What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Ratings and reviews
Travellers' Choice 2024
RATINGS
Food
Service
Value
Atmosphere
Food and ambience
American, Bar, Seafood, Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options
Can a gluten free person get a good meal at this restaurant?
Details
About
Crabhouse and Raw Bar is a family owned restaurant that brings visitors and locals familiar Eastern Shore fare with a unique, eclectic flair! It's a great downtown location within walking distance of Ocean City's famous boardwalk, and overlooking beautiful sunsets on the bay.
CUISINES
American, Bar, Seafood
Special Diets
Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options
Meals
Dinner
FEATURES
Takeout, Seating, Parking Available, Television, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, American Express, Mastercard, Visa, Free Wifi, Discover, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Gift Cards Available
Contribute
4.5
1,069 reviews
Excellent
660
Very good
248
Average
80
Poor
47
Terrible
34
SunnyDays
Paris152 contributions
Jul 2021 • none
There are many tourist trap style restaurants in Ocean City MD with overpriced and poor tasting seafood. This is not one of them. We dined here twice and both times the food was fresh, the service kind and efficient, and the drinks were tasty - not artificial or watered down. I like that the place does not overwhelm with loud music throughout the place. There are loud and quiet spots. The seats are comfortable. It is an age mixed crowd - not too young not too old. You can come for dinner (where you will wait for a table) or eat/drink at the well equipped counters with self-serve. Great outdoor space where sunsets are perfect. Will return for sure.
Written 26 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Heather H
We are so happy to see you will return. Your detailed review helps other people in the community decide on their next visit, and we thank you for that.
Heather H
Written 5 August 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
1NicoleM
12 contributions
Aug 2021 • none
The wait for indoor seating was supposed to be 1.5 hours on a Saturday night but was about half an hour only. You could get drinks at the bar while you wait but they also set up a bar in some of the parking area with extra seating so you could wait comfortably.
Nice indoor and outdoor seating, but recommend outdoors if weather permits. For drinks the craft beer selection, orange crush, and frozen marg were good. The crab dip appetizer was amazing, but there is one thing. When you're already spending $50+ for the entree, it's kind of a joke that they charge another $2 for extra bread/chips, knowing there is not enough initially with the dip. The snow crab steamer pot was not bad - I understand why some say the crab legs are less appealing without any old bay seasoning, but it was fresh. And the side items were quite good too, including the corn, sausage, and shrimp. The New York strip was okay - he asked for medium rare but it was mostly rare. The side items were good.
For service, the waiter was pleasant, but rather slow. A bit unexpected considering we waited until after the rush to dine. I shouldn't have to ask for the utensils that go with crabs, but when it did not come with the food I did. Our food came first and the kids had to wait - usually it's the other way around. Then after we requested the check we had to wait for the server to finish a long conversation with another party before he went to generate our check. Not 100% sure but we'll probably return.
Written 16 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Heather H
We appreciate the very detailed review. We love to hear what our customers think, and also the areas they feel need improvement. We hope you do indeed return for another visit.
Heather H
Written 28 August 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Sharlene
Washington DC352 contributions
Jul 2020 • friends
Went during CoVid-19. If you don’t have a mask, they give you one at the host station.
They do not take reservations so when you get there, you put your name in, and then wait in the very creative outdoor space in the parking lot. You can be seated outside, inside or first available.
Food was tasty. We had endless crabs, crab dip, crab legs, Bloody Mary, wine, green beans, fries, and soup. Food was good portion sizes and flavorful. Lots of food.
Vibe was nice, good music. Staff were attentive and friendly. Pete, our server was super personable.
Written 8 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
D8192SFheatherh
Sharlene,
Thanks for your feedback. We wanted another additional waiting area where guests could spread out and practice social distancing while waiting. The masks are a must while not at your table. Thank you for letting us know how great your experience was.
Heather H
Written 25 July 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Jennifer B
Chester Springs117 contributions
Aug 2020 • family
After reading the reviews, I was so excited about this restaurant. Pros: The wait was way less time than quoted, there was lots of places to spread out, great drink list (and our drinks were tasty!), and the Blu Crab dip was awesome. Highly recommend! Our server was also really sweet and hard working. Cons: our food was SO disappointing. I ordered crab legs which are my favorite in the world, and I literally order them every place we go... and without a doubt, these were the worst I’d ever had. When our server brought them out... they were COLD. Like, I actually thought maybe they were supposed to be chilled, because they weren’t even lukewarm. I asked our server and she apologized, took them back to the kitchen. When she brought them back a second time, I actually saw her jogging, and she said she wanted to get them right out to me. STILL COOL. I’m not sure if someone in the back was dunking them in cold water??
The butter was cold, the crabs didn’t break.. and then I started to worry o was eating uncooked crab, so I didn’t eat much.
Not at all What I would have expected for a place with crab in the name! :(
Written 25 August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
D8192SFheatherh
Jennifer,
It seems that we could have done a better job making your experience great! We never want a guest to leave anything but completely satisfied! We hope that you decide to give us another try in the future.
Heather H
Written 11 September 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
vafedor
Fairfax County293 contributions
Jun 2021 • friends
This is my “must go to every year” place I Visited here in June 2021. I would go here every day for happy hour if I could. They have a large outdoor seating area and a large selection of half-price specials for happy hour daily from 3-6 pm including chicken wings, blue crab dip, black bean and corn quesadilla, Philly cheesesteak flatbread pizza, the poky tuna tacos (I’ve ordered two plates of these and there are 4 mini tacos each! See photo), fried Caribbean spice calamari and boom boom shrimp! Their salads and soups and sandwiches are also half-price Such as shrimp salad wrap, chicken bacon ranch sandwich, cheesesteak, build your own burger All served with chips. Their mahi tacos are delicious ( also Half price during happy hour). They have a crush special for happy hour with a large selection of flavors such as orange, grapefruit, strawberry lemon, pineapple, bourbon crush, tropical crush, and a Colada crush! The exception to happy hour prices does NOT include the crabcake sandwich The steamers or crab feast or seafood Pots. That’s a huge selection of choices for a happy happy hour daily.
Written 6 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Heather H
Vafedor,
It seems like you enjoyed the food, service and atmosphere! We appreciate you taking the time to let us know about your experience and hope you come see us soon!
Heather H
Written 6 June 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
UNpeacekeepertoo
New York City82 contributions
Jun 2021 • none
Visited the restaurant for spouse's birthday and our anniversary after hearing from relatives that we shouldn't miss the opportunity to try the food and drinks. The ambience of having a meal outdoors was just great in addition to some lingering concerns over COVID-19. While we already had crabs at another place in OC, we still had to try the snow crab steamer pots. The big difference was the ease of getting to the meat. And when a couple of the mussels failed to open, our server did not hesitate to give us a dozen more freshly steamed! The kids, who usually don't like tuna or halibut, said these dishes were delicious, flavorful and fulfilling. The seafood pasta was surprisingly great, with several pieces of shrimp, scallops, and crab meat. Usually, seafood linguini is best ordered from an Italian restaurant, but Blu's version in Cajun cream sauce was just great! As for drinks, the John Daly was a welcome treat during a 90+ degree evening. Our adult kids said the Blu Malibu Rum Punch Bucket was the best bang for the buck as they were basically having two drinks in one. I particularly loved my Shrimp and Crab Bloody Mary, with just the right tangy and spicy flavor. Overall, the food, drinks and ambience at Blu was excellent and something worth coming back to!
Written 1 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Heather H
Thank you for taking the time to leave Us a detailed review about your visit. We are pleased to see you had a great visit, and cannot wait until you visit again.
Heather H
Written 5 August 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
John Petri
3 contributions
Sept 2021 • none
In the past had very pleasant dining experience there. On 9/6/21 went there for dinner. To have pleasant dinning experience you need ambiance, good food and minimal background noise/music. We arrived at about 5:30. They were not taking reservations, first come first served. We requested table for 2 hostess took us upstairs and seated at worst possible table. We notices 2 empty tables for 2 in a better location and requested to be seated at one of them. She said NO there are no servers for those table. We indicated that we will tolerate slow service until a server was available. She said NO. We were seated facing cubicle where waiters were bringing dirty dishes. A few minutes later she was seating other guests at those tables. I guess we were not young or hipped enough to be seen at a good table. Two stars one for food (was good) and second for background music. Not going back.
Written 10 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Heather H
lovetofish35,
I wanted to reach out and apologize for your recent experience. I would personally like to opportunity to speak with you about your visit. Can you please email me your contact phone number at heather@embers.com
Heather H
Written 4 October 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Lindsay K
Pennsylvania23 contributions
Aug 2020 • couples
Nice waiting area with bar while waiting for our table to be ready. Food was decent, The seafood pots are a must - worth the price and receive a lot of food. Also had boom boom shrimp (so good) and their signature pasta dish that was just okay. Service could have been better, but I recognize that being a server on a long hot day in the middle of Covid is not easy. Our waiter definitely seemed to be checked out and disconnected with his guests. Knowing how stressed the servers must be, I did not deduct from my overall rating because of service.
Written 26 August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
D8192SFheatherh
Lindsay,
It seems like you enjoyed the food, service and atmosphere! We appreciate you taking the time to let us know about your experience and hope you come see us soon!
Heather H
Written 11 September 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Mckenzie
3 contributions
Sept 2020 • none
It was all very expensive because it is seafood, which is understandable and I was ready to spend a lot for good seafood. However, everything was not seasoned well at all. We got the all you can eat crabs and fried shrimp. The fried shrimp were awesome, but the crabs had no seasoning on them. Very bland and in my opinion, not worth the money.
Written 29 September 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
D8192SFheatherh
Mckenzie,
Depending on which crabs you ordered may have had an impact on the seasoning. Snow crab legs typically do not get served with seasoning but you can always as for some on the side. MD Blue Crabs do get seasoned with J.O. Seasoning (much like Old Bay with a little more salt). If you would prefer more just ask for heavy seasoning next time. Had we known while you were there, we would have been glad to fix this for you and your preference right away. We hope you give us another try.
Heather H
Written 9 October 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Lognpage1
Stafford47 contributions
Sept 2021 • couples
My wife and I came here because it was highly rated on trip advisor. We arrived for dinner around 6 and were seated inside within 5-8 minutes. The waitress was prompt. We ordered the crab dip, which was very good. Just a little salty, but still very tasty. My wife order the large grilled jumbo shrimp. It came to the table looking absolutely delicious. She was very disappointed,because all the shrimp were over grilled and tough. I ordered the snow steam bucket. To be honest the only thing worth eating in it was the snow crabs. The shrimp, mussels , clams and sausage were steamed dry. No flavor what so ever. We both were very disappointed in our meal and were other guests next to us. Maybe the kitchen was just having a bad night. But that was my one and done for this place.
Written 12 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Heather H
Lognpage1,
We are sorry to read about your recent experience. Our team works very hard to make sure you enjoy the food, service, and atmosphere. It seems as if we feel a little short the day you were in, and we appreciate all of your feedback. Our team strives to be perfect however we are human and have off days. We hope you decided to visit with us again in the near future.
Heather H
Written 4 October 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
peter
Hillsborough2 contributions
Jul 2022 • family
We knew it would be bad when our wine was served in plastic glasses and had the smallest pour we were ever served. About 1-1/2” of wine in a small plastic glass. We mentioned this to the waiter and his response was “So?” Then our salad was served on a plastic plate! I ordered a pound of crab legs which had thin legs and had only a small amount of crab on them and was not hot. My wife ordered a steak cooked medium, and it came rare. When it was returned, it came back well done. The menu indicated if you wanted to order a side salad, there would be an additional charge of $2.50 but we were charged 7.00! Try Higgins…much better. Will never go back and strongly suggest you don’t either.
Written 15 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jim J
2 contributions
Jun 2022 • couples
So we get there just in time to beat the sky opening up. Once inside we walk into a conversation with the staff about the party of 5 ahead of us. We hear “she’ll be fine with them, she can handle it” It was then I was thinking I should leave, but I read all the good reviews and figured we’d give it a go. So the girl said to me “this section isn’t open yet (front entrance, plenty of people in the dining room) and told us to go outside and walk down to the end, they can seat you there.” Once we’re “out back” we dried off the best we could to be seated. Funny thing… once we’re seated we are right behind the podium where we first came in. You know, before it started raining and we were still dry.
So anyway… I still have hopes for a nice anniversary dinner because of all the great reviews, but it only gets better.
We order drinks, hers comes out but not mine. No big deal. We order our apps and entree’s. Apps come out. Really good. Entrees come out shortly after but not complete. Runner said he’ll get the balance of my plate but never returns. Waitress is MIA. Hers thankfully was complete. By the time the rest of my plate arrives what I had was cold and what arrives is barely warm. My guess is that my steak was good when it was hot, but I don’t really favor cold steak. I eat half and dice the rest up for my dogs; the love cold steak. All in all, never had a worse meal in OCMD.
Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I’m writing it off as poor service and probably a miss from management. I know that finding help is tough and you kind of get what you get eating out anymore but to sit down and lay out $150+ for a meal for me and my girl, I was expecting more. Additionally, there was little to no effort from staff or management to make any of this catastrophe right. Very disappointed and would not recommend.
Written 27 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Maddie H
1 contribution
Jun 2020 • couples
Was great to have a safe, social distanced dinner outside! Blu has tons of indoor and outdoor seating, did a great job social distancing the tables and chairs. Tanya was our waiter, made great recommendations on entrees and the food and drinks were delicious. Thank you!
Written 19 June 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
D8192SFheatherh
Maddie,
Come back and visit us again soon! Our staff is awesome at what they do. Thanks for taking the time to highlight our hardworking staff.
Heather H
Written 25 July 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
lightsluvr
55 contributions
Oct 2022 • none
I did a lot of research on places in OCMD that offer steamed blue crabs and BLU had good reviews. I went tonight and was disappointed from the moment I walked in the door. Their menu showed a " Blue Crab Feast" which sounded great. I ordered the Feast #2. About ten minutes after my order, the manager came to my table and told me they "no longer offered" the Feasts. I pointed out that they were still on the menu, and he replied that it was a "supply issue." Okay, it's his restaurant. Just don't lure people into your establishment with offers and pull out the rug out when the customer orders. Another example is that they offer a happy hour, but people have sit at their small bar to participate. Explain that to me. I had a very good server who tried her best to find something else I would like. So I looked at the menu again. I asked her how were the oysters and she said they had some Chincoteague oysters, and they were "the saltiest" they had. She didn't know to tell me they were POND Oysters, I have eaten hundreds of Chincoteague oysters, and I know how they should taste. Until tonight, I had never even heard of Salt Pond oysters. They were simply awful. I couldn't force myself to eat them. The other substitute for the steamed crabs was a crab cake platter. Actually they were pretty good but for some reason, the cook had covered them in some seasoning like Old Bay. I'm talking about a thick coating which ruined the cake. I couldn't scrape it all off. Pffftt! The best thing I was served was a corn on the cob in the husk. BLU should reconsider calling their establishment either a crabhouse or a raw bar. In my experience, they failed on both fronts. I won't return.
Written 12 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
James C
New York City265 contributions
Jul 2021 • couples
My family and I wanted all the crabs you can eat and we were not disappointed.
My son and I were the only to have it and the feast was great. First I like to thank our waiter Chad for his hustle and explaining all the different feast they had.We ate our share of crabs. My wife had a delicious piece of halibut and my son fiancé had the crab pot full of seafood. This is the place to go for all you can eat crabs
Written 14 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Heather H
James C,
Thank you for trusting us and dining with us. Our teams works very hard to bring you the best products available.
Heather H
Written 5 August 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
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