
DATE: Sunday, May 18, 1997                  TAG: 9705160264

SECTION: CAROLINA COAST          PAGE: 12   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: EATING OUT 

TYPE: RESTAURANT REVIEW 

SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS                  LENGTH:   98 lines

AT DIRTY DICK'S, IT'S CARRY OUT ONLY CRAB HOUSE DOES BOOMING BUSINESS IN SEAFOOD - AND RISQUE SHIRTS.

Saturday night. An oceanfront motel cottage. Inside, five spirited women are loosening up and enjoying the music coming from a portable tape player on the dining room table.

This night there are no husbands, no boyfriends, no kids. There's also no food - unless you count the bag of pretzels and the tortilla chips.

The women grow giddy - and hungry. They want something that will bode well for the evening; a place that's hot, sounds naughty and can get you in and out in no time.

They dial Dirty Dick's.

They order what they want.

They'll take a pound of snow crab legs for $12 and a pound of sauteed sea scallops for about the same price, the spokeswoman tells Dick's cook, Kent - who answered the telephone. This crab house on the beach road in Kill Devil Hills only offers carry-out food. It takes about 15 minutes for Dick's to fill each order.

One of the women orders a $3.75 crabcake sandwich. And everybody's in for cole slaw, which runs $3 a pint. They mull over the baked beans, which go for $1.50 per half-pint. Now's not a good time to be full of beans, they decide. They also pass up the six-ounce lobster tail for $11 and a dozen steamed clams for about half that price.

The jambalaya and New England clam chowder sound tempting, as does the Dick's Burger for $5.95. Instead, they opt for steamed spiced shrimp: $12 a pound. ``What about dessert?'' one of the women wants to know.

``Well, I get off at 9,'' Kent quips. ``This IS Dirty Dick's.''

And this story would have a perfect ending, were it not for one thing.

Somehow these five intelligent women - upstanding citizens, all - managed to get out of Dirty Dick's without ordering crabs.

``That happens sometimes,'' says the carry-out crab house's co-owner, who goes by Mark. His partner is known as Ken. There is no Dick at Dirty Dick's.

Ken Hersey, 55, came up with the name and the concept 30 years ago when he first vacationed on the Outer Banks and noticed a large local crab harvest but no local market.

Many years later he got to talking to Mark Bradford, who ran a tree service in northern Virginia. Bradford, 36, was ready to relocate.

The pair opened Dirty Dick's Crab House - named after a friend back in Washington - in 1994 in a small strip mall at milepost 9 on the beach road.

``We started off semi-serious. But, OK, we didn't have any idea that it was going to be something like this,'' Hersey explains.

The pint-sized place is known for its southern Maryland-styled steamed crabs purchased locally from Endurance Seafood on Colington Island. It also has a big following for its spiced steamed shrimp.

People drive from as far away as Chesapeake just to buy a batch of those shrimp - which are seasoned and cooked for exactly four minutes. They are best eaten right away. If you can't peel them with one hand, you've waited too long.

The crabcake sandwich is another big seller, made with jumbo lump and little filler. The scallops are sauteed in a lot of butter and garlic, without being overcooked.

Jambalaya is big. Bradford reasons it's because the tomato-based mixture of sausage, chicken, rice, shrimp and vegetables is hard to find at other eateries.

As for side orders, there are baked beans, potato salad and cole slaw. The slaw is fresh, with a creamy blend that produces a slight tart edge that can quickly become addictive.

The non-food items, though, grab most of the attention at this crab house.

T-shirts and hats with wholesome characters and risque slogans are worn by people nationwide, some of whom learned about Dirty Dick'ss from a 1995 Washington Post story on Hurricane Felix. A wire service distributed the piece, which included pictures of the crab house. Soon mail orders started.

``I had one man from Albuquerque, New Mexico, who was in his 80s and bought $184 worth of shirts for his family as gifts,'' Hersey said.

This place also sells seafood spices, Dick's sticks (to crack open crabs) and insulated drink holders that say ``Never Been To The North Carolina Outer Banks? You Obviously . . . Don't Know Dick's.''

Bradford admits not everyone appreciates the off-color humor.

``Yeah, some do get offended. Or they'll say, `I have to wait in the car.' But for the most part, people think it's the funniest thing they've ever seen.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON

Ken Hersey, co-owner at Dirty Dick's, shows the house specialty:

Maryland-style steamed blue crabs.

Graphic

AT A GLANCE

What: Dirty Dick's Crab House

When: Noon to 8 p.m. daily until Memorial Day, when hours expand

to 11 a.m. till 9 p.m.

Where: Milepost 9 on the beach road, Kill Devil Hills

Handicapped Accessible: Yes

Credit Cards: VISA, MasterCard, Discover

Drinks: Pepsi products, no alcohol

Other: Carry-out only; novelty T-shirts, hats and other