A J Stephens Crabhouse & Bar

What an amazing find!
If you’re looking for good seafood in the area, this is definitely the place. Everything was AMAZING… and believe me, we ate A LOT!
Be sure you’re not in a rush and be prepared to get your hands dirty! It’s worth every penny.
I’ll be back, AJ’s!

I came in and ordered a take out of Blue Claw Crabs which me and my family totally enjoy all the time, I picked them up not this weekend but last weekend, and me and my family enjoyed them to the utmost… Thank You A J Stephens…

This is a tough review.
The Appetizers were excellent, fried shrimp, and the old bay fries were perfect, the
sauces that were included were great as well.
We ordered the $ 25 seafood pot, that was a pretty big disappointment, especially for
the price. The Crabs were good, but everything else was extremely bland, shrimp, corn, oysters, all tasteless, the stock was flavorless. It came in a little mini turkey pan, which was odd, I was expecting some giant Pot O’ foodstuffs, such was not the case.
Service was good. Decent beer selection for Delco.

Last week I had my wedding shower at AJ Stevens and everything was perfect! We had a beautiful room with plenty of space, a cozy fireplace and the food was excellent! The crab cakes were my favorite but the chicken parm and roast beef was very tasty also. And for a Sunday afternoon the bar was pretty packed and even had a band playing. Service was on point and after talking to my wedding party they said planning and dealing the staff they were very accommodating.
Thanks for a great shower AJ Stephens!!!

I love this place! The Workers are very welcoming and it’s more like a family feel and a laid back atmosphere! The food was great but the drinks need a little more alcohol in them but I would definitely suggest this spot to my friends and family!

I had my daughter’s bridal shower at A J Stephens today. I have to rate this place 5 stars. The food was delicious. I had so many compliments on how good the food was. The service was great. Thanks Amy for all your help.

Fantastic crab, great service. Prices were good and the food was fast and hot. The blue crabs were amazing and the king crab portions were huge. The best part of the meal were the raw oysters, huge and sweet.

The food was amazing! So delicious, great service and a wonderful happy hour! The crab bites were phenomenal! We also had The classic pot and everything was perfect.

This replaced Sam’s Saloon and I love what they have done with the place! It reminds me of walking around south Jersey on the boardwalk and smelling the seafood.
The smell is to die for. However they make their red marinara sauce made my mouth water the entire time I was there. I had the peel-​and-​eat shrimp (I thought it would have been bigger) and someone else had the house burger. The fries from the burger were perfect to dip in the shrimp sauce. I cannot wait to try their mussels.
The thing that keeps me from a 5 is the speed of the service. It was rough and from my co-​diner, it has always been rough. I will definitely try this again when I am back in the area and I hope they put more staff on.

Went here for dinner when it first opened. Waited an hour at the bar to be seated. I can eat almost anything, not very picky. My meal I couldn’t eat half of it and my date said here clams tasted like feet and wouldn’t eat anything else. Maybe they found some better cooks by now and got the place more organized but I’m not sure I’d even go back to give it a second chance.

Very friendly staff. Baked clan a, little well done. Can cake was ok a little too much filler. Crab burger was very good would come back again to try something different

Again all you can eat crabs were great. Can’t beat for $ 25. There fries are great and the service from Janet is always outstanding

If you cant serve what you advertise you should NOT BE IN BUSINESS… dont advertise Jumbo crabs… Then tell me you only have small! You lost a customer for life…

I would have given four stars, but the service was awfully slow. Food was great though. Crab dip and crab cakes were awesome!

Never been here. Someone hacked my account & gave bad review.Sorry.Just posted 5 for the attention. I’ll give it a try though, as I LOVE seafood!

If the review was just based on the food, then it would be more in the 4 – 4.5 range. The food was delicious, the atmosphere left more to desired.
We went in here a couple weeks ago for a late Sunday lunch and were the only people in the dining area. When we walked in, the bar was super crowded and there was music playing, and loud is an understatement. The music wasn’t live, it was on a radio and the bar crowd was screaming over the music. There was two of us dining and we couldn’t hear each other from across the table. That definitely put a damper on things.
However, we were pleasantly surprised by the food! I just ordered the crab mac and cheese and the popcorn shrimp. The mac and cheese was creamy and delicious, it seemed like it was made with their seafood bisque as the base. The popcorn shrimp were just fried shrimp that were fried perfectly and the breading had a lot of flavor, like a cornbread coating. My boyfriend had the seafood bisque and he gobbled up the big bowl so fast! He also ordered the ribs and was very happy with them.
It is nice to have a decent restaurant within walking distance of our house, but it is a bit of a bummer when you can’t even have a conversation because it’s so loud.

I have been to this place 3 times now. I first went there with my wife. We had a very good experience. Food was very good but not great. The atmosphere was excellent. Our waiter was very attentive but not intrusive. We had one little issue with one of our entrées and they went out of their way to make it right. We spoke with Amy for about 20 minutes at the end of our meal. She was personable and seemed truly interested in our opinion of the restaurant
We enjoyed it so much we went for our youngest sons 6^th birthday, bringing along our 3 children and my parents. What an amazing experience this time was. My parents, who came from about 45 minutes away, couldnt help but rave about the place, the food, the service, the atmosphere. Now that they are older, they go out to eat alot and couldnt wait to come back.
And they didnt have to wait long because we came back just two weeks later for our older sons 12^th birthday. They allowed us to bring in our own cake, and let us bring in our own desert to surprise my wife whose birthday was the next say.
Ive had the mussles in red all three times i was there and they have been amazing all three times. I have had the crab soup twice. First time was good, the second time was amazing.
A review good or bad will not sway me as to whether or not i spend my money in a place. Nor will an owners response to any review. How they choose to deal with things is their business. I am a free thinking person and can form my own opinion from my own experience. And from my own experience, I am happy with AJ Stephens. Also from my experience, when something wasnt right with my dinner experience here, they owners and management of this place went above and beyond to try to make it right.
Not every restaurant will be perfect night in and night out. How they deal with those issues separate the good restaurants from the bad. When i have brought my issues to the attention of the people at AJ Stephens, my issues were resolved.
Also, i see the reviews and people attacking this place for the owners response to a bad review. Although as a business owner i would never response to a negative review this way, i have read all the reviews of this place and have seen the same owners response to other negative reviews with class and dignity, apologizing and asking them to come back in so they can try to make it right. The difference with those reviews and the one where the owner lashed out at the reviewer is that those one had constructive criticism, specific issues listed and exactly what they didnt like. The review in question was nasty, attacking with very vague issues that seems like it had an anterior motive. Like i said, i would never respond that way but as a business owner, i have wanted to.

We have been waiting for this place to open, many months on Facebook saying it almost there. Went for dinner this week. The interior is very nice, roomy and family friendly. Not very busy for a friday. The bar area looks very nice and would gladly stop back to visit the bar. I was so excited because be lost an awesome crab house just down McDade last year. The staff was very friendly and attentive but it was so cold in there we had to wear our winter coats through dinner.
We had the crab spaghetti and mussels with pasta. I was a little surprised at how expensive the entrees were for a place trying to establish itself. Had two entrée specials and an appetizer special, all sounded good. The house salad was fresh and nicely done. The main dishes were good portion sizes (we took home leftovers) but not all that memorable. Were not enjoyable enough to order again but would like to try other dishes. Claimed to have great crab cake but were pricey. Plenty of crab with the red sauce. The bill was just about $ 74 for two salads, two entrees, and a half carafe of house wine ($ 15).
Will definitely like to try again but it is far more expensive than expected. For that reason alone it wouldn’t be a place we would be regulars at… As others pointed out it seems like they are still figuring things out. We initially planned on crabs but were quoted $ 78 for a dozen (yikes) and then the waitress stopped back and corrected it to approx. $ 54(?)… Big difference. Still too high, even out of season.
Plenty of room for large groups and menu section for kids. Seated across from two families with crying babies and/​or unruly toddlers. Very nice but not intimate or romantic. Would have been much better experience if weren’t freezing during meal, paid more than enough to expect warmth while eating. I hope they make it and will give them another try. Hopefully crabs will be more affordable when in season. Seems like a great neighborhood bar and patrons.

9 days ago, this place got three stars from me on a take out order. And I still stand by that.
Two weeks ago, this place was around a three star experience.
If the meal I had tonight is any indication, they’re figuring it out.
I’ll preface this by saying that I realize this place may still have kinks to work out. Your experience may still vary.
But I can tell you this based on my experience tonight of the full atmosphere in the dining room. I experienced no service issues. The food came out in a timely fashion. The items I ordered were prepared right. Everyone working there was very nice to me.
I really hope they keep it up.
The details… Tonight I went for Chicken Maryland. The Crab Imperial on top of the chicken was fantastic! There was plenty of meat inside, and not too rich. I didn’t feel like I was eating too heavily. It complemented the chicken nicely. The wife had Stuffed Shrimp with the Imperial and raved about it.
I actually think this is the most important part. They didn’t kill the side orders. So many Delco restaurants half ass the side orders, serving you shriveled veggies in a dish. These green beans were fresh and flavorful. The red bliss potatoes were prepared perfectly. It worked.
Some people have said that they didn’t offer enough side choices. This still seems to be true. I was offered only the potatoes and green beans. I could have had French fries and cole slaw I was told when I asked if that was it. I forgot to ask about pasta as I had that last time as the side. But it’s not clearly stated on the menu. I publicly urge the owner here… Fix this problem. People want better choices for sides, and you should be offering them more easily.
We tried the Shrimp Lejon. 4 pieces for around 9 bucks seems to be the norm. Damn, Shrimp Lejon is expensive. But it was quite tasty.
The only taste miss was the New England Clam Chowder, which was simply passable. But keep in mind, I spent the better part of 10 years living in Boston. I’ve been spoiled.
My one year old son was with us, and he couldn’t get enough of the Mac and Cheese. He started grabbing for it. I tasted it. It definitely doesn’t suck. I’d eat a plate of it happily too.
Here is what I know for sure. If AJ Stephens keeps doing what they did for me tonight, and tweaks a couple of things, they’ll be around a long time. I’m rooting for them to do it.
They’ve proven to me that they’re capable of getting it right. Now they have to do it every day and do it consistently.

Just had our first meal at this new neighborhood place on McDade Blvd. It just opened in the old Sam’s Place and its awesome. Great bar with loads of draft beers and oysters. Service was friendly and good without being phony nice.
The area needed a touch of class and this is definitely it!
Crabs were big with lots of flavor. I felt like I was down the shore for a few hours .
Definitely be back for more.