Best CrabsOcean CityWho has heavy crabs and what a dozen costs today
Starboard Claw is Dewey's only true crab house. It opened Memorial Day weekend 2023 under the group behind the Starboard, the town's flagship bar. The room at 1818 Coastal Highway seats crab pickers indoors and out. Steamed blues sell by the three, six or twelve. Sizes run medium, large and extra-large. The summer 2026 menu prices them daily, subject to availability. A claw bar carries raw oysters, top neck clams and snow and Dungeness crab legs. The kitchen adds Delmarva blue crab soup and waffle-cut Dewey crab fries. Reviewers praise the service and the crab dip. The recurring complaint is that busy nights run out of oysters and even steamed crabs. Walk-ins are welcome after 5 p.m.
Dewey Beach never had a proper steamed-crab room until the Starboard's owners opened one in 2023. Three summers in, the menu runs from a $13 blue crab soup to steamed blues at the day's price.
Delaware's lower beach towns lost three crab landmarks in a year and gained one. Here is the honest state of the steamed-crab map from the Maryland line to Dewey Beach.
