The Blue Crab
Blue Crab announces on its website that it is the “best place for seafood” in Bethany Beach, a curious claim given that more than one-half of its menu is dedicated to land lover options and the fish is, well, not right off the trawler. Hmm, it takes minimal effort to steam hard shell crabs; sprinkle imitation Old Bay seasoning that seemingly is purchased by the ton; dump the crabs on a large table with butcher block paper; drop a bucket for the shells and a mallet to smash them; and include, maybe, a bib and a pitcher of beer – and you too can announce your crabs are the best. Enjoy Blue Crab for its crab and shrimp feasts, but don’t expect anything near ‘jumbos,’ because restaurants focusing on all-you-can-eat essentially wager their margins on crab dining fatigue and waning effort, along with a 250% mark-up on the pitchers of beer necessary to temper the Old Bay style seasoning throat burn. Everything else on the menu is largely pedestrian, a bland meal from a bland space with sometimes bland service. Given tricky parking in downtown Bethany Beach, Blue Crab is not an attractive draw other than it is cleaner than most of the dingy all-you-can-eat local crab joints, and larger too, having years ago assumed the former Bethany Oyster House next door to give it a more cavernous look and feel. The pitchers flow at Blue Crab, and so do families seeking bargain seafood dishes and a walk home though downtown Bethany Beach’s ubiquitous ice cream stores, which you will need to happily closeout a less than memorable dinner.