Explore Guides
Local food map
San Francisco (United States)
Hotels in area
Main course
Fish & Seafood
Food Flavour DNA
Nutritional Values
450kcal
28gProtein
15gCarbs
30gFat
5gFibre
300 gServing
* Per serving · 300 g. May vary.
Allergens
🦐 Shellfish
🥚 Eggs
Crab Louis
How to order / say it
Say it
Crab Louis — [krab LOO-ee]
Order
I'd like the Crab Louis, please.
Say locally
A salad with crab meat, hard-boiled eggs, asparagus, and tomatoes, dressed in Louis dressing.
Why try it?
Crab Louis offers a taste of the Pacific ocean's bounty, and is a legacy of early 20th-century West Coast culinary opulence, melding simple ingredients into a grand dish.
How it tastes
The salad combines sweet, tender crab meat with crunchy veggies, while the Louis dressing provides a creamy, tangy complement, elevating the freshness of each ingredient in every forkful.
Origin & History — first documented: 1910
Popularized in San Francisco in the early 1900s, often attributed to either Solari's Restaurant or the Davenport Hotel. It reflects the West Coast's luxurious use of local Dungeness crab and remains a lasting symbol of California's abundant seafood culture.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 🦐 200 g crab meat
- 🥚 2 hard-boiled eggs
- 🥕 100 g asparagus
- 🥕 100 g tomatoes
- 🥕 80 g lettuce
- 🥛 100 g mayonnaise
- 🥣 30 g chili sauce
- 🍋 15 ml lemon juice
- 🥣 5 ml Worcestershire sauce
Method
- 1 Arrange lettuce, sliced hard-boiled eggs, and asparagus on plates.
- 2 Gently place crab and tomatoes atop the lettuce.
- 3 Mix mayonnaise, chili sauce, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce for dressing.
- 4 Drizzle dressing over the salad and serve.
More from San Francisco
Dessert
Vegetarian
It's-It
ITS IT
An ice cream sandwich with chocolate-coated oatmeal cookies
© Wikimedia Commons
Main course
Meat
Chicken Tetrazzini
CHIH-ken te-trah-ZEE-nee
A creamy pasta dish with chicken and mushrooms.
Main course
Fish & Seafood
Sandwich Crab Melt
san-dwich krab melt
A warm, open-faced sandwich with melted cheese and crab meat.
© Wikimedia Commons
Main course
Meat
Hangtown Fry
HANG-town fry
An omelette with bacon and oysters, a Gold Rush-era favorite.
© Wikimedia Commons
Main course
Fish & Seafood
Cioppino
choh-PEE-noh
A seafood stew in a tomato-based broth, packed with various shellfish.
© Wikimedia Commons
Bread
Vegetarian
Sourdough Bread
SOW-er-doh bred
A tangy, naturally-leavened bread that is a San Francisco staple.
© Wikimedia Commons
Main course
Meat
Joe's Special
johz spesh-ul
Scrambled eggs with spinach, onions, and ground beef.
© Wikimedia Commons
Main course
Meat
Mission Burrito
MIS-uhn buh-REE-toh
A large, foil-wrapped burrito, filled with assorted ingredients.
© Wikimedia Commons
Snack
Meat
Empanadas
em-pah-NAH-dahs
Pastry filled with meat, cheese, or vegetables, and then baked or fried.
© Wikimedia Commons
Main course
Meat
Chateaubriand
Shah-toh-bree-awnd
A thick and juicy cut of beef, often served as a steak or with a Béarnaise sauce.