Chris' Marketplace

Chris' Marketplace The perfect crabcake everytime! We also make Empamuchos, Gazpacho, pastries and more!

We believe that good food is the medium by which good conversation becomes great stimulation. Our products include:
- Crab cakes
- Smoked Salmon cakes
- Crawfish cakes
- Fish dips
- Empanadas
- Soups
- Scones

Simple Goodness Every time I enter Giant grocery store I head straight to the banana isle. There is a small sense of exc...
06/15/2026

Simple Goodness

Every time I enter Giant grocery store I head straight to the banana isle. There is a small sense of excitement knowing the origin of the bananas on the stand are a country I have visited, done business in, or lived in.

Yesterday I hit the jackpot. The once a year import of bananas from Panama! I have my pecking order of preference for my purchase based on sweetness, oil content, overall firmness, and shelf life. Here is my list in reverse order of preference:
Costa Rica : too oily, mealy, short shelf life,
will never buy.
Honduras: two day shelf life where not too sweet.
Guatemala: 3/4 day shelf life, where texture is ok, not sweet. Not much flavor.
Mexico: firm, not very sweet, 4 day shelf life.
Ecuador & Peru: solid flavor, good firmness, not too sweet. Good shelf life.
Colombia: very good flavor, solid texture, transitions well through the ripeness stage…

(I have to double space here because the difference is that great)

Panama: What every banana yearns to be.
Perfect texture, rich flavor, stays solid throughout its ripeness stage 4/5 days without ever losing that firm bite texture. Meant to be savored one bite at a time.

I actually believe I get a little manic when I see these at the store. Inevitably, after I have loaded half the isle of Panamanian bananas in my cart I end up going down other isles asking folks I don’t know, “Do you like bananas? Have you ever had a Panamanian banana?” I have actually had some patrons of the store that I have seen elsewhere come up to me and thank me for the recommendation.
They said now the first thing they do when they enter the store is head to the banana section to check out the country of origin.
It’s not exactly being there in Panama, but sharing the excitement is my calling. Eat good food! Enjoy

(don’t even get me started on the pineapple!)

Cut-off time

2 PM on Wednesday for Thursday Home Delivery
12 PM on Friday for Saturday pickup at Falls Church
12 PM on Saturday for Sunday pickup at Du Pont Circle

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The Real Meaning We have seen, for months now, supposed leaders, using offensive language to demean others in order to m...
06/10/2026

The Real Meaning

We have seen, for months now, supposed leaders, using offensive language to demean others in order to make themselves feel and appear to be better than others. We have taught our son the word stupid is not nice because first it provides your brain with a false sense of security based solely on one’s own environment. He is very good at pointing out to us its use when he hears it.
People need to remind the White House of this. It appears Forest and his mom were the geniuses. Enjoy!

Cut-off time

4 PM on Wednesday for Thursday Home Delivery
12 PM on Friday for Saturday pickup at Falls Church
12 PM on Saturday for Sunday pickup at Du Pont Circle

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GradingAs the weather seems to have finally broken towards more seasonal summertime temps there were far more folks at t...
06/02/2026

Grading

As the weather seems to have finally broken towards more seasonal summertime temps there were far more folks at the markets this week. With regards to our crab cakes, the one big question that still gets addressed is, “ What is the difference between Lump and Jumbo Lump?” Most unfamiliar customers think it refers to the size of the cake. It is actually the grade of the meat.
With more foreign producers picking up the slack of low domestic production levels, they are packing crabmeat in several ways in order to “thread the needle” at different price points.
For instance, in years past there were three grades of crabmeat: lump (now called jumbo lump), backfin (now called lump) claw ( still claw). Now we have Colossal, Jumbo Lump, Super Lump, Lump, Backfin, Special, and Claw, all separated by a few dollars on the wholesale level. In actuality the grade and packing is done by the area on the crab from which that meat was picked combined with the amount of larger pieces that are added. The processors in the state of Maryland mostly use the nomenclature, Jumbo Lump, picked from the backfin area of a crab, Lump, picked from the body and with three or more pieces of backfin packed in the middle of the can, or Backfin, picked only from the body of the crab. The names of the grade reflect where the meat was picked from.
Very few foreign processors pick the grade backfin except crabmeat from Mexico. Lump is really finer pieces of body meat. Eat well, Enjoy!

Cut-off time

2 PM on Wednesday for Thursday Home Delivery
12 PM on Friday for Saturday pickup at Falls Church
12 PM on Saturday for Sunday pickup at Du Pont Circle

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VotingYesterday’s weather was fitting for the occasion. Freedom is only found when everyone’s vote counts in the buildin...
05/26/2026

Voting

Yesterday’s weather was fitting for the occasion. Freedom is only found when everyone’s vote counts in the building of their respective countries. In the past few months the US Supreme Court has taken our country back a couple generations after we made great strides to give all Americans a voice. Now instead of making it easier for people to vote politics is doing all it can to disrespect those that paid the ultimate price so all could participate in democratic process.

Eat well, Enjoy!

Cut-off time

2 PM on Wednesday for Thursday Home Delivery
12 PM on Friday for Saturday pickup at Falls Church
12 PM on Saturday for Sunday pickup at Du Pont Circle

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SupplyAs I mentioned earlier in the year, Venezuela’s crab meat was banned from the US markets due to lack of cooperatio...
05/20/2026

Supply

As I mentioned earlier in the year, Venezuela’s crab meat was banned from the US markets due to lack of cooperation (no paperwork) with a regulation that went into effect as of 1/1/2026. Crabmeat prices for jumbo lump have almost doubled on a wholesale level for this time of year. These prices were already high before this illegal war started.
For me raising prices on any product just because everyone else is doing it accelerates a race to the bottom. Cost of production may have gone up a little bit. But certainly not 50%~100%. This was a marine mammal protective order issued by an administration due to a lawsuit filed by NRDC and other environmental groups to protect whales and dolphins. Here is the fact: blue crabs are not found and caugin the waters where these mammals swim or live. Two different ecosystems altogether. Yet instead of paying $30-$33/lb wholesale, I am now paying $52-$58 a lb all due to the impact of the ban.
The ban itself had no affect on what the cost of production is for processors of blue crab meat.
When crab cakes account for 90 to 95% of one’s business it is a formula for disaster. Most people including myself, are for environmental regulations that actually make sense. Yielding to organizations that haven’t done their homework only spells disaster for those down the line that are directly impacted by new regulations. Eat well, and enjoy!

Cut-off time

2 PM on Wednesday for Thursday Home Delivery
12 PM on Friday for Saturday pickup at Falls Church
12 PM on Saturday for Sunday pickup at Du Pont Circle

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NurturingThe past few days for me were a focus on nurturing the benefits of “Flipping Rocks”. For Kai, our young boy,I ...
05/13/2026

Nurturing

The past few days for me were a focus on nurturing the benefits of “Flipping Rocks”.
For Kai, our young boy,
I hope these “first” will keep him grounded in what is important. He was able to witness low tide and find cool things that are only exposed a few hours a day. He was able to see his first tarantula in the wild. Catch, touch, and asked to hold his first cayman, and first crocodile, with absolutely no encouragement. He was able to catch his first fish. That perseverance to experience and be curious is what I call “flipping rocks”. As a kid I loved going to the creek and catching crayfish and salamanders. To be successful one had to observe and be willing to turn over rock after rock after rock. You would see one but maybe weren’t quick enough to catch it. So I observed where it went and then looked under that rock. It was this “challenge accepted” mentality that grew in me and kept me looking forward. I believe it is something we are missing when we see people in leadership rolls shut doors instead of looking forward to what could be. Nurturing curiosity in everyone leads to more positive outcomes. Age is a number but curiosity is the real fountain of youth. Enjoy!

Cut-off time

2 PM on Wednesday for Thursday Home Delivery
12 PM on Friday for Saturday pickup at Falls Church
12 PM on Saturday for Sunday pickup at Du Pont Circle

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KarmaWe left for ten days on the water. It has always been a dream to take my son to Panama at an early age in order to...
05/06/2026

Karma

We left for ten days on the water.

It has always been a dream to take my son to Panama at an early age in order to experience the wonderful times I had on the ocean and in the jungle. Today we were out fishing and cruising some islands off the coast when we spotted a school of dolphins. As we approached they came over and played in the bow wash constantly looking up at Kai, as he leaned out of the boat. The dolphins were doing flips and free jumping. The most amazing thing was that the dolphins never stopped coming. There were literally thousands of them. In all my years captaining boats offshore I have never seen anything remotely close to this in sheer numbers. To see so many dolphins putting on an acrobatic show at once was amazing to witness. We all thought it had to be the Kai Karma. Kai means ocean in Hawaiian and Japanese. His middle name is Thaley, which means ocean in the Thai language. He naturally, over his five years, has gravitated to all things ocean including his favorite movies ( Nemo, Dora, and Luca ). This visceral connection I hope last a long time!
Enjoy

Cut-off time

2 PM on Wednesday for Thursday Home Delivery
12 PM on Friday for Saturday pickup at Falls Church
12 PM on Saturday for Sunday pickup at Du Pont Circle

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Two ItemsFirst, as always we would like to thank those who ventured out to support us on weekends this past winter. It w...
04/27/2026

Two Items

First, as always we would like to thank those who ventured out to support us on weekends this past winter. It was indeed a cold one. Rolling into Spring/Summer season, we always like to take a reading of how we are doing. We strongly encourage you to email or text us with comments/suggestions on how we may be able to perform better.
We also want to let you know that Seafood Refresco is back! This refreshing soup consisting of a fish stock, puréed tomatoes, cilantro, onion, shrimp, avocado,
will be back starting the first week in May.
Thanks again for all your support. Enjoy!

Cut-off time

2 PM on Wednesday for Thursday Home Delivery
12 PM on Friday for Saturday pickup at Falls Church
12 PM on Saturday for Sunday pickup at Du Pont Circle

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We need youThe Maryland crab season officially opened at the beginning of this month. Like every opening of each season,...
04/22/2026

We need you

The Maryland crab season officially opened at the beginning of this month. Like every opening of each season, there were few crabs to be had. This is no surprise as the water was still very cold and the crabs haven’t started moving yet. We continued to work off our supply of local pasteurized crab, which is better meat as it is full of flavor and fat as these crabs are caught and processed during the fall when Chesapeake Bay crabs are at their best quality.
As was expected the price the first few weeks has been obscene, $58/lb wholesale for jumbo lump. Please consider taking a bite out of the invasive specie that is tearing up the bay plowing through all the juvenile blue crabs. We started using Blue Catfish in our fish cakes a few weeks ago.
The fillets by themselves are delicious, even better though in our fish cakes. The nutritional panel: high in protein, high in omega-3, super low in fat and calories.
Have a great week! Enjoy.

Cut-off time

4 PM on Wednesday for Thursday Home Delivery
12 PM on Friday for Saturday pickup at Falls Church
12 PM on Saturday for Sunday pickup at Du Pont Circle

Chris’ Marketplace gift card for a special person

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CuriosityThere are certain ethical codes of behavior that should never need explanations. Most are taught to children. T...
04/14/2026

Curiosity

There are certain ethical codes of behavior that should never need explanations. Most are taught to children. There are others that are taught in formal classes. When the answers to horrendous actions become, “well it’s out there on the internet if they want to know.” The problem is we have dumbed down the essentials of curiosity. The curriculums that led to civility and civil society have less focus on the original mission. The curriculums now are being confiscated by overzealous media for personal gains. “Remember, “We the people…”. This November is our chance to show the world who we really are.
Eat more seafood! Enjoy

Cut-off time

4 PM on Wednesday for Thursday Home Delivery
12 PM on Friday for Saturday pickup at Falls Church
12 PM on Saturday for Sunday pickup at Du Pont Circle

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Address

Washington D.C., DC

Opening Hours

Wednesday 2pm - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 12pm
Saturday 8am - 12pm
Sunday 8:30am - 1pm

Telephone

+12024122518

Website

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