Joe's Stone Crab
As we aim to complete our dining in Miami, this was the last place on our list. Joe’s Stone Crabs is one of those institutionalized restaurant establishments for Miami (Beach). I think of it as their Katz’s to New York City, where it’s just been around for a while, and it still continues to attract all types of people. One of the reasons this was on my list was because it has stone crab claws, which are very meaty and comes in sizable portions. Lastly and fortunately, it was also stone crab claw season, which means the claws are freshly harvested and not frozen. I was able to book a reservation for 2 for 5:30 PM, but we decided to arrive about 15-20 minutes early, and we were easily seated in the back hall.
Ambiance & Service
The ambiance felt like those classic steakhouses that have many porters everywhere and you can see the construction resembles old, dark wood. It’s quite loud inside as there are many families and tourists alike that are dining. It’s quite common to see tables of 4 to 10 people getting ready to eat.
The service was very quick once you place your orders. Granted, we didn’t order too many things that needed heavy cooking. When we finished our food and walked out around 6:30 PM, we noticed that there were huge congregations of people which tells me we beat the rush.
Food
This is 2 orders of the Select crab claws ($54.95 per order). They intend each order to be for 1 person. I went for the select crab claws because I read online that this was the best compromise of quality and quantity. They come with the shell pre-crushed, so it was fairly easy to peel away and extract the crab meat. The nail of the claws were surprisingly shallow, so it was very easy to pull out those pieces of meat. The knuckles were a little more difficult because they didn’t crack it all at the joint, but with time you can extract the meat. The overall flavor of the meat was surprisingly sweet and decent. They serve you some of the mustard sauce on the side, and that was also pretty good too. I actually preferred my crab meat with a light touch of mustard, so that I can savor the sweetness of the crab meat.
We ordered a side of Sauteed Corn ($15.95), which came with cilantro lime butter. This corn was quite delicious albeit the flavor was very predictable. The lime butter was quite powerful, so it gave it that acidic, fatty flavor to it. The corn was subtly sweet, so it was a nice complement to the crab as well.
We also ordered a side of Small Hashed Brown Potatoes ($13.95). This was surprisingly one of the best things we’ve ever eaten. The hashed brown potatoes had a super crispy crust and very, buttery innards. The potatoes were super flavorful, and the texture was very delightful. I wished all restaurants that say they are going to serve “hash(ed) browns” serve it in this way. For 2 people, the small serving was plenty.
Overall Impression
Joe’s Stone Crabs was quite delicious, and it was a shame that we didn’t have more people to try more of the other things. It’s one of those places that I think will have good steakhouse-like food, albeit it’s a little on the expensive side. If you are visiting Miami Beach for the very first time, definitely check out Joe’s Stone Crabs for their crab claws and their hashed browns. We’d love to return for other things on their menu, such as the fried chicken.
Yelp & Google Jabs
I personally got the stone crabs and have to say that I was not wowed. It was fresh, but nothing special to me. We all had similar sentiment on the crab. One of us who got the crab cake was so disappointed in her crab cake.
I’m not sure what there is to be wow’d at. The stone crab meat is unseasoned but fresh. So you’re really just eating crab claws as it is. I know for some people, such as this Elitist, they probably were expecting something different such as dungeness crab meat flavors or something. For crab cakes, I don’t know how I’d feel about eating stone crab cakes, if they even use stone claw meat for that.
Very disappointed in my experience at Joe’s. First the food: the crabs were good not great. I’m from the SF Bay Area and Dungeness crabs, which we get, are much more flavorful… My take on Joe’s is that it’s now trading on its name and catering to tourists.
The dungeness crabs are definitely very flavorful, but they are also very different type of meat. Anyone expecting stone crab claws to be superior should probably level set themselves. They are getting more meat, not necessarily more flavors. As far as Joe’s catering to tourists, low and behold, this Yelper was a tourist, so it’s ironic that they said the restaurant was catering to tourists.
Revisions
- Dec 22, 2025 - Initial revision.