Quarterdeck

La comida normal, lugar bastante incómodo, desaliñado y oscuro, el olor del ambiente terrible.

I’ve never been here but Googled «best fried fish in Arlington» because the Long John Silver’s commercials made me hungry. You’ve been shopped! I’m a Hospitality Teacher downtown and prepare my students in Hotel, Food Service, Travel and Tourism and Event planning.
I ordered fish n’ chips and the fish is excellent but really, just one piece? Very stingy. I would rather you charge more and add another cod to the entreé. French fries are okay, nothing special. Steamed broccoli is also okay but one piece is rotten. Speaking of rotten, the Bartender that took my order is stand off’ish and doesn’t smile and is very unfriendly. He barely acknowledged me and not even sure if he even looked at me. He just pointed at the brown bag on the bar and said, «Here you go, bro!» and gave me the bill and a pen and then moved away to go about his own business. I gave a 20% tip (I shouldn’t have) and I just left. He never said «thank you» and I get the feeling he may be racist because I look mixed black or Latino. Sorry, I’m honest like that. But please let him know I’m half Portuguese and half Filipino.
Other than the single fish that is nice and thick (thank God it’s thick since it’s only one piece), the only good experience I had was with the friendly server/​hostess who greeted me the moment I walked in and offered her service right away. She was quite loud when she said, «Sure you can pick up your order with _​_​_​_​_​, the bartender over there.» The bartender never looked at either one of us although it was clear the whole room heard the server. I had to come up to him and mention again, «Hello, I’m here to pickup my order.» And he said «yeah, there it is» and pointed at the bag, grabbed the check and pen, and left.
May I suggest he enroll at my school downtown so that he can learn some «Hospitality» or maybe «Business Etiquette» and «Diversity» training which I also teach? Very sad because there’s not many seafood joints in the neighborhood and I could’ve brought more business not to mention «diversity» to your establishment. If you’d like to respond, although I’ll probably just delete it, my email is
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Maybe we came on a bad night… But awful! I was so disappointed. Crab hush puppies were dry and contained very little crab meat. I got the fried oysters and they were edible but devoid of flavor and way too much breading. Drink was watered-​down. Very nice staff but wouldn’t go back.

Great food, this place was around corner from my hotel. It was snowing, my plane got delayed so this worked out and fish and chips was fresh and tasty, fries were seasoned good!

Love the Quarterdeck! We try to come here once every summer. Nothing like cracking fresh Maryland crabs on a summer night. This is a very popular place in the summer so I’d highly suggest reservations or you’ll end up waiting a while. Also make sure to tell them you want to eat outside. This place is nothing special in terms of atmosphere — the reason is suggest sitting outside. The inside of the restaurant is pretty dark and not much to look out. The bathrooms are downstairs past the bar inside — a little shady but does the job when you have to clean up after cracking crabs.
While they offer a simple menu the crabs are the obvious highlight. We usually opt for the all you can eat option ($ 50 per person). Otherwise you can order the crabs based on size and priced accordingly per dozen. We’ve done it both ways but we find it to be a better value to do the all you can eat option. We’ll be back again this summer!

I love me some blue crabs, and this is a great local spot located in the Fort Meyers neighborhood of Arlington. I usually eat my blue crabs in Southern Maryland, but this is great option when I don’t feel like traveling so far. I’d recommend calling ahead during the spring and summer months, because the place can get packed. They have a wonderful all-​you-​can-​eat crabs option (but everyone in your party has to also get this). It will come to about $ 50/​pp I believe (but this may have changed). I’ve heard that they also have a snow crab leg dinner but I have yet to try this. I hope to try out this option in the colder months when I get a crustacean hankering. Hammer on and enjoy!

If you are looking for steamed crabs THIS IS THE PLACE TO GO. The crabs are seasoned well and very flavorful. Not like other places where the crabs are seasoned in water and that’s it. I honestly believe they steam there crabs with beer. Which is the RIGHT WAY to cook a crab for flavor. The seafood menu is stupendous and if you don’t like seafood there is plenty of food items you can choose from. More importantly, the regular food items I saw going out looked equally delicious. The plates were well put together and fresh, very fresh. All you can eat crabs are around $ 50. There is also a huge bar, so you can have your favourite drinks. I recommend «THE CRABBY MARY» which is a Bloody Mary with a twist garnished with old bay and a crab claw.

If you want no-​frills seafood
If you want to watch the game (whichever sport)
This is the place to be
Nothing fancy. Just a straight forward deck (2 floors) restaurant that fills quickly so a RSVP IS NEEDED. Unless, you show up when they open like I did :)
All you can eat crabs or by the dozen, you will get a filling of everything offered. It’s Baltimore’s Best, in Virginia. Can’t get any better.
(And they’re open year round!)

This place had a cozy feel. I didn’t feel awkward digging my hands into the crabs thrown on the table. At first I thought this place must be busy because I had to keep asking for more water, or looking for someone to fill my ketchup bottle because it was empty. But actually, they had only 2 servers doing the best they can. They were friendly and helpful. They just needed more help… Maybe it was just because this was a holiday weekend… It was a Saturday afternoon. We had reservations and seated right away.
There was 3 in our party and we were hungry.
*crab dip, it was good. Not too cheesy but lots of fresh crab. Needed a hit of Tabasco or something. But good. I would definitely get it again. They serve it with warm naan… Yumm!
*fries, they seasoned it. It had a nice flavor, served hot and crisp.
*dozen large crabs, they were well seasoned, not salty. The server recommended we get a dozen large and ½ dozen medium crabs but we opted to just get a dozen large ones. And actually the dozen large was the perfect amount.
Our total bill was 123.00 without drinks.
We would definitely come back again. I look forward to bringing out of town guests.

I love the feel of the Quarterdeck. It’s the divey, seafoody, cozy, fragrant atmosphere I guess! It’s also a great local place to get crabs and crab like items without driving all the way out to Annapolis.
Last here, we ordered the lobster bisque, which is way overpriced at $ 9 for a small bowl, the mesquite shrimp app which served up huge shrimps in a very tasty marinade and I ordered off menu (it was sunday) to get a crab cake sammy — lots of crab, little filling.
We topped it off with a pitcher of blue moon for $ 20, which is not an eye opening deal, but fairly reasonable. This place in Annapolis? Three stars, but it’s close, convenient and serves up respectable crab.

Un sitio con aspecto algo cutre, lo que forma parte de su encanto, y con el típico sabor marinero.
Aunque hay una carta variada, lo suyo es comer cangrejo, porque además de ser excelente resulta ideal para ir con un grupo de amigos y pasarlo bien. Si tenéis la suerte de ir en temporada podéis probar el Maryland Blue Crab.
Recomiendo llevar vaqueros y camisetas no muy nuevas, porque acabas de cangrejo hasta las cejas.

I came to the Quarterdeck on a late Friday evening for their all you can eat blue crab special with my wife. The restaurant is located in Arlington in a residential area. With that being said there is still ample parking to be found on the street or in their lot. The space has lots of outdoor seating options and when the weather is nice this is a great decision. We made our reservation early and they will ask in advance if you plan on enjoying the crabs. We arrived on time and were seated immediately which was impressive for how busy they were. Overall this was a new dining experience which is always appreciated and made for a great night to celebrate the end of a long week.
This was my first time manually harvesting blue crabs in this fashion. I will say upfront that I am conflicted about my thoughts on this dinner and will attempt to present my case fully. These recommendations are obviously geared toward a beginner and customers already experienced with the blue crab can disregard. Here, you should not be in a hurry to get in and out or even hungry in my opinion. Upon placing an order it will take an estimated 35 minutes to get your crabs. We enjoying the evening with a couple of pitchers of light beer which go perfectly with the seasoned crabs. The crabs are cooked perfectly. This is where my conundrum lies. I compare it to a game of golf where one great shot will bring you back the next day. I am admittedly probably not the best crab meat picker but I did do some research before and still am only able to get a couple of tablespoons of meat from each crab at most. However, those few bites here are exceptional. Their spice concoction permeates the shell with ease and blends all too well with the tender meat. This is just the nature of the meal and it would be the same case anywhere. At a minute and a half pace per crab at the fastest you are not satisfying any hunger pains you may have anytime fast. Thus my suggestion would be to come before starving or order a few other entre items. For this option we paid about 50 dollars per person.
I really can’t stress enough how well the crabs are prepared and for that reason I will definitely be back. I think the perfect way to enjoy the Quartedeck is when your meal here with a large group of friends is the focal point of the evening. Grab a couple of pitchers of beer, relax and spend the night cracking crabs at a leisurely pace and thank me later.

I’ve had two really great experiences at Quarterdeck and I think it’s on my list to go pretty much every time I can get back to DC. This last time, I went with my husband and a friend who both ordered non crab items. My friend had the fish and chips that looked fantastic — a massive piece of fish fried perfectly crisp accompanied by fries and cole slaw. My husband had the lobster roll and, although a bit expensive at $ 20, it was truly amazing. I’ll admit I haven’t had much experience with lobster rolls, but this was utterly fantastic: Huge chunks of lobster stuffed in a delicious roll.
The waitress warned us that the crabs would take 30 – 40 minutes to prep and it definitely took all the time she said it would take. My husband and friend had finished their meals before my crabs had even arrived. I ordered a half dozen of the mediums ($ 39.99) and they were the perfect amount of food. Personally, I prefer to wipe off some of the Old Bay seasoning because the seasoning makes everything in front of me too salty.
This is a really fun place (and it’s huge too!). It’s definitely not a cheap meal if you get crabs or a place where you can expect to be in and out quickly, but it’s a great experience with great food.

Great crab spot! Quarterdeck is very much a neighborhood restaurant, nestled inbetween apartment buildings on a backstreet in the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington. It’s a fairly small restaurant, with a dozen tables inside and a bunch more out on the front patio. It is always bustling in the summer, even on weekday evenings, so make a reservation. The vibe is very much dive-​bar casual, and if you’re coming here, don’t wear nice clothes, as you’ll be covered in crab bits.
Quarterdeck has a little bit of everything seafood (snow crab, king crab, crab cakes, shrimp, etc), but they are known for their freshly steamed blue crabs. An AYCE option gets you unlimited small sized blue crabs for $ 50. On the night we came, we opted for the large sized blue crabs (easier to eat) which were market priced at $ 75/​dozen. We also got a few orders of snow crabs for those of us who were not as skilled with our blue crab cracking — I have to say the snow crab dinner is a GREAT deal at Quarterdeck. $ 27.99 gets you 1.5 lb of snowcrab legs, which equals about 3 clusters, PLUS fries and spicy slaw. Really filling, very fresh. All the steamed crabs are covered in an Old Bay/​salt seasoning, which in moderation is delicious, but on the night we came was a tad excessive. It was an extremely salty meal to say the least.
There’s a small parking lot in the back but it only fits about 10 cars, so be prepared to look for street parking, as Quarterdeck is located in a residential neighborhood with scarce parking.
Tip: It takes some time to steam the blue crabs or the legs, so order as soon as you get there and be prepped to wait 20 minutes for your food.

Allow me to start by humbly saying I’ve cleaned, cooked and eaten a many of crabs in my life. These by far were some of the BEST crabs I’ve eaten this year. Ok, now to the review. The place was crowded and even without RSVP they made us feel welcomed. Tim our server was down to earth attentive and didn’t make us feel he was crazy busy (and I know he was). The large crabs were just that Large if not xtra large. They arrived to our table in about twenty minutes steaming hot and seasoned to perfection. You could definitely tell they were just steamed cause we literally had to give them a second to cool down (well my wife did I jumped right in)
People were chowing down and just having a good old time under the sunset on the deck. Come you won’t regret it. Believe me I know good crabs when I get’em. And these are worth the trip.

Sorry Maryland people, this place has THE BEST crabs in the DC metro area. First of all, the atmosphere is amazing. Quarterdeck feels just like a neighborhood restaurant. It’s off the beaten path, has a big patio, and is always lively. The inside restaurant is pretty small so if you can, try to sit outside.
Although there are a ton of other seafood options, their crab deals are the best. I split an order of a dozen large crabs with one other person and we had more than enough to eat. When you order crabs you can pick size and amount. Obviously the bigger the crabs, the more they cost. They do have an all you can eat option for $ 50.
I try to go out for crabs at least once every summer. All too often, the crabs are small, cold, bland, and just plain bad. Quarterdeck’s were perfect. There just the right amount of old bay, and the crabs were still steaming hot when they got to our table. I think its safe to say I will be coming here more often.
One side note — on weekends this place gets PACKED, so try to make a reservation.

Looks like the perfect place to get your hands dirty eating unlimited crabs since pretty much everyone around us ordered that. We weren’t in the mood for that so we ended up ordering a la carte. We got the fish and chips, lobster roll (it’s no Luke’s Lobster) and the crab dip. The portions were big and they were pretty generous with the lobster meat in my roll and real crab meat in the dip. The food was just okay though. Unless you’re getting the unlimited crab meal it’s not worth going out of your way to eat here. Servers were pretty friendly though.

I don’t want to write this review because I don’t want to share my new hidden gem but Unilocalers this place is AH-​MAZING! Why am I just finding out about this crab lovers haven? Thanks to one of my neighbors who posted a mouth watering photo of crabs, I eagerly placed this on my to-​do list!
Yes, many suggested the reservation route, so we called just an hour before heading over and snagged an inside table. Note: we wanted to head over during a non-​peak hour so we opted for a 3:30pm dining experience. There’s lots of street parking and the restaurant is smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood. They have lots of outdoor seating, some indoors seating and seating in their bar. When you reserve, they will ask you if you plan to eat the Crab Feast (an AYCE option) or an estimate of what you might order. We figured out that this is so they can strategically reserve the tables for a certain amount of time. I think it’s very cool.
There is no pressure to eat quickly and turn the table, at least in my case, I did not feel rushed while I enjoyed my ‘all you can eat crab feast’. Their menu has many other options for the non-​crustacean eater, i.e. my dining buddy hubby. The options for AYCE were the small size today but let me tell you, those crabs were amazingly meaty. They arrive in trays of about a dozen and you can request more when you think you are ready. I proudly shucked and ate close to 3 dozen, that’s right, at my leisure for about 2 hours. They have nice thick brown paper tablecloths and you can ask for bibs. They are very generous with their butter. Drinks (water or soda) is served in real glasses unlike Capt Pell’s (I hate those plastic cheap cups).
They have a nice selection of beer and wine and they offer a full bar of booze. The hubby enjoyed various non-​crab options such as steam shrimp (served cold), a shrimp po-​boy, o-​rings and fries. Service was awesome! Our server had nearly all the inside tables and she was always attentive. I can’t say anything negative about this AH-​MAZING crab eating experience. I will definitely be back!

What can I say? When there is a will, there is a way. A few friends and I got it into our heads that we HAD to have crabs for dinner the other night and off we went! There was a long wait for outside seating (only available seating for walk-​ins), about an hour so we tried our luck inside at the bar.
Market price at the beginning of July 2015 was $ 50 for a dozen medium steamed crabs. I strongly suggest getting the large, XL, or jumbo but you need to get there early enough in the day so the larger sizes don’t sell out. The crab was delicious and the seasoning was perfect. Not too salty or spicy; just enough so, tasty, and the crab meat was sweet.
Two of my friends were new to crackin’ crabs but the staff and fellow diners were kind enough to give us a crash course in how to get to that sweet, sweet meat. It is messy but very much worth it. In the end, we were covered in bay seasoning.
Word of warning: there can be a long wait but if you head into the bar and find an open table, by all means, claim it! It might be a little cramped but if you want crab, you do what you gotta do. Alternatively, make reservations in advance if at all possible.
Servers were hard to flag down because of the holiday weekend (July 4^th) and the place was packed out. When the servers did give us attention, it was good times. We’re already talking about going back this weekend!
There was some parking nearby but I suggest taking the Blue or Silver lines to Rosslyn and walking over. It is about a 10 minute walk from the Metro.

I’m from Maryland. I’m pretty much a douche-​bag when it comes to rating Virginia seafood joints, because Virginians know nothing about good seafood, especially crabs. Go ahead and write me hate mail, Virginian. I don’t care! Talk to the hand!
But I actually like Quarterdeck. It’s not… horrible. In fact, it’s pretty good. This is the kind place that I can go to in the summer and just chill on their patio area and eat crabs for a while. Like two, three hours. Sports is on TV and the sound of my chewing makes enough ambient sound to drown out the girl’s constant chatter. Haha jk.
Anyway.

Great outside seating! Friendly staff and overall fun experience. Tucked away in the Fort Meyer area near the US Marine Corps War Memorial.
Great blue crab and hush puppies! Definitely a nice change of pace in the Arlington area.

Warning about Quarterdeck– please do not ever dine here.
I slipped and fell in the building due to a wet floor, fell, skinned and bruised my knee, and broke my shoes. It was pretty humiliating to slip and fall across the floor, not to mention breaking my favorite pair of wedges. There were no signs about the wet floor and when my boyfriend let the manager know about the incident, the manager laughed in his face and brushed away the issue, then proceeded to put a «wet floor» sign by the floor area where I slipped. The manager showed no sign of apology and didn’t seem to care that his establishment was poorly maintained. If I didn’t have better balance, I could have been much more hurt, and ended up with more than just a broken shoe and bruised knees. A family at a table where I slipped were very concerned and one women at the table mentioned to her server that the floor area was dangerous.
I cannot believe that this restaurant took no responsibility for my fall and didn’t offer any sincere apologies or condolences about the issue. I debate taking legal action, as I do have pictures and witnesses.
Needless to say, I will never be returning again, and warn others to boycott this establishment for their unfair and illegal practices.

Came here because we wanted crabs and they were the closest to where we were staying. The wait was longer than we were told but we found space at the bar after standing for about 30 minutes. The bar service was great and they’re very attentive. The only issue i have is that the crabs are a bit over priced because no matter the size or weight you pay 50 bucks for 12 crabs. Also the larger crabs are reserved for those who make reservations. The medium crabs we got were a good size and we’re delicious.
I wouldn’t mind going back but we’d like to also try The point and Cantlers.

When you grow up in Baltimore and spend a lot of time on the water you get to see a lot of crab houses… if you move to DC you slowly find that there are very few authentic places to get crabs. And by authentic I mean gritty shacks filled with celebrated people.
The Quarterdeck is a diamond in the rough. With an emphasis on the rough… which means it’s the perfect spot to order a bushel of crabs and throw back beers with a few friends. The only part of this equation that is upsetting is that they don’t cary soft shell crabs. Also, somehow this place stays open till 2am almost every night of the week, it doesn’t get much better than that.
If your in DC and looking for a killer crab spot, make the trip across the bridge. This time it will be worth it.

4.5 stars.
Came here with low expectations, but i was very pleasantly surprised!
Our server was very personable and attentive.
We were seated promptly. Got fried clams to start. It doesnt come in a big basket like i thought but there were about 4 big clams to share with marinara sauce.
I got the crab cake salad. Really delicious and fresh. There was so much crab meat and no filler!
Bf got the fish and chips. Onion rings were amazing.
The only thing that detracted from the place was that it was a little unclean and our table was pretty sticky.