If I spot a giant crab on the roof, I’m definitely checking what is happening inside.
This Maryland seafood stop has been giving people that excuse since 1982, with a market up front and a dining room just beyond it.
Crab cakes make an easy first move. The rest of the menu keeps the seafood theme going, while the counter near the entrance gives you a second reason to linger after the meal.
The setup works because dinner does not have to end at the table. Eat what caught your attention, then see what might be worth taking home.
And yes, that rooftop crab absolutely understood the assignment.
Five-Ounce Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes Give The Menu A Clear Starting Point
The crab cake at Chic’s keeps the description straightforward. Each one weighs five ounces and is made with jumbo lump crabmeat.
You can order one as a sandwich with chips and a pickle spear, or go larger with a platter of two five-ounce crab cakes and two sides. The same crab cake can also be added to another platter, giving you an easy way to put crab beside a different seafood entree.
The Chesapeake combination uses the crab cake in another direction, pairing one with jumbo shrimp, scallops, a fish fillet, an oyster, and clam strips. The Seafood Club stacks shrimp salad, lettuce, tomato, bacon, and a crab cake into one sandwich.
That gives the crab cake several jobs instead of one fixed presentation. It can be the whole meal, part of a seafood sampler, or the final addition to another platter.
Would you start with the sandwich or go straight to the two-cake platter?
From there, the choice comes down to how much seafood you want around the crab cake.
The Family Seafood Business Began In Hagerstown In 1982
Chic’s Seafood has been serving the Hagerstown area since 1982. Ernest Schuhly learned the seafood trade while working at a seafood shop in Baltimore before he and his wife, Doris, opened their own market and restaurant in Hagerstown.
The business later grew into a multigenerational family operation. Their children became involved in running the restaurant, and their grandchildren have worked in the business as well.
That family history connects directly to the market-and-restaurant setup that still defines Chic’s. Fresh seafood can leave through the carryout counter, while prepared dishes continue into the dining room.
The menu covers Maryland blue crabs, crab cakes, crab imperial, oysters, scallops, shrimp, fish, lobster, clams, mussels, snow crab, king crab, and other seafood. There are also non-seafood choices, but crab and shellfish take up much of the board.
Crab and seafood still occupy much of the current menu more than four decades after the restaurant opened.
For a first visit, the easiest choice is simple: start with a crab cake, whole blue crabs, or something from the fresh counter.
The Seafood Counter Is The First Stop Inside
The carryout counter comes before the dining room when you enter Chic’s. It functions as a seafood market as well as a takeout counter, so you can shop without committing to a sit-down meal.
The case can hold crab cakes, crabmeat, scallops, fish, oysters, clams, shrimp, soft crabs, lobster tails, snow crab, king crab, Dungeness crab, and other seafood. Homemade salads and desserts add ready-to-go choices that can turn a seafood purchase into a fuller meal.
Raw fish, shrimp, and scallops can be cooked for an additional charge, while oysters are sold in several quantities. Crabmeat is available in jumbo lump and lump forms, and seafood such as haddock, flounder, rockfish, and salmon appears on the raw list.
This is where the visit can split in two directions. Head into the dining room when you want the kitchen to finish the job, or use the counter when dinner is happening at home.
The counter also carries practical crab-feast supplies, including seasoning, crab paper, hammers, knives, oyster shuckers, Old Bay, and vinegar.
If the refrigerator needs stocking, save a little space after lunch. The entrance gives you another chance to shop on the way out.
Maryland Blue Crabs Run Through The Main Season
Maryland blue crabs are part of the operation from April through November. From December through March, Louisiana blue crabs take over the off-season supply, keeping whole blue crabs available across the year.
Quantities range from a single crab to a half dozen, dozen, half bushel, or bushel. Large crabs can be ordered by the dozen, but they are not sold by the half bushel or bushel.
The sizing is clearly divided. Small crabs measure five to five and a half inches, medium crabs run from five and a half to six inches, and large crabs measure more than six inches.
Half bushels and bushels are volume measures rather than fixed counts, so the exact number of crabs varies with size. Live crabs can also be ordered, although preordering helps when you want them before they head to the steamer.
Would your table need a dozen, or is this the kind of meal that calls for a bushel?
The seasoning brings another choice. Chic’s uses its own custom rock-salt blend from J.O. Spice, while Old Bay can be requested for an additional charge.
That gives a whole-crab order several decisions before the first shell opens: source season, size, quantity, live or steamed, and seasoning.
The Giant Rooftop Crab Marks The Corner
Chic’s is not difficult to identify once you reach Summit Avenue. A large crab sits on the roof at the corner of Summit Avenue and West Lee Street, giving the small seafood restaurant a landmark that is considerably bigger than the building’s footprint.
The same corner stop is part of Maryland’s Crab and Oyster Trail in the Western Maryland section. That route connects seafood businesses across the state and gives Chic’s a place in the Hagerstown portion of the trail.
The rooftop crab makes navigation simple. Once it comes into view, you have reached the restaurant rather than another storefront nearby.
Inside, the seafood theme continues through the menu rather than relying on the building alone. Steamed blue crabs come from the steam room, crab cakes appear in sandwiches and platters, and the market counter handles fresh and prepared seafood for home.
For a road-trip stop, that gives you more than one way to use the address. Sit down for a meal, pick up seafood for later, or combine the two by eating first and checking the case before leaving.
The crab on the roof handles the directions. The harder decision waits inside at the counter.
The Menu Goes Well Beyond Crab Cakes And Blue Crabs
Crab may be the easiest headline, but Chic’s current menu covers a much wider stretch of seafood. Sea scallops can be fried, broiled, or sauteed with garlic butter, wine, and herbs. Jumbo Gulf shrimp appear fried, stuffed, steamed, and in shrimp scampi.
Soft-shell crabs are battered and fried, while the daily fish can be deep-fried, broiled, or blackened. Steamed lobster tail, snow crab clusters, king crab legs, oysters, Cherrystone clams, and mussels fill out the steam-room and platter choices.
Crab stays woven through those options. Baked crab imperial uses jumbo lump crabmeat, stuffed flounder comes with crab imperial, and stuffed jumbo shrimp carry crabmeat inside. Chicken Chesapeake adds crab imperial to a chicken breast for anyone who wants the crab flavor without building the entire meal around shellfish.
The combination platters are useful when choosing one seafood is the hardest part. One combines crab cake, shrimp, scallops, fish, oyster, and clam strips, while another brings together lobster tail, shrimp, snow crab, clams, and oysters.
Sides include hand-cut fries, onion rings, hush puppies, corn fritters, baked potato, corn on the cob, stewed tomatoes, broccoli, coleslaw, macaroni salad, potato salad, pasta salad, and salads.
Start with the seafood. The side decision is much easier once the main plate is settled.
Current Hours Keep Tuesday Off The Seafood Schedule
Chic’s currently opens at 10 a.m. on every operating day. Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday run until 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday extend to 9:30 p.m., while Sunday ends at 9 p.m.
Tuesday is closed.
Hours can change, so the longer trip works better when the day’s schedule is checked before leaving home. The same goes for live crabs or a specific fresh-market item, where availability can depend on the day’s seafood supply.
The market and dining room give the stop some flexibility once you arrive. A crab cake sandwich makes sense for a smaller meal, two crab cakes turn it into a full platter, and the carryout case can handle seafood for another day.
Chic’s Seafood is at 300 Summit Avenue, Hagerstown, MD 21740, at the corner of Summit Avenue and West Lee Street.
The address also puts you directly on a stop in Maryland’s Western Maryland Crab and Oyster Trail, with that oversized rooftop crab making the final turn difficult to miss.
Once inside, keep the order focused. Start with the crab cake or the seafood item that brought you there, give the market counter a look before leaving, and let the next meal handle whatever did not fit this time.