We went here for all you can eat crabs and I am sad to say it was not good :(. The crabs were pre-made and sitting in a pan. The blue crabs had no flavor and no seasoning. They were just plan gross. However, the king crab legs were seasoned well..just cold from sitting too long. Service was slow but the waitress was very nice. I just paid the bill and kept it moving. Do not waste your money on the all you can eat crabs!!!!!
(2)
Andrew M.
They have ok food. And the crab legs are good. They must have learned from one of the big chain places to tell customers frequently that they put our next order of crabs in. I guess they do only have so much space in the steamer. They are closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
(3)
Laura M.
the only good thing i can say about this place is that the 1lb snow crab legs was tasty. the rest of our experience was pretty awful to say the least. my husband and i met up with his parents here for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. The place wasn't too full but had a good amount of people there. the place was cool on a hot summer day. we sat at a high top and then had to wait like 10-15 min before the server even asked us for drink orders and didn't even offer us extra menus. we didn't receive place settings until we got our food and my fork didn't even look like it had been washed. ew. we ordered 2 platters of crab and 2 hamburgers. what felt like 30+ min later, we finally got our food. now i'm usually patient but if it gets to a point of "ok any day now" that's not good. we were given our food and my husband noticed 2 things in his coleslaw (a hair and a crab shell)!!! no we didn't tell the server because she never came back to ask how everything was until she noticed that our drinks were empty or giving us our bill. my coleslaw was tasteless and the potatoes were bland too. the spices on the crab was tasty though and the meat was good. my husband was unimpressed with the Western Burger he ordered. the ladies' bathroom was clean and updated. and it looks like they have a lot of events happening during the week (bands, bingo, etc) we will NOT be back. i can get better service and flavor from Red Lobster.
(1)
Tom G.
Had a great time with all you can eat crabs and snow crabs, I thought the crabs were a nice size and the crab legs were great. Hard to find a place with blue crabs and crab legs. GREAT!
(5)
Wesley H.
Crab cake sandwich was very disappointing. Service was ok but overall the food was way overrated. Will not be going back
(2)
Eric Z.
Went here for ayce crabs. Price seemed right even though it was $3 higher than stated on their website. Included in the price was fries, corn and salad bar. The salad bar was very small, but Ok. Not a lot to choose from, but who wants salad for ayce crabs. Fries were average and you picked them up at the salad bar. No biggie. Unfortunately the fries ended up being the highlight of the meal. We get blue crabs often and this was our first trip to hilltop. I can honestly say that these were the worst crabs I've ever had. It was almost like they were boiled in dirty water and not steamed. They had no taste and no seasoning. I'm not exactly sure how to describe the taste, it was almost like eating the smell of a fishing dock. You could pick up a bowl of seasoning from the salad bar to try to cover up the taste. Very disappointing to say the least, especially for the price. One upside, the waitress was very nice and friendly!
(1)
Cynthia S.
Great casual crab house. Love the all you can eat crabs. Service is great. Signature cocktails are really good. Spot on if you're looking for a crab house for lunch/dinner. Just get there in time for the all you can eat, because if you're like me and my friends/family, you'll need plenty of time to enjoy. 9PM AYCE is over. Have fun.
(5)
Michael F.
As far as the restaurant side of things...this place is flat out disgusting. Ate dinner here the other night. First (and last) time. I suppose if you want crabs, maybe it will rate better. Then again, it's not rocket science to buy a bushel of crabs, toss them into a pot of boiling water with some shakes of Old Bay, and serve them up at 3-5 times the cost of goods and people will come. Our table saw an appetizer of nachos come out first. What a joke. They use yellow hamburger cheese to hold the disaster together. I was practically laughing at the table. I braved the flounder stuffed with crab imperial and a baked potato. When my dish hit the table, I knew there was trouble right away. The baked potato looked like it had been cooked around 7:00am. And probably 2 days earlier at 7:00am. The skin was leather, the potato dry and way overdone. Seriously, you can't even get a baked potato right? Come on..let's talk about this some more. Really? The flounder was hardly fresh. The crab imperial was absolutely void of any flavor. How do you do that? Crab by itself has a ton of it. Somehow, the geniuses in the kitchen figured out how to suck out all the crab flavor in the imperial, smothering it with butter and who knows what else. Another guest at the table got mussels. Ate half of them and when I asked about them, I thought they were going to hurl. I asked no more... Service was a joke. Our waitress, who didn't show up for a good 4-5 minutes after seating, apologized that they were short staffed by two people. My buddy reminded me he made a reservation 2 days earlier, and the place was practically booked. So you know Management knew they would have a full night. But maybe they reveled in the fact more profits were to be had not having to pay 2 extra staff for the evening. And for the grand finale, just look at the chairs before you sit in one. Absolutely filthy. Full of stains from probably a hundred buttery, greasy crab fingers before you. Think about that before you plop your Levi's down on that germ laden warning sign.
(1)
Dave D.
My food was OK when it finally arrived, all you can eat crabs. They need some cooking lessons on how to make blue crabs and what the legal size is. My wife said her seafood sampler had zero flavor and her baked potato was most likely cooked days before. Waitress was horrible. Brought out some food and we had to remind her to keep checking on the other meals. Live music was ok but BOO on the FOOD and SERVICE. Save your money and eat before you go to hear the band.
(1)
Frank H.
Dive biker bar with a band and all-you-can-eat crabs. I'm in! Had a 730 reservation for eight experienced crab pickers last night. Place was packed. That's a good sign, right? Wrong. Crabs were terrible! Most that were brought to our table I wouldn't even call legal. The only saving grace was that you also get snow crab clusters. They weren't bad. But I don't want them in the summer. You can eat them any old time. Now I am well aware that it has been a terrible season for crabs. But if this is the best you can get, they shouldn't do all you can eat. To top things off at 8:30 our waitress tells us in 15 minutes it's last call for crabs! We had been seated less than an hour! Why would you take a 7:30 reservation if it ends at 8:45? At least tell us ahead of time. Overall the evening was very disappointing. Would not recommend going here for crabs. Ps the band was "backlash". They were excellent!
(1)
Greg D.
Based on the good reviews my wife and I went there for dinner on sept. 15th. The place was a real dive which we don't mind. we were sat down in the main dining room which was almost empty. We wanted to try the stuffed lobster tails but we were not able to - BECAUSE WE WERE COMPLETELY IGNORED. No one came to our table AND THEY WERE EMPTY!!! We were ignored by the waitress serving the table next to us, we were ignored by the waitress rolling napkins. To think I was going to drop. $100 at this place. In addition the rusty and filthy paper towel holder was a nice touch. There are a great deal of nice restaurants in the brandywine region so we enjoyed a meal at brandywine prime and were treated great.
(1)
Bob O.
Very disappointed. Waitress was very attentive and friendly, and was the only positive part of the experience, but the All you can eat blue crab and legs turned into snow crab legs only. Same price. Place was so cold, melted butter hardened very quickly. Bloody Marys at $6 each had 1 oz of vodka to a filled 12oz glass of mix. When told, bartender offered another oz for $6. No corn, no blue crabs but same over priced price. I have been here multiple times in the past, but this is second time in a row with same problems. I think this will be my last visit. Total bill for two of us for this mediocre lunch was $89.37 plus a tip.
(1)
K R.
Not impressed at all. Small cold crabs. A waste of money. Service was great though!!!
(2)
stephen s.
Bartenders are fantastic food is great You can't lose I come here when I want a good meal
(5)
Maggie F.
Returned to Hilltop for our anniversary end of September....best crab we had...splurged on the "big ones"...$55 a dozen....worth every penny!...going back again this weekend....the three hour round trip is worth it!...again, staff was great!
(5)
David S.
Wow! The Chesapeake oysters on the half shell were delicious! The bar tender Cheryl really made my wife and I feel at home. What a friendly place. Happy hour specials were good. The angus burger was very tasty and cooked just right. Hope to try this place again soon.
(4)
Leetha L.
Food ok...crabs not bad. Odd menu items in their buffet - something for everyone though nothing especially noteworthy! Dining room bare bones and -What's the word--utilitarian? No ambience - not especially tidy. Jeans and t-shirt and you'll be at home. Discarded crab shell buckets & rolls of Dollar Store paper towels adorn each table.
(2)
Gregory L.
So upon moving to Philadelphia a new friend says we need to organize a caravan down to the Hilltop Crab House. Hmm crabs.... okay I'm in. So 10 of us pile into two cars on a Sunday morning and head on down to Toughkenamon. Where's Toughkenamon, you ask? I don't know, I wasn't driving. It felt like the middle of nowhere, but it's less than an hour from Philly (and even closer to Wilmington). All ten of us ordered all-you-can eat blue crabs, which came with fries, cole slaw, and corn-on-the-cob for $26pp. Not bad at all, since I put away nine of those suckers. MMmmmm. They were also available by the dozen. The non-crab items were ok. I don't think anybody ate the corn - despite it being corn season, it didn't look so hot. But the fries were fine (especially with old bay added) and those who had cole slaw weren't complaining. A few other notes: - This place was about 60 degrees inside, and it was at least 80 out. Good thing our friend was in the know and gave us a heads up to dress warmly. - For some reason we had to ask for old bay, then the waitress added it to our first bucket of crabs and kept it coming for additional buckets. - There are rules, as demonstrated by the sign at the door. FYI, gang colors are not permitted. At night, "dress cloths only". No entry after 1am. - They have a full menu of typical chain restuarant type platters and salads, which led to fun jokes like, "I'm going to start with the Caesar and then have the chicken parm" or, "I've really been craving a taco salad." - The restuarant has a detached bar - you walk through this little outdoor alley between the two. There were people at the bar but we were the only people in the restaurant, but we didn't care. It would have been awkward as hell if there were only two of us. I suppose we would have eaten at the bar. - You can only split the bill two ways. I think we had cash for eight and two cards, but they wouldn't budge. Anyway, I would recommend this place for the crabs. I might even make the hour drive back from Philly next time I need my fix (then again, I might just go to DiNardo's).
(4)
Eric G.
Good reliable food - especially the all you can eat crabs. Nice place for a few drinks and some good grub with friends. Bands are good on the weekends but often too loud to talk.
(4)
steven e.
This is the closest place to to Philly to get authentic Maryland dirty style crabs. Those Chickie n Pete's red sauce crabs are a travesty.
(4)
Julie P.
We are in the process of moving to Hockessin from Wilmington and just made it to Hilltop Crab House last weekend, after passing it many times and saying "we've got to try that place!" We were quite happy with it as a super-local, lowbrow place that actually has good food. I wasn't very hungry and only ordered a plate of wings, but that dish alone won me over. They were exactly, EXACTLY, what Buffalo wings should be--deep-fried with no batter, and the sauce consisting of two ingredients, hot sauce and butter. That is the classic dish that I learned to eat years ago when I lived in upstate NY, and so many places bastardize Buffalo wings that I usually despair of ever getting real wings again. But there they were. The blue cheese dressing could have been more chunky, which along with a pretty lame beer menu and battered French fries (yuck) makes me give Hilltop four stars instead of five. But it is definitely worth going. My BF got the fried shrimp platter, a steal at $6.95 during the daily 4-7 happy hour. He was also thrilled with the onion rings. I am wary of getting crabs so far from the Chesapeake, but maybe I will give them a try sometime too.
(4)
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Address :8980 Gap Newport Pike
Toughkenamon, PA, 19374
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Divey Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : Free Has TV : Yes Dogs Allowed : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : No
Desiree P.
We went here for all you can eat crabs and I am sad to say it was not good :(. The crabs were pre-made and sitting in a pan. The blue crabs had no flavor and no seasoning. They were just plan gross. However, the king crab legs were seasoned well..just cold from sitting too long. Service was slow but the waitress was very nice. I just paid the bill and kept it moving. Do not waste your money on the all you can eat crabs!!!!!
(2)Andrew M.
They have ok food. And the crab legs are good. They must have learned from one of the big chain places to tell customers frequently that they put our next order of crabs in. I guess they do only have so much space in the steamer. They are closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
(3)Laura M.
the only good thing i can say about this place is that the 1lb snow crab legs was tasty. the rest of our experience was pretty awful to say the least. my husband and i met up with his parents here for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. The place wasn't too full but had a good amount of people there. the place was cool on a hot summer day. we sat at a high top and then had to wait like 10-15 min before the server even asked us for drink orders and didn't even offer us extra menus. we didn't receive place settings until we got our food and my fork didn't even look like it had been washed. ew. we ordered 2 platters of crab and 2 hamburgers. what felt like 30+ min later, we finally got our food. now i'm usually patient but if it gets to a point of "ok any day now" that's not good. we were given our food and my husband noticed 2 things in his coleslaw (a hair and a crab shell)!!! no we didn't tell the server because she never came back to ask how everything was until she noticed that our drinks were empty or giving us our bill. my coleslaw was tasteless and the potatoes were bland too. the spices on the crab was tasty though and the meat was good. my husband was unimpressed with the Western Burger he ordered. the ladies' bathroom was clean and updated. and it looks like they have a lot of events happening during the week (bands, bingo, etc) we will NOT be back. i can get better service and flavor from Red Lobster.
(1)Tom G.
Had a great time with all you can eat crabs and snow crabs, I thought the crabs were a nice size and the crab legs were great. Hard to find a place with blue crabs and crab legs. GREAT!
(5)Wesley H.
Crab cake sandwich was very disappointing. Service was ok but overall the food was way overrated. Will not be going back
(2)Eric Z.
Went here for ayce crabs. Price seemed right even though it was $3 higher than stated on their website. Included in the price was fries, corn and salad bar. The salad bar was very small, but Ok. Not a lot to choose from, but who wants salad for ayce crabs. Fries were average and you picked them up at the salad bar. No biggie. Unfortunately the fries ended up being the highlight of the meal. We get blue crabs often and this was our first trip to hilltop. I can honestly say that these were the worst crabs I've ever had. It was almost like they were boiled in dirty water and not steamed. They had no taste and no seasoning. I'm not exactly sure how to describe the taste, it was almost like eating the smell of a fishing dock. You could pick up a bowl of seasoning from the salad bar to try to cover up the taste. Very disappointing to say the least, especially for the price. One upside, the waitress was very nice and friendly!
(1)Cynthia S.
Great casual crab house. Love the all you can eat crabs. Service is great. Signature cocktails are really good. Spot on if you're looking for a crab house for lunch/dinner. Just get there in time for the all you can eat, because if you're like me and my friends/family, you'll need plenty of time to enjoy. 9PM AYCE is over. Have fun.
(5)Michael F.
As far as the restaurant side of things...this place is flat out disgusting. Ate dinner here the other night. First (and last) time. I suppose if you want crabs, maybe it will rate better. Then again, it's not rocket science to buy a bushel of crabs, toss them into a pot of boiling water with some shakes of Old Bay, and serve them up at 3-5 times the cost of goods and people will come. Our table saw an appetizer of nachos come out first. What a joke. They use yellow hamburger cheese to hold the disaster together. I was practically laughing at the table. I braved the flounder stuffed with crab imperial and a baked potato. When my dish hit the table, I knew there was trouble right away. The baked potato looked like it had been cooked around 7:00am. And probably 2 days earlier at 7:00am. The skin was leather, the potato dry and way overdone. Seriously, you can't even get a baked potato right? Come on..let's talk about this some more. Really? The flounder was hardly fresh. The crab imperial was absolutely void of any flavor. How do you do that? Crab by itself has a ton of it. Somehow, the geniuses in the kitchen figured out how to suck out all the crab flavor in the imperial, smothering it with butter and who knows what else. Another guest at the table got mussels. Ate half of them and when I asked about them, I thought they were going to hurl. I asked no more... Service was a joke. Our waitress, who didn't show up for a good 4-5 minutes after seating, apologized that they were short staffed by two people. My buddy reminded me he made a reservation 2 days earlier, and the place was practically booked. So you know Management knew they would have a full night. But maybe they reveled in the fact more profits were to be had not having to pay 2 extra staff for the evening. And for the grand finale, just look at the chairs before you sit in one. Absolutely filthy. Full of stains from probably a hundred buttery, greasy crab fingers before you. Think about that before you plop your Levi's down on that germ laden warning sign.
(1)Dave D.
My food was OK when it finally arrived, all you can eat crabs. They need some cooking lessons on how to make blue crabs and what the legal size is. My wife said her seafood sampler had zero flavor and her baked potato was most likely cooked days before. Waitress was horrible. Brought out some food and we had to remind her to keep checking on the other meals. Live music was ok but BOO on the FOOD and SERVICE. Save your money and eat before you go to hear the band.
(1)Frank H.
Dive biker bar with a band and all-you-can-eat crabs. I'm in! Had a 730 reservation for eight experienced crab pickers last night. Place was packed. That's a good sign, right? Wrong. Crabs were terrible! Most that were brought to our table I wouldn't even call legal. The only saving grace was that you also get snow crab clusters. They weren't bad. But I don't want them in the summer. You can eat them any old time. Now I am well aware that it has been a terrible season for crabs. But if this is the best you can get, they shouldn't do all you can eat. To top things off at 8:30 our waitress tells us in 15 minutes it's last call for crabs! We had been seated less than an hour! Why would you take a 7:30 reservation if it ends at 8:45? At least tell us ahead of time. Overall the evening was very disappointing. Would not recommend going here for crabs. Ps the band was "backlash". They were excellent!
(1)Greg D.
Based on the good reviews my wife and I went there for dinner on sept. 15th. The place was a real dive which we don't mind. we were sat down in the main dining room which was almost empty. We wanted to try the stuffed lobster tails but we were not able to - BECAUSE WE WERE COMPLETELY IGNORED. No one came to our table AND THEY WERE EMPTY!!! We were ignored by the waitress serving the table next to us, we were ignored by the waitress rolling napkins. To think I was going to drop. $100 at this place. In addition the rusty and filthy paper towel holder was a nice touch. There are a great deal of nice restaurants in the brandywine region so we enjoyed a meal at brandywine prime and were treated great.
(1)Bob O.
Very disappointed. Waitress was very attentive and friendly, and was the only positive part of the experience, but the All you can eat blue crab and legs turned into snow crab legs only. Same price. Place was so cold, melted butter hardened very quickly. Bloody Marys at $6 each had 1 oz of vodka to a filled 12oz glass of mix. When told, bartender offered another oz for $6. No corn, no blue crabs but same over priced price. I have been here multiple times in the past, but this is second time in a row with same problems. I think this will be my last visit. Total bill for two of us for this mediocre lunch was $89.37 plus a tip.
(1)K R.
Not impressed at all. Small cold crabs. A waste of money. Service was great though!!!
(2)stephen s.
Bartenders are fantastic food is great You can't lose I come here when I want a good meal
(5)Maggie F.
Returned to Hilltop for our anniversary end of September....best crab we had...splurged on the "big ones"...$55 a dozen....worth every penny!...going back again this weekend....the three hour round trip is worth it!...again, staff was great!
(5)David S.
Wow! The Chesapeake oysters on the half shell were delicious! The bar tender Cheryl really made my wife and I feel at home. What a friendly place. Happy hour specials were good. The angus burger was very tasty and cooked just right. Hope to try this place again soon.
(4)Leetha L.
Food ok...crabs not bad. Odd menu items in their buffet - something for everyone though nothing especially noteworthy! Dining room bare bones and -What's the word--utilitarian? No ambience - not especially tidy. Jeans and t-shirt and you'll be at home. Discarded crab shell buckets & rolls of Dollar Store paper towels adorn each table.
(2)Gregory L.
So upon moving to Philadelphia a new friend says we need to organize a caravan down to the Hilltop Crab House. Hmm crabs.... okay I'm in. So 10 of us pile into two cars on a Sunday morning and head on down to Toughkenamon. Where's Toughkenamon, you ask? I don't know, I wasn't driving. It felt like the middle of nowhere, but it's less than an hour from Philly (and even closer to Wilmington). All ten of us ordered all-you-can eat blue crabs, which came with fries, cole slaw, and corn-on-the-cob for $26pp. Not bad at all, since I put away nine of those suckers. MMmmmm. They were also available by the dozen. The non-crab items were ok. I don't think anybody ate the corn - despite it being corn season, it didn't look so hot. But the fries were fine (especially with old bay added) and those who had cole slaw weren't complaining. A few other notes: - This place was about 60 degrees inside, and it was at least 80 out. Good thing our friend was in the know and gave us a heads up to dress warmly. - For some reason we had to ask for old bay, then the waitress added it to our first bucket of crabs and kept it coming for additional buckets. - There are rules, as demonstrated by the sign at the door. FYI, gang colors are not permitted. At night, "dress cloths only". No entry after 1am. - They have a full menu of typical chain restuarant type platters and salads, which led to fun jokes like, "I'm going to start with the Caesar and then have the chicken parm" or, "I've really been craving a taco salad." - The restuarant has a detached bar - you walk through this little outdoor alley between the two. There were people at the bar but we were the only people in the restaurant, but we didn't care. It would have been awkward as hell if there were only two of us. I suppose we would have eaten at the bar. - You can only split the bill two ways. I think we had cash for eight and two cards, but they wouldn't budge. Anyway, I would recommend this place for the crabs. I might even make the hour drive back from Philly next time I need my fix (then again, I might just go to DiNardo's).
(4)Eric G.
Good reliable food - especially the all you can eat crabs. Nice place for a few drinks and some good grub with friends. Bands are good on the weekends but often too loud to talk.
(4)steven e.
This is the closest place to to Philly to get authentic Maryland dirty style crabs. Those Chickie n Pete's red sauce crabs are a travesty.
(4)Julie P.
We are in the process of moving to Hockessin from Wilmington and just made it to Hilltop Crab House last weekend, after passing it many times and saying "we've got to try that place!" We were quite happy with it as a super-local, lowbrow place that actually has good food. I wasn't very hungry and only ordered a plate of wings, but that dish alone won me over. They were exactly, EXACTLY, what Buffalo wings should be--deep-fried with no batter, and the sauce consisting of two ingredients, hot sauce and butter. That is the classic dish that I learned to eat years ago when I lived in upstate NY, and so many places bastardize Buffalo wings that I usually despair of ever getting real wings again. But there they were. The blue cheese dressing could have been more chunky, which along with a pretty lame beer menu and battered French fries (yuck) makes me give Hilltop four stars instead of five. But it is definitely worth going. My BF got the fried shrimp platter, a steal at $6.95 during the daily 4-7 happy hour. He was also thrilled with the onion rings. I am wary of getting crabs so far from the Chesapeake, but maybe I will give them a try sometime too.
(4)