Joe's Stone Crabs!!

Joe's Stone Crabs is a Miami Beach institution. Our trip there was a belated Father's Day gift, and according to my father, was worth the wait. We started with a key-lime martini!

A trip to Joe's usually requires a wait of at least an hour, but we planned for that, and arrived on a Sunday at 3:30 (which is when they start taking names for the 4:00 opening). At 4:00, a long list of names is called over a microphone, and each party begins streaming in to the dining room. A basket of assorted breads is immediately placed on each table.

A drink order is taken (we opted for the recommended white wine which was a Pinot Grigio, and very good). The waiter will tell you that the standard meal ordered at Joe's is large stone crab claws, hash browns and key lime pie for dessert. We stuck to that recommendation, but added a few extras. The baby field greens with Bleu Cheese dressing...



and the wedge salad with a spicy mustard dressing. Fabulous. The dressing was so spicy, it was on the edge of being too hot- but it was fantastic just like that.

Dad ordered an appetizer of Stuffy's which are baked Quahog clams. Fabulous also, I would order it myself next time. Fortunately, we are sharers, and got to try a bit of everything.

We also ordered fried asparagus, just for fun!

Onto the main event, we ordered the waiter-recommended orders of large stone crab claws, which come with a mustardy dipping sauce (melted butter upon request). Those are fried green tomatoes in the background, another must-have side dish!

Based on Joe's reputation for Peter Luger-like aged ribeye steaks, we also ordered one of those- rare! It was flawless, and came with a zippy accompanying sauce.

We took our time, savoring every bite of this meal. Each taste was better than the last. We shared claws, steak and side dishes. The claws were tender and sweet and very easy to pick out of the already-cracked shell. We ate...and ate...and ate. The atomosphere isn't bad here, considering how many tables are in each dining area. Our waiter was very attentive, even noticing one of us having difficulty cracking part of a claw! He stepped in and came to the rescue. Finally, our tables cleared of crumbs and shell debris, came a couple of slices of sheer heaven.

Joe's Original Homemade Key Lime Pie lived up to its reputation, and our second choice, chocolate pecan pie a la mode was a very close second.

A trip to Joe's Stone Crabs should be saved for a special occasion- as long as the occasion falls between Mid-October and Mother's Day. Joe's opens at the beginning of stone crab season and closes when the season ends. I highly recommend it - in fact, all sorts of special occasions are popping up into my head in a fury! Halloween, National Deviled Egg Day (Nov. 2nd), National Lemon Cupcake Day (Dec. 15th), I think I'd like to try to make it Joe's on all of them...and the eggs.