FEELING CRABBY
By Chris Wadsworth
Despite the greater Ashburn area having an abundance of riches when it comes to interesting restaurants, there is still sometimes grumbling that there’s a lot of the “same old, same old.” Too many burger joints, pizza joints, Indian food restaurants, Mexican eateries – you name it.
So, when Frye’s Famous Crab Cake Co. recently opened off Waxpool Road in Ashburn, it was noteworthy for offering something a little different: a menu focused on one thing – fresh, jumbo lump crabcakes.
“We think we have the No. 1 crab cake in the USA,” said Brandon Frye, the founder and co-owner of the brand. “Even though crab cakes aren’t something you eat every day, we were pretty sure once people tried it, they’d be coming back.”
Rewind a decade and Frye was working hard at becoming the next Guy Fieri. He was traveling around the country doing high-energy food and restaurant review videos for his Food Dude USA YouTube channel.
But when he started getting raves for his fresh, homemade crab cake recipe from friends and family, Frye took a leap of faith and in 2019 started a crab cake business out of his Haymarket home. In 2024, Frye and his family opened their first brick-and-mortar location in a small storefront in Manassas. Even though that location is a take-out only restaurant, Frye’s regularly sold out of its crab cake platters and crab cake sandwiches to eager customers who couldn’t get enough.
When the Frye’s team started eyeing expansion, they set their sights on Ashburn.
“Honestly, Ashburn is just such a great community. We knew we wanted to come here,” Frye said.
Although Frye’s crab cakes are still the centerpiece of the menu, with the larger space they procured in Ashburn – and the small dining room that came with it – the folks at Frye’s expanded the menu a bit.
In addition to crab cakes, the new store serves up things like a fried fish sandwich, a fried shrimp platter and even chicken wings. It even has some “secret family recipe” side dishes such as potato salad, shrimp pasta salad and coleslaw.
“My mom created the potato salad,” Frye said. “We thought about not offering it anymore because it’s so hard to make and takes so much time, but it’s probably our No. 1 seller and we knew we had to have it on the [Ashburn] menu.”
Frye says business in Ashburn has been good so far, and the brand is already looking for a possible third location in the Vienna or Tysons area. The ultimate goal – to franchise the brand nationally and truly live up to their “No. 1 in the USA” claims.
IF YOU GO
What: Frye’s Famous Crab Cake Co.
Where: 44650 Waxpool Road, No. 100, Ashburn
When: Weekdays 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturdays 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; closed Sundays
More info: jumbolumpcakes.com