Like the name implies, The Crab Connect is the place for crabs
Story Location:
The Crab Connect
17580 Coastal Highway
Lewes, DE 19958
United States
Looking to meet the needs of customer demands, The Crab Connect outside Lewes has begun steaming crabs onsite.
“So many customers were asking us to do it. We had too,” said owner Bryan Stewart.
The Crab Connect is located in the parking lot of the BP gas station on the northbound side of Route 1.
Stewart, a Lewes native, comes by the crab- and seafood-selling business honestly. He grew up on commercial fishing boats owned by his dad and grandfather, and that experience taught him he didn’t want to work on the water.
“I wanted to try my hand at the selling side of things,” said Stewart, adding his dad had doubts about being on the other side of the business. “Basically, though, he just wants me working everyday.”
Stewart said the goal of his business is to try to get people the best crabs possible at the best prices. Crabs at a lot of places are so expensive right now it’s difficult for people to enjoy eating them, he said.
“I’m trying to change that,” he said.
Prior to the BP parking lot, Stewart said he would set up shop in the parking lot of any number of local grocery stores, put up a sign and try to sell everything he had in one day.
“I didn’t have a way to refrigerate the crabs, so I had to sell them before they died,” said Stewart, laughing. “It meant on more than one occasion I sold a bushel or two for $60.”
Fortunately for Stewart, those days are gone.
“I finally got a truck that has refrigeration,” he said.
Stewart gets his crabs from local watermen, but he also gets them shipped in from all over – at least 10 different states, he said.
Looking to the future, Stewart said the goal is to open his own crab house. The plan would be to keep it simple so customers don’t have to spend an arm and a leg, he said.
Stewart said the steaming trailer is available for event booking.
The Crab Connect’s hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week. However, Stewart said he’s almost always within a 15-minute drive to his truck and can be reached 24 hours a day.
For more information on The Crab Connect, 17580 Coastal Highway, call 302-396-4041, email thecrabconnectde@gmail.com or go thecrabconnect.com.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
