Jimmies on the inlet, crab cakes at 5th Street: a Virginia Beach field guide

Virginia Beach's crab business runs through two doors on the Lynnhaven Inlet and one oceanfront dining room. Bubba's at 3323 Shore Drive and Dockside at 3311 sit side by side on the inlet waterfront. Bubba's is the crab house with dock seating. Dockside is the market counter that sells steamed blues by the pound and the dozen. Behind both, charter boats come through the inlet with the Lesner Bridge beyond. Add Waterman's on the oceanfront and you have the three stops that cover everything Margie and Ray's does not. Margie and Ray's sits out in the south end.

Bubba's is the sit-down half of the inlet pair. The family operation is more than thirty years old and grew out of the marina next door. Steamed jimmies come by the dozen at market price when available, no number printed. The number changes with the catch. The menu runs from a $7.95 cup of she-crab soup to market-priced crab cake dinners at the top. Seafood comes across the dock from the boats. Google has it at 4.3 across roughly 3,400 reviews.

Dockside, one door west, is where the neighborhood actually buys its crabs. The market runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and the restaurant 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The same building sends out fishing charters in between. Buy at the counter: steamed blues to go, soft shells in season and whatever else came in that morning. Deck tables over the marina serve anyone who would rather eat where they stand. Google holds it at 4.5 across roughly 3,400 reviews. TripAdvisor ranks it among the top thirty restaurants in a city with more than 1,500 of them.

Waterman's serves no steamed crabs at all. The crab business at 415 Atlantic Avenue runs through the kitchen. The Standing family built the oceanfront dining room in 1981 as Fogg's Seafood Company. It became Waterman's Beachwood Grill in 1996. A full renovation brought it back in 2007 as Waterman's Surfside Grille. The dinner menu flags the local lump crab cakes as the house favorite at $32.99. An $11 she-crab soup is billed as the signature bisque. Behind those sit a $19.99 crab cake sandwich and a Virginia crab imperial at $30.99.

What the reviews actually say

At Bubba's the praise centers on the water: the dock seating, the sunset and the freshness of what comes off the boats. The signature order in the reviews is the crab cake sandwich. The steamed jimmies draw the same praise when they are available. Reviewers note prices higher than nearby competition and service that slows badly at peak summer hours.

At Dockside, one TripAdvisor reviewer headlined a writeup "Great Steamed Chesapeake Bay Crabs." Most reviews repeat some version of it: fresh crabs, meaty jimmies and short waits. Some visitors report light, small crabs on off days. Recent reviews say the crab cakes carry more filler than they used to, with the occasional bit of shell.

Waterman's has the most reviews of the three: roughly 13,200 on Google holding a 4.5. The lump crab cakes, the she-crab soup and the ocean view are the reasons reviewers give. The recurring complaint is the wait for a table in July. The menu posts a 20 percent gratuity for groups of six or more.

The practical part

For picking crabs with your hands, start at the inlet. Call Dockside at +1 757 481 4545 to ask what the market counter has before you drive. Or take a table at Bubba's, +1 757 481 3513, and let them quote the day's dozen. For a crab cake with a tablecloth under it, Waterman's takes reservations at +1 757 428 3644. The $11 she-crab soup is the cheapest way to test that kitchen before the $32.99 crab cakes. On summer weekends, go to the inlet spots in the early afternoon. Book Waterman's before you leave the house.