Long Island restaurants serving soft-shell crab worth the trip

Love 'em or hate 'em, soft-shell crab season on Long Island has begun.

Along the East Coast, the divisive delicacy finds many diners enthusiastic, while others wrinkle their noses at the crunchy crustacean served late April (or early May) into September. A host of spots across the counties regularly offer these critters on special, with four recent standouts below. But first: a soft-shell primer for the uninitiated.

Soft-shell crabs aren’t nearly as exotic as many want to make them out to be. They are simply normal crabs — in these parts, usually blue crabs — harvested in their molting stage, or when they shed their hard exoskeleton. Either cooked, or flash frozen, within hours of this period in their life cycle, the shell remains softened. When cooked correctly, the result is a wholly edible, somewhat crunchy, though tenderized outer layer, and a sweet, meaty interior. They are fried, grilled or sauteed, their meticulous harvesting and short season rendering them both expensive and, frequently, unavailable.

"Last year, they were hard to get," said Jimmy Schultz, owner of Bayville’s Schultzy’s. This season has seen some periods of scarcity. Schultz keeps soft-shells on his menu as a dinner special. Two of his buyers go into the market, nightly, and "handpick the best ones." They come in various sizes. The slightly smaller "primes," the larger "jumbos," and oversized "whales." Schultz prefers whales or jumbos, but also wants them soft and tender.

As the coastal waters of the Atlantic warm, starting in the Chesapeake and traveling north, soft-shell season commences. Many New York restaurants source their soft-shells from Maryland, North Carolina and New Jersey, and rotate them onto their menus as they’re available. Most recently, Jackson Hall in West Islip, a fan favorite for their lobster roll, capped a month featuring soft-shells. Robke’s, the Italian hot spot in Northport, created a soft-shell crab "martini" special in the style of their well-loved pork chop martini. Fried, doused with cherry peppers, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and served over angel hair with garlic and oil, "they sold out in under three hours," according to Lou Selvaggio Jr., Robke’s frontman.

Usually on special, fresh soft-shells must be thoroughly cleaned before any cooking preparation — face and gills have to be removed — though restaurants can source frozen from mass food carriers like Sysco. Ask about sourcing if this matters to you. Most of the featured restaurants below are getting them fresh, daily, in flats of three dozen. While many kitchens will prepare them to order, fried or simply sauteed to liking, we suggest going with the chef’s preparation — our favorite was a surprising tandoori-style soft-shell in Garden City.

Time being of the essence, a season with an expiration date, run, don’t walk to the spots below.

Schultzy’s

265 Bayville Ave., Bayville

This simple, tasteful spot tucked north in seaside Bayville is an oasis of seafood. Think local oysters like Blue Points and Lucky 13s, Beau Soleils from Canada, steamers on special, little neck clams, jumbo shrimp cocktail, and that’s just to start. A big, L-shaped bar anchors a simple, navy blue and gray dining room where the food is on point, especially the fish.

At dinner, in addition to a menu of lobster bakes, sesame crusted ahi tuna, seared halibut, and lobster rolls are beautiful, oversized soft-shell crabs ($48). Barely dusted with flour and then sauteed in a lemon butter sauce akin to a Francese, the briny, goodness of the actual crab shines through. Served alongside a heap of irresistibly vibrant garlic spinach and peppered Carolina Gold rice, this is simple, unfussy food at its best. 

Schultzy’s is owned by the eponymous Jimmy Schultz, who started clamming at the age of 12, shifted to lobstering in the '90s, and became a tilefish boat fisherman in the 2000s for a cumulative 33 years of fishing. In the summer of 2021, the lifelong bayman opened Schultzy’s. As he explains it, "the thing with seafood is there's so many shortcuts to get away with pricing, but it's not worth it. My name's on the window. I have a high reputation, so I have to keep the top quality of food I bring into this place." Mission accomplished. More info: 516-588-6240, longislandrawbar.com

The Bell and Anchor

3253 Noyack Rd., Sag Harbor

David Loewenberg and his partner, executive chef Sam McCleland, are the team behind this spot in Sag Harbor that sits on Mill Creek Marina and offers one of the best-kept sunsets on the East End. A simple indoor-outdoor space that serves up classics from mussels to chowders, surf and turf to tuna poke, shrimp and grits to pan roasted salmon, even a shellfish-stocked bouillabaisse, we’re here for the soft-shells. While soft-shell crabs are available year-round, the season at Bell and Anchor begins in late April and early May.

"We get our soft-shell crabs through our fishmongers, Braun Seafood and Gosman's and the soft-shells we’ve been getting are from Maryland," Loewenberg said. "Depending how they’re prepared, you have the soft crunch, the silky texture, and the brininess of the meat. It is truly an umami experience."

Served as an appetizer, the crabs are lightly dredged in cornmeal, quickly sauteed in brown butter, then cooked with a julienne of leeks, diced tomatoes, capers and Madras curry, a touch of white wine, plated with charred lemon. Alternatively, Bell and Anchor is one of those flexible spots where they also offer them fried with a simple spicy salsa with corn, tomato and saffron aioli, served over a Napa cabbage slaw or on a Big Marty Bun. Prices fluctuate between $26 and $34, depending on the market. More info: thebellandanchor.com

Sparrow Kitchen and Cocktails

829 Franklin Ave., Garden City

At Garden City’s Sparrow Kitchen and Bar, chef Mike Wydro is a master manipulator of ingredients, soft-shell crabs no exception. But first, a brief pause for the beauty of Sparrow’s dining room, a lush palate of soft creams, bursting with feather chandeliers, light wood finishes and chairs, dramatic leather-backed banquettes, and matte-gold sparrow figurines poised overhead surveying the chic dining room.

The menu at Sparrow has something for everyone from popovers and thousand-layer potatoes topped with caviar to start, to pastas, including a hearty ricotta gnocchi and a light spring Carbonara filled with green vegetables. Entrees span veal chops and halibut steaks, burgers and pork chops, but it's the soft-shell crab, a special that Wydro tries to run as often as possible, that we recommend.

"It’s hit or miss," he says of his diners’ embrace of the crabs. "Sometimes they’ll sell out in an hour, another night, they don’t move," but he still likes offering them. In one of the most interesting preparations we tried, Wydro’s soft-shells can be had as an appetizer ($26) — with one crab — or entree with two. He prepares them tandoori-style, replicating the high heat cooking of a tandoor, or Indian clay oven, after tenderizing and marinating the soft shells in yogurt. Here, they’re served as a skewer (or skewers!) with Meyer lemon, shishito pepper, crusty bread, charred ramp, and a lemon aioli. Nearly unrecognizable as they were served, with a subtle but welcome hit of spice from the shishitos, this was the most tender, tasty preparation of the bunch. A hit, to be sure. More info: 516-475-3211, sparrowkitchenandcocktails.com

Popei’s Clam Bar

384 N. Wantagh Ave, Bethpage

760 Grand Blvd., Deer Park

Both locations of this casual seafood spot keep a soft-shell crab po’boy special on the specials menu and, of the options on this list, it’s the most reasonably priced at $16.47. It’s served "fully dressed" with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and remoulade sauce on a brioche bun. And, of course, fries.

Complete with the red-and-white checkered paper napkin-lining the plate, the bun has height — and could probably be a bit more compact — but the claws of the nicely-sized crab sticking out on both sides necessitate its width. Popei’s in Deer Park is an old-school type of joint with its wooden high balls tables, simple marble bar, backed by multiple TVs of varying channels golf, ABC News, and Judge Judy. Start with a cup of the requisite Long Island chowder, a creamy blend of New England and Manhattan clam chowders. Then, onto your soft-shells. Wait staff will let you know that you can order your crabs any way you’d like, but trust us, here the po’boy is worth the indulgence. More info: 516-822-9169 (Bethpage), 631-254-3561 (Deer Park), popeis.com