We went to this local crab shack back in August when it was still nice to sit outside. We got medium blue crabs for the whole table. We also got clams and some sides and appetizers, including cole slaw and crab dip, which were both good. The star of the show, the crabs were huge for medium sized crabs and were tasty and sweet. There were a couple bad ones, but they changed them out for us immediately. Our waitress was pretty attentive and there were no complaints from us, especially since the restaurant was completely packed. In September, when the BF and I went to visit his dad, we grabbed some crabs on the way up. The dozen crabs stayed warm and did not get soggy, even though they had to live in the trunk for the ride from Maryland to upstate New York! If you plan to buy some and take them home with you, make sure to not close the bag. This prevents them from getting soft. All in all, a great experience, especially if you love your crabs and just want to dig in to some juicy meat! I need to go back and try a soft shell crab sandwich! read more

If you don't have the time to head to the bay or ocean to eat crabs by the water, this is a great alternative. Sit outside, grab a table, order a pitcher of beer, ask for the all-you-can-eat and get dirty! Crabs are good; hush puppies and corn are great as well. It's not cheap, but we were there for 2+ hours eating, drinking, and enjoying. read more

About what you would expect from looking at the outside. Unless you're coming here for the all you can eat steamed crabs, go to Red Lobster. The good: fresh-brewed sweet tea, baked potato, broccoli, and salad were good. Needs improvement: server was young, inattentive, and uninformed. We had to ask for everything - crab crackers (which they didn't have), melted butter, napkins, appetizer plates, lemon... "Famous" crab cakes were good- hardly any filler, but unseasoned, so missing flavor. First plate of snow crab legs were cold. Returned them and got a fresh batch that were hot. My husband said the cole slaw was bad and he exchanged it for the hush puppies, which were okay. They're kind of dry with a sandy, crunchy coating. I'd like them better if they had a dipping sauce. For a place that charges $25-30 a dinner, I think they could afford to upgrade the VFW dining tables and chairs, and cheap flatware (that couldn't even stand up to mashing a baked potato without bending). They could maintain the traditional "quaint," noisy atmosphere and still make some needed improvements. Overall, we'll stick with Red Lobster where the servers are professional and work hard to please, the food is consistently very good, the seating is comfortable and the atmosphere is nice and updated, with multi-generational, pleasant music playing. read more

Surprised by the negative reviews. I've been here twice and will come back when I'm back in town. Crab cakes were good and the stuffed flounder was just as good. The sides were well prepared and generous. Wait staff is very friendly and the prices are reasonable for such generous portions. read more

This was a first for us. We ordered the seafood platter and shared it. It came with crab cake, stuffed shrimp, flounder and scallops. Ooh an hush puppies....those were not good. Everything else was great. My daughter had the deep fried chicken. ..can't go wrong on chicken right. Lol the place was nice and the waitress was excellent. She definitely knew the menu and helped out with some choices. Next time we going to hit the all you can eat crabs.... maryland style. :) read more

May's Seafood Restaurant - The entrance - Seafood Near Me - Frederick, Maryland

Great family seafood restaurant! The crab cakes do not disappoint!!! No fillers in the crab cakes. My brother had the seafood sampler and he truly enjoyed his food. There were families enjoying the AUCE crab and crab legs. The crabs were huge and they kept coming. Great location, price and quality. We will return again and again. read more

The best crab cakes in Maryland. Never disappointed with anything on the menu. Always fresh & tasty. The staff is very friendly. They make everyone feel like family. #1 Frederick restaurant read more

Love this little place , The crawfish is delicious every time and you get whats your money's worth when you come here .

This is a gem. Local feel, local management, great food. The world needs more places like this. Honest, friendly service with over the top food. The prices are for quality and local. If you want the dollar menu it's not here. But crab in all its glory and form is here. You have plenty of options so if you are not into working for your food with a wooden hammer they have options. Crab cake is best I ever had. read more

May's Seafood Restaurant - Seafood Near Me - Frederick, Maryland

The good, the bad and the ugly... I'm not sure why it took me so long to decide to write a review of this restaurant but here it is. First a little background about me. This was my third trip to May's in the last 3-4 years. I have eaten at some the the best restaurants around and in that mix..some of the worst. I don't always expect the food to be perfection but at a certain price point I expect a certain level of service. Okay, so there were 12 of us penciled in for dinner at about 6pm. Six of us were there before and we had 6 stragglers which weren't too far behind. We asked to be seated and we were. Once we got to the table we were asked where the remainder of the party was. We politely informed them that they were a few minutes behind. The next thing you know the waitress (not our main server by the way) tried to remove some chairs from our table. We clearly stated that the rest were right behind us and would be here shortly. She proceeded to start shuffling some chairs and tables around. As she had removed a couple of chairs the remainder of out party walked in...needless to say, confused as to what was going on. She stopped and put the chairs back. We brush the incident off and started to look at the menu. Next our main server stopped by and started taking orders. Most of us defaulted to the all you can eat crabs combo. I on the other hand asked for a few more minutes to review the menu and see if I could do something different. About 20 minutes passed by and the waiter never came back to me for my order. I finally felt it was time to flag him down and get his attention as I was sure he had forgotten about me. After two passes, I finally got his attention. About 30 minutes into the restaurant, I finally get in my order. It was maybe my fault for asking for more time. Please let me add that our min server was always polite and professional when we had the exchanges. About an hour into our reservation, we were still waiting on our food. My buddy sitting next to me got a little perturbed when he notice the the table of two next to us got their meal well before ours when they ordered well after us. I know, a table of 12 can be a hand full but it was starting to get sloppy. Shortly after, our main server came back to tell us that they were out of a type of crab which was a large reason why some of them selected one meal from the other. We weren't happy, but again we trek forward. Finally, the food arrives to the table. Everyone start smiling again. For about 15 to 20 minutes after the food there was silence. Everyone was chowing down. The silence is usually from enjoyment of a good meal but I think in this case, we were half way starved and probably really needed to inhale the food to prevent ourselves from fainting. Seriously, I think a majority of us enjoyed the food. Mine was good but not great. I opted for the broiled seafood platter. Through the rest of the evening, parts of the AYCE menu were never delivered but for the most part, the good stuff was delivered hot. Towards the end of our meal, many of us started to slow down. One by one we all started to feel the need to visit the facilities (not caused by the food by the way; it was just nature calling). Apparently, the facilities became inoperable due to over usage and the men's room was render out of commission for the evening. This brought back memories of my previous two trips when I needed to use the facilities. Each time, it was something with the bathrooms. This time it was clogged. The last time it was a long wait. Come on May's, with the packed house ever time I have visited, you can't find it in your budget to expand your facilities? So at the end of the night, our tab came to about $450.00 with tips already added. That's understandable, we were a large group. This is were the calculations start flowing in my head. I'm thinking for a $450.00 tab, we might have deserved a tad better service. Now for the DL, the food is fair to good; the service is sub-par to par, the facilities are ugly and the parking is always a hassle. I would give this restaurant, a 2 star but I am not a mean person so I gave it 3 stars and left an extra $20.00 tips about the $450.00 for the waiter. So the bottom line is, it will not be on my top list of restaurants to hit when I have extra cash to blow on food. read more

What an amazing find!!!!! It was super busy, but the hostesses were friendly and swift to seat us at the perfect table on the patio. Server was nice, and crabs came out fast. Great crabs, good prices! Cant wait to visit again. They had many all you can eat options...choose wisely! read more

May's Seafood Restaurant - Seafood Near Me - Frederick, Maryland

The feast for 2 was good, but not great. A huge amount of food, but way too much seasoning. The shrimp was average, but the crab, mussels, and oysters were delicious. Definitely not a fancy place to go eat, and the fish smell as you walk up was a bit unattractive. Overall it was good but not great. read more

We came here after getting multiple recommendations. I wanted to like this place because it really does have the feel of an authentic Maryland crab house, but our experience was not good. The seafood was obviously not fresh, and everything was either WAY too salty or super bland and needed added seasoning. Onion rings were raw on the inside and full of flour. Hush puppies were burnt and looks and tastes like they were fried in old oil. I could go on...But the worst part was the service. Our server took our order, and never came back. We sat with empty drinks, dirty plates in front of us, didn't have the utensils we needed to eat our meal, and no one checked on us. We ended up having to grab another server to find our server for us. Who after that finally checked on us after we were almost completed our meal. Won't be coming back ever, and I suggest you skip this one. read more

We found this place by chance and so glad we did! Fantastic food and great atmosphere! Crab cakes were awesome and the Feast for 2 was an ambitious, but satisfying choice. The crab was seasoned wonderfully. read more

May's Seafood Restaurant - Feast for 2 - Seafood Near Me - Frederick, Maryland

Great food! Great service! Great atmosphere! I highly recommend the crap dip and the seafood feast! read more

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Debbi C was an absolute doll. Prompt and accommodating! Even stuck to her word and let me pick up the check over my mom! Wonderful dinner.

Went here for all you can eat crabs. Crabs were bigger than I was expecting and they came out promptly when asked for more. Additionally I took my watch off and left it there. Came back the next day and they returned it, happened to be an Omega Sea master so not cheap watch. Bottom line, good food, honest people go there and support your local businesses. read more

Issa crab shack. It's not fancy and it's not trying to be. I ordered a half dozen steamed blue crabs and they came out steamed perfectly and nicely seasoned. They set you up with everything you need (butter, vinegar, mallet) so all you have to do is get cracking. They have nice beer on the menu too. The inside is kind loud because it's such a tight space, but the outside dining area feels beachy if you don't mind being outside. I would go back. read more

BEST DAMN HARDSHELL CRABS....we drive an hour to get to this fabulous restaurant... all of their food looks great...Very fresh and delicious..We have not tried alot of things on the menu..bc we love the hardshell crabs...$39.95 for AUCE hardshell crabs, coleslaw, fries, and soup...on the weekends...$28.95 Monday thru Thursday...A great DEAL and a STEAL for their quality..Well worth the drive from anywhere. read more

So disappointed in this restaurant. They really let us down in July 4th. We had ordered over a bushel of large crabs two weeks in advance and when we picked them up they were not hot and they charged us the most money we have ever had to pay for crabs and we have been doing this for decades. The crabs also were dry and obviously not fresh. Since we live an hour away there's not like we could just go back over there. They will never get any of our entire family's business again. This was for a family reunion so a lot of people were involved. Bad way for them to do business. read more

The food and service were horrible. The staff was rude and condescending. Seems hard to mess up crabs and fried shrimp but they figured out how. There are plenty of good restaurants in Frederick don't waste your time here. read more

Seafood and more seafood. I had the all you can eat crabs and crab legs. That came with all you can eat shrimps fried and steamed, clams and more... I've been here trice this summer and both times the servers were friendly and kept the good coming. I've been to other all you can eat places and would have to beg for more food I had to beg the servers to stop bringing me good. The atmosphere was fun and the food great. Thumbs up for all seafood lovers. read more

May's Seafood Restaurant - All you can eat crab legs, crabs, shrimps, clams and more - Seafood Near Me - Frederick, Maryland

This place is not much to look at but the food is well worth it. The food was great. I would travel hours out of my way to come eat here. There all you can eat specials are a can't miss. read more

Great food and awesome service clean restaurant will be back againReasonable pricing Nice patio enclosed if it rains

My family of six just dined at May's for 4 AYCE crabs with the works and 2 non AYCE meals. Food was freah and hot. The staff and owner were very kind. We go to leave and my dad's car's wouldn't start! The battery died! The owner came out to save the day! That's priceless!!! Support local and they'll support you! Outstanding! Thanks a million Joe! read more

Been going for years, great outdoor area and always great seafood. Parking is limited, but come early on the weekend and it's fine.

Best crab cakes in Maryland. The staff are wonderful and very helpful. Yea they are offering curb side pickup. Food was just as tasty but we miss eating in. Can't wait till we are back to normal, but thank you May's for being open in this crazy time. read more

Went here the other night with my boyfriend, the food was really good but the crab pretzel was cold in the middle. By the time the server came back the pretzel cold all together. Aside from the server being so busy because of having tables outside and inside.. he was great. Everything was good we would definitely recommend. read more

Great service and great food. I'm a picky seafood person and I really loved the oysters and crab legs!

Me and my daughter had a great experience this evening it was are first time. Are server helped us decide and she was wonderful. Are server name was Deborah F. read more

Their crab cake says jumbo lump but it is not even close. It also tastes bland, honestly one of the worst I have had. I was really hoping to love this place because of how close it is to me. However, my wife's MD crab soup was good. This place may be good but avoid the crab cake for 17.99! read more

The seafood was okay, what little of it there was. Nothing special, except the specially small portions. The price is just too high for the portions, and that's going by Annapolis standards, so it's just not worth it. I will not make the trip next time. read more

Very disappointing experience. Let me just start by saying the service was very good. Our server was very attentive & kept us well stocked. Unfortunately the crabs were terrible. They bring you 10-12 at a time for the AYCE & it seemed we were throwing out 3-4 whole crabs each time as they were extremely mushy. As in you could push through the shell & underside. This is my second time going here, I won't be going back. read more

Best seafood place I've been too! Staff is super friendly and everything I've tried here is delicious. Highly recommend! Would never expect it from a small building, but this place is so good! read more

If this had been my first visit to Mays I'd only give 1 star, but being fair, I've been many times in the last 10 years and never had a problem, but tonight was a bad exception. Horrible service, decent food. Tonight we had a party of 12 for my son's birthday and sat in the new patio area, which would have been great if the trash cans that smelled like pig poop weren't right beside our table. Eventually they were moved or emptied but there was really no reason for the funk in the first place. We were seated at 7pm, finally saw our waitress for the first time at 7:15. She took our drink order then disappeared for another 10 minutes. When she finally took our food order at 7:30 she tried to tell us we weren't seated by 7pm so we couldn't order the all you can eat crabs and fries. We told her that we'd actually arrived a little before 7 but had to wait until 7 to be sat. We also had reservations for 7pm which is why I was so sure of our arrival time. After the confusion on her part was cleared up, she allowed the 6 in our group who wanted the AYCE to order it. It took close to another 30 minutes before any food arrived..and when it did it was 2 bowls of the cream of crab soup (super delicious!) and one of those little cardboard baskets of fries which evidently was the first "round" of fries intended to be shared by 6 people. I'm sorry but that is ridiculous! She just plopped the fries on the table and walked away, leaving us to just look at each other and wonder who's fries they were. A few minutes later the first tray of crabs arrived, and they were one of the few good things about this visit. They were good sized, hot, and tasty, according to those that were eating them. The rest of us ordered sandwiches or dinner entrees which took another 15 minutes to arrive, and most of the items were luke warm. We also had to ask our waitress twice for silverware after our entrees arrived, which took about another 5 minutes, while our food cooled off even more. We had also ordered 2 lbs of steamed shrimp as an appetizer, but didn't get those until we were about half way done with our entrees. Absolutely no excuse for waiting that long..it's not like they take long to cook! And considering they were barely warm, I again put the blame on the incompetent and indifferent waitress. I can totally understand being busy and overwhelmed but this level of service was inexcusable. No apology or explanation for any of the delays. Maybe she didn't care about giving decent service because her tip was automatically added to the bill, but again, no excuse. If she'd been somewhat attentive I would have gladly added another 5% or more to the tip, but she didn't deserve the 18% she did get. If this had been my first visit I would definitely not return. But, my husband loves their crab soup, which is the only reason we might return. Never again will I go for the AYCE nor with a large group. I refuse to be forced to reward bad service, but gladly tip 25% for good service. read more

A very cold wintry day and I was craving some cream of crab soup. And I found the best I've ever had. The cup of soup had more crab than most crabcakes. We also ordered the jumbo spiced shrimp. Perfection dude...perfection. These were huge and perfectly steamed. There is no way you can use the word "shrimp" to describe these. My friend also had lobster tail and although it was not on the lunch menu, our waitress took good care of us. It was on point... And needless to say she would not let me try any... This restaurant is so eastern shore... The atmosphere the food the people, brings back good memories. Rock 'n roll read more

May's Seafood Restaurant - Photo by Cristina - Seafood Near Me - Frederick, Maryland

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We did not get AYCE because it ends up being more work for the same amount of food/money. Instead, we split a dozen large crabs (market price was better than other places we've had recently) and most of the dozen were meaty (and delicious!) 4 or so were light and practically meatless though. Steamed shrimp and fries were tasty. Service was great. On a busy night, we were told the wait would be an hour to an hour and a half -- we didn't wait for more than 30 minutes! read more

Mays is the best place to go for all you can eat crabs. Great food great service. Prices can't be beat either. The crabs where full of meat was not disappointed. read more

This place was just not good. My cheesesteak sub was too greasy and could of made a better sub at home. The Craby Fries and all of the food is over priced, however the crab legs were good along with the best sweet potato fries I have had in a while. I would not go here again, unless I was just getting seafood. read more

This is the best place in Frederick to get crabs. Found it many years ago when our reservation at another place got cancelled and every other place was booked. Ever since than we have been hooked. read more