Great Crab Cakes — Where to Go Nearby? (College Park)

[G1..]

Originally Posted by DoughLow805

The only reason I didn't mention Burton's is that it's a chain, mostly an East Coast chain. However, everything is good at Burton's, EVERYTHING so idk if they use MD crabs, but I feel confident, that their crab cake will be good.

So is the Green Turtle ,most chains don't use maryland Blue Crab and definitely not at this time of year.

[DaveinMtAiry]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Wherever you go remember that you will likely get "Maryland style crab cakes" since Maryland crabs are out of season. So your crab in the cake may be from Thailand.

I instantly thought of this post today. You see today Dave was a dumbass. Shopping for crab meat I found a can from something like "Baltimore Crab Company" I was assured it was fresh, and cheaper than the kind in the clear container that you can see through. I got home and yep, some white crab like substance in tiny pieces that no doubt came from overseas. I made crab cakes, then the dog would not even lick the bowl clean without urging.

[echo7tango]

LOTS of good info here. Thank you all.

I’m back home in California now. Flew in late last night. We had a good week in the DC and UMD areas, and we certainly had our fill of good crab.

Our trip was a week long search for great crab cakes, while also visiting UMD and DC.

Originally Posted by G1..

Edgewater Tavern just outside Annapolis and a few others but the drive is too far.. No place in DC has the best Maryland Crab cake.

There were several mentions of Edgewater that I just had to go. Great crab cakes, and big! Heavy on the butter, too. They were quite rich, but also quite good.

This was our second-to-last crab stop, for dinner Friday night before flying out on Saturday.

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Wherever you go remember that you will likely get "Maryland style crab cakes" since Maryland crabs are out of season. So your crab in the cake may be from Thailand.

Good point, and thank you. Even Clyde’s, in Georgetown, said they never use local crab because they can control their quality better.

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

Closest one for me is Milk & Honey Cafe in College Park. They have a huge crab cake that is pretty good. Can't eat it in one sitting.



https://www.milknhoneycafe.com/menus-college-park/


Jerry's Seafood in Bowie (Home of the crab bomb)



https://jerrysseafood.com/

If you're willing to travel 25 minutes north on 95, Timbuktu has awesome crab cakes.



https://www.timbukturestaurant.com/

Milk & Honey...

Originally Posted by DoughLow805

Uncaged Chefs in Savor (food hall) in Brentwood made a good crab cake...Milk and Honey won't disappoint either if you don't mind the long wait...Still hate that the Calvert House Inn closed, they used to have the best.

Milk & Honey... We tried going there on Saturday but their line was too long. We would return on Sunday. And on Monday.

But on Saturday because this thread was just starting I checked Yelp. This led me to try Jody’s Good Mood Cafe, 10606 Baltimore Ave, Beltsville MD. It was very good! So if you haven’t tried Jody’s, give them a try.

On Sunday the line at Milk & Honey was too long again! What is this place? So we ordered take-out, which was excellent. We got the lobster tail, egg, cheese & avocado croissant, and the crab hash. Excellent!

So we returned for Monday breakfast. The Crab Benedict has that huge crab cake on top. Really big!

Excellent food there. That lobster tail croissant, crab hash, and crab benedict are fantastic.

And on weekdays, there is No Line there. The place is near empty. It’s the weekend when it is super crowded.

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

I grew up in Baltimore and lived in that area for 57 years. I know crabcakes.

Faidley's is arguably the best, uptown, in Lexington Market. They can be ordered over the phone and shipped to you. The area is rough, I'd go in daytime.

IIRC both Faidley's and Snyder's (and other places in Charm City) sell a "100% Jumbo Lump" crabcake. "Jumbo Lump" is the top of the line
in crab meat. Other places sell a "lump" crabcake with a few pieces of jumbo lump stuck in them amid the lesser grades of meat. Pay whatever is the price for a 100% jumbo lump crabcake.

When I fly back to Baltimore (BWI airport) for a visit I make it a point to stop at Snyder's Willow Grove restaurant for their crabcakes, which IMO are as good as Faidley's. Snyder's is very close to BWI airport, so I stay at a motel near the airport and hit Snyder's asap. I prefer my crabcakes fried and put on rye bread. Softcrab sandwiches I like on white bread. Then there's the crab imperial, essentially a crabcake in a shell with sauce; amazing flavor. Snyder's does all 3 of these dishes to perfection. I've been going to Snyder's probably 30 years....

If you've never eaten a softcrab sandwich then I urge you to do so. I know, it looks like a big spider that's been deep fried but just bite in and eat it. All of it. A blue crab becomes a softcrab when it sheds it's hard shell to grow into a larger crab and at that time it's soft to the touch and easily eaten. The flavor is delicate and crablike and just a treat.

There's another place near Snyder's, called G and M restaurant. They sell HUGE crabcakes but use a different recipe that's heavy on mustard (vice mayonaise) and thus not so much to my taste, but a lot of people swear by this place. You may like it. Hit all 3, make it a hat trick, or a crab trifecta.

I’ll have to give this a try — for next time!

Originally Posted by Flamingo13

Edgewater Restaurant is where I was talking about - the best and largest I've had.

Edgewater was good, yes

Originally Posted by e2ksj3

I like Green Turtle's crab cakes in Burtonsville. If you want something close by campus, Looneys has crab cakes. I believe Burton's Grill also has them but not sure how good they are.

Originally Posted by DoughLow805

The only reason I didn't mention Burton's is that it's a chain, mostly an East Coast chain. However, everything is good at Burton's, EVERYTHING so idk if they use MD crabs, but I feel confident, that their crab cake will be good.

Our first night there, the night before I posted the OP, we ate dinner at Burtons (Burtons Grill & Bar of Riverdale Park, 4440 Van Buren St, Riverdale Park MD). My daughter picked the place. It was very good and their crab cake was great.

Thanks again for all the great info. We had a fantastic week and some excellent crab cakes!

[North Beach Person]

If you have access to crab in SFO here are some cookbooks by a friend of mine. Unfortunately he died several years ago.

https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/whitey-schmidt/288354/

[DaveinMtAiry]

Props to the OP for coming back and giving us feedback. That's rare around here.

[G1..]

Originally Posted by echo7tango

LOTS of good info here. Thank you all.

I’m back home in California now. Flew in late last night. We had a good week in the DC and UMD areas, and we certainly had our fill of good crab.

Our trip was a week long search for great crab cakes, while also visiting UMD and DC.

There were several mentions of Edgewater that I just had to go. Great crab cakes, and big! Heavy on the butter, too. They were quite rich, but also quite good.

This was our second-to-last crab stop, for dinner Friday night before flying out on Saturday.

Good point, and thank you. Even Clyde’s, in Georgetown, said they never use local crab because they can control their quality better.

Milk & Honey...

Milk & Honey... We tried going there on Saturday but their line was too long. We would return on Sunday. And on Monday.

But on Saturday because this thread was just starting I checked Yelp. This led me to try Jody’s Good Mood Cafe, 10606 Baltimore Ave, Beltsville MD. It was very good! So if you haven’t tried Jody’s, give them a try.

On Sunday the line at Milk & Honey was too long again! What is this place? So we ordered take-out, which was excellent. We got the lobster tail, egg, cheese & avocado croissant, and the crab hash. Excellent!

So we returned for Monday breakfast. The Crab Benedict has that huge crab cake on top. Really big!

Excellent food there. That lobster tail croissant, crab hash, and crab benedict are fantastic.

And on weekdays, there is No Line there. The place is near empty. It’s the weekend when it is super crowded.

I’ll have to give this a try — for next time!

Edgewater was good, yes





Our first night there, the night before I posted the OP, we ate dinner at Burtons (Burtons Grill & Bar of Riverdale Park, 4440 Van Buren St, Riverdale Park MD). My daughter picked the place. It was very good and their crab cake was great.

Thanks again for all the great info. We had a fantastic week and some excellent crab cakes!

Glade to hear you enjoyed it!