Taking fresh, available ingredients and making them into an unexpected, unique dish. Sounds fancy, huh? What if we told you that it's from what has been described as an 'upscale diner' that also has a full bar and offers baked goods and desserts? Enter Garry's Grill. Since 1991, Garry's Grill has been delighting locals with their seasonal menu, as well as taking their cuisine on the road with their catering business. Garry may have retired and headed south, but the restaurant lives on. Were their crab cakes as worthy as their other menu offerings? Read on to find out!

Back in January, the CCR encountered Handy Crab Cakes, hoping that stumbling across a brand they've never seen before might actually be a frozen crab cake that is a worthy substitute for when you can't get a freshly made one.  As it turns out -- not so much.  Alongside those regular crab cakes were the Crab & Shrimp Cakes.  Call us a glutton for punishment, or maybe just consider us adventurous.  But we went ahead and bought a package.  For science!  They are, according to their website,  America's oldest seafood processor, who still maintains a plant in Crisfield, MD.  In this day and age of rampant patriotism, we say let's support the local Maryland economy and give them another shot.  Were these any better?  Let's find out!

Shopping in a grocery store that you've never been to before is always an adventure.  New store layout, new brands that you might not have seen before, and yet another store card to sign up for in order to take advantage of the sale prices.  When touring foreign grocery aisles, I can't help but look and see if there is a new crab cake offering (both fresh or frozen) that may that one secret find that will satiate my crab cake hankerings without having to go to a restaurant (which gets expensive after a while).  One such trip introduced me to Handy crab cakes.  According to their website, they are America's oldest seafood processor, who still maintains a plant in Crisfield, MD.  Being a local seafood company, they should know a thing or two about crab cakes then.  Do they?  Let's find out!

Hellas is a local Greek restaurant, located off of Veteran's Highway in Millersville.  But what you may not know is that Hellas is part of that well-connected ring of Greek restaurants that serve some of Baltimore's famous crab cakes, that you may think they all come from the same place.  (We're talking G&M, Timbuktu, and Romano's.)  But, while each may have a similar crab cake, they are all individual establishments, serving their own version of our beloved delicacy, as noted in a MD Gazette article from 2007.  So do Hellas crab cakes live up to the legend?  Let's find out!

Jumbo Jimmy's Crab Shack doesn't lie when it comes to the name. Around the corner from the Hollywood Casino, tucked away on a local road, is The Shack. Complete with Tiki Bar, package store, and restaurant.  As the name implies, the big draw here, aside from live entertainment, is the crabs, which you can smell as soon as you walk in. As much as we love crackin' a few with friends over a pitcher of beer, we decided to take a gamble on their crab cakes. Did we win the jackpot, or should we have folded? Read on to find out!