Ernie’s Crab House

Not a fancy place but the soft shell crab sandwich was good. There’s better seafood options in old town but this place is a bit quicker and you don’t need to be dressed up to enjoy it

I am puzzled by the overall rating. This place is great! Yes, it’s a dive. That’s the point. This is a classic, mom ‘n pop, hole in the wall, nothing fancy, down to earth neighborhood joint.
We had soft shell, crab «balls» (basically ¹⁄₆ of a crab cake), and fried oysters, plus cole slaw. Fresh, light amount of filler/​batter, well done, with quick, friendly service. Not as cheap as décor would suggest, but priced fairly given quality and quantity.
Fried clam po’ boy is not as good. Not the superfresh clams some places have — though to be fair, at this time of year and this price point, this is about what you might have expected.
Would absolutely go there again, bring family and friends, hang out, and enjoy. Not someplace for a business lunch or to impress anyone with pretensions.
But for what it is? Not quite perfect.

My trip here today was a total waste. I ordered the soft shell crabs, Only to find two skimpy crabs and some terrible fries. The price you ask??? I paid $ 30 bucks. Will ever go back you ask??? Hell no!!! Good day.

I’m a huge Maryland style steamed crab lover and living in northern VA Ernies is my top pick for steamed crabs in the area. The old bay style crab seasoning is on point with just enough spice. And the crabs are usually cooked to order so call ahead if you’re in a rush!
I also really enjoy their fried shrimp and would be hard pressed to find another restaurant in any area that’s better. The shrimp are fresh, they’re large to jumbo and they are lightly battered. Not too greasy and you get the same amount every time.

I took my cousin as a birthday celebration. We reserved whale size crabs and were told they were available. We were served small to medium with a few largest. When pointing this out to the waiter he talked to the manager possibly owner and told us they were whales. At one point we held one tiny crab up that was almost see through. The manager sent 4 medium size crabs as a concilliatory gesture. These «whale» crabs were $ 145 or $ 12 each. This is blatantly dishonest in my opinion and I feel extremely ripped of. Beware

Ernies was instresting. Service was really poor, one manned floor i ordered a sake a small which was ten dollars and it was like drinking flat warm beer. With that being sad i ordered a shrimp po boy and it was actually good. I have no complaints about the food, if you are in a rush and you are ordering the unlimited crab its on a 2 hr time limit for 49 $ dollars and it takes them about 2 hours to bring it out to you. After leaving i was asked why i didn’t give a tip which is unprofessional. I expressed my concerns and left over all. I would not recommend this place unless you just need a crab fix.

Overpriced, Really small portions, very hot in the place. Had to ask for the fans to be turned on twice. Good flavored Cod fish but the experience wasn’t the greatest.

Reluctantly gave this place a try and have to say, we were all pleasantly surprised! Order a dozen Large crabs, clam chowder and crab cakes. Crabs were awesome (though a little more Medium than Large but that’s the days catch, it’s not their fault), old bay seasoning was awesome and crabs were FRESH. Chowder was really great and the crab cakes were good. They even had sweet tea which was awesome!
Service is fine, sweet Korean mom and pop doing the best they can. I would come again if in the area.

Interesting place since I haven’t been here in years! We didn’t eat just had 4 (2-​ea) bud lights for $ 26. REALLY? It is a total dive with no ambiance but it was an experience.

I was really disappointed with both the food quality and the service. Too many nice places in the area to over go there again!

If I could give zero stars I would. We went here for the hard shells tonight. They said they had jumbo. When we asked woman server to see one ($ 135 a dozen so want to make sure size was worth the extra $$ and that it was fresh and not pre-​cooked) first she kept pointing at the menu and saying this is the size. Then she walked away and sent a man over to the table (I presume owner) to tell us we could not see one. He told us to leave and screamed at us. No wonder at dinner time on a Friday night we were only ones there. Filthy bathroom, filthy place, filthy attitudes!

My dinner mate and I both got diarrhea after eating here. Please be forewarned. The place is very dirty.

Total dive, don’t go here. I ordered their soft shell crab sandwich, because I heard soft shells are very delicious. The sandwich I got was thee blandest tasting crab I have ever had. 3 hours later I get the Hersey squirts bad! Was on the toilet for 30 minutes. 2 hours later I feel like I got to go again! I rush to the bathroom, and crap out a little bit of what must have been diluted stomach acid, that part hurt the most.
BOTTOM LINE: don’t go unless you like burning your butt-​hole!

Décor is typical for a dive. The poor server was the only one for the entire place but he was hustling and was friendly. The food was very good. Not bad prices for the area either.

This place is frozen in 1970. The service was terrible. Only one server (looked like the owner) it smell bad and it looked dirty. We are supporter of small business in the area but this place is the worst and it damages the image of Old Town.
Our table was dirty the whole time we were there. Our food was serve almost an hour after we order. We only stayed because we felt bad to leave and we had cold draft beer. The food was nothing special just boiled crabs. We spent almost 100 dollars for a meal that was bad and not worth and we were still hungry because it was only one plate to share.
They need to sell the place and have modern people that like to provide great service that matches the area and gives good reputation to such an important part of Alexandria.
It was just bad.

The worst, I’ve never seen bad reviews play out before my eyes!
Treat yourself, don’t go!!!

I had been wanting to try Ernie’s for years, and after a friend said she wanted crab legs for her birthday, we decided to finally give it a chance.
There were 4 of us and we decided to order «the feast» to share. Apparently the waiter (who hardly speaks English) thought we each wanted a feast. Once he brought us each our own serving of hush puppies, we inquired if we were receiving one each, or if we were all sharing a feast, and he said we were each getting one and it was «too late because the fish was already cooking.» We said we had only ordered one and he annoyingly removed 3 of the 4 hush puppies and most of our butter.
10 minutes later the shrimp and crab legs came out. The shrimp had a weird taste to it, akin to freezer burn. The snow crab legs were fine, but for $ 50, we were expecting more. 15 minutes later he brought out a small piece of fish. Looking back, we should have probably ordered 2 feasts for the 4 of us, but for $ 100, you could do much, much better.
We didn’t order any drinks, but the table next to us ordered a round of beers. We noticed that the waiter (who may also be the owner?) used his bare finger to scoop the foam off the top of the beer. We will not be going back, but at least we have a fun story now.

Dive, empty, rude owner, extremely slow service and astronomically priced. I’ve lived in Old Town 3 years and had yet to go… now the only reason I’m glad I did is so u can warn anyone coming to town for a visit.

Not what I was expecting and won’t be back. Had a Caesar salad with crab meat, a bowl of clam chowder and a side of broccoli and it came to $ 36! The salad was extremely small. Apparently the Caesar itself was $ 10 and the meat was an additional $ 12, what a joke… I basically ate a $ 12 salad and paid $ 22 for it. When questioned about it… all of a sudden no speak English so good. Skip this dump and avoid the scam.

I can only speak for the shrimp: fresh, steamed juicy and the delicious snap that being straight from the sea can have.
I’m Asian, so it made me want hot rice rather than fries. Would def buy n take home to eat at my starchy leisure!