Soft shell crab season is running out of road. The East Coast has mostly wrapped up for the year, and the fresh crabs still landing in Dallas kitchens are coming out of the Gulf, where the season opens in early April and can hang on through October, sometimes into November when the water stays warm. After that, a soft shell on a menu almost certainly came out of a freezer.
Frozen has its place. A crab that’s cleaned and flash-frozen within hours of molting fries up just fine, and much of the year-round supply now comes from Southeast Asia, where mangrove crabs molt in every season. Still, a fresh Gulf soft shell is its own thing. The legs shatter, the shell is barely there, and the body eats sweet and a little briny, almost creamy at the center. If you’ve been meaning to get one in this year, the next couple of weeks are your shot.
A soft shell crab is a blue crab caught right after it sheds its shell. Crabbers pull “peelers,” crabs getting ready to molt, and read a faint line on the paddle-shaped back fin. A white line means the crab is probably a week to ten days out. A red line means it could go any minute.
Those crabs go into shedding tanks, and someone watches them around the clock. The shed itself takes one to three hours. Once the crab backs out of its old shell, it has to come out of the water fast, because the new one starts hardening almost immediately. Wait too long and you’re back to a hard crab.
That nonstop babysitting is a big part of why soft shells cost what they do, and why fewer people want to do the work. Louisiana once led the way. The state produced 2.37 million pounds of soft shells in 1945, and by 2013 that number had fallen to 8,133 pounds, according to Louisiana Sea Grant. The same report counted around 300 producers in 1991 and estimated there may now be fewer than 50.
Soft shells are sold by width, measured point to point across the back. Mediums run 3½ to 4 inches. Hotels are 4 to 4½. Primes are 4½ to 5. Jumbos go 5 to 5½, and anything bigger than that is called a whale. The larger the crab, the higher the price.
If you’re buying to cook at home, fresh soft shells should arrive alive and still moving when you touch them. Producers put their shelf life at five or six days, and that clock includes shipping time, so cook them the day you bring them home. Ask the counter to clean them if you’d rather skip that part.
Here’s where to find them in Dallas right now.
Chamberlain’s Steak & Fish has them. Richard Chamberlain has run his place on Belt Line Road since 1993, and the seafood side of the menu gets as much attention as the 40-day aged prime. This past week the kitchen ran Soft Shell Crab with Two Shrimp as a weekend feature, Thursday through Saturday, right as Florida stone crab claws came back on. It’s billed as limited time and while supplies last, so call ahead before you make the drive. Chamberlain shares the kitchen with longtime chef Lan Nickens. The dining room opens daily at 4:30 p.m. 5330 Belt Line Road, 972-934-2467.
Rex’s Seafood and Market is the other good bet for fresh. Rex Bellomy opened the original market in 2006, and the Bellomy brothers, Beau, Ryan and Sean, run things now. They also bought S&D Oyster Company in 2023. At the Northwest Highway store, soft shells are listed with the shellfish in the market case, and the kitchen fries a pair to order as Fried Soft Shell Crabs. Since it’s a working fish counter, you can look at the crabs before anyone drops them in oil, or take a couple home to cook yourself. 6713 W. Northwest Highway, open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 214-758-0566.
TJ’s Seafood Market & Grill is where to look for anything in season, and soft shells are no exception. Jon and Natalie Alexis run the place, which has been selling fish in Dallas since 1989, and the case at Preston Royal turns over with whatever is running on the coasts. Call the fish counter to ask what came in and what size before you head over. If you’d rather not cook, the kitchen is right behind the case. 6025 Royal Lane, Suite 110. The market opens at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday, the dining room at 11 a.m., and both close at 9 p.m., or 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 214-691-2369.
Then there are the places that keep soft shells on the menu all year. Nikky Phinyawatana’s Asian Mint has carried a Soft-Shell Crab appetizer for years, fried whole with spicy mayo and a sesame-dressed salad. The Crab Lover’s Special sets a crispy soft shell over crabmeat fried rice with the house orange sauce. The Oak Lawn location is at 4246 Oak Lawn Ave., with others on Forest Lane and in Inwood Village.
The Boiling Crab keeps fried soft-shell crab on its menu next to the seafood bags, a good order when somebody at the table doesn’t want to spend an hour cracking shells. 13340 Audelia Road, Suite 106.
Those year-round plates do their job well. Just know that once the Gulf shuts down for the winter, any soft shell you order in Dallas between now and spring was frozen somewhere along the way. It’s fair to ask your server where it came from. A good one will know.
