Crab Shack – St. Petersburg, FL

 

While Brandi & Jeremy were in town, they wanted to spend as much time at the beach and eat as much seafood as possible. 

The last day they were here, we headed to Caladesi Island.  And even though my Apple Maps seems to think that Caladesi is completely separated from Clearwater Beach, it actually is connected, so we hiked from North Clearwater to the end of Caladesi and back (about 9 miles total…which is much more beach walking than I’m used to!) 

 

The last time I went to Caladesi was back in 2011.  Lance and I had only been dating a couple weeks at that point, and the beach was completely deserted.  We didn’t know about the connection to Clearwater, so we took a ferry over from Honeymoon Island to the north (there might not have even been a land bridge at that point…supposedly it has only been connected in recent years…) This time, Caladesi was packed with retirees and spring breakers – totally different than our last visit. 

 

Anyways, after our long beach walk, we were pretty hungry.  We planned to eat at The Bait House, but with all the beachgoers, it had an hour wait.  Instead, we stopped at Crab Shack on the way back over the Gandy bridge.   

We’ve dined there a couple times – it’s very casual and a bit divey, but the crab there is fantastic.  They don’t have much of a beer selection though unless you’re into Budweiser or Coors Light. 

We started with the Tater Skins with Bacon, Crab Meat, and Cheddar along with the coconut shrimp.  The coconut shrimp was great, but the potato skins didn’t seem like anything special (I’m sure it was real crab, but it didn’t seem like it…)

I always get the same meal there – the 1 ½ pounds of Alaskan Snow Crab, which comes with a potato or rice, and either salad or slaw. 

The salads are simple but very fresh. We were so hungry we all devoured ours before I got a picture.  The potatoes are pretty basic, served with sour cream and fake butter, but they are cooked just right.  The thing they really specialize in of course is their crab.  It’s served with some bright yellow butter dip (like what you’d pour over your movie theater popcorn), but the crab is so flavorful on its own, you really don’t need to add anything to it.  

They bring you buckets with scissors, metal crackers to break the legs, and thin wooden seafood picks to get every bit of crab meat out.  It’s a lot of messy work, but it’s worth it.  Just know that at some point you’ll probably get hit by a flying bit of crab shell – it’s not really a great place to go on a first date. 

We were all covered in sand, sunscreen, butter, and crab juice by the end of the day – but after some quick showers, we finished our evening with dessert at Yogurtology.  I especially liked their new flavor of the month, PB&J! 

Crab Shack is located at 11400 Gandy Blvd N, St Petersburg, FL 33702 and is open 11am – 10pm Monday – Thursday, 11am – 11pm Friday – Saturday, and 1pm – 10pm on Sunday.     

Yogurtology has several locations.  Tonight we visited the one at 3017 W Gandy Blvd, Tampa, FL 33611 and is open from 11am – 10pm Sunday through Thursday and 11am – 11pm Fridays and Saturdays.