In the Know: Crabby Lady Restaurant relaunches in Goodland

What was old is new again in Goodland. Crabby Lady Restaurant is back in business on the historic waterfront in southern Collier County.

Not only has the classic Crabby Lady name been resurrected, but its longtime venue was rebuilt after being extensively damaged last fall by Hurricane Irma. Goodland was one of the hardest-hit areas when the hurricane made landfall on Florida’s mainland. Operating as Marker 8.5 Restaurant when Irma came ashore in September, Crabby Lady Restaurant has a colorful past.

Crabby Lady was a dream of Capt. Butch Cameron that began more than 25 years ago. When the avid fisherman launched the local restaurant with his second wife, Jo, in 1991, Cameron named the rustic eatery after his crab boat. Crabby Lady was built around a pre-existing bait shop on the northern edge of Goodland.

Cameron knew the local waters well. He was in his early 30s when he relocated his young family in 1974 from Miami to Goodland, where he was a fishing guide and eventually a well-known crabber for decades.

Cameron operated Crabby Lady restaurant for eight or nine seasons. Then the space was idle for more than five years before veteran restaurateur Jimmy Ketchum and bartender Dave Surber leased the building to open Marker 8 restaurant there in 2008. After about a five-year run, Chef Mike Duncan took over the restaurant’s lease and renamed it Marker 8.5.

Displaced by Hurricane Irma, Duncan now owns and operates Duncan’s on the Gulf, a casual waterside restaurant he opened a few months ago in a 50-year-old space in Cedar Key, Florida, another small, hurricane-battered fishing village that is a five-hour drive north of Goodland.

Back at ground zero, Crabby Lady has come full circle. The Cameron family continues to own the half-acre of waterfront with boat slips as they have throughout its winding timeline. Butch Cameron died four years ago but his son, Greg, refurbished and reopened Crabby Lady in his honor.

“It was a lot of work but it was a blessing and I think everything happens for a reason,” Greg Cameron said.

Not only is the restaurant a tribute to his dad, but its steadfastness and fresh seafood also salute the historic community of Goodland, a tiny fishing village where living on the water is the only way of life.

“We have a lot of local support. People are happy we brought it back,” Cameron said.

Since reopening July 1, friends, family and locals have rediscovered Crabby Lady, which has just a small sign to indicate it is open for business.

“We haven’t had time to put a permanent sign up,” Cameron said. “We haven’t gotten that far yet.”

The weather-beaten restaurant is near channel marker 8 on the edge of the Marco River overlooking Goodland Bay between Marco Island and Everglades City. Although unassuming, it’s one of the area’s best-kept secrets for dining on the water.

The eatery specializes in fresh local seafood for breakfast and lunch served in a relaxed, casual atmosphere. Crabby Lady is especially known for its burgers, crab balls, garlic blue crabs and seafood bisque made with the old recipe from the original Crabby Lady.

“Those are our main signature items and top sellers all the time,” Cameron said.

Joe’s Crab Balls are kind of like crab cake spheres made with lump crab meat, diced onion, jalapeno and “our secret other stuff.” There’s a little Tex-Mex spice on the outside and no filler on the inside, Cameron said.

“People are loving them. We are going through so many of them,” he said.

Blue crabs are sold at market price, depending on their size. A local fisherman pulls up to the restaurant’s dock almost daily and unloads the soft-shell crabs right there.

“He sells them live off the boat or he steams them for people,” Cameron said.

Diners can even have jumbo crab meat with a wedge salad – The Crabby Wedge – for $9.99. For another $7.99, pair that with a seafood bisque.

Crabby Lady has fried mozzarella, jalapeno poppers and chicken fingers, but most of its appetizers ($6.99-$12.99) are seafood. Apps include Old Bay steamers, smoked fish dip, fried calamari, firecracker shrimp, fish fingers and Joe’s Crab Balls.

Lunch entrees range from a veggie burger at $7.99 to a Crabby Wrap ($15.99) with a choice of blue crab, chicken, shrimp or steak. At market price, though, featured entrees are a soft-shell crab sandwich or basket, blue crabs cooked in a garlic sauce, and The Crabby Catch seafood sandwich or basket prepared fried, broiled, grilled or blackened.

Other lunch items, served 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., include a steak sandwich, The Land Crab 8-ounce burger and The Feathered Crab grilled or blackened chicken breast sandwich. Beverages include mimosas and sangria, wine and domestic and imported beers.

Seafood selections are not just on the lunch menu. They also surface on the menu for breakfast, served 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Want two eggs your way? For $2 extra the $6.99 daily offering can include seafood such as blue crab, shrimp and fresh fish. Same deal for the three-egg omelet ($7.99) and Crabby breakfast sandwich ($6.99). All breakfasts also are served with toast, home fries or grits.

Want something a little more substantial to start the day? A few breakfast menu items have been carried over from previous restaurant incarnations of this old-time spot.

Butch’s Breakfast ($14.99) includes an 8-ounce steak with two eggs, home fries or grits and a choice of toast. Fisherman’s Breakfast ($9.99) comes with two eggs and fish grilled, fried or Cajun-grilled. Country Breakfast ($6.99) features two eggs and a half-order of biscuits and gravy.

Other breakfast choices include pancakes ($5.99), French toast ($6.99), biscuits and gravy ($7.99) and Goodland’s Greatest ($7.99) – two eggs, two pancakes, two slices of bacon and two sausages.

Crabby Lady remains a work in progress as the restaurant finds its sea legs during the slow summer. This fall, Cameron plans to reopen “Butch’s Backyard,” the casual beach area behind the restaurant.

“We might start doing dinners on weekends if things work out,” he said.

Crabby Lady Restaurant, 123 Bayshore Way, Goodland, is open for dining 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, but happy hour extends from 3 to 7 p.m. For more information call 239-500-CRAB (2722) or go to crabbylady.com.

For the latest in local restaurants coming and going, see Tim Aten’s “In the Know” columns archived at naplesnews.com/intheknow, and on Facebook at facebook.com/timaten.intheknow.

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