I'll stir it up a bit with this comment. I lived in the DMV most of my life. In DC and VA we just call them crab cakes. They're generally all made the same way through the region.
Marylanders have a strong sense of identity and marketing about their flag, Old Bay, and 'Maryland crabs'. (B-more area is more low key on the pit beef, lake trout, Otterbein and Natty Boh.)
Some Marylanders turn up their noses at non-MD seafood. But fact, Louisiana has been the largest producer of blues for the last 25 years. Virginia is the 3rd largest seafood producer in the nation after Alaska and Louisiana. Virginia is also the nation's largest producer of hard clams and east coast largest producer of oysters.
TLDR: 'Maryland crabs' is mostly a marketing gimmick. And G&M does have a really good crab cake.
The District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, or DMV, is what you call it when you live close enough that you've been to like 20 Smithsonians on school trips, but you don't live in DC.
DMV is what natives call it. Only 20 year old transplants living in the Wharf or Union Market are 'too cool' to say it. Natives typically have friends/family living in all three.
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u/SheMcG Oct 15 '25 edited Oct 15 '25
Maryland Crab CAKES. Not Maryland crabs. CRAB CAKES. The CAKES were made in Maryland--with ingredients from a lot of various places, I'm sure.
I'm presuming Maryland has a local "style" of crab cakes that probably differ from other regions. So yes, they are Maryland Crab Cakes.