OC Eats

Ocean City, Maryland is a huge vacation spot for those of us native to Maryland and the Delmarva area. In order to try and assist you all with some of my favorite restaurants of Ocean City, I’ve devoted this GoodEats post to the areas best.

Ocean City is full of gimmicky restaurants claiming to feature fresh seafood and local produce. The truth of the matter is the majority of the restaurants use frozen meats and cheap preparations. Just because you’re on vacation does not make it okay to eat poorly, so I hope you enjoy some of these recommendations.

Let’s start with the most important meal of the day: breakfast. My absolute favorite breakfast restaurant in Ocean City is General’s Kitchen, known for their chipped beef (a creamed sauce with slits of cured beef) and huge three-egg omelets. The wait staff is exceptionally friendly and professional and the décor is highlighted by hundreds of hats stapled to the. The unbeatable prices for the portions you receive make this even more of a catch. Just remember to wake up early because the kitchen closes at 1 p.m. daily.

Next on the menu we have to take a look at lunch/dinner restaurants. Unfortunately, Ocean City doesn’t have a ton of lunch special based restaurants, so the menus are pretty similar between the two courses.

The first lunch/dinner spot, Mother’s Cantina, is a little Mexican inspired restaurant located on 28th St. It only has a few tables in the entire place, but the food coming out of the tiny kitchen is delicious. Try the chorizo burrito or the chilles rellenos (a traditional Mexican dish pairing roasted Anaheim peppers with a rice and meat mixture). The drinks are just as complex and delicious as the food. Please get one of the house made margaritas or orange crushes. Entrees are between $10and $20.

Next, I have to let you all in on two of my favorite crab houses Ocean City has to offer. The first, Crab Alley, is located in West Ocean City and the second, my family’s favorite, Crab Bag, is located on 130th street. The two restaurants are known for their all you can eat crab specials, highlighted by Maryland blue crabs smothered in Old Bay. If crabs aren’t your fancy, the other seafood dishes are great. Just know that if you are with someone indulging in the crabs, you will be waiting for a while. The all you can eat specials start at $40. It may be expensive but it’s worth it.

It’s only necessary to feature a fancier restaurant as my last recommendation. Upon a heads-up from a family friend and some light research, I decided to go to Catch 54, which is right off of Madison Avenue in Fenwick (2 minutes from Ocean City). The décor was chic and very modern, highlighted open seating right on the water, which is always a plus. The menu is constantly changing based on what’s fresh that day. I had the pleasure of trying the mussels cooked in a light butter sauce with bacon and the crab mac n’ cheese. Holy cheesy! The fish was fresh and the dishes delicately put together. I will definitely be back to this gem! Being a fancier restaurant, the prices are a bit higher (average of about $25 per entrée).

Oh, I have to remind everyone of Dumsers Dairyland for dessert, where you can get huge portions of rich homemade ice cream. You can’t do Ocean City right if you don’t go to Dumsers at least once.

Please, next time you venture down to the Eastern Shore try one of these recommendations. Ocean City is full of GoodEats, go out and explore the area through the food.

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Until next time. I wish you GoodEats.

Mussels from Catch 54

Chicken burrito from Mother’s Cantina

Banana split from Dumsers Dairyland

All you can eat crabs from Crab Bag

Caprese Salad from Catch 54

Edited by Jared Kurlander.

Tagged: catch 54, crab alley, Crab bag, Delmarva, dumpers dairyland, generals kitchen, GoodEats, Ocean City