Bay Island Seafood

This place used to be amazing. In price, quality and customer service. I went this past Saturday July 12, 2014 and was completely disgusted. I waited around forever to finally get up to the glass to place my order and the big white girl with blond hair sticks her hand out from under the glass and waves over someone who came in after me. I was so disgusted that I walked out and went on across the street to Sea Pride. I will no longer be making a trip to Bay Island as I have heard terrible things and the customer service experience did it for me. My family used to use Bay Island for birthday crabs and family reunion crabs. Well Bay Island, you just lost this business and we only bought large males. Get your staff some customer service skills!

Baltimore is the land of crabs seasoned perfectly. This block alone has multiple hole in the wall crab shacks, however the block is kinda shady but still worth the visit due to at least a 10 – 30 dollar cost savings compared to the more touristy spots. Also another big plus is they take credit cards unlike some of the other crab shacks on that block that are cash only.

RIP OFF ALERT: We got crabs today for father’s day. We ordered what was supposed to be a mixed bushel of males and females. It was rip off. There were about a dozen males sprinkled on the top and the rest of the bushel was females. Many of the females were light to nonexistent and had to be thrown away. The spice was OK. Don’t trust them.

Not a great surrounding location, but if your looking for great steamed crabs that are meaty and not a waste this is your spot.

Their crabs are really good!

This is Maryland, so of course, crab shacks are plentiful. This block alone had numerous crab houses, all boasting to have the best crabs. This spot stood out cuz that’s where all the people were. I came here cuz my GF refused to go anywhere else in Maryland for crabs (for good reason). Looked like the area where the main entrance is was being renovated. We entered through a side door and directly into this janky, bullet-​protected seafood bar. No seating, no need. Crabs were in bins with clearly labeled sexes and prices. Just ask and you can see and feel what you can get with each price group. We went for the top-​priced male crabs.
Now, I’ve had a lot of crab claiming to be Maryland crab, but I have yet to have crab like this! My word, that seasoning is amazing! Perfectly blended, perfectly spicy! The crab itself had a surprisingly soft shell. Didn’t need crackers, I was able to crack into it with my bare hands… then I sucked my fingers dry!
My credit card receipt had this place addressed under «1901 Pratt Street», but I see it’s «1903» on all the sites. No worries, same building, same crabs.

Every year, SX dreams of the warmer seasons where there is an overabundance of steamed seasoned Maryland Blue Crabs overflowing our little dining room table and the «crack, crack, crack» of crab shells breaking underneath a slamming wooden mallet. We cover our apartment in newspaper, steam up some corn, and make sure that we have enough opened drinks nearby because once we start digging in, you don’t want to get the crab spice rub everywhere.
We’ve been coming here for a few years now because a family friend had been buying crabs here for a long time. The rub here is old bay based, with a spicy kick. This place is really a locals joint due to the somewhat sketchy location, but the service is friendly and generous and the crabs are a decent size and good eating. We’ve ordered a half a bushel (which can feed quite a lot of people) and out of that lot, there were probably only about 4 — 5 crabs that weren’t too edible, which is pretty good odds.
This is a carry-​out joint only and they sell more (ie: corn, watermelon, mallets, etc.) than just crabs here. You can always call ahead to get the day’s pricing. Located near the corner of: South Monroe and W. Pratt St.
Fun side note– This place was featured on HBO’s «The Wire.»