I have been coming to this place since 1978. My father, who has traveled and has eaten seafood all over the world, introduced us to the Crackpot. Now that may seem like it is no big deal, however, we are from Cleveland, Ohio. On a whim, our family would jump into the car and drive five and a half hours to eat blue crab here. Then stay at the Holiday Inn on Loch Raven right down the street overnight driving back the next day. My dad even had his name on a list at the bar for eating a record number of blue crabs in one sitting. I haven't been here for a few years but the place looks the same as it did in 1978. Who cares? Besides when eating these blue crabs things tend to get really messy! As soon as the Crackpot reopens for dine in I'm bringing my family from Cleveland to experience the best blue crabs the world has to offer! PS the rest of the food is pretty amazing too! read more

Terrible! This was absolutely my last visit. I had flounder which was presented as fresh catch. It was burnt, bland and definitely not fresh. It tasted like a frozen filet from one of these warehouse stores, and this is being kind. My wife ordered fried shrimp and they were the heavily breaded shrimp that you get from the Chinese carry out. The bottom line is the food quality was extremely poor. The quality was worse than the taste. read more

Crackpot used to serve our favorite buffalo wings, and we also enjoyed their seafood. I don't know what's happened to this restaurant (or the strip mall it's located in), but this is not the place we've recommended for years. Where to start? There's always a regular presence right outside the doorway for anyone looking to purchase bags of "something" via handshake. That's the atmosphere, now. The seafood menu has been mostly replaced with Indian food. That could be a fine choice - except each of the Indian dishes we ordered tasted more like ketchup than curry. All the flavors were "off". Worse, the meat was diced into cubes of gristle-like kibble. Even in the spaghetti, cubed kibble!! They also offer Indian pizza, which we have loved from other Indian restaurants. It arrives and don't you know it... we find more cubed meat kibble on top, frozen pizza crust on the bottom, and it was garnished with (???) dandelion leaves? Their online menu is wrong, but so is the in-house menu. They'll deny knowing anything about items on their printed menu while it's still in your hands. Again, we used to come here all the time for the seafood and wings. Trust me, they were the best wings! And we'd be willing to come here for Indian food if everything wasn't just so BAD. At this point it seems to us that they are only selling pre-packaged food, possibly assembled and mixed just before or after cooking? I don't know. The cubed meat kibble was the last straw, though. Yuck! It was so disappointing ... and expensive... and more than a little disgusting. I can't imagine we'll be back. read more

amazing experience!!! The drinks are very good and affordable. staff were really helpful and nice as well.

The bar and restaurant are not separated. The bar started having Karaoke night on Wednesday's at 8 pm. Last Wednesday was the first time, I did not attend the 1st event however I attended the 2nd Wednesday. The business owner told the DJ that he received complaints from his restaurant patrons that the karaoke crowd was too loud singing . The owner asked "karaoke patrons " to sing/talk lower. First and foremost, at least on this nite., 80% of the of his patrons were there for karaoke. Secondly, most of the drinks were being ordered by his "karaoke patrons." As people were singing the owner would signal the DJ to turn it down. Don't have an event to draw business than put ridiculous restrictions on it. It was unprofessional & tacky. I travel with a group of Karaoke goers, after last night events we have decided not to patronize this venue again. There are plenty of local bars/restaurants out there that would love our business. read more

Have you ever had really gritty oysters? Got the burger, thought it was good besides the fact it looked like a rock. Fries had too much seasoning on one side and zero on the other. Just the way I like it. Service was good. He sounded country though. My friends got into a fight at the table which might have ruined the experience. They're hashing it out in the bathroom now. I also got the pizza that I was supposed to "split" with my friend. Don't know how you split a 9" pizza but you figure it out. Think I got overcharged but I'm too anxious to say anything about it. If you go here don't get the seafood. read more

All I ordered was cream of crab soup. I had a huge craving for some... it was awful! It was more like cream of fish soup. I remember going here as a child in the 90s and the food was delicious. My family had gatherings here all the time and never had an issue with the food. I have never had cream of crab that tasted this bad. I've gotten cream of crab from a can that tastes better. I'm so disappointed read more

Linda the waitress was awesome. Happy hour was good and the crab cake was very good and fulfilling. read more

Crackpot Seafood Restaurant - Seafood Near Me - Baltimore, Maryland

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First let me start off by saying I've never had crabs hear people say that the thing to get. What I have had was the crab pretzel dip which didn't seem to have a lot of crab on it. we also tried the clam chowder which there weren't many clams. However we both had crabcakes and they were pretty good. It was kind of just a more than mediocre meal with less than mediocre service. We went to oceans pride one time for seafood in Towson and really didn't like it so we were hoping this would be better. Maybe the crabs are better here than everything else but we won't be coming back. read more

It's a dive bar, but the crabs are great and the beer is cheap! If you want crabs drag your butt in here. read more

I have lived in the area for 10 years and I was hesitant to give this place a try since the reviews had always been terrible. Finally, we braved the place and I have to say it was nice. The crab dip was great. A lot of places try to add enough spices that you cannot tell there is not a lot of crab in it but this dip was full of crab and tasted like crab. I had the crab imperial and it was good too. The potatoes were a little bland but if it can be fixed with salt and pepper which are at my table, I'm not too picky. My inlaws had crabcakes which they said were good. The fries were not the best but not the worst. My complaints would be that the cola seemed weak and our server seemed new. Still, I'm glad we gave this place a try finally. read more

Their crabs were ok. The Cajun seasoned shrimp with sautéed onions is amazing!! When I got no clams from my new England clam chowder, I complained about it ti the waiter.he openly told me that it was right out of the can. Hellloooooooo I can do tht at home!!! read more

On a Saturday night, I came here on a whim, after being told there was a 2-hour wait across the street at the Crafty Crab. It is a sports bar, kind of a hole in the wall place. In desperate need of updating. However, there was no wait and the food was delicious. I ordered the stuff shrimp imperial with coleslaw and french fries. I'm not on that side of town often, but definitely look forward to visiting again. read more

This is one of those restaurants that seems to surf on it's previous glory than for its current goodness. I went there not too long ago with my girlfriend for, what else? Crab cakes. The place was packed with mostly old people who all seemed to be getting into their meals. I'm not a huge crab cake fanatic, not having been born here, but I DO like well made ones. My crab cake seemed rather soggy with a lot of filler, and lacking any flavor. I thought that maybe since their clientele was older they were trying to pan down the spice. My girlfriend felt the same about hers. I recall waiting a long time for our meals to come out and was just very disappointed with the meal and the price they want to charge for them. A step up is the crab cakes at Glory Days Grille...and those are just average. read more

Go in expecting a bar with some decent dishes, you'll be happy. Go in expecting a real, fancy seafood restaurant- you'll be sad. Best times we've had there are eating at the bar, a pound of steamed shrimp- simple, w/ Old Bay, and a big thing of fries, with Happy Hour drafts. Perfect. Interesting East Baltmore local-types (this part of Towson is right on edge of Carney/Parkville), friendly folks and service, just divey enough yet still clean enough to not get scared of eating. BAR IS COOL!! in a retro, neighborhood kinda way. Part of the charm is that it's faux-nautical time-capsule decor and beaten-up furniture makes it the opposite of anything pretentious-- I find it relaxing, the kind of place where you feel it's fine to slouch in your chair and pretend you're a kid out with your parents again in 1968- albeit a kid sucking down cheap beer! Folks malleting away their crabs seem to love those, to. But--- start getting away from simply steamed shrimp/crabs, or deep-fried fish sandwiches....and it gets extremely mediocre. Crab cakes shouldn't need flavorings!! If I want pineapple flavor, I'll eat a freakin' pineapple, not a "Hawaiian Crabcake." I like to taste crab, with a hint of spice; not crab as texture for strong flavorings. All other real meals I tried there-- just disappointing; sides are canned or too plain (like giant hunk of barely steamed, not seasoned one bit, broccoli), most stuff clearly frozen and not of highest quality. Go in for some crabs or steamed shrimp, some fries or deep-fried apps that are tasty despite their generic frozen-ness, (like the always tasty generic food-service mozzerella sticks or jalapeno poppers), cheap beer at Happy Hour-- you'll have a great time!! Just don't venture furhter. PS- if you stay until after 9, the dining room gets converted to ping-pong tables!! read more

A nice relaxing place to get a great meal. The selection of food is great and the prices are just right. We had the pleasure of taking a gentleman, Harry Debaugh, who's name is on their tribute wall of veterans. Catch them for Happy Hour and get some great deals. read more

The Crackpot Seafood Restaurant was opened in 1971 and offers a casual, comfortable setting, One side of the restaurant has a long, narrow bar area, while the other is all wood-shingled walls, paintings of sailboats, and crab pots around the light fixtures. If you are having crabs the wooden tables are covered with sheets of rough brown paper, and we were given a plastic basket with wooden mallets, paper napkins and plastic knives. The Crackpot offers several crab cake variations, including Italian ones with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese and Hawaiian ones with ham and pineapple (plus a few other variations beside a regular crab cake). We got there around 2:00. About 5 people order crabs and the rest of us ordered of the lunch menu whereas, a few ordered off the dinner menu. The lunch menu has many sandwich offerings and light fare orders of certain things. The dinner menu offers a variety of seafood and land items. I started with the Cream of Crab soup. It was good but lacked the kick of sherry that a lot of places put in it. It had an average amount of crab in it- but of course it could have had more. For my main course I had the light fare crab cake that came with 2 sides. The crab cake had a lot of meat but was dry and according to my taste buds lacked flavor. It was also very small compared to a bunch of other places. My broccoli was cooked well but had nothing on it and was served not very hot- in fact when I asked for butter it didn't even melt when I put it on. My French fries were over cooked (however a few other people had some that were done perfectly). Overall, I was very disappointed. Some of the other entrees that were ordered were the Crab Imperial, Stuffed Lobster Tail, Broiled Scallops and Shrimp Basket. The person sitting next to me got the Crab Imperial and was disappointed she ordered it and wishes she got the crab cake. AS for the crabs they were dirty the way they should be and the people eating them were enjoying them. However the price for me that day was a bit step for the size that they were getting. This place may just be good for crabs and that's it. Overall, I must say I was disappointed. I had been here around 4 yrs ago and thought things were pretty good. I am not sure if I will be going back to this place at all to give it another chance (even with the Restaurant.com savings coupon). The only thing I would consider going back for is the crab. read more

I come all the way from the Midwest! We make it a point to stop at the crackpot for their crab cakes. Restaurant ambiance is comfortable, not loud, waitstaff has been consistently friendly. read more

Great laid back crab house and the crabs are usually a good price for the size. It's kinda like being back in time with local guys at the bar and real crab pickers just hanging out. Main thing I love is you can often find crabs in all seasons. read more

Decent crab cakes. Service is good. They offer tons of different flavors of crab cakes like Jerk, Italian and Hawaiian among others. Interior is in desperate need for an Extreme Home Makeover. It looks like an 80's Nautica clothing photo shoot. read more

The menu claims that the crab cakes are "world famous specialty" crab cakes. They were pretty good, but not incredible. The same goes for the sides. The mashed potatoes may have been from powder mix. No complaints about the food, but a bit underwhelmed in general. Lackluster, perhaps. The bill for a hawaiian crab cake sandwich, shrimp cake dinner, and maryland crab cake pounder dinner for two was $81. With tip, $94. Not worth it in my opinion. There is a wide variety of styles of crab cakes. And the shrimp cakes is pretty innovative. I guess... The service was a bit lacking. There were only two servers for the whole restaurant. Granted its not a very big restaurant, but there were still a decent number of diners, and the two servers were overworked. The food took a while to come out. I was with a few friends, so the augmented wait wasn't a big deal - we had good conversations. But in spite that, it still took long enough for me to notice. They also have soft shell crabs, and while I think the experience of taking a mallet to get to your crab meat is something you should experience while visiting Baltimore, Crack Pot doesn't quite do that experience justice. Obrycki's was better. read more

I've only come here for the bar late at night to see my favorite bartender Larry! I'm really shocked and surprised that this place only has 3 stars! Everybody there is super nice, everybody knows everybody there, if you're a regular they'll have a beer waiting for you at you chair. I love it! The drinks are SUPER cheap and they make them really strong, beer bottles are like $1 and some change. I've gotten pretty drunk off a $10 bill. Now I've never been here for the seafood, I didn't even know they were known for seafood lol but! I can definitely say that their late night menu is really good. The wings are good, their burgers are big and juicy, I even got a free chicken wrap one night that was really yummy. The crab pretzels were delicious, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. Every year they have a big Christmas party for their employees and regulars that come to the restaurant and I went for the first time last year and had a BLAST! They put all the tables together like a big family dinner and have a buffet of food, I felt like I was really at a family get together. They also announce their asshole of the year award winner which is super funny and they play games. They had a DJ and everybody was dancing, he played songs everybody knew. I don't know what ya'll are talking about but this place has become my second home since moving here for school. Don't let the bad reviews scare you away! Oh! P.s. they also have a liquor store attached & even when its closed they have a very small selection of liquor you can buy from the bar. read more

I ordered the half & half soup (cream of crab mixed with Md crab), the crab dip and shrimp salad. The soup was really good. However, the crab dip was not so great. The dip did not taste too bad, but it was just too sweet and it had shells in it smh... Out of all the dips I have tasted, this one ranks as the lowest. A slice of cantaloupe is served with the dip. The fruit was fresh and sweet, very good. I was a bit disappointed that this place did not have splenda for my hot tea. The shrimp salad sandwich tasted okay. ***Bottom line is the soup was the only thing I really enjoyed eating. If I had to rate this place based on just what I ate, I would give it 2 stars. I rated it as a 3 star only because the place seems clean and the waiter was nice. They do not have a host at the front entrance, so it may take some time to be greeted smh read more

Awesome service and food... I had enough food to last for two meals. Staff is really friendly and understanding... Our server was honest with us about which desert she thought was best. read more

Crackpot Seafood Restaurant - Seafood Near Me - Baltimore, Maryland

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Most of my love for this place comes from memories as a child. My mom and dad ate here long before I was born (in 86), and continued to go well until I was 10. I always, without fail, ordered a tuna sandwhich. I remember loving them and always finishing them. I recall when I was younger, my mom would always mention that her mother ate here all the time. One time she threw a hissy fit because my grandfather forgot to make a reservation for a Friday night, and she couldn't be seated right away. According to my mom, this was the place to be, and seeing as her mom was insane and would do that, I'm inclined to agree. Fast forward to when I was 18. I still longed for the place since my parents stopped going (my dad doesn't eat seafood anymore), and my sister wanted to go back too. So her and I went one summer afternoon. She had a crab cake, I had a tuna sandwhich. It was like a party in my mouth. My sister loved her crabcake, which thus started her fierce love affair with crab cakes. We went back a while later with mom and got crabs. We all had a good time, and the crabs were good. Well, we stopped going again for whatever dumb reason (boggles my mind why we stopped both times. My mom works down the street), but last Friday my boyfriend surprised me and took me there! I'm guessing he got tired of me constantly telling him that we needed to eat there. He got a crabcake, and I got a deep fried crab puff. We both enjoyed our food. The puff was not as good as the tuna, but I wanted to be daring and try something new. I still love this place, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. read more

My absolute favorite seafood restaurant in the Baltimore area. Great steamed crabs and crab cakes. The crab imperial is phenomenal and their gluten free menu is not only amazingly tasty and has a great selection but I've also never gotten sick from cross contamination or anything. Prices aren't bad either. The service is always great. read more

Cosmo with a marischino (sp?) cherry? When I asked the server, she said she didn't know anything about the drinks. Tasted okay and was only $3.50 though. Fried calamari was hot as crispy, but had no taste. Seriously needs Gordon Ramsey team -- food, servers, and mostly the decor! Too much going on -- christmas lights, wooden walls, crab post, ceiling fans, big fish, Baltimore pictures, tee shirts -- looks like it hasn t changed since the 50's. read more

Waiter seemed very overwhelmed, when asked what the Vegetable of the day was he was completely blank. The dining area is very outdated, Food was mediocre.. A little over priced. My "crab imperial" had shells in it too many for my liking.. Cream of spinach was tasteless probably straight from the can. Sadly, the best thing was probably the French fries. Experience wasn't completely horrible.. But I wouldn't eat here again. read more

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Me and my husband decided to eat here because he always cooks at home so when he decides to dine out I'm always ok with it which isn't often. But let me tell you from experience and I am being 100% totally honest the food in this place is Absolutely Horrible I had the (French Dip) which is Shaved prime rib on french bread with au jus and fries and my husband had (Fish and Chips) Beer battered North Atlantic cod with fries & cole slaw. The Rib was no where near PRIME RIB also the Bread was so hard it was Rediculous, His Fish was old and over cooked in dirty grease along with both of our fries. Also this place is filthy I can guarantee you that if Gordan Ramsey came to this place he would shut them down. So take it from someone who loves to eat and know what food cooked with LOVE tastes like. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY YOU WILL REGRET IT!!!!!! read more

To say this resturant deserves even 1 star is way to generous! The manager is rude, the crabs are mushy, all together the place is disgusting! Customer service is horrible and the attitudes they have is just as bad as the food! Do not come here! read more

The food is good. The service was great. The dessert was not that great. The area gets a little loud.

We get crab cakes to go every Friday! Delicious!! Sitting at the bar on a Friday night after a rough week at work is food for the soul.

Cream of crab soup was the best years ago but in the last few years not so much. I'm so disappointed that I'm done trying. I grew up here and will say nothing positive again. It had no crab meat and lots of flower. read more

I used to live one neighborhood over but didn't try it until after I moved away. Now I try to stop in for a meal every time I visit. My usual order is half a dozen steamed crabs (yes, all for me!). The service is great and the atmosphere is very casual and laid-back. read more

One of my favorite restaurants in the word! I always get the Jumbo Crabs. Kind of pricy but worth it! EVERYTHING on the menu is good. Great selection of beers! read more

The Crackpot was just OK. The place itself is cool - very nautical atmosphere, which is just what you want in a crab joint, ya know? Our server was new to the game, but very sweet and very efficient. We started off with the mushrooms stuffed with crab imperial - delicious. I had an order of the mussels, which was really skimpy. I think I had about a dozen tiny mussels for $8.95 or so. My hon of hons husband and his mother had the crab cakes, which were served with a choice of two sides - baked potato, mashed potato, broccoli, cole slaw, french fries, veggie of the day. The crab cakes were great, but the mashed potatoes were completely devoid of flavor. I had the soft shell crabs, which were inexplicably served on top of slices of white bread. Hmmm???? In any event, an OK place to go, but there are much better crab joints in the area so we probably won't go back again. read more

We went in there as a large group of 10 for dinner, we did call for reservation ahead, and Diane was helpful with that. Everybody ordered different food. I ordered the broiled seafood platter. Other than the crab soup had to be reheated coz it was lukewarm, we had no complaints. The crab cake was really good, probably the best I've had so far. It was chunky and just delicious! Atmosphere was pleasant, we were in the restaurant side, not the bar. I had certificates worth $80 from restaurant.com that was broken up into $10s coz they were out of the $50 and $25. I didn't know you could only use one certificate per visit! But the manager was so nice to accept all of the certificates that went towards our $300+ bill. I think that was really nice of him! So even just for that, I recommend this place, but the food is really good too! Check it out! read more

Crackpot Seafood Restaurant - Yummy! Crab pretzels, crab soup, seafood platter, soft shell crabs... - Seafood Near Me - Baltimore, Maryland

I recall being in The Crackpot about 15 years ago, and the decor was very different, with booths, darker lighting, less open dining room, no TVs. The inside now looks like a large bar extended into a dining hall, so I was a bit surprised. Nonetheless, a friend and I dined there last night and here are my impressions. First, the beer, resurrection, was a pleasant surprise to find on the draft list. Unfortunately, the unpleasant surprise was that it seemed watered down, not like that resurrection found at the Brewer's Art. My guess is that this is probably a result of this craft beer being massed produced by Yeungling for restaurant consumption. So be it, it was like a 50/50 mix of resurrection and Yeungling lager, not bad I guess with steamed crabs, which we did not have. I had the soft shell crab sandwich. The crabs came out very crispy, and the sandwich reminded me of a BLT with crunchy crustaceans, instead of bacon. I enjoyed it very much. My friend ordered popcorn shrimp. No comments here, except as the name would suggest, the shrimp were the size of uncooked popcorn kernels. He also had the single crab cake with fries and cole slaw, which he said he enjoyed. I'll be back, I'm sure, maybe sooner than 15 years this time. read more

1st time at the CrackPot this evening with my family. I had the surf and turf at a steep $27. Ordered my steak medium, it came out well done and rubbery. Had the chopped spinach as a side, tasted and appeared straight out of a can, no hint of freshness whatsoever. Mashed potatoes tasted straight from a prefrozen bag and served nealry cold. The menu in general offered nothing that I didn't feel I could put together easily in my own kitchen, which isn't the experience I want when I go out to eat. On the plus side, the crab cakes (had ours broiled) were good. Also had cream of crab soup that was very tasteful. Server was pleasant and attentive. For the entrees we ordered, nothing appeared to be a truly fresh ingredient. The kids menu was a bunch of fried or greasy, IMO crap food. Really wish i had a different experience here. The restaurant appears as a staple in the local communuty. Unfortunately, I probably won't return again. read more

I love crackpot, there $10.00 shrimp special on thursday is awesome. My husband and i go there quite often. The wait staff is always friendly and very professional. The food, no matter what you get is always great. If you want good seafood i highly recommend crack pot read more