‘Everybody goes crazy’: Stone crab season is about to take over Miami

In other parts of the country, people are reveling in cooler temperatures, falling leaves and the promise of holidays ahead.

In Miami, we wait patiently for stone crabs.

Stone crab season begins Oct. 15 and ends May 1. In the months between those two important dates, locals will attempt to eat as many crabs as they can, with or without mustard sauce.

The season is a big deal for diners and restaurant owners alike. Mario Palazon, owner of FreshCo Fish Market & Grill in Kendall, says the stone crab season is even bigger than lobster season, drawing interest from diners all over the country. They’re not even deterred by the high cost of having them shipped.

“Everybody goes crazy and has to have them,” says Palazon, who opened a second FreshCo Fish restaurant in the Hammocks in 2022. “It’s the biggest part of the seafood season. We get people from all over who have to come down for stone crabs, from New York, everywhere.”

The scramble for stone crabs is real for restaurant owners, he says. As a wholesaler, he’ll pay fishermen for gas or supply ice or bait to use in their traps. He’ll often find himself ordering pounds of pigs’ feet, because apparently stone crabs cannot resist the siren song of pigs’ feet.

When pigs’ feet run out — and they do, because “it’s a race for pigs’ feet,” he says — the crabs will grudgingly feast on old fish carcasses. So he starts saving carcasses for his fishermen before the season starts.

“The smellier and nastier that fish is, the more the crab wants them,” he says.

The iconic Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach is the glamorous epicenter of stone crab season, of course, but there are plenty of other restaurants to find them around Miami-Dade County, like Garcia’s Seafood Grill & Fish Market on the Miami River or the beloved Captain’s Tavern near Dadeland. Holy Crab in Coral Gables is already taking pre-orders for delivery.

You will also be able to find stone crabs at the 11th annual South Beach Seafood Festival, which runs Oct. 18-21 and includes dinners, chef competitions and cooking demonstrations. The opening night dinner at Joe’s is sold out, but tickets remain for other events, including the “Crabs, Slabs and Cabs” dinner at The Kimpton Surfcomber on Oct. 19 ($250); the chef showdown on Oct. 20 at Lummus Park ($160); and the grand tasting event at Lummus Park Oct. 21 ($60).

There are also weekend passes available. Tickets and more information are available at sobeseafoodfest.com.