Bethesda Crab House

Hey Ting...

So when my friend Chang making his return pit stop from Spain, I felt it customary to at least show him some Maryland delicacies...yes, the Chesapeake Bay crab. And seeing as how we've been deemed fairly immobilized with our lack of a vehicle, a crab house that was metro accessible was necessary...and with the input from fellow DCers, Bethesda Crab House is the place to go.

Let it be known though, that a reservation for your crabs is a must. And you don't go reserving a table here at this hole-in-the-wall type "shack"...you reserve your crabs. They come in sizes of medium, large, and x-large crabs, and they'll take orders until the crabs have been sold out or have made a daring crab-crawl escape from their holding tanks. Crabs here don't come cheap, so either bring along a few friends or make sure you have a full wallet as prices can range from $40 - $80 a dozen depending on size.

With last minutes reservation, we were able to secure ourselves a dozen x-large crabs. Now this wasn't one of those swanky RW locales, this was purely a crab shack for the locals and definitely not for the lazy. There aren't any plates or utensils (unless you count the mallet and paring knife). And these crabs definitely come whole...none of this prissy pre-extracted crab meat that comes mixed with some salad or dipped in some soup...no way, at Bethesda Crab House, it's hardcore hand-cracking, butter-dipping, shell-crushing crabs. You got to earn the succulent meat in those shells, making the reward of taste that much better.
this is what a dozen crabs covered in Old Bay seasoning looks like

ting's indulgence

a best friend's feast

It was definitely a relief to indulge ourselves in some pure seafood blue-collar gluttony coming off a Restaurant Month Week of high-class, well-mannered composure. This was definitely not a cocktail dress or business casual type of place...dress at your own risk, I say, as you may well leave with crab gut stains on your shirt and shell fragments in your hair.

So I would definitely recommend a return trip, but knowing how prices can add up especially with a pitcher of beer or maybe some shrimp and potato salad appetizers, it might just be a monthly thing. So go with some friends and set this bet...the first person to eat their share of crabs wins and the loser catches the tab.

Bethesda Crab House
4958 Bethesda Ave
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-652-3382