Every year on October 15, crabbers along Florida’s Gulf Coast and in the Keys start pulling traps, and within a few days Dallas starts asking the same question it asks every fall. Who has stone crab? This year the answer came quickly. Chamberlain’s Steak & Fish announced the claws were back on Monday, October 19, and the season is now well underway.
Most people around here know stone crab as a cold plate of cracked claws and a ramekin of mustard sauce at a steakhouse. A little background on where those claws come from makes the next order a smarter one.
The season is set by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. It opens October 15 and runs through May 1, closing on May 2. Crabbers are allowed to bait and drop their traps a little early, but nobody can pull one or take a claw before the 15th. The season used to run until May 15. In 2020 the commission cut those two weeks off the back end, part of a package of changes meant to rebuild a fishery that had seen its harvest decline for years.
That calendar matters at the table. Fresh stone crab exists from mid-October to the first of May. Claws showing up on a menu in July were frozen months earlier.
How they’re caught is what sets stone crab apart from nearly every other shellfish. Crabbers set baited traps on the bottom, pull them, and measure every crab. Only the claws come to shore. The crab itself goes back into the water alive, and over time it grows a new claw through successive molts.
The rules are specific. A claw has to measure at least 2 7/8 inches, taken from the elbow joint to the tip of the lower, immovable finger. That minimum went up by an eighth of an inch in 2020. Claws can’t be taken from females carrying eggs, and every plastic or wood trap now has to have a 2 3/16-inch escape ring so smaller crabs can find their way out. Florida law permits taking both claws when both are legal size, though plenty of crabbers leave one behind so the animal can feed and defend itself.
The claws are cooked almost as soon as they’re harvested, usually on the boat or at the dock. There’s a practical reason for it. Chilling or freezing a raw claw causes the meat to cling to the shell, so they’re boiled first and then iced down. Every stone crab claw you buy has already been cooked, which is why they’re served cold, cracked ahead of time, with mustard sauce. That pairing goes back to Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach, which built a national reputation on it.
There are two species in play. The Florida stone crab, Menippe mercenaria, lives in the southern part of the state. The Gulf stone crab, Menippe adina, ranges from the western Panhandle to Mexico and shows up in Louisiana waters as well. On a plate, nobody’s checking.
Claws are sold by weight class, and the grades are fairly consistent from one Florida purveyor to the next. Mediums run about 2 1/2 to 3 ounces apiece, six or seven to the pound, and work as an appetizer. Larges weigh 3 to 5 ounces, four or five per pound. Jumbos come in at 5 to 7 ounces, two or three to the pound, and they’re the most popular size for a main course. Colossals push 7 to 9 ounces, one or two per pound, and a few suppliers sell an even bigger grade they call mega.
Bigger claws cost more per pound, and the meat comes out in thicker pieces that are easier to work loose. For a dinner portion, the usual guideline is about a pound and a half of claws per person.
Dallas has a handful of reliable places to find them.
Chamberlain’s Steak & Fish at 5330 Belt Line Road in Addison has been a stone crab stop for years. Richard Chamberlain opened the restaurant in 1993 as Chamberlain’s Steak & Chop House, and the current name tells you how much weight the seafood side of the menu carries now. The Stone Crab Claws returned on October 19 as a limited feature available while supplies last, so it’s worth calling ahead at 972-934-2467 to see what came in. The dining room opens daily at 4:30 p.m., and the cigar lounge serves the full menu.
TJ’s Seafood Market & Grill at 6025 Royal Lane, Suite 110, at Preston Royal, has been selling fish in Dallas since 1989. Florida Stone Crabs are part of its seasonal shellfish lineup, along with Oregon Dungeness and fresh king crab legs. The appeal at TJ’s is the market counter. Pick up a few pounds of claws, grab a container of the Creamy Mustard sauce from the case, and have stone crab at home on your own schedule. Supply depends on what the boats bring in, so call 214-691-2369 before driving over. The market opens at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday, and the dining room opens at 11 a.m. every day.
Truluck’s Ocean’s Finest Seafood & Crab at 2401 McKinney Avenue, at the corner of Maple, has made Florida stone crab the center of its identity for more than 30 years. The restaurant serves the claws fresh and never frozen, chilled and pre-cracked, with claws moving from trap to table in about 24 hours. Truluck’s also has locations in Plano and Southlake for anyone who’d rather not head into Uptown.
One last bit of advice. When you call or sit down, ask which sizes are in that day. Stone crab supply rises and falls with conditions on the water in Florida, and a slow week for the boats reaches Dallas a few days later. The jumbos go first.
