Capt. Jacks Crab Shack set sail in July of 2001 launched by the navigation of Shelly Van Cleve, a crab connoisseur and avid seafood lover since childhood. Shelly grew up in Northern Virginia where ‘summer’ and ‘crabs’ are synonymous and crab feasts are a deeply rooted local tradition. Upon moving to Spotsylvania, Virginia much later in life, Shelly realized that finding the same quality crabs she had grown up enjoying was no easy task. She decided to open her own seafood establishment dedicated to serving only the best seafood that the VA/MD waters had to offer. Shelly chose a small seafood shack located near the Spotsylvania courthouse that had served seafood for nearly 27 years. Once the word was out that Capt. Jack’s was not only good, but the BEST in the area, orders began to pour in that Shelly and her small shack just couldn’t keep up with.

Shelly recruited her daughter, Alexandra Van Cleve, and sister, Valerie Andrick, on board as co-owners and dropped Capt. Jack’s anchor at a much bigger and better location only miles away from her original shack. With the help of her family and a larger location, what started out as a small seafood endeavor has turned into one of the largest seafood markets in Central Virginia. Capt. Jack’s has expanded their seafood selection to specialty seafood items not only from Virginia/Maryland waters but others that are flown in from Alaska, Florida, Louisiana and New England. Capt. Jacks also ships their award winning crabs and other fresh seafood across the country allowing customers around the nation to enjoy the same fresh seafood that their local community has been raving about for years!

Capt. Jack’s dedication and outright passion to providing only the best seafood certainly has not gone unnoticed. From specific Capt. Jack’s products being awarded the prestigious ‘Virginia’s Finest’ label to winning Fredericksburg’s Freddy Awards for BEST SEAFOOD in 2007 and 2008. In 2009 Capt. Jack’s was recognized as one of the nation’s top ten small businesses by AT&T and Blackberry as well as being written up in numerous publications such as: Northern Virginia Magazine, The Freelance Star, Virginia Neighbors Magazine, The Washington Post, and Rappahannock Electric’s Cooperative Living! NBC Channel 4 News even showed us in multiple segents on "how to cook crabs". In addition, Monkeysee.com has honored Capt. Jack’s Crab Shack as the Maryland Blue, Alaskan Snow and Alaskan King Crab experts on their professional expert ‘how-to’ website!

Capt. Jack's products are available at their retail location and through mail order. Their products are also sold at reputable retailers and served at B&Bs and restaurants under the name The Virginia Crab Cake Co. We invite you to experience the freshness and quality of their products!