Drip is defined by Urban Dictionary as swag, sauce, swank. Reflect back to elementary school for those in their 40’s when you got a new outfit. It wasn’t the start of the school year when everyone had new outfits, but you had a new outfit on a Monday in November. You raise your hand to get up and sharpen your pencil and you sharpen it super slow, checking the point, blowing the little pieces of wood off the end, taking your time, because you wanted the entire classroom to see that your outfit was on point. That’s drip. When you got it going on, and you know it!

I wanted to visit Tha Drippin’ Crab to see if it had that drip both in style and sauce! I have been waiting for a new restaurant West of Ninth since this city seems to think that Black people only deserve to eat food ordered through a window and wrapped in paper. When I saw that Darnell Ferguson was opening a restaurant in the Russel neighborhood, I was overjoyed. Ferguson is the owner of Super Chefs and has appeared on Food Network many times, displaying his skills and love for the culinary arts.

My daughter and I arrived at Dripping Crab about 4:30 pm on Thursday, the first day of the grand opening. We anticipated a long wait due to this being the grand opening, but surprisingly, the hostess walked us to our table about ten minutes after we arrived. The restaurant was packed with a steady stream of patrons coming through the door. Our server, Aaliyah, asked if we would like anything to drink and offered us the drink menu when we sat down. We asked for water, and we each got a drink. I got the Mr. Krabbs, and my daughter got Plankton. The drinks are served in 20 oz cups and are $20 each. When she brought the drinks to the table I was not prepared for the drama and theatrics. As she poured the drink it began to smoke and bubble. Hell yeah! I am a woman that loves all the drama. Serve theatrics up to me on a platter!

We ordered the seafood eggroll for an appetizer with mango chutney, and it arrived at our table crispy and hot. You receive two eggrolls, cut into four pieces, and these are big pieces. My daughter didn’t eat any because, for some reason, this child has hated condiments and sauces all her life, but I ate one, and it was delicious. One was MORE than enough cause I was waiting to be greedy for the meal.

I ordered the Crazy Drip, cause yall know me, if I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna do it big, which came with 1 lobster tail, 1 lb of snow crab, 6 smoked shrimp, choice of sausage, corn, potatoes and an egg with lemon butter drip. Brianna ordered the Big Drip, which was 1 pound of crab, 6 fried shrimp, fried potatoes, a choice of corn, an egg with garlic drip, and a side of mac and cheese. It sounds like a lot cause, hell, it was. And as Tabitha Brown says, “That’s my business.” You mind your business on your plate.

Anyways, we sip our drinks, (Let me say this place has THE BEST ICE! Yall know there is a difference in ice, and they have the good ice. Don’t ask me what makes it good. If you know you know.), and our food comes out and looks delicious. The crab legs were seasoned and cooked perfectly. The lobster was tasty and juicy. The sausage was on point, and the fried potatoes were hot and crispy. And the drip…oh yes, that lemon butter. Baby!! Okay! Darnell got that drip!

I wish I could have finished everything, but child, I was just being greedy. I took a few bites of each thing and packed my meal on up. My meal took TWO to-go boxes to pack up but don’t worry, it will get eaten tomorrow.

Our fantastic server gave me my bill, and I didn’t trip off the price of anything because Black folks yall made a man famous and rich for sprinkling salt on a steak, so let’s not go there.

I believe that Darnell has a hit on his hands! The food is delicious, and there is a variety of options for everyone. I encourage you to support this young man who has overcome many adversities and is working to diligently serve this community. Our communities deserve to have sit-down restaurants where we can come and fellowship and dine on fantastic food prepared by a skilled chef. We deserve to have one of the best chefs cooking in our communities. We deserve to have a place that is not just ours but a place where we challenge people to cross 9th street and come experience (not co-opt, cause we know how some of yall do) our beauty, culture, excellence, and drip!