PHILLIPS CRAB HOUSE CLOSES

The Phillips family has made the difficult decision to sell their Phillips Crab House property, located at 21^st Street in Ocean City, Maryland. The property is now under signed contract for sale, and will not be reopening for the 2022 season.

Originally opened in 1956 by Brice and Shirley Phillips, the Crab House began as a small carryout crab shack to sell the surplus of crabs from the family’s Hoopers Island crab processing plant. Business grew year after year, and over its 66 seasons in business, the Crab House served millions of families, vacationers, and OC locals with an extensive menu of Eastern Shore classics originally developed by founder Shirley Phillips. The family feels so fortunate to have earned the business of their guests, who came back year after year to build their vacation memories with Phillips.

Not many restaurants live to see their 50^th season, let alone celebrate over 65 years, and the Phillips family credits the amazing Crab House staff members for giving the business such longevity. From the crab department to the prep room, through the upstairs and downstairs kitchen teams, to the servers, bussers and bartenders, staff members returned season after season and became part of the extended Phillips family. Led by a strong management team, each with well over 20 years of service and experience, the Crab House staff worked together to deliver welcoming hospitality and delicious dishes. The family would like to thank their Ocean City team for so many years of dedication and loyalty. The Phillips family would also like to thank the town of Ocean City, including all their local regular guests and the hospitality business community, for being such a welcoming home for all these years.

“As our family has grown, so have our business interests, and we’re investing more and more into other areas outside the restaurant industry now. As we move forward, we will continue to build on the strong foundation that our original Crab House location gave us,” said Steve Phillips, company CEO. Phillips Seafood remains firmly planted in Maryland and will dedicate their resources in support of their Baltimore restaurant location, Baltimore culinary center, network of franchise locations and the growth of their foodservice, retail, club and international business.

Please contact Michelle Torres, Corporate Director of Marketing and Business Development, with any questions or interview requests. Michelle can be reached at mtorres@phillipsfoods.com and by phone at 443-928-7735.