Eddie's Chesapeake Bay Crab House & More

Saw the TV advertisement of this restaurant so decided to check em out. There is slated parking right in front of the building. The main road is so close that once you back up you're directly in the highway. Went inside there was a guy and a older lady. Greeted immediately. I looked around and asked if they had inside dinning since I saw no chairs, tables or benches. The guy said no. Takeout only. " you can go home in front of the TV and eat your food." Home for us is 40 miles away. Brief discussion where to dine out or go to another restaurant where we can sit down. She decided to eat in the car. A few things mom asked about they were out of. On the counter they have special deals so I inquired about the crabby fries, they were out. . She wanted whiting fish, no whiting only spot fish. She got spot dinner with 2 sides, greens ( I forgot the other side.) I got the 10pc shrimp dinner 2sides, fries and Mac & cheese. 20 minutes later food is pipping hot. Mom opened her platter and was immediately upset with everything. The spots were too small and the greens were frozen, not fresh collards greens. The collard greens was in a container normally for condiments, suck as ketcup or hot sauce. She ate one piece of fish. I enjoyed my shrimp. Nice batter coating however, they batter it up so once you bit into it you quickly discovered you are chopping on the tail not the head. The tail was not clearing visible before eating. Once we got home, mom reheated the greens then discovered a big piece of bone in container with the greens. So you purposely choose to put a bone it in to either give it more weight or less product. We pass dozens of restaurants to patronize and this is what you give to your customers. *sn. I did check google both recent and past reviews on this business and sometimes people do have a bad day but c'mon. The attentiveness is unacceptable

I grew up eating here when it's was called Bennys in the 70 ... long lines hours we waited sweating for some of the best fried crabs I have ever had , just add hot sauce

The food itself was a four; very good seasoning and tasty crabs. The service however was lacking and the restaurant itself hot and uncomfortable. There's no place to sit while you wait for your order and you certainly aren't made to feel welcomed when you enter. They have good food but not sure that's enough in terms of sustaining their business.

Eddie's Crab House is a fixture in this part of SoNo. They have been a part of the community for many years and seem to have a pretty decent following. The crabs seem a bit smaller than they used to be but they've always been delicious. The breading is just right and they're fried and seasoned beautifully with just the right amount of spiciness. You are given a choice of spicy or plain, if you choose spicy they will douse the crabs with their own sauce when they come out of the fryer. Over the years, I've only bought crabs here. The soft-shells are spectacular but kind of expensive at $10 for a pair of pretty small crabs.As I said, I've only bought crabs here (fried, steamed, soft-shell) but they do offer a lot of other fish and seafood as well. Shrimp, oysters, crab cakes, deviled crab, spot, whiting, flounder, etc... They sell sandwiches and full dinners. Available sides include fries, coleslaw, collards, baked beans, dirty rice, potato salad, rolls and cornbread. Besides the store menu they also have a full catering menu if you need to feed a crowd.This is strictly a take out restaurant, there are no tables or chairs inside or out. You just walk in, place your order (the menu is on the wall), pay and wait until it's ready. It's all business, don't expect a lot of small talk or warm fuzzies here. The only payment method Eddie's accepts is cash, they have an ATM on site if you need it. The building is old and could use a refresh, the private parking lot is pretty small but is generally adequate. If the lot is full there is usually plenty of parking at the church across the street. Ingress and egress is easy with access points in the front and rear of the parking lot. 3.5 stars rounding up to 4 for food quality and consistency.

Quality Very Poor:* Crabs seem to have been fried earlier and then re-fried which made them very greasy and dry (see photos).* Crabs are small, and lots of crab pieces clustered together in batter and counted as whole crabs.Price Inflated:* Overpriced, a 200% mark up (1 dozen fried crabs cost $60 before tax) (see photo receipt). Note: A dozen crabs is comprised of a pair of crabs; therefore, this was actually 24 crabs. The price comparison is based on $30 market value for 24 individual small fried crabs @ $15 a dozen.Customer Service Unacceptably Poor:* Eddie Clayton is Rude! Definitely not applying his VA Union University academic marketing and customer service education. I made a correction to my order while placing it. I was the only customer there. Eddie acted perturbed, walked away from me while I was giving him my order, he did not say a word to me - just walked away, went to the refrigeration area, then went and stood in the back a few seconds. Eventually he returned and took my order.Summary:* Based on the exorbitantly high cost of Eddie's seafood - I don't know how the lower income community where Eddies operates can afford to patron the place. This is a great opportunity for a competitor offering better quality, competitive (fair) price, and good customer service to supply the local area with seafood.* You would think based on customer loyalty from the community all these decades that this business would have reasonable fair rates for goods and services.* I will never go back to Eddie's Chesapeake Bay Crabhouse. I deserve better, the community deserves better!

1st time going! Food was Simply delicious. I had fried crab, fish sandwich and steamed blue crabs. I also went back and purchased fresh blue crabs! Everything was delicious!!!

If of all I drove all the way from Atlanta in hopes of trying this place , called over and over to place order and no one would answer the phone , this is the exact reason black business fail !!!

On 711 my husband spent $82 on crabs. The number one male crabs were very small. he mentioned it to the owner who got very nasty and said she had given him three small crabs extra. when he told her he had a half dozen of small crabs she said well that's all I'm going to do for you.. the crabs were so small. The fried crabs were greasy but tasty and very very small. Crabs were not even longer than two small sticks of gum. I will never go there again.. I feel bad for the employees because sooner or later the owner which I found out today it was actually the owner is going to make it so they don't have a job because they won't have any customers.. and if I see anybody going there I will let them know the kind of service that I received... spend that $82 wisely because you will not get any more and if that is your attitude towards all of your customers you are in big trouble.

Drove from Durham NC to Eddie's and then home to Richmond. Watched the gentleman take crabs and batter out of refrigerator and add water to mix. Also watched him add the claws to make crabs look bigger. it was 6PM, they close at 7 and had the grease turned off. I purchased 6 pair fried crab for $95 and got home after askingthem to double wrap. the bag was greasy, stunk, and crabs were horrible. I called the next day and was given some excuse about driving to NC that morning to get them because they were sold out..then no boats went out because of the storm. Not one time when I was at the location did she mention going to NC even after I told her I just drove from there, and my daughter was wearing her NCCU shirt. I guess she was more concerned about feeding Dawn Staley a few weeks ago that she gave her the fresh crabs and us the leftovers. I know fresh crabs and these were not it. Eddie's use to be a staple when I was at NSU but now it needs to go away like time

Norfolk Fried Blue Crabs are a staple that has spoken to me since I was a child. Coming from Atlanta every summer I had to have them. My aunt decided to come to Eddie's and this first impression will be my last, I have never experienced anything so unprofessional and unwelcoming. I didn't notice the small building initially but once we pulled into the empty parking lot, I saw the sign saying "crabshack"(I was surprised at how empty it was not one customer in sight). The smell outside was horrendously fishy, inside was a bit better. The lady inside did not greet or welcome us, just asked "what can I get you?", as we looked over the roughly 4 photos posted behind the counter and my aunt asked how large her large crabs were... this was the beginning of my frustration... this woman stood up finally and waved at the wall and said "the menu is here on the wall, the large price is here". My jaw dropped. I could not believe her audacity. I'm a visitor and my aunt is a God fearing woman, so I remained calm and she reiterated her question and this lady again said "the prices are right here on the wall I can't say what's big and what's not at somebody else's restaurant, these are our prices here on the wall, this is the menu, steady waving at the wall behind her" she then looked at me and said "i ain't never went in a restaurant and asked about another restaurant" I told her that "i would think most restaurants would at least know a little something about their competitors or the supply from year to year as far as size." She kept her same attitude, smirking and being snarky and just weird. The exchange really blew my mind. I asked my aunt if she had the best crabs because her rude demeanor made me want to walk out right then. We still ordered and waited, it was at this time I discovered that the majority of this businesses reviews mention her nasty attitude. Terrible. Once we got the crabs home we saw why she didn't want to mention how big her large crabs were, it's because they were medium at best. PLUS, they were missing claws which honestly look like they were pulled off and because she sells bags of claws, I surely believe that's what she's doing. The crabs were mediocre, tiny, some were dry, like they were recooked, DEFINITELY NOT worth returning. I refuse to be a patron of an establishment that chooses to put a person like that at the forefront. Customers deserve better. I DO NOT RECOMMEND AND WE WILL NOT BE RETURNING.