see food our way!
Dorchester County is known for its delectable seafood – jumbo lump crab, rockfish, oysters, and more – fresh from our local waters. Many of our restaurants are waterside, and some are accessible by boat. You’ll also discover some surprises here, such as sophisticated restaurants tucked away down country lanes and in small towns. Browse our Dorchester Dining Guide online. Dorchester County is also home to a personal shopping service called Beat the Rush Delivery that provides delivery of food from local restaurants and markets.
Whether you’re dining dockside, riverside, downtown, or in the country, you’ll enjoy that classic Eastern Shore hospitality. We’re also home to the Mid-Atlantic’s first craft winery – Layton’s Chance Vineyard & Winery. And a popular microbrewery, RAR Brewing.
Top picks for delicious crabs, oysters, and fish
Seafood is big here in Dorchester County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Our watermen harvest crabs, oysters, fish, and more. Crab season is April through Dec. 15; wild oyster season is Oct. 1 through March 31, but you can get crabmeat and farmed oysters all year long. You’ll find crab and oyster dishes in many of our restaurants – crab cakes, crab soup, crab dip; plus oysters on the half shell, fried oysters, oysters Rockefeller, and more. Enjoy the goodness in our restaurants or bring a cooler so you can take some local seafood home. A few ideas:
- Despite its odd name, Suicide Bridge Restaurant, in the tiny town of Secretary, has become a popular destination for its wide range of crab, oyster, and other seafood dishes.
- People routinely make the 40-minute scenic drive from Cambridge to Old Salty’s Restaurant on Hoopers Island because they can’t get enough of the local seafood – and because of the one-of-a-kind drive through authentic watermen’s villages. Among the favorites are crab cakes and soft shell crab sandwiches.
- Restaurants such as Boats & Hose and Ocean Odyssey Crab House & Restaurant (usually open April through November) are known for their commitment to using local seafood in their dishes. Also try River View at the Point, Portside Seafood Restaurant, and Snapper’s Waterfront Cafe & Tiki Bar, which uses crabmeat from J.M. Clayton Company next door.
- Prefer to take your seafood with you? Pick up crabs – usually available live, steamed, or as already picked crabmeat – at Choptank River Crab & Oyster Co., J.M. Clayton Company, Kool Ice & Seafood, Lindy’s Seafood, Soft & Salty Seafood, or Total Fine Foods Outlet Store. Several of these places also offer a range of other delicious seafood.
- Dig into oysters (some places offer both in the shell and already shucked) directly from the grower through the Choptank Oyster Co., Hoopers Island Oyster Co., Mad House Oysters or Pirate’s Cove Oyster Company. Some also offer shipping.
