Virginia Beach · spotlight
Sixty-two years down Sandbridge Road, Margie and Ray's is still the south end's crab house
A 1964 country store turned crab house holds the best Google number in Virginia Beach. The she-crab soup draws the most praise and the all-you-can-eat board tops out at $76.99.
Margie and Ray's holds a 4.6 on Google across roughly 3,800 reviews. That is the best crab-house number in Virginia Beach. The all-you-can-eat ladder tops out at crab legs at $76.99 a head, as posted on the house specials page this summer. Order the crab legs and everything below them on the list comes along. That means flounder, fried oysters, scallops and North Carolina style barbecue.
The place sits at 1240 Sandbridge Road. The two-lane runs past the Pungo farm stands on the way to the Sandbridge beach cottages. Ray and Margie Blanton opened it in 1964 as a country store and tackle shop. They sold bait to the same people who now sell them crabs. Their son Thomas took over in 1997 and renovated it into the seafood restaurant it is today. The room stayed plain. Breakfast starts at 8 a.m. Dinner service ends at 8 p.m. Mondays it is closed. Steamed blue crabs are listed as seasonal and sold by the dozen or half-dozen only.
What the reviews actually say
TripAdvisor adds a 4.3 across about 800 more reviews. The most-praised order is not the crabs. It is the she-crab soup. Reviewers describe it over and over as thick with crab meat and rich enough to stand as a meal. One travel guide covering Virginia crab houses called the soup worth traveling for. In season, reviewers describe the steamed blues as fresh, plump and well seasoned. Service runs friendly and quick even on packed summer weekends.
The recurring complaint is how much of the menu is fried. Reviewers looking for broiled options note how short that list runs. A few reviewers report an inconsistent night and an overcooked plate. Almost nobody complains about the prices.
The practical part
Price signal: middle of the road for the region. The posted all-you-can-eat ladder starts at $19.99 and ends at the $76.99 crab-leg tier. Early-bird plates run $12.99 to $16.99 in the late afternoon. Steamed blues are seasonal. Call +1 757 426 2397 before making the drive if a dozen jimmies is the whole point. July through October is the window that matters.
Go on a weekday if you can. Order the she-crab soup first.
