Mike's Crab House - Riva, Maryland

Mike's Crab House, near Annapolis in Riva, Maryland, is our family's local place for crabs. The location on the South River allows customers to arrive by car or boat.

It's an understatement to say that Mike's knows crabs. For almost six decades, this crab house has been serving Maryland style crabs and seafood to happy customers.

                                                                                                                                                                Mike's is a great seafood restaurant year-round but it's really awesome on a warm day when the deck is open and customers can eat outside with a waterfront view.

Me and Thomas 

This is my grandfather and me sitting at an
umbrella table on the outside
deck 

On the day we ate at Mike's recently, my family and I were originally seated on the outside deck at an umbrella table. The view was breathtaking, but after 15 minutes, the sun shifted and a few of us became the victims of the sun's harsh rays.

We told our server and she offered us another table either inside or on the covered outside deck. We decided that we had enough of the sun and wanted to sit  on the covered deck (it was also a bigger table and that's a bonus when you're eating crabs).







While we generally order jumbo size crabs, they only had the large size on our visit. The majority of our party (8 people) ordered large sized crabs and two ordered the crab cake entree.





Thomas and my mom ordered the two crab cake entree (comes either broiled or fried) with a choice of salad or coleslaw and baked potato or fries sides. They both chose broiled with a baked potato and a salad.

My brother said that the crab cake was tender and delicate. There was a little amount of mayo (acts like glue) that held the lump crab meat together. It made this cake heavy on the crab, very light on the fillers, but still very moist and dense.

My grandfather, who is the crab cake connoisseur in the family, thinks this is the best crab cake in Maryland. My mom  liked it but not as much as my grandfather. Her favorite is still G & M's crab cake. 

Salad Bar 

Certain entrees come complementary with a side salad via the all-you-can-eat salad bar. I look forward to this salad bar with its well stocked fresh vegetables and toppings such as mushrooms, spinach, beets, eggs, bean salad, pasta salad, croutons, nuts and more.


I, along with my grandparents, dad, aunt and friend, ordered 2 dozen large crabs to share. These Maryland crabs were full of meat, radiating with sweetness and showered with Old Bay Seasoning (you can never have too much Old Bay, right?).

Our grandmother giving us crab claw cracking advice  

The wait staff was constantly checking with us. Crabs are a messy venture -especially with the Old Bay seasoning. We appreciated the wait staff's attentiveness. Inevitably, we needed extra napkins, more melted butter, more drinks and hand wipes - and it all arrived with great speed.

Can you see the ducks?  

The view from our car
 crossing
the Riva Bridge

                      Don't fret if you think you missed your chance to eat crabs at Mike's this summer - the restaurant serves crabs year-round.

The fact that Mike's Crab House has consistently served great crabs and seafood for almost 60 years - that alone is worth a trip. I know, I'll be back.

- Charles