Dipaula S & Sons Seafood & Produce

$150 for 2 dozen of THE WORST crabs I've ever had! Bought as a Father's Day gift--I was so embarrassed. Meat was mushy. Zero mustard. Even a few female crabs thrown in. Will never buy crabs from them ever again.

I was so excited to revisit S. DiPaula Seafood after a 2 year absence. I was also pleased to learn that they sell genuine Maryland crabs. So I called one day recently and ordered a dozen steamed medium males for $39, along with some corn.It should be noted that I don't remember the place being such a dump. It really looks decrepit; I wonder how they even pass inspection? Anyway, I was looking back fondly on my past experience, and just ignored that detail...The staff was very nice, and my order was ready on time as promised. The bag of crabs (and corn) seemed heavy enough. But when I got home and dug into them, I was disappointed! Here are my takeaways. - At least half of the crabs were light as a feather, with mostly water and little meat, so I guess those crabs had recently molted. - Only a few crabs had both of their mature claws. The rest had either one normal and one small claw, or one claw was missing entirely. That's a sign of poor handling and/or poor selection. - There was so little meat that they seemed to be smalls rather than mediums. Only four of the twelve were actually heavy and what I would consider to be medium crabs. - Many claws when cracked squirted out water, and the meat was miniscule relative to the shell size. This is August, so I was expecting much heavier crabs.I wish Maryland would require watermen to *weigh* their crabs as well as *measure* them from point to point. Throw back the lightweight ones in order to let them fatten up.So all in all, not a great experience. I won't be going back. (The corn was good, though.)

The best seasoned crabs I have ever had in the Baltimore area and I have been everywhere. All the tourist traps, all the trendy places, all the "Best of Baltimore" etc etc and this place is consistently better and Tom and family are always particular about providing top notch service to match the quality. Doesn't hurt that the corn is great too!

Delicious steamed crabs and corn, heavy, meaty crabs, good dry seasoning, best prices in town! New favorite crab place!

I picked up 3 dozen steamed crabs last week to share with my new neighbors in Rockville. They were great! The size was good and there were no light crabs - all were filled with solid crab meat. The taste was excellent. The Old Bay cooked through all the meat. My neighbors are still raving about them.