Captain Pell's Fairfax Crabhouse

Captain Pell's has been a go-to spot for me for the last 3 decades. Excellent food, wonderful service, and a great atmosphere. I'll admit that aside from the crab, corn, and hush puppies I haven't explored the menu that deeply, but the crab is so darn good it's hard to not get.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: All You Can Eat Crabs

Captain Pell’s is a gem! Love this place.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Did a take-out on Sunday lunch. We ordered online and the food was ready in 15 mins after the restaurant opened. I ordered two neptune platters, steamed shrimp, and 6 extra large blue crabs. They were packed in boxes and paper bags.

Snow crab legs that come with neptune platters were big, fresh, and juicy. They were easy to crack open even with hands too. Fries that came with the platter were soggy. Didn’t like them. Corn was ok.

Steamed shrimps were ordinary. Nothing special about it. A little bit of kicks to it which I didn’t like. It wasn’t old bay but some other types of spice.

Blue crabs looked great at first but when I cracked them open, the crab meat wasn’t as fresh as I expected.

Overall, good place for snow crab legs but I would not recommend other things. I would go back to this restaurant to try other menus.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

As someone who grew up on the Gulf a Coast and loves fried shrimp & catfish....this was sub-par. The shrimp tasted frozen, the catfish was not crispy, and the crab cake left a lot to be desired, particularly considering the expensive prices!!! The fries and hush puppies were the best thing on the plate. Service was good, but I won't be back ...I will wait until I can get to the southern coast and get some really deliciously-prepared seafood ... I figured this place is probably better known for their crabs.....

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 4

My husband and I had a great experience at Captain Pell’s this past Sunday (7/13), thanks to our amazing waitress, Elizabeth! She was incredibly attentive—she kept our drinks full without us even having to ask and brought everything we needed right away. Her friendly attitude and quick service really made our meal that much better. You can tell she genuinely cares about her guests. Captain Pell’s is lucky to have her—we’ll definitely be back!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Great experience, first time trying it.

Recommended dishes: Scallops, All You Can Eat Crabs

I love the crabs. When I have a need for crab and none of the other restaurants fill the fit for me, Captain Pells does. The prices are fair and you get a good amount.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We have gone to capt pells 4 times in the past year with mixed results. We went on July 4. Got there just as they opened at noon to avoid the crowds.
We ordered two all you can eat steamed crabs expecting average size male crabs as no one had said anything when we ordered.
When our order came to
The table they were all female crabs. When I informed
The waitress that they were female crabs she said that’s what we have. I asked her why they didn’t say anything or
Put that in there advertising for the Fourth of July, there was no answer. The first problem is if you know steam crabs females taste different then males also, it does nothing for the propagation of the species. I am sure a lot
Of people ate there and ate female crabs and maybe didn’t
Know
The difference. If they had been honest instead of betting on people’s ignorance they could have saved me the drive.
I didn’t eat the crabs and didn’t pay for
Them. They couldn’t
Of cared less.

Captain Pell’s called me a liar and refused to refund me a measly $12 for corn that I ordered and paid for but was not in our to go order. I spent $375 on crabs this past weekend. We picked them up. They handed us two paper bags. There were no other containers in their to-go bins. We assumed the corn was in the bags and did not open them because we wanted the crabs/corn to stay hot. No corn. When I called to ask them to refund me for the corn, they said that is not their policy and I could come pick up the corn. By this time, I was an hour’s drive away. They blamed ME for not checking my order and insisted we were handed a styrofoam container of corn. They said “we don’t know what happened to the corn once you left with it.” We were not handed any corn. I would have let it go but am writing this review because they refused to refund me a paltry $12 and called me a liar. It’s a shame because I’ve ordered crabs from them for years. I hope this review costs them a lot more in the future and I will not be ordering from them again. Terrible customer service. I do not recommend them.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

The food was like if God itself had blessed each spec. The oysters tasted like they've never been frozen and we're fried immediately after being yanked from the ocean, the lobster was sweet and juicy, as if the cook had known the lobster personally. And the crab cakes, each bite was like I had been standing all my life and just say down, for this restaurant to be under 4, no. 5 stars is a crime, for whoever makes the food and runs the restaurant, knows what they're doing. Thank you.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

This place may be old but it's has some of the best blue crabs your going to find in the Northern Virginia region. Then extra dollars and get the jumbos. I was start off with two jumbos, and if you're still hungry go for it.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

I gave them five stars for being the biggest ripoff of crabs in Fairfax Va. Check your crabs because they will steal from you if you don’t check your seafood.Billy you of all people should be ashamed.

Great food. Would hate to see back of house… bathrooms are a mess!!!

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 5

Service: 3

Take out order. Helpful staff offered to carry some items to my car. Crapa were tasty and big.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food is good service is good

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5