Joe's Fans Start Lining Up for Free Crab

In advance of Thursday's grand opening of Joe's Crab Shack on Route 58 – and the free crab for a year that the restaurant's first 100 customers get – seafood fans were already lined up at the door Wednesday afternoon, some arriving as early as 21 hours in advance to make sure they were first through the doors.

As of about 4 p.m., two groups had set up shop – one Westhampton mom and her son, awaiting the arrival of her daughter to provide some company later on. Elizabeth Tyson said she and C.J. showed up around 2 p.m.

"I wanted to make sure we were first in line," she said.

And a group of Riverhead High School students who showed up about 15 minutes later – Ryan and Jeffrey Hubbard, Mark Andrejack and Todd Brewer – made up the second group, along with a tent, cooler, and lacrosse sticks they brought to to help kill some time.

General Manager Anne Bahr said normally, people start showing up around 2 or 3 a.m. in advance for an 11 a.m. opening, which is when Joe's opens on Thursday. But the crab fans couldn't help but wait.