Bottom Of The Bay Seafood

This is probably one of the worst seafood places I have ever been to. It’s just dreadful. For starters, my family and I walk inside and we see that it’s a ghost town. There’s a dirty tissue on the floor by the front door that our hostess never picked up until later, and it’s always freezing in that place, too. My aunt and I ordered soft shell crabs that were these shrunken and greasy little things that lacked any flavor or crab taste. All we could taste was grease and there was barely any crab meat at all. We also ordered clams (too chewy), French fries (okay), oysters (too greasy), and eventually just settled for stuffed shrimp. It’s okay at best, but it’s not even stuffed shrimp – it’s a piece of shrimp with a tiny crab ball placed on top. My aunt was happy with the all-​you-​can-​eat crabs but that was it. I sent my soft shell crabs back and the owner wanted to charge me $ 7 just because I ate ONE. Everything was extremely overpriced and our bill came to $ 170 with that little bit of crappy food. DO NOT go here. However, if you do, make sure you say hello to the broken ATM that’s adjacent to the toilet in the men’s restroom.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!!!
I left a tip for the two women that were doing carry out. They are bagging up my crabs and that was righteous. I wanted to let them know that, even though they sold me crabs they didn’t have, and even though they lost my order… and…
apparently the tip didn’t trickle down to the right feisty lady. I was given ten Crabs. and the worst of them. Three of them were boiled to paste and the rest were not large but medium. When I called to let them know how disappointed I was, (which I knew would be futile) Karen, the one that packed my crabs said to bring them back so they could be examined. cheeky, but as Marylanders we tend to even understand that. But how the $$@&% was i supposed to prove that they didn’t give me two crabs? Overall she took me for $ 25. (I paid for premium large and I got mostly medium.)
I said to Karen, I tipped you ladies extra when I paid for them to be steamed because I thought you were so sweet. And her reply gave me all I needed to know. «You tipped me a dollar» no, Karen, I tipped far more. But apparently the tip didn’t make it into Karen’s hands. «Why should I care what’s in your bag, ! «She said.
The woman was bitter, her workmate took the tip and kicked down her down a dollar. Long story short, my dinner was sabotaged due to some in house bickering. Deliberately. 80 bucks worth of the worst crabs they had. Thanks Karen.
What a shame. I recommend never ever even trying this place. There are far better crab places. And if you still decide to go, do not give your order to Karen. What nightmare!

Our waitress Nancy was super!!! I brought my girlfriend here for all you can eat crabs, and she said they were nice and sweet small male blue crabs. I had the Land & Sea, t-​bone and crabcake. I upgraded to the lump crabcake. I thought it was all a good price. No question it was all good, but there are places in MD with bigger and better crabcakes, and a little better cut of steak. Again, not at all bad here, just used to bigger crabcakes here in MD. I am sure if all you want is to pick crab, you will be very happy.

Loved the food! Friendly staff! In town for a soccer tournament and wanted crab. Found this place and wasn’t too sure about going in, so glad we did! This place is not fancy. Food served on trays, added butcher paper on the table, still so worth it!

I’m never disappointed when ordering fried fish. I love this place! I could care less for the sides, but the customer service is never short of awesome. Great people there.

I was visiting from out of town and told my friend I wanted to know if there were any restaurants in the area that served steamed crabs during the off season (January). She took me to Bottom of the Bay, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at the hospitality and service that I received. The steamed crabs were nothing short of AH-​MAZING!!! I will certainly be going back to this location when I fly back home to Maryland.

One of my favorite spots for all you can eat seafood, but lately its been a hit or miss!
The all you can’t eat special are worth it! It don’t look that fancy on outside, but the food is good, strong drinks and the staff is nice!
I’ll recommend!

i ordered 2 lbs large steamed shrimp last night 645pm, arrived 700 pm picked up and went home, like 10 min. these shrimp would not peel, maybe about 6 – 8 would. it took about a minute to pick all the shell off of 1 shrimp. we have been going to bottom of the bay for over 25 years and never had a problem with the shrimp .i called today and spoke with mgr she said maybe the shells were thin or something and she dosent have any problem with her shrimp, seemed like she didnt beleive me, didnt offer up any resolution for us. not sure if we will continue to do business with bottom of the bay. possible new ownership is the issue … beware

Normally I speak highly of BOTB, but this was my first disappointing experience. Most of the food was good (snow crab legs, shrimp, fries and hush puppies), but the most important piece –the crabs — fell way short. I’ve seen reviews about old crabs before but had never been served them until today. I ordered a dozen in lieu of all you can eat, and it was a waste of my money. The crabs were old: mushy meat and smelling of amonia. Luckily not all of them were like this, but even one is too many. I don’t know if reusing crabs is a cost-​saving measure, but it’s unacceptable. I don’t know if this will keep me from here forever, but I know I’ll be thinking twice about where I get my crabs.

Very friendly staff. The owner even came out at one point to make sure everything was okay and thanked me for my business. The crabs were a good size for an all-​you-​can-​eat special. It was a little pricey compared to other places that usually include shrimp and corn with the crabs for less money but I would still go back.

Bottom of The Bay has been my FAVORITE place to eat crabs since I was a kid! Let’s just say I’ve been eating crabs here for 30 years! Yes, this place is a dive, but the service is always consistent and servers like Rhonda always make it fun! I celebrated my bday with family and friends here last Sunday and we had a BALL! Most of my party of 20 had the shrimp and crab all you can eat feast. We were ALL pleased!
Now, before we went I did read the reviews about the ammonia smell and I was worried. YES, we did each have a crab or two that smelled of ammonia, but overall the good DEFINITELY outweighed the bad.
Note to Owner: If you read through the latest reviews, each one mentions the ammonia smell. PLEASE fix this issue ASAP so that you can continue being the go to crab spot in Laurel for many more years to come!

Horrible decision to have their crab feast last night and I am regretting it as I vomit crab this morning. We questioned the cook about the ammonia smell and she insisted it was fine. Should have read the reviews before we ate there.

Ate at Bottom of the Bay on June 29^th; worst decision. Made the mistake of asking on my family chat where I could take a friend who was flying into town with me to sit and eat crags. Only my ghetto cousin answered; I should have know this place would be suspect.
I ordered a dozen large crabs for $ 96 waited for them to «cook», they came out really hot and we began eating. First crab was smithing hot, but totally lacked flavor. I commented that they needed salt in the water or more beer. The crab legs had meet sticking to the shell like they were warmed up; very weird. Second Crab had a really strong ammonia odor and taste; disgusting. I’m not worried; had to wipe my hands off and google ammonia odor in crabs. Article says it means crabs are old. Third crab is mushy and has ammonia odor. WTF
Conclusion: 95% sure these fools warmed up old crabs and served them to me and my guest. Family is not barred from recommending anything to me and Bottom of the Bay is not even bottom of my list.
Feeling better about family, a couple of them saw the recommendation from ghetto cousin on chat and tried the crabs last night. They have the same conclusion as me and actually argued with the staff. At least I feel better about the family. I was wondering.

This is, by far, the worst place I have ever eaten crabs. I ordered two dozen regular males to take home last weekend, since they were running a special. When we went to eat them, nearly half of them were bad. They had gray gills, mealy flesh, and absolutely REEKED of ammonia. It was such a disappointment.
I will never go back to Bottom of the Bay, and would strongly advise anyone against going there.

Very good food. We’ve eaten the crabs, steamed shrimp, and cheesesteaks on many occasions and have never been disappointed. Taking one star off because the place is really old, outdated, and back allyish. We have always carried out, because of that.

I really enjoyed this spot! Great staff, they were friendly and fast. I went with my two kids (11,8) and they had a great time! I will definitely be going back! And yes it’s a dive but that’s why I went.

Unfortunately you can’t give negative stars! I’ve eaten here a couple of times and the food is average at best, however, today’s experience was icing on the cake. I ordered crabs for Mother’s Day days several days prior, called the day before to confirm my order and offer to prepay and was told my order was in and I didn’t need to prepay. I went to pick up my half bushel of crabs an hour before our big Mother’s Day party only to find out they sold them. Because of how Bottom of the Bay handled this I didn’t call around the morning of to get crabs as I was told my order was in here and now I am left crabless on Mother’s Day with 3 disappointed mothers. I will no longer support this business and highly encourage others to do business elsewhere. The crabs are better at surrounding crab houses but more importantly other business follow through with their commitments.

Went here tonight and had 2 lb of crab legs and shrimp for 28 bucks! It was a great casual dining experience. I definitely will be going back. The food was excellent

Well it was late night and I had an Absolute Craving for a «Really Good Fish Sub and Soup». I had just missed two other restaurants. I phoned and ordered, wow only ten minute wait. I arrived and decided to order the «Cream of Crab Soup». Drove home, to dine on the most «Tasteless and Bland Seafood Meal». Very minimal amount of Crab in the soup, lots of Celery, and Sodium-(SALT).
You definitely get a show — very colorful «Locals».
Really miss the BAY & SURF!!!

I’ve only ever done carryout (crabs), but the times that we’ve ordered from Bottom of the Bay, we’ve always been happy. The crabs are good sized and good on meat. They give you plenty of Old Bay, but not too much like some places do.
The inside is definitely old, and «divey». But if I am getting good crabs, I would put up with worse.