The Crab Claw, a longtime waterfront seafood restaurant in St. Michaels, MD will permanently close after 61 years in business, with its final day scheduled for November 1.
We were tipped off to the upcoming closure by legendary Montgomery County reporter Doug Tallman, who shared the news and some of his own memories of the restaurant in a personal Facebook post.
The Crab Claw opened in 1965 and has remained in the same family for more than six decades. According to the restaurant, the business actually traces its roots to the 1950s, when it operated as the Eastern Shore Clam Company, a clam and oyster shucking house where local watermen brought their daily catches. Owners Bill and Sylvia Jones transformed the business into The Crab Claw restaurant in 1965, and it became a St. Michaels landmark.
In a letter to customers announcing the closure, The Crab Claw thanked generations of guests for filling its dining room with “laughter, celebration, and community,” saying the restaurant had become more than simply a place to eat.
The restaurant initially announced that its 2026 season, which began April 9, would be its 61st and final season, running through October. Owner Tracey Jones-Wass has since confirmed that the restaurant’s final day will be Sunday, November 1.
The closure comes several years after the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum acquired the property occupied by The Crab Claw as well as an adjacent property. The acquisition was announced in 2023, and the restaurant ultimately remained open under the Jones-Wass family through a lease arrangement. According to WBOC, the restaurant leased the property for three years with the possibility of an extension, but that lease is now ending.
Jones-Wass, whose parents founded the restaurant, described the closure as bittersweet. The restaurant has also served as a longtime employer for generations of Eastern Shore residents. General Manager Wayne Bridges told WBOC that he has worked there for more than 40 seasons, while Jones-Wass said many young people from Talbot County and surrounding areas worked at the restaurant and used their earnings to help pay for college.
The Crab Claw and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum share another connection beyond their neighboring waterfront properties: both opened in 1965. The museum has described the restaurant as a longtime staple of the St. Michaels community, noting that generations of local residents worked there as their first job.
The restaurant is located at 304 Burns Street on Navy Point in St. Michaels and is known for steamed Maryland crabs, clams, oysters and crab cakes. Its website currently describes 2026 as its “final season” and encourages customers to make reservations for one last visit.
In its farewell letter, The Crab Claw said it plans to make its remaining days a celebration of the friendships, milestones and meals shared during its six decades in business, closing with an invitation to customers to “raise a cold beer, crack some hot crabs, and do it Eastern Shore style at The Crab Claw.”
