Rustic Inn Crabhouse
Seafood restaurant · Dania Beach ·
Signature garlic crab served since 1955 at this bustling spot
Signature garlic crab served since 1955 at this bustling spot
"Perfect if you like:Joe’s Stone CrabBroward and Miami do classic crab restaurants very differently. Joe’s is an event, with dress codes, notoriously long waits during season, and handsome servers in shiny suits. At Rustic Inn, they only ask that you’re wearing a shirt, provide you with little wooden mallets, and let you go feral on Alaskan king crab legs, dungeness crabs, and stone crabs (during season). Rustic Inn and Joe’s deliver different experiences, but the spiritual core of both can be summed up by one word: crabs." - Ryan Pfeffer, Mariana Trabanino
"Yes, Southport is our favorite waterfront seafood spot in Fort Lauderdale, but Rustic Inn Crabhouse is a very close second. This is another Fort Lauderdale classic. The seafood is all solid, but you’re coming here to wear plastic bibs and smash big piles of dungeness, garlic blue crabs, and Alaskan snow crab with little wooden mallets. Plus, if it’s your birthday, the whole restaurant starts banging their crab mallets on the table like a bunch of butter-splattered judges. They also have a double-decker boat docked outside that you can eat on, weather permitting. Just expect a wait." - ryan pfeffer, virginia otazo
"This waterside crab house has been a legend since 1959 for its garlic crabs, sautéed in a secret family sauce. It’s equal parts seafood shack and South Florida time capsule, with fried frog legs and gator bites rounding out the quirky menu. Pro tip: Wear clothes you’re not afraid to get messy in."
"On the southern border of Fort Lauderdale, along a little canal just a baseball toss away from the airport, you’ll find one of the greatest seafood establishments in the whole state: Rustic Inn Crabhouse. This place has been serving crabs and lots of other great seafood since 1955, and it’s like a museum you get to eat. Food aside, this place is just fun. You get to wear plastic bibs and smash big piles of dungeness, garlic blue crabs, and Alaskan snow crab with little wooden mallets. Plus, if it’s your birthday, the whole restaurant just starts banging their crab mallets on the table like a bunch of butter-splattered judges. They also have a double-decker boat docked outside that you can eat on, weather permitting." - ryan pfeffer
"Rustic is in its name and indeed, this seafood house has been a Broward Country mainstay for more than six decades. If you’re a Rustic Inn newbie or long-time fan, its garlic crabs are as garlic-loaded as they get. Just off its blue canopied outdoor seating is a stretch for boat docking, too."