Berlin MD

Berlin's crab spots sit out on the roads that carry beach traffic past town, not on the brick Main Street. The spine is Route 611, the road to Assateague. Assateague Crab House has steamed crabs there since 1985, run by the same family the whole way. It catches the island traffic about a mile north of the state park entrance. On the quieter side of town, Elliott's Seafood works out of a small building on Adkins Road. Takeout only. Phone orders only. The window opens in the afternoon. It holds a 4.9 on Google, higher than any big room on Coastal Highway.

Berlin has no towers and no boardwalk premium. Prices are set for locals who will not come back if the crabs run light. Downtown fills the gaps with crab cakes on tavern menus. But when Berlin people say they are getting crabs, they usually mean a dozen in a paper bag from one of the two spots above. It gets eaten at home on newspaper.