Stone Crab Season!
Stone Crabs at Buckhead Life Restaurants
At Buckhead Life Restaurants, we pride ourselves in providing the finest and freshest seafood and Stone Crabs are no different!
To be sure that we will have them, please call first. Our supply can vary and very much depends on the harvesting schedule!
Why are Stone Crabs so special?
Perhaps the most anticipated seasonal seafood, Stone Crabs have officially arrived in our kitchens! Praised for their sweet taste and delicate texture, these delicacies are open for harvest beginning October 15th. Our stone crabs are responsibly fished and only sourced from the Florida Keys where the warm waters result in exceptionally sweat claws. Our stone crabs are delivered daily and served over ice with our famous secret sauce. You can enjoy stone crabs in our Atlanta restaurants at Atlanta Fish Market & Chops, and our South Florida restaurants at City Fish Market, Chops Lobster Bar, and Lobster Bar Sea Grille. Also, Pano’s Food Shop will carry them from time to time!
Aside from their delectable flavor, here are some of our favorite things about stone crabs:
Stone crabs can regenerate their claws.
While blue and Dungeness crab are valued for the meat from their legs, claws, and abdomen, stone crabs are sought after for their claws alone. The two front claws are not only delicately sweet, and powerful enough to crack an oyster shell (stone crabs feed on oysters, mussels, and fish)—they’re also “renewable.” Stone crabs can regenerate their claws if they’re removed correctly. To properly remove the claw from a live stone crab, first make sure it’s large enough to harvest legally (the claw must be 2.75 inches long). Then snap downward with a quick pop. This will help ensure the muscles and tissue the crab needs to rebuild the claw remain healthy and intact. In about three years, the claw should return to an adequate size for another harvest.
Look for the “fingerprint” to know if the claw is original.
You can tell if a stone crab claw is the original—or if it’s regenerated—by looking for a faint fingerprint-like marking on the propodus (the last segment of the pincer). If the fingerprint-like lines are unbroken, it’s the original claw. If the lines are broken, it’s a regenerated claw.
The stone crab’s weight is in its claws.
As a stone crab ages, the percentage of body weight may increase in the claws. An older male crab may have as much as half their body weight in their large claws.
Stone crabs are resourceful.
Seashells that wash up on the shore are often taken home as a beautiful memento. But for stone crabs, seashells are useful tools. Stone crabs use shells to burrow and dig to create a home among the seagrass in shallow waters near docks, rocks, and bridges. Piles of underwater shell pieces near holes in reefs and rocks may be a good indication you’ve stumbled upon a stone crab’s home.
