Food & Drink
Why G&M’s Crab Cakes Continue to Be a Crowd Favorite
We ask co-owner John Zoulis about the famous blue crab recipe that he perfected more than 30 years ago.
When it opened in 1993, G&M was a humble pizza shop along an industrial stretch of road near BWI airport in Linthicum Heights. Business partners John Zoulis and George Ieromonahos purchased the former pizza shop (named for its previous owners Gerry and Michael) at auction.
“The pizza place sold crab cakes but we tweaked the recipe,” says Zoulis, who also owns Estiatorio Plaka in Greektown. “When we took over G&M, we started testing recipes. We figured out that it’s all about the spices.”
More than three decades later, the blue crab recipe stands the test of time—and G&M has become a premier place to indulge in oversized crab cakes, as well as steaks and chicken Chesapeake.
Through the years, in addition to their regular customers, they’ve had a few VIPs. Director Steven Spielberg, writer Tom Clancy, and Sen. Ben Cardin (who hired G&M to cater a White House party) have all stopped by to get a taste of the Chesapeake-style menu.
The next generation now helps run the place but it can get confusing—ironically, both business partners have a son named Dimitrios and a daughter named Anna. “It’s a Greek thing,” says Zoulis with a laugh.
We chatted with him about three decades of success.
How did you refine your signature crab cake recipe?
The pizza shop sold a crab cake but we weren’t happy with it. We kept asking our customers, how do you like your crab cake and we took their feedback—you have to listen to the customers.
How much crab do you sell a day?
I can’t tell you because we also ship them all over the country, including Alaska and Hawaii, but I can tell you it’s 1,500 pounds of crab a day and 2,000 pounds on a busy weekend. During the holidays, we sell 20,000 pounds weekly of crabmeat. We can’t ship internationally, because the meat could sit in customs for who knows how long, but we have had customers come here from Australia who take them home.
Where do you source the meat?
We are using blue crab. People will tell you they are using blue crab from Maryland, but it’s impossible to get the meat. We have a Maryland-style crab cake but there’s not enough Maryland crabmeat to support our need for jumbo lump. I wish we could get it from Maryland—I try every year. We get ours from the Gulf and Indonesia and Maryland when in season.
Do you come from a restaurant family?
M father, Minas, owned Tom’s Restaurant in New York from Seinfeld. My uncles and cousins took over after my father’s death, and my family still runs it today. In addition to inspiring Seinfeld, it’s mentioned in the song “Tom’s Diner” by Suzanne Vega. When I first came here, I worked at Timbuktu Restaurant & Lounge [in Hanover]. I was born in New York, moved back to Greece, then came to Baltimore for college. I wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps.
What do you think keeps people coming back to G&M?
You cannot become stale—we are always introducing new stuff and trying to stay trendy without losing our consistency. We are known for our portions, our prices, and our consistency of product.