18 September 24-30, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES TASTE 2026 | FALL FOOD PREVIEW F orget pumpkin spice. Forget sweaters, changing leaves, and crisp autumn air. In Miami, there are three seasons: summer, hurri- cane season, and stone crab sea- son. At least, that’s how Holy Crab co-founder Lucas Calderon likes to see it. When Oct. 15 rolls around and Florida’s commercial stone crab season officially be- gins, Calderon and his wife and co-founder, Irene Guerrero, treat it almost like a holiday. “Oct. 15 for us at Holy Crab almost feels like we have a second Christmas Day,” Calderon says. “We always joke that we’re waiting for the gifts under the Christmas tree. In this case, it’s the gifts in the traps.” And just like Christmas morning, there’s anticipation involved. Except instead of Santa Claus, they’re waiting on Mother Nature and a network of fishermen in the Florida Keys. Opening day starts around 4 or 5 a.m., when the couple begins checking in with cap- tains to find out what’s coming off the water and how quickly they can fill the preorders al- ready waiting. Some customers consider those first claws of the season an annual tradition and want them on the table that very night. “You don’t really know what exactly they’re going to catch that day,” Calderon says. “It’s a mix of anxiety, nervousness, and anticipation.” This October marks Holy Crab’s seventh season, a milestone that still feels surreal for a business born during the pandemic. Lucas and Irene had met years earlier in the Keys. When Miami shut down in 2020, Calderon floated the idea of starting a meat delivery service. Guerrero quickly shot it down: The market was already saturated. Guerrero came back with an alternative. “Do you still have the idea of starting a meat delivery service?” Calderon remembers her asking. “I got a better idea. Let’s do it with stone crabs.” With little else happening during lock- down, the couple began driving south on weekends, spending the hour-and-a-half ride together and pulling over whenever they spot- ted working fishermen. They pitched captain after captain on their “crazy idea” to deliver fresh stone crabs in Miami. Most already had commitments. Then one finally said yes. “You guys give me cash on opening day, I’ll load you guys up with stone crab,” Calderon recalls. So they did. During that first season, Calderon and Guer- rero drove to the Keys two or three times a week for their supply. Seven seasons later, fishermen deliver to them, Holy Crab ships nationwide, and locally, customers across Miami-Dade can have fresh claws delivered within an hour. Yet Miami remains, as Lucas puts it, “the pulse and the heartbeat” of Holy Crab. The business has grown alongside the cou- ple, too. Irene was Lucas’ girlfriend when Holy Crab began. Today, she’s his wife; they have two children, and they recognize the names of fami- lies who return around the same time every year for birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and other celebrations. Stone crab isn’t cheap, and Lucas doesn’t pretend otherwise. Fuel prices, hurricanes, lost traps, and supply and demand can all af- fect the eventual price of a claw. Demand tends to surge around opening day, the holi- days, and again around Valentine’s Day. But its scarcity is also part of the appeal. “There’s something romantic about stone crab season,” Lucas says. “It’s not something that you could just click a button and get any other day, like a burrito or a taco or pizza. There’s something charming about having to wait.” For first-timers, Holy Crab offers medium, large, jumbo, and colossal claws. Lucas favors jumbo for its meat-to-shell ratio, while medi- ums work well for appetizers. Colossals are for, well, Miami. “If you have a big closing, a big deal, you want to treat your loved ones to something, or you just want to show off,” he says, laughing, “you’ve got to go big.” The next generation has already joined the tradition. When the couple’s pediatrician told them their daughter could try seafood at six months old, Calderon wasted little time. “At six months and one day, I gave my daughter a stone crab,” Calderon shares. “And I’m happy to say she loved it.” An expensive taste, perhaps. But in Miami, you might as well start them young. Holy Crab Delivery. 4708 S Le Jeune Road, Coral Gables; 305-781-4808; holycrabdelivery.com. FRESH CATCH Stone crab season is Miami’s real fall tradition. by Victoria Stanzione Its scarcity is also part of the appeal. Provided by Holy Crab
