Meanwhile in the Hamptons

Clemente’s Maryland Crab House Will Open a Montauk Outpost

Photo: Courtesy of Clemente’s Maryland Crab House

Sure, Lily Pond won its fight with its landlord and will be back in East Hampton this year, but it’s far from the most exciting Hamptons news today. Jimmy Muir, owner of Clemente’s Maryland Crab House in Sheepshead Bay (a summer spot every bit as enjoyable as Captain Luna’s), tells us he’s opening a Montauk location, at the old Havana Beach Club at 448 West Lake Drive, in about three weeks. Like the current Clemente’s, which got a gut renovation back in November, it’ll have a back deck overlooking a marina (it’ll seat about 70), and it’ll also boast a takeout window (for lobster rolls and Italian ices) overlooking a front yard with about 50 seats for picnicking. What there won’t be, owing to seating concerns, is the $29.95 all-you-can-eat crab special that Clemente’s is best known for.

While you wait for the Hamptons outpost to open, you may want to reacquaint yourself with the original. Muir, who gets his crabs from Maryland, Long Island, and Louisiana as supply allows, tells us, “The females are nice right now. The males have been coming in small so I send them back, but the females are sweet, juicy, and full of meat.” He has also added Alaskan-king-crab legs ($29.95) and snow-crab legs ($23.95) to his menu. And if you’re planning to go overboard on the all-you-can-eat special, he says he won’t stop you. “There’ve been times when people were sitting here for four or five hours, eating well over 30 crabs. They make a day of it.”

Clemente’s Maryland Crab House Will Open a Montauk Outpost