Jerry's Place — Restaurant in Maryland

I'll cut to the chase. You may really enjoy it, but you may come away feeling it's too pricey for what you get. Yes, most of the food is good (ranges from great to not good) and for reliably good food I expect to pay a reasonable and fair price. I got no problem with expensive food when it's justified. I've eaten at almost every restaurant in the county and Jerry's is in the company of Vera's in clearly overstepping on their prices. Putting prices aside, the service is exceptional. The owner Jerry is very kind and welcoming. Their standard service appears to be to offer free samples of many items to try, which, let's be frank, is refreshing and mostly unmatched. The wait staff was attentive and nice as well...they don't visit to often or too frequently...like the 3 bears, it was just right. Now the food: many of the seafood dishes are good, some very good, including the crab cake (zero filler). But there were 4 not tiny pieces of shell in it. For a crab cake that expensive, a crab cake they hold out like a badge as all meat and no filler, there should be zero shell. No excuses. The cream of crab soup is uniquely delicious with the added curry, definitely worth trying. I'm a southern food lover and a dessert lover, but the stewed tomatoes are way too sweet. There's a lot of added sugar in there. Unless you're someone who craves the super duper sweet stereotypical southern iced sugar tea, I'd pass on the tomatoes. The slaw is average. Fries good, especially since there's Old Bay at the table to sprinkle on them. We got a red velvet Smith Island cake too, and it was good but just a touch dry, 4 out of 5 stars. Overall, we've enjoyed ourselves eating here. If you want a friendly face and attentive service you probably can't go wrong. But at the end of the day, a review should account for everything, and the price discrepancy is just too much not to take into account. You ever have a great but really expensive meal? Do you recall that over time you tell yourself wow, that was expensive but it was still great and worth it? I worry Jerry's leaves you thinking wow, that was expensive, and maybe it wasn't worth it. Bottom line take away experience? Food is good if you know what to get and what to avoid, but no escaping they just charge too...

We were out fishing since early morning and were starving for lunch. Before we even entered the restaurant, Jerry was out there greeting us and telling us all the great stuff he wanted us to try. True enough to his word, he brought out some samples of his dishes that he wanted us to try: kale, stewed tomatoes, haddock bites, even the seasonal special: soft shell crab. He wanders off to go talk to the other patrons, and then circle back to talk with us about his love of food. Super friendly service and the decor is unique and cozy; you won't find a place like this very often and Jerry is a real treasure.

The crab cake is a real winner, huge portion size of sweet juicy crab meat with no filler. Probably the best tasting crab cake I've had in the DMV. Is it still a crab cake if it has no filler? Who cares, it's absolutely worth it. Wife had the fried shrimp stuffed with crab cakes. The fried shrimp had a very good firm texture and perfectly fried so the tails were edible too. The side of kale is not the raw healthy salad it sounds like; it's cooked like collard greens. Stewed long with onions and bacon and it's delicious. Coleslaw is crispy and refreshing, light mayonnaise dressing without too much water. I'm always happy to see stewed tomatoes anywhere on a menu. Jerry's does it with loads of sugar and butter. Personally think there's too much sugar but I can understand that other customers might enjoy it more that way. The soft shell crab was served with Jerry's homemade General Tso's sauce. Jerry explained he takes the carapace off because other places keep the carapace on to make it look like there's more crab than there actually is; he just wants to serve the good stuff. The dark red sauce doesn't taste exactly like General Tso's, it's a bit sweeter and less savory but that strong sweet and sour flavor works with fatty fried soft shell crab all the same. Keep working...

This is MY FAVORITE PLACE.... Out of all the seafood places I have been (Phillip's, Moes, pier, etc - they are all GREAT) first time customers get samples and every table gets bread, haddock bites (BLAZING), kids get fresh applesauce- my kids LOVE IT. The crab cakes are EVERYTHING- ZERO FILLER and the sweetest meat... crab dip is FIRE!! Best crab dip in southern maryland. Stuffed shrimp is MUAH, lol!!! U just cant go wrong here. If you want seafood- dont debate .... go to Jerry's!

Update - I have been coming here off and on since 2018 and this place has my heart .... lol. Living in Atlanta I could not wait to get back to MD to come here. I hope this place never ever goes away!!!!! I am a no filler crab cake addict , I confess. Idc how much I have to spend- jerrys is, hands down, the best. I have tried many places and this place beats them all.

Update - I want to mention one thing. I read reviews and I've seen a few undeserving reviews on take out being soggy. The problem with take out is the condensation while being enclosed will make fried foods get soggy. It's really very simple science. Anyhow, to get an ACCURATE reading of this place please, either eat in the first time, get your food broiled (condensation does not cause sogginess) when ordering to go, or - do like we do- we put it in the oven to crisp it back up. I personally prefer to eat in and when we do take out, which we always order more to take home for another day, I ask the waitress to cut holes in the lid - it helps a little but I also have started ordering take out (while dining in) a little earlier and will wait for it to cool before packing it.

Jerry, I'm so glad you made it through...