ST. MICHAELS, Md. — The Crab Claw – a multigenerational family restaurant in St. Michaels – is closing its doors in November, after more than six decades in business.
According to owner Tracy Jones-Wass, the last day the restaurant will be open is November 1st.
Jones-Wass’ parents, Sylvia and Bill, opened the business in 1965. It started out as an oyster shucking house, buying and selling oysters and crabs. To make use of the surplus, the owners built out a restaurant space upstairs with screened seating, tables and chairs
"The Crab Claw is my life," Jones-Wass said. “It means the world to me. It's very, very bittersweet that we're closing.”
In 2021, the restaurant's longtime head server was diagnosed with cancer — and around the same time, so was Tracy.
Crab Claw's general manager -- Wayne Bridges -- says the property was then sold in 2022 and the deal on the sale closed in 2023.
After that, the Crab Claw leased the property for three years with the possibility of an extension, but now that lease is up.
Bridges describes the Crab Claw as "family" — no bar stools, no sit-down bar, just big shared tables.
"It broke my heart. I've been here 41 seasons,” Bridges said. “You know, that's a lot of friends, a lot of families, a lot of relationships, a lot of future relationships. You know, I always, I always thought that I was going to retire here."
Despite the news, the family-run restaurant is continuing to serve the community as usual.
Tracy's kids, Taylor and Brandon, practically grew up at the Crab Claw — they've worked there since their teenage years, and today they're still out on the floor waiting tables.
“The restaurant has always [been] held near and dear to my heart. I've been working here since, literally, I was in diapers,” Brandon said. “I would be at the host stand. You know, waitresses they used to watch after me when I was a kid…Working with my family, it's a pleasure. It is an honor and a pleasure, absolutely. You know, it's a rare thing nowadays where families get to work together, and it's nice to be able to be so close with my family and just come in and check in on each other.”
Taylor says she moved home full time to be able to help her mom, completing her graduate school degree online while working at the Crab Claw full time.
“I realized no matter what the outcome, no matter how long my family stays here, I just wanted to be there for her and for that,” Taylor said. “It's just bittersweet is really how, what I can say, truly how I feel…Before this year, I never really sat back and realized how privileged I am to be around my brother and my mom all day, and I've just been really trying to soak it in."
Some people who grew up going to the Crab Claw came back Friday to enjoy the restaurant one last time.
Bill Jordan, who now lives in Pennsylvania but grew up in Havre de Grace, Maryland would visit the Crab Claw every summer growing up when his family would travel down the bay. He says his first time at the restaurant was when he was eight.
“When we heard this was closing, my boys have never been here, so I decided we'd take a, long weekend, go down to Annapolis, have some fun in Annapolis, come over here for lunch, and they get to experience this place before it's no more,” Jordan said.
Other longtime customers who still visit the Crab Claw every week say the establishment is an institution in Maryland.
“I love Saint Michael's, but the crab claw is, it's an event, you know?, Harry Criswell said. “We're not coming here to eat. We're coming here because it's an event, and it's a Maryland tradition.”
Jones-Wass says she has enjoyed being ingrained in the St. Michaels community.
“It's been wonderful serving the Saint Michael's community,” Jones-Wass said. “I feel that the crab claw helped put Saint Michael's on the map. We have employed almost every young person in Talbot County, in the surrounding counties. They put themselves through college, by working here as either a bus guy, bartender or a waitress. And now I see that you can continue to come back as adults with their families.”
Bridges added that he would like to carry on the legacy of the Crab Claw in his own way, with the plan to build a restaurant in the Crab Claw’s spirit somewhere on the Eastern Shore.
“I want to keep somewhere else, you know, but I want this to keep going,” Bridges said. “This whole concept, the camaraderie, the friendships, the relationships. You know, even the top funny stories of all the people who've worked here for the last 61 years. I want that to keep on. I'd like that to be my legacy when I pass away.”
