Copp's Seafood
Known for roadside seafood shack since 1971, steamed blue crabs seasoned to order, Miss Kay Copp's crab cake recipe.
Stop 13 of 13 on the coast run, south to north
Lewes DE
Steamed crabs in Lewes sell on the edges of town, not downtown. The Surfing Crab steams to order on Route 1 just north of the Nassau Bridge. A branch of the family that opened Bethesda Crab House in 1961 runs it. The Crab Connect at Midway sells watermen-direct crabs from a steam trailer. Copp's Seafood has run its shack on Copps Lane since 1971. Almost nobody out here posts a dozen price online. It is market pricing quoted by phone. The number changes with the catch. Call before you drive.
The sit-down dining runs along the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal. Anglers Road sits across the drawbridge and the charter boats tie up at Fisherman's Wharf. On Second Street, the Lewes Oyster House fills the 1930s Walsh Building that once held the Rose and Crown tavern. Those canalfront rooms are where Lewes eats seafood. They are mostly not where it cracks crabs. The old Wharf restaurant on Anglers Road is gone and its space is now the Wheelhouse. Downtown menus lean toward oysters, towers, and crab cakes rather than paper and mallets.
The crab houses of Lewes
Lewes Oyster House
Known for raw bar and daily oyster list, seafood towers, crab-stuffed Kennett mushrooms.
The Crab Connect
Known for watermen-direct crabs by the dozen and bushel, on-site steam trailer.
The Surfing Crab
Known for blue crabs steamed to order, all-you-can-eat crabs, cream of crab soup.
Stories from Lewes
A 1961 crab family steams to order by the Nassau Bridge
The Surfing Crab brings Bethesda Crab House bloodlines to Route 1 in Lewes. Every crab goes into the steamer after you order it.
Rehoboth crabs come with a check. Lewes crabs come with a phone call
A field guide to the six rooms and shacks from the Tanger outlets to Second Street, and how to buy steamed blues in each. Only one posts a firm crab price online.
