When you think of the oh-so-quaint Old World Village of Huntington Beach, you're apt to think three rather delightful thoughts: 1) Has Oktoberfest started yet? (No, but, trust, it'll be oompahing before you know it.) 2) Do I sip my stein of foamy beer with schnitzel or bratwurst? (Both, if you're in the mood.) And 3) when's the next Dachshund race? (Sunday, May 18 is the dogly date.)
But other tempting events pop up at the Alpine-a-riffic destination at Center Avenue and Huntington Village Lane. One's just ahead, and it involves melted butter, lemon wedges, cracking devices, and plastic bibs.
Nope, we speak not of schweinebraten nor sauerbraten but crab, lots of crab, as in a mega, all-you-can-eat crab confab hosted by the Huntington Beach Host Lions Club.
Date? Sunday, March 30. Cost? Fifty bucks. Sides/extra edibles? Bread, salad, chowder. Tunes? Live. The beneficiary? "Local community projects and charitable groups" including the Therapeutic Riding Center and Canine Companions for Independence.
This is a reserve in advance deal only, so don't show at the door, hoping to buy a ticket, already wearing your plastic bib. (We're assuming you have a full roll of them in your kitchen drawer, being the crab enthusiast that you are.)
Call it a good way to lend some support to OC orgs and to enjoy a crustacean feast. Yep, several towns up the California coast throw big crab parties in the first part of the year -- hola, Mendocino County -- but we crab people on the Southern end of the state can get our all-you-can-eat fun on, too.
And if you reallllly need your Old World Village Oktoberfest, hang tight; you're now just five months away from Chicken-Dancing away your September and October.
