Our Process

Every early morning we're open, one or more of our partnered crabbers deliver product directly from their dock to our door. From there, our team hand sorts every crab to ensure they're still alive from their journey. This differs from many blue crab suppliers, who simply dump their whole bushel baskets into the steamer. It's hard to know if a crab that finds its way into their pot died on the road or hours ago when it was the first catch of a crabber's day, and one of these can adversely affect the taste of an entire pot. We don't love starting each day by throwing away product, but it allows us to sell a product we know for a fact is the best.

After a crab is deemed alive it's sorted by size,  and dropped directly into one of our rolling pots or kept in one of our custom-made refrigerators later that morning or afternoon. From there they're packed-to-order and lightly seasoned with our preferred brand of old bay seasoning (J.O. #2).

Our crabbers, fishermen and suppliers also sometimes have surprises for us, which we call Weekly Specials. The yield from the river, bay, and ocean changes with the weather conditions and calendar. This means our early morning deliveries sometimes also include live crawfish, shrimp, clams, lobster, fresh produce, and everything in between.

It also means how many crabs we can get on any given day varies. If a storm rolls through, our crabbers are going to be limited in what they can dock that day. Prices can change weekly, and it also makes it doubly important you call ahead to secure your order. We start taking orders by phone Wednesday of each week. If you'd like your crabs live instead of cooked, please call early!

All of the above keeps us pretty busy, so all of our crabs are sold shell-on - no exceptions. In other words, we cannot clean them for you. We think sitting down with family or friends and picking them is half the fun anyway.

 

We sometimes get asked what we do with our crabs we have left over at the end of the day or week. These go into products such as our crab cakes, or are sold to our VIP customers who are the top of the list for specials. To join this list, sign up for SMS here!

Our parent business, Renzi's Catering, also often adds barbeque, pasta specials, and more to our changing menu. We also host crab feasts, seafood events, and more at Bethel and beyond. To stay in the know on our specials, prices, events, and more, subscribe to the email list at the bottom of the page. Thanks!