For my birthday, my family treated me to a feast of Maryland-style steamed blue crabs at Pinchers Crab Shack (http://www.pincherscrabshack.com/lakewood-ranch/). We shared two dozen of the crabs, which were steamed with Maryland's Old Bay spice. The crabs were delicious, although we would have preferred a bit more Old Bay.
The blue crabs are steamed live. When they are cooked and served, the diners pick the crab meat out of the shell. Small wooden or metal mallets are used to crack the crab claws. Extracting the meat, especially from the body and especially for smaller crabs, can be a slow process for some like me. However, it's worth the effort.
The meat in the main portion of the crab is much tastier than the claw meat. The best meat is jumbo lump meat from large crabs. The crabs we were served were mostly medium sized. I learned later from friends that diners can request larger crabs, which are more expensive.
Steamed crab prices range from $5.99 for a single crab to $89.99 for two dozen. The crabs are obtained locally and are not always available.
We also had a few appetizers like grouper nuggets ($9.99), and hot crab and cheese dip ($8.99). I had a cup of crab and corn chowder ($3.99). All of these items were delicious.
In a return visit to Pinchers in October 2012, my wife and I tried their jumbo lump crab cakes. These were not jumbo lump crab cakes in the Maryland style. In other words, the crab cakes did not have lumps of crab meat. They might have started with jumbo lump meat and then processed it into a mushy patty. The crab cakes did not have much if any filler and they tasted ok, but they were not the sort of great crab cakes you'd find at a restaurant like G&M Restaurant in Linthicum Heights, MD.
The baked beans side I had with the crab cakes was terrific. The cole slaw was fresh, but lacked zip.
Pinchers has a wide range of other seafood dishes and a few non-seafood items.
The menu is available at http://www.pincherscrabshack.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/PINCH-560-BW-LWR.pdf
Pinchers serves 2 for 1 happy hour drinks the entire time they are open.
Pinchers does not take reservations, even for groups and even for special occasions. They will accept 30-minute call-ahead reservations.
The night we were there, the place was packed. While the noise level was high, it's what you'd expect in a lively eatery like this. The service was excellent.
Pinchers is a chain, with seven locations on Florida's Gulf Coast - from Naples to Lakewood Ranch.
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