This Baltimore Crab Cake Spot Is So Good It's Been Featured On Food Network More Than Once

Food Network shows cover a lot of culinary space, including the most interesting or highly regarded eateries across America and the world. But when they feature a single restaurant four times, you know there's something good going on inside those doors. With one step across the threshold of Jimmy's Famous Seafood in East Baltimore, you understand why Guy Fieri just can't stay away from this place — and why Bobby Flay battled the chef on his "Beat Bobby Flay" show. You'll quickly notice why everyone else is there as well. It's all about the crab cakes, which have consistently earned their claim to fame since the late founder and chef Dimitrios "Jimmy" Minadakis started dishing out seafood in 1974.  

Chef Jimmy, a Greek immigrant with an American dream, built an early reputation around classic Maryland seafood, and one of his sons still carries it out today. The Minadakis family once lived above the restaurant, in the same spot where Guy Fieri leaped out of his convertible to shake the hand of current Chef Tony Minadakis, who called it a blessing to carry on one man's dream that started with nothing. The "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" film crew chatted with customers, all of whom sang the crabby praises of the most famous dish. One described the crab cakes as being the size of a baseball, with all lump and no filling — which Fieri specified later as being packed with fresh Maryland lump blue-crab meat. 

On the menu at Jimmy's Famous Seafood, the "Famous Crab Cakes" are available on 8-ounce single or twin platters, or a one-pounder feast called The Boss. They come with simply crackers and bay sauce, plus an included side dish, such as the Greek lemon skillet potatoes, a nostalgic nod to the man who started it all. But the iconic crab cakes aren't just a one-and-done thing. While most menu items stick with tried-and-true original versions that customers expect, the Famous Crab Cakes now come in a new iteration, the crab cake egg roll, also featured in a Food Network episode with Fieri. The original crab cakes, plus cream cheese, rest inside an eggroll, which gets deep-fried and baked, then joined by mango ponzu and spicy mayonnaise. 

Other crab-centric standouts on the menu are creamy crab soups and the lunch-menu Seafood UFO, featured on "Beat Bobby Flay," which pulls other sea creatures into a piled-high sandwich of crab cakes, fried shrimp, fried oysters, and shrimp salad on homemade bread. Plenty of other seafood offerings populate the expansive menu, from lobster to oysters, salmon and catfish, crustacean steamers, elaborate seafood towers, a raw bar, plus pastas, charred steaks, and more. 

Though not the Jimmy's Famous version, we do share a pretty tasty recipe for classic Maryland crab cakes, one that minimizes any extra fillers. And for another dive into the state's seafood scene, discover the difference between Maryland crab cakes and Baltimore coddies.