Crab legs and prime rib have found a Saturday-night meeting place on the Chesapeake. Waterman’s Crab House & Dock Bar in Rock Hall, Maryland, launched a recurring Land & Sea Buffet on October 17, bringing raw oysters, baked oysters, crab legs and prime rib together under one $45 dinner price.
The buffet runs Saturdays from 4 to 8 p.m. at 21055 W. Sharp Street, with children ages 12 and under charged half price. Waterman’s also advertises a 10% early-bird discount for guests arriving between 4 and 5 p.m. Reservations are recommended. Its restaurant-hosted buffet announcement promises additional selections beyond the four headline items, although it does not publish a complete station-by-station menu.
It is a very Rock Hall kind of combination: oysters and crab legs representing the bay, prime rib holding down the land portion, and enough other food promised to make this a proper buffet rather than an ordinary seafood special. For diners weighing the deal, the important distinction is that the restaurant explicitly advertises the dishes as part of the Land & Sea Buffet, rather than simply promoting them as separate menu features.
Waterman’s has long been known primarily for steamed Maryland crabs and other Chesapeake seafood, served at a harborfront restaurant with outdoor decks and docks that let boaters arrive from the water. A Saturday buffet gives that familiar waterfront operation a structured dinner event at a time of year when the summer harbor crowds are no longer the whole story.
A bigger off-season experiment
The restaurant has made that seasonal question explicit. In a separate Thanksgiving announcement, Waterman’s says it is exploring ways to remain open during the off-season. It has also scheduled what it calls its first Thanksgiving Day Buffet for Thursday, November 26, with required reservations and seatings at 2, 4 and 6 p.m.
That holiday buffet is a separate $35 adult event, with children 12 and under at $17.50. Turkey, ham, steamed shrimp, mashed potatoes and gravy, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, lima beans and desserts from Lapp’s Bakery are on its announced lineup. Thanksgiving will require a reservation; the recurring Saturday seafood buffet merely recommends one.
The two buffets are different meals with different prices, but together they show how Waterman’s is testing a longer dining season. For the moment, Saturday belongs to oysters, crab legs and prime rib. The question beyond that is how many more weekends Rock Hall will be able to count on a buffet at the harbor.
