Big Daddy’s BBQ

I have to say, when I heard that somebody locally was serving MD crabs by the dozen or bushel, it got my attention. Usually, I have to drive 45min to an hour or more to get fresh crabs — so 10 minutes up the road would be a big deal. Recently opened on the premise of Mulch Man, this BBQ/​crab haven seems like just what the area needs. They’ve got a great idea — with a BYOB «sand beach» and an extensive BBQ menu. On Sat and Sun only, they offer #1 crabs for an avg price of $ 39 Dozen — not as good as if I drive down to DE., but not bad for a 10-​min jaunt… so I took a shot, and got three dozen.
I enjoyed talking to Mike — the owner — as I waited. He has a lot of pride and passion about his BBQ, which is always a good thing. He’s also a big crab fan himself. Which is why I was surprised that my crabs were soooooo mediocre! While decent size, they were extraordinarily light (unusual this late in the season), and some were obviously old/​verging on bad (you know when the crab mustard goes black?).
Out of 3 dozen I’d estimate about 6 – 7 really good crabs — the rest were middlin’ to poor. He said a lot of people preorder crabs from him, so I got 3 of the final five dozen he had available. This was at 11am sat — just a few hours after they opened. Maybe that was factor, but it’s pretty obvious when crabs are old or light, and they had to know what they were serving to me. Mike owed me a heads up, or a better deal on the price — they were THAT light, so that’s just not a fair deal. I’m all the more disappointed because I really want someone nearbye that saves me the trip. A friend of mine got three dozen right before me, and I intend to ask if his experience was similar.
Because Mike seems passionate about his food, I’ll give him another chance on the BBQ. Maybe they’ll deserve a better rating on that score… but if you’re going to get crabs, forewarned is forearmed. They’re going to need a lot better quality control if they want to maintain a good reputation and generate some local buzz.