Olde Crisfield Crab & Steakhouse

Written Under my husbands account.
(This is meant to be a ‘what not to do’ review for the restaurant owners. Disclaimer that someone in our family has worked as an Executive Chef at several top restaurants in another state.)
Our family found this place on both Unilocal and TripAdvisor after looking at several ‘seafood’ places in Crisfield. It seemed well-​reviewed. We walked in around 12:30 on a Monday and the small dining room was occupied by two four-​tops. We asked about the deck, because we wanted the water view we’d read about, but the waitress said it was closed. So we were seated inside, next to one of the four-​tops. They had been served and seemed to be enjoying their food so no red flags yet. We had seen the Tiki Bar on the water with the great view of the fishing boats and headed to it initially, but it seemed to be a bar only and no food. No one was outside to tell us any differently anyway so we turned back to the building labelled the «Crisfield General Store’.
(Note to owners: do not give the best view to your bar patrons during the day, and do open your upper deck regardless. People come to eat at your place for the VIEW and the food.)
It took a while for the waitress to come to the table for drink orders — she was literally the only person working. The drinks took a while to arrive and she forgot the straws — no big deal. She spent a lot of time going back and forth to the two original tables. She was not efficient and seemed to be working her first waitress job — in the way that someone who has not yet mastered the art of waiting on multiple tables works. We ordered a calamari app to start. A half hour went by. Drink refills were provided. No straws. She eventually realized we had been waiting a while for the appetizer, came to the table with hush puppies for the kids. We asked about raw oysters — she said she had to check if they had any, which was really weird considering we were in Crisfield, home of many Bay watermen and several seafood packing houses. She took everyone’s order but my husband’s. I ordered fried shrimp, thinking it would be local and fresh and amazing. I dreamed of home made slaw. We waited a lot longer. Calamari arrived. It was a very small order, did not seem fresh, and tasted of the scorched lettuce leaf it was served on. The kids ate it only because by then they were really hungry. The waitress spent a LOT of time checking out the people who had finished eating, adding ice to the bar, and wandering into the kitchen.
At some point the waitress came back and said there were NO raw oysters. My husband asked if he could add his order — he asked for the rockfish dinner which included a topping of lump crab. We had exhausted ourselves eating saltine crackers and discussing the plastic crab décor. In the meantime another party of four had come in and I felt really sorry for them. A half hour into their stay someone from their table got up and got straws from the bar like we had. *sigh*
Just when we had reached the point of leaving — me, angrily — the waitress appeared with our food. She had been MIA for more than twenty minutes — we literally saw no one on the floor. She apologized for how long it had taken to get our food to us. However, when she doled it out I saw immediately that I had gotten boiled shrimp, and Hubs had a sandwich, not the dinner he’d ordered with the delectable lump crabmeat. By then I was so mad about the poor service that I didn’t care about the messed up orders. I ate the small NON-​LOCAL pink shrimp — they had been covered in way too much Old Bay. I was sad that they were not fried but on the other hand the fries were horrible coming from a fryolator with old oil and clearly from a frozen bag. The slaw was possibly not homemade but from the looks of it I didn’t try it.
In sum, I am not sure what kind of place this was or should be. If Crisfield wants to attract tourists (which we certainly are), and entertain people before they board the Tangier and Smith Island boats, they need to ensure that their local seafood restaurants are up to basic restaurant food and service standards. It is NOT hard to cook good seafood or solid café food. It is NOT hard to serve it in an efficient manner. You all live in an area with the most wonderful and abundant seafood and produce. Use some imagination and get some kitchen and service talent and you will thrive. You don’t need to offer a fancy menu — think about all that is good where you live and what your grandmothers cooked and you will succeed. We would have been thrilled with a local tomato salad, some fresh seafood (please clean your fryolator grease!) and some good local bread. That’s all people want.

Great outside bar. Crab balls good. Great crowd enjoying the DJ under the umbrella. Bartender not so attentive (the dude). Here for happy hour, looks like a good place for late night.

Great Location and Crisfield charm. The tiki bar serves great drinks and food (sublime chicken tenders and crab balls; better order 2) with attentive friendly service from Greg. It has a great view and sits right on the water