On the Bay Seafood

If you’re in Ocean City and craving fresh, flavorful seafood—On the Bay Seafood is the spot. We had some of the best crabs we’ve ever tasted—perfectly seasoned, fresh, and packed with flavor. You can tell they know what they’re doing here. Not only is the quality top-notch, but the prices are incredibly fair—especially compared to other places in the area. It’s honestly the best bang for your buck when it comes to crab in OCMD. Be warned: this place is no secret. Depending on when you arrive, you may be in for a bit of a wait—but it’s totally worth it. Bring your patience and your appetite, and you’ll leave happy. Definitely a must-visit for any seafood lover! 🦀🔥

Tried my first crabcake here. It was phenomenal. I'm not sure about what the market prices are, but it was indeed expensive. This seems like a great place to get locally caught seafood after an evening on the beach. They have outdoor seating but with a sandbox floor.

I have been coming to this place since 2018 , and they never disappoint! June/July is the best time because it’s crab 🦀 season.

This is the absolute BEST place for crabs in OC, MD. 20 seasons of perfecting the taste of the most delicious seafood on earth. Taste matters and safety matters. Rob and Rose both talked to us and shared a container of their own special seasoning recipe as our anniversary gift. We will always come here 🦀

An ocean city classic! We love coming here, drinking a pitcher of beer, and picking crabs at a picnic table. Crabs are always great and their seasoning is on point. Our favorite crab spot in OCMD!

If you like crabs this is the place to be. Their carbs are indeed heavy. The crab cakes are ok.

Great experience, only outside seating. Food was spectacular, the only thing that would have made this experience even better would be if the location was on the water. I still give it 5 stars.

Had to try the crab experience. Didn't disappoint. Owners seemed very friendly asking us several times how we were doing. I saw them showing a lot of guests how to open the crabs. Seemed like very hands on owners. Great to see in such a touristy area. Shrimp and fries were delicious as well.

I just wanted a good, hot meal -- no processed food or anything overly complicated. Simple, local, fresh fish. I love a good, fresh fish sandwich and found it here. Light breading, flavorful and well prepared. Nice people, too, nothing pretentious. Around me people hammered away at fresh Bay crabs. This seems to be a favorite w serious crab lovers.

On The Bay has always been consistently serving up one of the best crabs in the OC area. They keep it simple- seafood cooked right, casual no frills dining area and fair prices. $125 for a half bushel, specials of $50 for about 15-18 crabs with different weights. They also have seafood platters and seafood sandwiches like butterfly shrimp, crab cakes , soft shell crabs, clam strips and the like. Their sides are also good and corn is served with butter. Beer by the pitcher or by the glass. No reservations, lines can be long but it pushes along in a decent amount of time. Sand 'floor' with a small table of area of sand for kids to play with. Cards cash and Apple Pay accepted, small parking lot. Friendly service. Clean tables and chairs, the staff makes sure customers are happy and they empty out the shell buckets often. Always are go to for fresh meaty and fatty crabs!

Came here with my family and everyone enjoyed their dinner. I was pleasantly surprised with the vast selection of food. Pros: Fresh delicious seafood Plenty of seating Nice employees Lots of gluten free options Cons: Hard to take a toddler no high chairs Lots of flies Parking is hard

If you blink, you'll miss it but I highly recommend you don't! The menu board is simple, fresh caught seafood, fries, coleslaw, crab cakes, etc. Their speciality however is their fresh caught blue crabs (keep in mind there is no crabbing on Sundays so they may run out of crabs earlier than normal on Mondays). The owner Rob is as friendly as they come and is honestly grateful that you chose his place to eat! It's really the best and only place for picking crabs in OC!

Had a better experience last summer. Our crab legs and shrimp were overcooked but the blue crabs were solid. Service is always very friendly and the owners walk around. Really appreciate that!

Food was great! Ambiance was family style low key non dressy. I liked it perfect by the ocean. Service was prompt. Our server was sweet and helpful! Will return again. This was my 2nd time visiting

This place is a must try if you're in OCMD. We try to come down annually for the beaches and seafood and almost always make this one of our stops. The crabs here are delicious! I also love their chowder. They got rid of their AYCE option, but you're able to get bushels which is plenty. Come hungry and ready to peel!

Went for the first time last week and am coming on here to give a 5 star review because they deserve it. Even though it's on the side of coastal highway I still feel like I'm eating by the water. All the customers were having a good time enjoying their food. The owner is an absolute stand-up guy and interacts with every table in the restaurant. He's even been on shark tank with a couple inventions of his own and even gave me a sample of one of them to take home. Try the cream of crab soup and anything else on the menu. Definitely going back with family and friends whenever I get the chance.

Good crabs, great crab sandwich, good service. Parking is a little hard and not enough spaces.

First time visiting On The Bay Seafood. When we arrived, we were surprised that there wasn't full table service, and needed to order at a window and provide you number to receive a text when ready. After receiving our order, we were pleasantly surprised. We had hush puppies, crab cake dinner and crab leg dinner. Each came with a side. The portions were great and everything was excellent. We would Highly recommend this hidden gem for any seafood lover. At the end of the meal, a lovely woman (we assume to be an owner) asked how things were and she was so friendly and thoughtful. Can't say enough good things!

Great food! Take advantage of the all-you-can-eat Mondays and Tuesdays or the Dinner for Two (pictured)!

This is exactly what I needed. Large picnic tables on sand - strong fans circulating the warm, beach air, Kraft paper laid out so you can pick crabs until your stuffed to the gills, and is that Jimmy Buffett I hear over the speaker? Yes. So much yes. We were a party of 4. We ordered a little of everting to share. Shrimp, crab cakes, crab, hush puppies, cole slaw, and scallops. Every single item was delicious. Items were well seasoned and the portions were generous. The prices were very reasonable as well. Servers were helpful and at the ready in case someone needed assistance with learning to pick crabs. Tables were bussed frequently and the trash was changed frequently as well. Also a nice addition is the hand washing station. Seafood dinners can be a messy business. So nice to be able to wash your hands before you head off for a stroll. Eat here. For sure.

On the Bay Seafood is AMAZING! We stayed around the corner and the restaurant caught my eye. I love the casual vibe of eating outside at picnic tables under cover of the pavilion. You order from a takeout counter and they text you once your food is ready. I ordered the crab cake entree with macaroni salad, fries and a side of the fried shrimp. Everything was delicious! I've already shared rave reviews with friends and family. If you're in the area, stopping at On the Bay Seafood is a MUST!

Came for the crabs but they only had the special dozen crabs. The special dozen crabs are a mix of all sizes. So we had fish filet, crab cakes, and a bunch of sides. The food was great! We also had a soft shell crab. Very very good!

Did not get a chance to even try the food as we got in line to order to only be told only 4 of our party of 7 would be allowed to place an order. Would not even make an exception to allow my daughter and her husband order but cut the line at a made up location Felt really bad for the way they were treating the staff but this is not customer service Oh and this is at 7:30 pm not even late Will not be back we had been regulars but will not be back

We went here for the fall cruise in during mid October. We ordered the last crabs they had (1/2 bushel) and they were the best crabs my family has had in a long time. They weren't super heavy, but they were packed with flavor. I really enjoyed the sand and picnic tables too. This is our new go-to crab spot.

OMG. The best crabs I have had all season. What a tremendous treat. Rob and Rose the customer service is 10/10. The crabs were heavy and well seasoned. The prices were amazing. I will come again.

Went here twice, we tried four different meals between the two visits. It's ocean side, small parking lot, walkable from 42nd street where we stayed. Nice outdoor seating even for October. The first time we ordered the 2 jumbo crab cake sandwiches with Mac salad and Cole slaw, and 1 lb of steamed spice shrimp. The crab cakes were heavily breaded and commercially appearing. The shrimp tasted like farm raised. The Mac salad was a standard Mac salad that tastes store bought and Cole slaw that was missing the dressing it seemed. The next time we got a soft shell crab sandwich and a fried fish filet sandwich with potato salad. The soft shell crab was small but meaty. The tree sauce was a lot of mayo and missing a lot of relish. The fried fish sandwich was huge and tasty. Standard buns on both. The potato salad was also standard grocery store taste. We were able to see coastal highway and all the classic cars so that was nice.

Order and pick up at the windows to get your authentic crab fix. Then find a picnic table to eat it on. Order comes with the custom mallet. Crabs are super fresh. First time trying soft shell blue crabs and was not disappointed. All the crab but without the work. Gotta get crabs when you come to ocean city.

Ordered a dozen medium crabs for $60 and they were some of the best crabs I've had in years. Steaming hot and so heavy. Also had a couple fried plates (oysters and clam strips) which were delicious. Service was great. Beers were cheap, though I wish they had more than two on tap. Seating is all outdoors, though there's cover from the elements.

Out of all the crab shacks in OC, we decided to visit this one 1st being that their website shows them being voted in the top 10% of restaurants worldwide by tripadvisor, which my partner and I needed to see for ourselves. 1st, we were so hungry that we forgot to take pics of the softshell crab sandwich, steamed shrimp and scallop platter. The sandwich came on a soft burger roll and we found that we didn't need the tartar sauce that came with it...the crab was seasoned well and we wolfed it down together in less than a minute. The shrimp were fresh and not overcooked...very enjoyable to eat. The cole slaw and corn on the cob, both of which were delicious, accompanied the scallops, which were a little dry, but still tasty. We also had the crab cakes, which were tasty but with smaller pieces of crab and were a little more cakey than some places. Additionally, the fried oysters were nice and hot, but not as plump than other places. Then, there are the crabs. There is something primal, yet fun, about popping off the top cover, breaking them in half with your hands, stripping off the lungs, extracting the meat from all the crevices inside the body, twisting off all the claws, nipping the smaller ones between your front teeth to extrude every little bit of meat, smashing the larger claws with a mallet, sucking out the delicious larger sections of meat and then using your knife to make sure you clean out every last shred of meat from inside the claws. Sometimes, restaurants need to be reviewed a little differently than most others...this is one of them. Overall, service was relatively fast, tables were kept clean, they have pitchers of beer, there are restrooms, there is a sink outside to wash your hands, the experience was fun, the food was good and you get to take a wooden mallet home as a souvenir (I think)!

Run don't wait, if you want the best crabs in Ocean City. I say: GO to "On the Bay Seafood" located on Coastal Highway in OC MD. Go now, as the line of hungry customers just gets longer. Over many years my family and friends and have visited this wonderful crab restaurant every time we travel to OC. No visit to OC is complete without stopping by to say hello to "On The Bay Seafood," owned and operated by Rob and his better half Rosemary (she gave me an extra crab to say that part, JK). This wonderful couple knows how to find the best crabs available and then they cook them to perfection as you order them. There are few things better than the sweet meat from "On the Bay Seafood." Whether you get the biggest crab in your order or the smallest, you will enjoy the sweetest crabmeat you will find anywhere in OC. https://www.onthebayseafood.net/ Van aka DCGrown

Cream of crab soup - flavorful with chunks of crab Crab cake is good. Decent size cake. Calamari is a tad too salty but fresh and crispy. Portion is a bit small for the price. Crabs were good. Smaller in size than expected. Service was good. Felt that it was clean sitting in the sandbox and not smelly with all the seafood shells. Nice to have sink for hand wash afterwards.

This is the best crab house I've ever been to! The prices are great and the owner Rose is so kind and personable. This is my second day in a row coming here for their yummy crabs! I can't wait to come back here when I visit OC this summer. Come check them out and get the crabs! They're all heavy and delicious:)

Great crab prices. I was visiting for a conference, and although we have crabs here, you got to get crabs at the beach. So meaty, I froze the rest and took them home. Full after 4.

The best place in Ocean City Maryland to get the best crabs in town everyone is really friendly and willing to help

We had take out for lunch at on the bay. We got there right when it opened to avoid any lines. We got the crab cakes to avoid cracking the crabs ourselves as well as some shrimp. The shrimp were meaty and well cooked. The crab cake was rather good with lots of crab. No complaints. Can't wait to go back and try the crab at their outdoor seating.

Absolutely the best Soft Crab we had ever had. The potato salad, that was premise made, was very close to my homemade. On the Bay Seafood will be a must on every trip to the ocean!

I came to visit on the bay seafood for my birthday. I'm a big crab lover!!! I want to start off by saying the customer service here is amazing. Rob and Rose were awesome. Some restaurants make you feel like your just another number. I rode past and saw the heavy crab sign that's what caught my eye. Then I read a review about the crabs being delicious. They are patient, friendly, and very down to earth. They truly listen to their customers. The crabs were a nice size, sweet, heavy and seasoned to the T. Some crab places seasoning is to spicy but theirs is just right. The crabs were hot they had the paper, condiments such as vinegar and a little seasoning on the side. They even offer the paper to eat your crabs on. I got mine to go, the frozen margarita very delicious. They made my birthday so much better. I will be coming back to visit them when I come back to ocean city. Thanks Rob and Rose you all get a A++ from me :-)

Great place to sit and eat crabs with a group. You can even reserve a table. We had a great time there and everything was delicious and the friendly service was amazing. They even had a play area for the kids.

Food tasted great and delivered promptly. The sun beating in on you wasn't so great as there is only outdoor seating in the sand.

Always wonderful service & great eats! So happy to see you open on April 4th! Thank you for being so sweet to my little one Rose! Love the atmosphere too, wish it was a little warmer out so we could stay & eat but the takeout is still always spot on and fresh. I have had crab, boardwalk ff, corn on the cob, crab cake, and soft shell crab sandwich here. Just love this spot, always our go to in OCMD! The kids love playing in the sand area also

Overpriced and not worth the wait. Must be a tourist trap. Typically we call ahead at restaurants for takeout to minimize wait time, but they werent picking up the phone. So we had to go there to place it. We arrived at around 1230 on a weekday and had to wait at least 10min to place the takeout order. Was told that food would be about 20min. I felt it was a little overpriced. I ordered a soft shell crab sandwich, and it was super simple and looked a little depressing (apart from the crab itself). They basically selected the smallest bun possible to house the crab. The rest of the people shared crabs, medium size, and they were also nothing special. Also don't bother with the chicken tenders... consistent with the theme of this restaurant, they were micro as well. Only thing that was not small was the bill.

FOOD IS SO GOOD!!!! service was good the guy cleaning the tables is the nicest person there. and such a good vibe.

Amazing. I had to put a kibosh on the fun and games of a bachelor party to make sure we went here. This was better than any sort of debauchery. The crabs were so fresh. The owner was nice enough to let us know that they were caught in the wee hours that morning. The customer service was incredible. The staff work so hard and yet they all seem happy. If you go to one crab place in Ocean City, go here. You'll be pleased.

Food was well cooked, liked the atmosphere. Fun place and we will return. Good location but I wish parking was easier, but I understand there's only so much room in OC.

Came back here for the first time in 6 years. Just as great as we remember! Will be back! Great crabs, clean spot, friendly service, great prices!! 5/5

We came here a few times and it was a lot of fun cracking crabs with the kids. Great food!

I used to come here often but I feel the quality of food has gone down. Service was great but the food was definitely lacking. Cream of crab soup - had decent chunks of crab meat and soup was quite creamy/flavorful. 8/10 Crab cakes - The crab cakes were already small to begin with but there was soooo much breading. No flavor, very bland. 2/10

Came here as it was across the street from our hotel. Ordered the steamed spicy shrimp. They were delicious! Could have been a bit more spicy. The location is super cool too. It's a covered outdoor sand patio.

Solid place for crabs and sand in your sandals - if you can get them. We got to the outer counter around 7:15 and they started covering menu items with blue tape while we were standing there.we got the mediums which were actually pretty meaty. Love the mess and always forget to bring a first date to places you don't use utensils

Got a dozen crabs for 60$. They were really tasty. Honestly can't complain. The flavors were there and they had a lot of meat. I also got the scallops but they weren't anything to write home about. I would 5/5 recommend the crabs and will come back for those.

We recently took a trip to Ocean City for their Maryland Blue Crabs, especially seeking for bigger size! We called them almost everyday while we are in OC and on the 3rd day they finally got some XL in. Pretty unique 'beach feel' atmosphere as the tables are set on a bed of sand. Very casual and staffs are super friendly. We enjoyed the blue crabs, also tried the fried oyster sandwich which was alright.

We stopped here for lunch since we were staying close by. The crabs were really good. They were seasoned well, nice and meaty. The steamed shrimp were good, especially with the cocktail sauce. The butterfly shrimp were ok, needed a little more seasoning. The boardwalk fries were perfect. I also liked that the soda was large and priced perfectly. The cream of crab soup was odd. It actually tasted like a baked potato soup with crab meat. With a little seasoning, it was good. Don't think I would get that again. Overall, we were satisfied with our meal and would visit again. SN: I LOVE the cleaning station. It was so refreshing to be able to wash my hands after picking crabs.

AMAZING! This is a great spot to get fresh seafood and crabs. Go early though! Parking and seating are limited!

Tried four times in a row to call and place an order. Had someone hang up on us each time. I guess they frown on anyone calling ahead. Same experience during last year's trip to the beach too, despite having no issue anytime before that.

On the Bay Seafood is busy for a reason! My fiancé and I visited ordered medium blue crabs, steamed shrimp with old bay (yum) , fried calamari, and crab cakes. They were all good! Parking is always difficult since they are so busy here. We can't wait to come back this summer! On the Bay is the BEST place to get crabs in Ocean City, Maryland!

I've been here twice on last trips to Ocean City. I guess knowing we're in the touristy area of OC I already expected to pay a bit high for crabs, so I docked a star just for the really high price I paid for crabs. It was "takeout" only due to COVID but I don't ever remember there being table service so there wasn't any difference in service from us getting our takeout to eat at the tables. You order at the counter and they text you when your food is ready. Hammers and paper towels are at the tables as well as huge rolls of paper so clean up is much easier. There's also a sink which is convenient to wash up without having to make a trip to the restroom. This is the first time I came with kids so it was first time I bought anything else outside of crabs. So I had to dock another star for the other food. Not only was it over priced, it was simply horrible. $7 for 2 and a half gummy chicken strips (tasted like they had been microwaved!), $2 for the smallest piece of plain corn and soggy fries. Totally get it is meant to be a crab spot, but then don't bother with these other items? Do it for the experience of eating on the sand, but just order the crabs and you'll be good :)

This is the best place in Ocean City Maryland for crabs and more. Best owner with friendly services.