I used to think Delaware’s best crab soup had to come from a weathered shack near the ocean, the kind with salt air and seagulls circling overhead. Turns out, I was looking in all the wrong places.
The real crab soup capital sits inland, tucked into a strip mall in New Castle, where locals have been quietly slurping bowls of Maryland-style goodness for decades while tourists chase beach-town myths. The rich, velvety broth, brimming with tender chunks of sweet crab, defies expectations.
It’s a bowl of comfort and tradition, served up in an unassuming spot where the flavor speaks louder than the surroundings. Forget the postcard-perfect views; the best crab soup in Delaware is where the locals know it’s always been.
Not the Beaches—It’s a Strip-Mall Classic in New Castle
Ask around and most folks will point you toward the beach towns for crab anything. But Delaware’s most steadfast crab soup capital sits inland in New Castle at Lestardo’s Crab House, a low-key, old-school spot that locals have leaned on for steaming crabs and house soups since the 1970s…