The Crab Lady

Excellent! I got a dozen of the average male crabs, sooooo good highly recommended if you’re craving some good crabs! Looking forward to getting the crab kickers next time!

I grew up in Hampton Va \-Home of the Crabbers-​We know Crabs down there… these are awesome!
Every Sunday during football season have my standing order of 2kickers ready at 12:30!

Are you from out of the area and jonesing for some Jimmies? Don’t let that deter you from calling the Crab Lady and putting in a dinner order ’cause this stuff is so fresh and seasoned perfectly. Yes, it’s a take out joint (with two small tables on the front porch). But here’s how you do it if you’re staying at a hotel.
First, figure out if she’s open! This place does not have regular hours and she closes when she’s sold out. So check out if she’s open and what they are serving by going to her Facebook page. (They do not have a website, but she does keep her FB status updated daily about what she is serving and what her hours are.)
The crab kickers everyone is raving about are seasoned with a spicy garlic sauce. But the classic Old Bay Jimmies are great too. They have plated foods as well (oysters, fish, etc.), but stick with the food she’s named herself for! She also makes a killer seafood salad (mayo based) that incorporates a lot of fresh shrimp and crab. I seem to remember it was about $ 7 for a pint?
Then the EARLY tern gets the crab at this place. Call in your order early. Avoid the line by picking up your order early. Do not just go there expecting to be served or you may be sorely disappointed. (Yes, they do take credit cards.)
Step 2. Before you leave, swing by the hotel’s front desk and get all of the left over USA Todays and WSJs. Cover your pounding area liberally with newspapers. Use hand towels as napkins. Prepare your space before you leave!
Step 3. Pick up your order — they also sell wooden mallets for about $ 3. So get one of those if you need it. They do not sell beer, so if you want some brew to go with your blue, make sure you pick that up as well!
Step 4. Return to room, moisten one of the hand towel «napkins», and begin pickin’! Delish!
Step 5. Roll the mess up in your newspapers and take it out to the dumpster.

I typically don’t write reviews but felt it was necessary after the unpleasant experience I had with purchasing a half bushel of crabs from the crab lady. The reason we purchased crabs from the Crab Lady was because of the rave reviews. Boy, they couldn’t be more wrong. We ordered some shrimp and crab kickers to start. Normally I don’t order items like these but the reviews about her kickin sauce and spicy garlic made us want to try them. The Shrimp was covered in old baby and soaking in a tub of grease. Then when you went to peel them the shell was stuck to the meat. Horribly overcooked. The crab clusters in kickin sauce was no more than crab clusters in, again, old bay. Nothing signature about that. Lastly the crabs, which shouldn’t have been sold — small, and meatless, were extremely overcooked. The meat was chewy. If it wasn’t for beer I don’t think I could have gotten through that meal. In the end we threw out half a bushel of crabs. What a waste. I will NEVER do business w/​the Crab Lady again. Oh ya and when we showed up to pick up our order that we placed days in advance. It wasn’t ready as they promised. I should’ve taken that as a sign of how terrible this place is. Well at least I didn’t get food poisoning.

After spending the day on the east side of town we were on the look out for blue crab. A co-​worker of mine had recommended this restaurant so we decided to seek it out. It looks like a repurposed house on the side of the highway. People were constantly coming in and out. Good sign. This is a VERY no frills place. There are old 70’s style fast food booths outside on the porch and inside was basically an empty room with a handful of chairs, an order and pick up window. This is a busy place, don’t let the lack of cushy seats deter you. We ordered a dozen male blue crabs, a small seafood salad, and cornbread.
Everything is given in to go bags so don’t get comfy. We weren’t provided with any mallets or crackers so we decided to just eat them at home. Back at our place we dug in. We didn’t have mallets or crackers at home so we settled for a meat tenderizer to get into the claws. If you’ve never eaten crab before you just pop up what looks like the Washington monument and peel it back. When you reach the tail end of the crab just keep going until you pop the whole top off. Voila. The crab itself was sweet and succulent. We ate our fill and still had 4 crabs left over. So good. I highly recommend this place to everyone. The place can seem a little intimidating in a DMV kind of way. Just be on your best manners and everything should go smoothly.
Crab lady we love the way you do your thing and will definitely bring repeat business.

Not one bad crab in the bag. You will get a prefect dozen. Price a little high but worth every penny. Crab kickers the best

The crab kickers are the best!

Went to crab lady incidentally after my favorite seafood place was closed (It was Sunday). I had always heard great things so it was a no brainer.
I ordered a two piece fried fish sandwich and french fries which was priced at $ 5.99. After waiting less than 10 minutes (great!), my order was ready.
Upon opening the box, I was disappointed at the amount of food. The portion was more the size of a snack rather than a meal. For the price, I expected more.
The fish was with very well seasoned and fried to perfection. The fries were crisp and everything was served nice and hot. The taste of the food and the service were worthy of a 5-​star rating.
But the best overall rating I can give is 3-​stars. My reason is two-​fold: First, the chintzy portion size which wouldn’t have sufficed for even a slightly hungry person. Even if they filled the box with fries, I would’ve been happy and full. However I ate the fish and drank 1L of water and was still hungry.
Secondly, the white sandwich bread served with the fish was toasted. The best part of a fish sandwich is the pillowy soft white bread. or roll. This also posed a bigger textural issue where the dry toast caused the fish (which was quite moist) to taste dry.
I will return to try some of their other items, especially the crab kickers and crabs but this won’t be my new favorite spot for a fish sandwich.

Great crabs. I’ll be back for sure. I’ll remember to call ahead to avoid the line.

Good god those crab kickers are to DIE for!!! I called my order in ahead of time and was able to beat the long line! Great service. Nothing fancy though, just some really delicious crabs!!!

Yesterday was my second day ever in Richmond. I was out in my rent car prowling for props and cars for our period documentary we are filming. As I drove past The Crab Lady I could smell what God brought was being served up righteous a line had already begun to snake around the front porch. As I came out of that neighborhood I parked and got in row of the unbeknownst.
I didn’t know the protocol but was told it’d go quicker if you called your order in. Using my iPhone I got a dozen medium crabs dusted so the spices would come off on your fingers. At first sitting I went through 8 and have 4 on hold in the ice box. Being a native Texan that spent summers in Corpus Christi on the bay I know crabs and these were sublime.
Next trip I will get the «kicker» which has a sauce and is not so much $ upfront and too much food for one person. I give this place an unbelievable for ambiance and banter as fights also broke out in the waiting crowd because some got theirs sooner than others. It was like a Hemingway short story — awesome.

Great business. The Crab Lady doesn’t sell anything unless it is the best. When you get crabs, they will be full of meat. She has a high quality standard for products, and if she can’t get the best, she doesn’t just open and sell anything just to make money. She cares about keeping her reputation!

I had the greasiest, yummiest devil crab from there last week and it was soooo good!!! lol I did take away a star for the price as it was $ 5 and I wasn’t anywhere near full. This place reminds me of Winns seafood that used to be in Portsmouth. They did deviled crabs a bit different but oh so tasty like this place. I would like to see more options on the menu but it seems that most people come here for the bushels of crabs. You get better prices in Hampton Roads but hey its in Richmond and you don’t have to fight tunnel traffic for great seafood! Make sure you don’t wait until the last minute to go because what you want may be sold out for that day.

I’m so glad I found this place. The crabs are always great. Also try the crab kickers. They are delicious!

I grew up eating crabs. I believe my mother must’ve craved them when she was pregnant with me. LOL My entire family loves crabs and we know how GOOD crabs are supposed to taste.
I absolutely LOVE The Crab Lady and so does my niece and nephew. We ordered some crabs from here Aug 8 while I was in VA (2 orders of the crab kickers and a dozen males). It was pricey but so worth the money. I really wish I could get them shipped to me in California (where I currently reside). They’re some of the best crabs I’ve ever had!
Hey Crab Lady — keep up the great work! I love your place and if you ever decide to ship to California, please let me know!

Recently bought a half bushel of crabs here. I don’t know why I waste my time driving to far away places when these are so good here. Call ahead and place your order so you don’t have to wait too long.

I hesitated to post this review because right now it feels like our little secret, but she just put together a website so I guess that means expansion anyway!
My bf and I looove crabs. After we moved here, we made it a point to visit a number of crab houses along VA Beach and even up to Maryland, but then we got to thinking, there’s nothing special to crabs. If you can get them and steam them, might as well do it for cheaper at home! I searched for a place where we could get great fresh crabs, but if you’ve ever tried doing internet research in Richmond for something niche like that, you’ll know how impossible it is. Fortunately, the name «Crab Lady» made it pretty clear that we would be able to find what we were looking for there.
According to her website, she’s only been in business for 6 years, but she’s done a great job locating a good crab supplier. Sometimes service can be a little slow, but the wait is always worth it. We buy them live and steam them at home in a pasta insert, but you can also buy them steamed there. She also offers shrimp and snow crab legs. She also offers «crab kickers» which are the center parts of the crabs with legs, cooked with garlic and other spices. Yum yum! She ran out of crabs after the 4^th so now I’m just counting hours until Thursday when we can get our crabs again!