Crabby Bills
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Our story
Crabby Bill’s will proudly celebrate its 40th anniversary in April of 2023! They are undoubtedly the best-known seafood restaurant in Indian Rocks Beach, and it is not only because of the food they serve. The Loder family is just as much a part of IRB as the families that were born and raised here.
The Crabby Bill's adventure started much earlier with family roots of patriarch, Bill Loder, going back to New Jersey where a young man and his wife were beginning a life and a family together. Mom and Dad (Bill & Dolores Loder) had been in the seafood business since early after their marriage in 1954 in New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia. They sold blue crabs on the side of the road, and they also owned a small seafood restaurant together. Dolores and Bill loved traveling to the Jersey shore, Delaware and Maryland to acquire fresh product to sell to the public who enjoyed their style of serving fresh seafood. In 1968, they moved to Madeira Beach, Florida, where they not only sold blue crabs along the roadside, but also did the fishing, the clamming, and the hauling of seafood all throughout the state until they finally opened their very own small restaurant, Captain Bill's Beach Kitchen in 1975. Mom cooked, (and what a great cook she was!) Dad shucked clams, oysters , and the like, while the kids pitched in to lend a helping hand. As the children married, another member was added to the Loder family team! After several locations, including restaurants in Redington Shores (1975), Madeira Beach, Bay Pines, and Tyrone, and many boats, crab traps and refrigeration trucks later, they moved in April of 1983 to Indian Rocks Beach into a small building, now known as the Fish Market; formerly known as Wolfies, a hotdog stand that sold hotdogs out of their front window on Gulf Blvd. Matt Loder, Sr, who currently runs the Crabby Bill's Empire, recalls how they all thought Dad was crazy at the time.
"We didn't even have a sign, and we used to park a truck out near the road that had our name on it!"- Matt Loder, Sr.
Six months later, Bill Loder bought a second building on the block, which had been previously occupied by a group of doctors, from Joe Carbonaro, thereby opening a second restaurant on the block. In February of 1987, with Dad now in his 50s and whose desire was to own a business that could support his family and be passed down to his kids, purchased another building on the southwest corner, from Jim Sparks, owner of The Blue Lagoon (previous businesses include Scoop's Ice Cream Shop, the Mamba Club, Blue Hawaii), and now Crabby Bill's. Matt Loder Sr. reflects back on how Indian Rocks was different back then, in a time where there were more ma-and-pa-type motels with lots of people from Tampa having second homes and cottages in the area, where they came to IRB for the weekends and brought their families and friends. "And how did we arrive at the name Crabby Bills? Well, since we had sold the Captain Bill's name and its location in 1982, we needed to drum up a new name for our family business and that is when daughter Eleanor declared, 'Dad is crabby, we like crabs, why not Crabby Bill's?" And history was made. Crabby Bill's is one of the largest employers and one of the largest sales tax contributors within Indian Rocks Beach. It has grown from a small 800 square foot building on Gulf Blvd to include several additions to the Loder Family Brands; Crabby Gifts, Jake's Coastal Cantina, Seabreeze Island Grill, Pipo N Betty's Bakery, Crabby Bill's St. Pete Beach, and JD's Lounge & Restaurant.
Crabby For A Cause
We act in ways to support the community we call home.
We are deeply committed to doing our part to ensure that in growing our businesses, we are operating with integrity, taking care of our people, and continuing to be crabby for a cause! In the past 5 years, Crabby For A Cause has donated over 200K dollars to the community. Here are some of the organizations and charities we support:
- The Dysautonomia Project
- Hope Villages of America
- Clearwater Marine Aquarium
- Indian Rocks Beach Action 2000
- Beach Art Center
- Top Buttons St Petersburg
- Restored to Dream
- Indian Rocks Beach Food Pantry
- Blessed Sacrament Church
- Indian Rocks Baptist Church
- Largo Performing Arts Foundation
- Eliada Home Asheville, NC
- L.I.F.T Learning Independence for Tomorrow
- Fluff Animal Rescue
- Rotary Club of Indian Rocks Beach
- and more.