Crabb & Co. - Wappapello, MO

Date of dining experience: July 3, 2015

Place: Crabb & Company

Location: 8815 Missouri T in Wappapello, MO

Appetizer 1: Stuffed Mushrooms ($7) - A Crabb original; fresh mushrooms stuffed with a cream cheese and bacon center.

Appetizer 2: Fried Okra ($6 full order) - Lightly battered, just like grandma's. And they aren't kidding! It is one of the top two places for okra in the area, with the other being River Ridge Winery.

Entree: Smoked Pork Steak ($14) - Approx. 2 lbs. of thick-sliced, hand-rubbed smoked shoulder. And it came with sides! This pork steak is probably tied with the one at Dexter BBQ for second best in the area. I'd still have to say that the best pork steak in the area is from Strawberry's, but only if you actually go there to get it.

Sides (the ones I ordered): Roasted Fresh Broccoli and Homemade BBQ Baked Beans - both delicious! You can't go wrong with some roasted broccoli and homemade baked beans are always good.

Sides (the ones Audry ordered, which I tasted): Homemade Potato Chips and Baked Macaroni & Cheese. The chips were pretty typical, but the macaroni was great! You could definitely tell it was baked and you could definitely tell it was homemade.

Wine: With the appetizers and before the meal I had a glass of Woodbridge Pinot Grigio and a glass of Woodbridge Chardonnay ($4.50 each for 8 oz. servings) - This is a reasonable price, but just keep in mind that it is Woodbridge. Don't expect it to be absolutely delicious as it's meant more to compliment the food.

Beer: With my meal I had a Schlafly Hefeweizen ($3.50) - It was a pretty good beer at a reasonable price.

Desserts: You can't go wrong with any of the desserts here because they are all made by Carmel Dare. Seriously, nothing is bad. If you want to take a look at some of Carmel's work, check out Carmel's Creations. I know she has a Facebook page and I'm sure she has a website also.

The atmosphere at Crabb & Co. is great. It feels kind of like the old Weekender's Fish House did. The only "bad" thing is that the alcohol selection is pretty limited and their Indian Hills wine selections are very overpriced (they want $6 for 6 oz. servings). But they do offer more of a variety than a lot of other restaurants in the area, so I'm not really going to complain. And if they can get $1 per oz. for Indian Hills because it is a local winery, soak up the profits!

Hmm, I mentioned four area restaurants (still open for business) in this post that I have not yet written about. I'll have to remedy that. But I digress...

Overall, Crabb & Co. is definitely worth the trip. The people are super friendly. One of the owners is a principal at Puxico and employs a lot of Puxico High School students. In fact, Indian Hills Winery (which also closes for the winter) is owned by Puxico teachers (I'm pretty sure they're both teachers), if that information might help you be able to pay $1 per oz. for Indian Hills wine (because it is vastly superior to Woodbridge).

Everyone should go check out Crabb & Co., but you better hurry because it does close down for the winter. When you do get a chance to make the trip, let me know what you think. Enjoy!