Is DiNardo's crab house still as good as it used to be?

[lintygmom]

I live in the SF Bay Area now, poor me, and have no access to a good dirty crab. We used to go to DiNardo's at 15th and Race when I was in school there. Is it still WONDERFUL? The spicy crabs, the spicy fries.

Sigh. Dungeness don't measure up.

[abigjudge]

Just ate at Bomb Bomb Cafe on wolf btn, 10ty&11th, allyou can eat on monday cold but very good cheap and great ribs,mussels & ltalian foog

[rabidog]

hm, i'm generally vegetarian but growing up down in maryland i can't help but help myself to a dirty blue crab every now and then and i do admit they are tough to find in philly!

we visitied dinardo's at 3rd and race about a month ago and, realizing i'm not in baltimore anymore, i can admit the crabs (ordered 6 regular) were pretty good! very hot, fairly dirty... though i don't get that hot sauce "philly style" thing. not good! we pushed that to the side and continued on. i found the service fast and extremely friendly. and at 8pm on a saturday night with no reservations - hard to believe i didn't even have the chance to finish my first beer at the bar before they announced our table was ready! the dining room is warm & cozy. i have no complaints other than they close too early. ;)

[lintygmom]

I grew up in Filthydelphia and loved DiNardo's. I don't want geat seafood as in gourmet. I want bluepoint crabs served dirty with fries, so if DiNardo's it will be since a number of you say it's still good. I don't care if I eat with tourists--I'll be one!

[Hammie]

Try Bonk's in Port Richmond and while there, please mention your mis-pronunciation of Philadelphia to others nearby, they will greatly appreciate your humor. Kind of like when others refer to the city by the bay as Frisco....in which decade did you last visit Philly?
PS, they're Blue Claw or just plain Blue crabs anyway....not sure what's a Blue Point...

[juice]

Dinardo's isn't the greatest seafood place, but it isn't that bad either, especially if you want to gorge yourself on crabs. $30 Monday night, all you can eat blue crabs with Old Bay fries, slaw, bread, etc. I've been there a bunch of times, the crabs have always been hot and plentiful. The place is somewhat of a landmark so it is always worth a trip (if you like crabs). The brew pub in Manayunk has all you can eat crab legs on Tuesday nights.

[jcmods]

I ate there five years ago and had the "Steamed Crab". These were significantly better than the "Garlic Crabs" even though you wouldn't think so (how can you go wrong with Garlic?). It could be that even the "steamed crabs" have gone way down since then, but these were clearly what you HAD to order.

The only problem I had there is it was WAY expensive and probably a bit of a tourist trap. That's probably the main reason I haven't been back.

[lawslaw]

No, I orded 6 crabs--larges--and they were REALLY disappointing. I pointed out that they were cold and the waitress just said that oh yeah, they're cold... and walked away. It was really rude and bad.

[gina]

I'm only familiar with DiNardo's (Race St. between 3rd and 4th) going back a couple of years, but I think it's a great place for crabs. My sister and I went last Monday and yes, the crabs and fries are still spicy and yummy. Haven't ever had cold crabs served to me...Lawslaw, did you by any chance order the "all you can eat" crabs? I can imagine that those aren't cooked to order.

[lintygmom]

Right. 3rd and Race. No way could it be west of Broad. What was I thinking? But this is making me seriously bummed as I dream of pulling out those deadman's fingers and digging into the succulent body meat.

[lawslaw]

No. It is awful.

I was there about a month ago and I was unapologetically served cold crabs with no meat in them. Dinner companion had "crab cakes" with batter and corn. It was not a lump crab cake. I would not recommend them at all. Overpriced and bad quality.

[lintygmom]

So, Walt's? Any other crab house? DiNardo's used to be SO good. But that's going back >10 years.