At the Pickled Parrot, the kitchen hires extra staff just to crack crabs. After a busy night, it's not unheard of for the staff to want a session with a masseuse. Local seafood-specialty shops like Coastal Seafoods have also jumped on the stone crab bandwagon. The restaurants start promoting them, and then it trickles down to retail. Medium-size claws are usually the best buy, Lauer says.
Restaurants are in heated competition for the large and jumbo varieties, which inflates the prices.
Availability is another price factor. The crabs are known to make themselves scarce by burying themselves in the sand if the water is too cold or a swarm of octopi are after them. Like so many other products, just because we can get them here doesn't always mean they're in great condition. Perhaps Pickled Parrot owner White, who splits his time between Eden Prairie and the Florida Keys, is in the most enviable circumstance. He has a license to trap the crabs near his island home.