By Becki Coffy
Local Deerfield Beach resident, Tracey Gilmore, opened The Crab Stop restaurant in April 2011 and hasn’t looked back since. Her eyes are on the future.
No stranger to business, Tracey graduated from Deerfield Beach High School and attended college in Daytona Beach, where she received her MBA and returned home to start the Gilmore janitorial service company with her mother, Betty Gilmore. But the food she discovered in Daytona beckoned her to open yet another business, and The Crab Stop was born.
While in college, Tracey discovered The Crab Stop restaurant in Daytona, where owner, Oliver Ross, featured his signature Maryland-style blue crabs. Unable to find anything like the Maryland blue crabs here in south Florida, she decided to partner with Mr. Ross and open a branch here locally to share the taste with the people of her hometown.
Tucked away in the 10th Street Plaza in Deerfield Beach is the recently-opened Crab Stop restaurant.
My husband and I stopped by to sample some of the delicious dishes that Tracey and fiancé, former NFL Miami Dolphin player Calvin Jackson, cook up in the kitchen.
Calvin is responsible for creating the special sauce that tops the monster burger and accompanies the fried shrimp. The shrimp is served in a light and crispy breading and is not hidden in a heavy batter. The special sauce is ‘cool heat.’ The combination of the warm shrimp with the cold sauce is delightful. The smooth creamy sauce has just a hint of heat at the end of each bite.
Next, we tried a combo platter that included Maryland- style blue crabs, snow crab, corn, hardboiled egg and red potatoes with sausage. All this is sprinkled with a secret seasoning that makes all the flavors of the dish pop. Drizzle lots of warm butter and secret seasoning over the crabs, corn and potatoes and you’ve got a butter drippin,’ finger lickin’ meal.
I was familiar with the sweetness of the snow crab, but had never experienced the deep rich flavors of the Maryland blue crab … delicious. The boiled red potatoes were served with chunks of sausage cut up in them, and the hardboiled egg dipped in the special butter sauce was a unique taste sensation. Dungeness and golden crab are also on the menu.
Believe it or not, we also decided to split the monster burger. This enormous burger is made fresh daily and never frozen. It was a flavorful, juicy burger topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato and Calvin’s special sauce.
Don’t let the name Crab Stop mislead you. There are plenty of items on the menu for those looking for fish, burgers and chicken. Buffalo wings, fried shrimp, fried fish and a monster burger that is truly a monster help to round out the menu.
Tracey also dishes up daily luncheon specials from smothered liver and onions, smothered turkey legs with rice and gravy and pasta Alfredo to Friday’s special of barbeque ribs and chicken on the grill.
At this time, the restaurant offers mostly take-out; however, there are a few tables available for dining in. Tracey’s next goal is to open a food truck business, allowing her to bring all the delicious food and flavors to other cities. They are available for catering both private and corporate events. A special menu including turkey, ham, salads, shrimp and crab will be offered for holiday parties. Staying true to their motto, “You’ve tried the rest, now try the best,” The Crab Stop brings their distinctive flavors to share with our area. Be sure to stop by and meet Tracey and her family.
The Crab Stop, located at 71 SE 10 Street in Deerfield Beach, is open Wednesday through Monday and closed on Tuesdays. Please go to www.crabstopdeerfield.com for specific hours of operation. For take-out orders, call 954-531-6752. Until we eat again…
