Cantler's Riverside Inn

Crabs are Maryland’s favorite pastime. You can eat them anytime, anywhere, multiple in one sitting, with beer, with wine, while watching football or watching the scenery. There’s also nothing quite like eating crab right along the Chesapeake, where the little creatures dwell, in which case Cantler’s Riverside Inn becomes quite a destination for crab lovers.

On weekends in warm weather, be sure to wait for a table outside on the covered deck, or you won’t have to wait if you’re okay with sitting indoors or in the full blaring sunshine. Cantler’s offers a full menu of appetizers (we love the raw oysters served cold) and the steamed clams to start), shrimp, salads, crabcakes, sandwiches, fish entrees and even food for non-seafood eaters.

But the real purpose for making the big trip to Annapolis and driving down the winding road to Cantler’s is for its crabs. Covered in Maryland’s state spice, Old Bay, you can spend a good long lunch or dinner hammering and chiseling away at your crabs for all the lumpy crabmeat goodness inside. A cold beverage, such as a beer or an iced tea, is a perfect complement to them.

Be prepared to get messy. It’s always a treat when some of the local Navy students stop by with their bright white uniforms and manage to eat without getting splattered. There’s always a line at the outdoor sink for people holding their hands out like zombies, waiting to wash off the crab and Old Bay. Service is busy and wait staff runs rampant trying to meet the needs of crab eaters alike, but a little patience and focus on what's important -- the crabs -- will make this a pleasant dining experience worth repeating.

HelloMetro Tip: The restaurant is great for families and out-of-towners. If you prefer to travel by boat, you can pull up along the docks below where the crabs come in. While taking a break from crabs, you can wander down to the docks to look at the various seafood swimming in sinks, or at the scenic Mill Creek, which feeds into the Chesapeake.

- by Rin-rin Yu, Washington Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Rin-rin Yu

Rin-rin is an award-winning writer and journalist based in the Baltimore-Washington area. Her work has appeared in China Daily, DAYSPA magazine, Luxury Home Design, Aquatics International, Not For Tourists and other publications. Rin-rin has also worked for ABC News, WHDH-TV (NBC) in Boston and Hanley Wood Business Media. She has a master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She is an avid world traveler and maintains a travel blog, www.mytravelhats.com.