"We're starting to go into our busy season, especially during the holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.," Dan Dowler, who had been at Cook's Seafood for 55 years, told The Almanac. By then the busy season wasn't coming. Cook's had closed its Menlo Park and Pleasanton locations on Wednesday, Oct. 28, and staff got the news by group text early the next morning.
Two days later, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife delayed the commercial Dungeness crab season along the whole coast from the Oregon border to Point Conception until at least Jan. 1, 2027. Losing either one would change Menlo Park's holiday table. Losing both in the same week means local commercial crab won't be landed before the new year, and the fish market most of the community relied on won't be open when it is.
Ninety-eight years, closed on a Wednesday
Cook's started before most of Menlo Park did. Bill Cook, a policeman turned entrepreneur, founded it in 1928 and sold it to Robert Rahe in the 1940s. In 1955, 15-year-old Roy Crumrine started there as a dishwasher. After Rahe died, his widow sold the business to Crumrine when he was 23. Crumrine ran it with his son Mike until his death in 2018, and his son Roy Crumrine Jr. had been running it in recent years.
The shop's history shows up in its staff tenures. Steve Whitaker had worked there 44 years, and Dowler had worked there 55. The Almanac reported that about 45 employees across the two locations lost their jobs with no advance notice. One regular, Buz Walters, told the paper he went three or four times a week. He pointed out that Kepler's Books and The Guild Theatre had both been saved by community support.
The building may still have a future. Whitaker and Dowler told The Almanac that the Rahe family still owns the land under Cook's. Dowler said the Menlo Park lease runs until 2028 and can be extended twice, five years each time. Dowler's son, Chris Dowler, told the paper he would like to find a way to take over Cook's and keep it going, calling it "iconic" and "historic." For now, it's a wish, not a plan.
The crab boats are tied up too
Even with Cook's open, December crab would have been scarce this year. CDFW's Oct. 30 announcement says the agency had to delay the commercial fishery because of the number of humpback whale entanglements in 2026, and that the wait lets whales migrate out of California waters before crab gear goes in. The San Francisco Chronicle reported the same delay.
Jan. 1 is the earliest the commercial season can open, not a set opening date. CDFW expects its next risk assessment in mid-December, when Director Meghan Hertel will review the data and a recommendation from the Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group before deciding when the season can open.
Date | What happens |
|---|---|
Oct. 28, 2026 | Cook's Seafood closes its Menlo Park and Pleasanton locations |
Oct. 30, 2026 | CDFW delays the commercial Dungeness season and limits recreational crab traps |
Nov. 7, 2026 | Recreational Dungeness season opens, with traps banned in Fishing Zones 1 through 5 |
Nov. 26, 2026 | Thanksgiving |
Mid-December | CDFW's next risk assessment |
Jan. 1, 2027 | Earliest possible commercial opener |
The recreational season opened Nov. 7, so it's underway by the time this post goes up, with limits. Recreational crab traps are banned from the Oregon border to Point Conception until at least Jan. 1, 2027, and CDFW has issued a fleet advisory telling crabbers not to set gear where whales are present. Hoop nets and crab snares, also called loop traps, are still allowed. Hoop nets must be checked at least every two hours and can't be left unattended longer than that. The separate domoic acid closure covers waters from Cape Mendocino to the Ten Mile State Marine Reserve, far north of the San Mateo coast. Fishing rules change during the season, so check CDFW's current regulations before you put gear in the water.
Where the fish counter is now
With Cook's closed, Menlo Park's seafood shopping moves to full-service grocery counters. These four are the closest established options:
- Draeger's Market, 1010 University Drive, Menlo Park. Draeger's runs a Meat, Fish & Poultry department, and its seafood page says fresh fish arrives daily and lists live lobster and freshly cooked crab. It's the only one of the four inside city limits.
- Mollie Stone's, 164 S. California Ave., Palo Alto. The store lists full-service departments, and the chain describes its seafood counter as fresh seafood, hand-cut fish and house-made crab cakes.
- Whole Foods Market, 1250 Jefferson Ave., Redwood City. Its store page says the store carries sustainable seafood.
- Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto. Piazza's has a meat and seafood department with its own manager at its Palo Alto store.
None of these replaces what Cook's offered as a market and restaurant with staff who had been behind the counter for decades. They also can't get around the CDFW calendar. Until the commercial fishery reopens, any Dungeness crab you see in a case before January wasn't caught commercially off the California coast this season. If a holiday menu depends on crab, ask the counter where it came from and order early.
The closest source is over the hill
The most direct local option is on the coast. Pillar Point Harbor, at One Johnson Pier in Half Moon Bay, is home port to a commercial fishing fleet. The San Mateo County Harbor District says local fishermen sell fresh fish directly from the harbor, and suggests calling its Fish Line, listed as 726-8724, to see what's available before you go.
The crab delay affects the docks too. The commercial crab fleet can't fish until CDFW reopens the season, so what's for sale at the docks this month depends on the other fisheries still running. Calling the Fish Line will tell you what the boats are bringing in before you drive out.
The harbor also has its own holiday tradition. The Harbor District lists the annual Christmas boat decorating contest among Pillar Point's public events. Combined with a stop for whatever came in that morning, it makes a reasonable December outing for a household that used to stock its holiday table at Cook's.
What December decides
Two decisions this winter will shape seafood in Menlo Park for a long time. The first comes in mid-December, when CDFW's risk assessment sets whether commercial crab comes back around New Year's or later. The second is slower. The Rahe family still owns the land under Cook's, the lease runs to 2028, and Chris Dowler has already said in public that he would like to take over Cook's and keep it going.
Whitaker told The Almanac he had hoped Cook's would make it to 100 years. It closed two years short of that, on Oct. 28, 2026.
At Straser Silicon Valley, we keep track of the Menlo Park businesses that make up daily life here, including the ones that change without warning. If you're hosting this season, or thinking ahead to next year in your own home, we're glad to talk through what's changing around town. Request a white-glove consultation.
