We'll be staying at the South Beach Marriott for two nites in Feb. and want to try stone crabs. Would you recommend Joe's Stone Crab, or can you suggest an alternative near our hotel? Thanks.

I'm sure the locals will have excellent alternatives, but you need to go to Joe's...not just for the crabs, but the fabulous bar, the crowd, the buzz, the whole atmosphhere thing, asnd you can say you went to Joe's, not some other olace...

Many places will carry stone crab when they're in season (until March?) -- the claws are basically the same wherever you buy them, unless you encounter an unscrupulous vendor who sells "floaters" (these are the shrunken claws which are mostly shell and not a lot of crab meat).

But the bottom line is: don't you want to be able to say you went to the one and only Joe's Stone Crab?

We don't really care about saying we went to Joe's. We mainly are interested in having stone crabs. If there's an alternative, would love to hear about it since we don't particularly want to have to wait for hours to get a table.

I don't know -- I live in Tampa. If you don't get any recommendations on this board, check out chowhound.com -- go to the florida board and post there. Also read the many posts on there about stone crabs and Joe's -- you might find a good rec.

In all the years I've been in Florida (40), and the many times I've been to Miami (countless many), I've not been to Joe's myself. At this point, having sampled this Florida delicacy throughout the state, I'd like to go to Joe's just to say I've gone and provide that POV. The claws are basically the same everywhere (with the exception of the floaters that I noted in my other post) -- the sauces might vary but then I like mine with drawn butter.

Good luck. And bon appetite!

I went to Joe's once and I wasn't impressed. It was a see and be seen type place with incredibly horrible service and seating strictly according to how important you are (needless to say we were near the bottom of being seated). I don't have specific suggestions in Miami, but I still say that eating crab claws is a messy and active sport. It is best going to a fresh seafood market, going somewhere outside at a park and table or at your pool at a condo (if allowed) and dig into them. You buy them already prepared and chilled so they are ready to eat. How about doing a "picnic"?

I know Tandoori Girl likes hers warm, something which just amazes me, being a "purist", but I realize she's not alone.

Some of us grew up without knowing the proper way to eat these darned things, Florida's poor inlanders. I don't recall having them as a kid but then the first crab I had came from Red Lobster's first restaurant in Lakeland. When I first had stone crabs, I was addicted -- but they weren't so expensive back then. They weren't particularly hot items (and I'm not referring to temperature here, although it's true that most people eat them cold as Patrick does -- but then Patrick also eats his abominably with a fork and knife...).

You can buy them at Publix and eat them cold, using a heavy suitcase or a large cinderblock to crack open the 8" thick shells, taking care not to smash your precious fingers.

What, Tandoori Girl??? No fork or knife has ever touched my stone crab claws! Dig in and pull them out with the fingers and eat them. Although I do usually have one of those tiny little forks for reaching into the hard to get places if necessary.

I've never bought them at PUblix, but any seafood market or supermarket I've bought them at will crack them for you -- saving you an enormous amount of trouble, or as in my case saving you a cutting board that split in half when I hit a claw with a hammer on top of it. The claw remained unscathed.

What about Monty's Stone Crab in Miami? Have you eaten there and would you recommend? (I like the idea of just getting takeout and maybe making a picnic out of it, but what if the weather's bad? Then we'd want a restaruant).

For us, it is a crapshoot. Joe's is a little better than Monty's but Joe's is a pain in the ass trying to get a table. Either/or, the crab is great.

orangetravelcat-- DEFINITELY go to Joes- their stone crabs are the best..
Monty's usually has previously frozen stone crabs AT THE same prices as Joes..

Joes are fresh-just off the boat...

Make sure you get there by 430pm and there is NO wait in line..Line starts forming around 5pm and then the wait gets up to 2 hours...I have only waited for stone crabs 2 x and vowed never again..So NOW , I get there at 430pm

The normal menu for this is Stone crabs, Joe's special cole slaw and Hash Brown potatoes..It makes no difference where you sit, as the service is just the same..We have never had bad service-- but sometimes it is service with super speeed as they like to turn the tables over quickly..but we then eat slower....

Have a blast- when I called a restaurant in Delray over Xmas for their stone crab prices, I was quoted 39.95 for medium, $44 for large and $54 for jumbo...ALL of this is A LA CARTE..and the sides serve at least 2 people..

ALso Joes has REAL Key Lime Pie..not the green jello kind...

Now that you mention key lime pie....that's my husband's favorite! We should be able to get to Joe's early...so hopefully we won't have a big wait.

No alternative!! We just went there last night. It is the most amazing place ever. There is no second to Joes, and I wasn't even sure before I went either.

I just have to jump in here - Patrick's right, they're best eaten sloppy. But given the chance (up til now) I'd still go to Joe's just to go...til I heard that price. Wow. It must be quite a beautiful restaurant with fabulous ambience to warrant the prices Andy quotes...?

And Tandoori girl, in defense of "floaters": Nobody likes them, but my seafood supplier once told me about an unscientific experiment he did a few years ago: he cracked a few pounds of floaters, then cracked the same weight in regular stones, and then weighed the meat. Guess what he found: pound for pound you get the same amount of crabmeat - it's just that with the floaters (called that because the layer of air inside the shell causes them to float to the top of the cookpot unlike their denser brothers) they look bigger than they should.

And beware of chain supermarkets selling stone crabs...I've seen those here in Tampa Bay selling a different species with a bumpier shell, a coldwater crab...not as sweet or as valuable! Ask!

Joan- I am with you -concerning the prices..I have been eating them for over 30 years but decided NOT to partake this past trip down to FLA>..

The way we figured it out, it would have been over $150 per couple for dinner..Granted, IF you have NOT had these, they are worth it...Just could NOT talk hubs into spending that much for seafood...

The restaurant is NICE, but very noisy..black and white tile floors..great wood bar and outside area to have a drink and wait...but you are seated on bentwood chairs ( not the most comfortable)...STILL, it is a GREAT experience if you have not been....Maybe I can talk him into it next month when we are back down there...

Truthfully, all the crab claws are cooked immediately on the boats and then frozen.

Maybe all the hype just makes them seem better at Joe's.

Isn't that right, Joan? Or did I get that wrong?

I defer to Joan in all things seafood.

Gee thanks TG! But no they're not always frozen immediately...but if they are, they are one of the few seafoods that freeze well - those intractable claws make a nicer airproof container for the delicate meat. By the way, (Patrick) you might try holding the claw in the palm of your hand and cracking it all over with the back of a regular dinner knife...kind of like a hardboiled egg. Then you can pick off the pieces and voila! if you're good (and lucky) you have remaining an intact claw just waiting to be devoured. But you still need pliers for those knuckles..DO NOT FORGET the knuckles...chock full! Aaahhh I'm hungry now!

Tandoori Girl, they are boiled on the boat and then put on ice, but not frozen. I've never had them after being frozen, and surprised to hear they would still be so good.

By the way all this discussion reminds me of a very elegant dinner party I once attended near Buzzard's Bay, near Cape Cod. We sat at a very elegantly set table with fine linens, china, and silver and were served whole lobsters. I just wanted to roll up my sleeves go out in the yard and dig into it. Some things are meant to be enjoyed casual -- stone crab claws and whole lobsters are two of those. Fried chicken comes to mind also.

Patrick, reminds me of my best friend's rehersal dinner. Since her father was paying, he got to pick the menu.

He wanted a pig pickin'. We had pig, collards, grits, and macaroni and cheese on fine china, waterford crystal, white linens, and her mothers heirloom silver.