flounder I have had that I didn't catch.
The crabs were excellent.
The service was awesome
We are six Marylanders with more than three centuries of steamed crab eating between us so why did we come here? Well it was to savor the great view. By reputation, we did not expect much from the food. Our expectations were confirmed on both counts. First the view was excellent on a beautiful day with the harbor filling up with pleasure boats for the Labor Day weekend. Our server was a bit rushed but he took great care of us. The crabs were $11 each and allegedly size âlargeâ but although they were flavorful, some were very, very small; with tiny little claws the width of a pencil. I would hate to see their size medium crabs! In addition to the price of meals, of course they add a credit card fee, tax, the Maryland 9% tax on alcohol, and for parties 6 and over a 20% gratuity (on the entire meal including tax and alcohol tax). If you are from out of state, this is a fine restaurant to enjoy the view of St. Michaelâs harbor and gain some semblance of an experience eating steamed crabs. But if you want to really have an authentic crab eating experience with decent sized crabs, you should go somewhere else.
We ordered hard crabs. The biggest they had were large. All were almost entirely devoid of crabmeat. No backfin lump. Just a few shreds of crabmeat. I complained to the waitress and showed her an empty shell. She took it to the manager and they gave us half off. What we got wasnât even worth that. The picture shows the backfin area just after opening it. Empty!
Food: 1
Went for lunch with the family. We were a party of 5 adults. had two pitchers of beer, 2 bloody mary's, 1 lemonade, bowl of cream of crab, clam strips and 5 sandwiches. Our total bill was $277.00 before tip. We ate at a picnic table with paper plates and plastic silverware. Just seemed outrageously expensive.
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