They typically start to appear in restaurants in the springtime — fried on sandwiches, pressed into tacos, rolled tight into sushi. Many chefs are eager to get them in stock to be proudly rattled off as specials. And fortunately, soft-shell crab season is still here.

Although the East Coast season begins in spring, Maryland soft-shell crabs are usually at their best June through late September thanks to the colder water here, according to Stephanie Pazzaglia, chair of the commissioners of the Maryland Seafood Marketing Committee and an official at seafood wholesaler and distributor J J McDonnell & Co. But chefs often bring the crabs in from southern states in April to meet demand.

Soft-shell crabs are the same species as Maryland’s beloved blue crabs. “Slough” houses on the Eastern Shore lay the crabs out in water-filled tables to be watched as they’re molting to grow bigger shells. “They’re essentially babysitters,” Pazzaglia said of the slough houses, which remove the crabs at precisely the right time to preserve the tender shells and so they aren’t eaten by their brethren. The soft-shells routinely then get shipped to kitchens the very next day.

The natural process makes the timing tough for restaurants at times. “Remember, we’re dealing with a wild species where we’re waiting for them to go into a different stage of their life,” Pazzaglia said. “You have to be adaptable and work with nature.”

But the efforts are worth it as cooks find all kinds of uses of the soft-shells. “They’re a delicacy in the state of Maryland, for when people want to celebrate,” said Matthew Scales, seafood marketing director for the Maryland Department of Agriculture.

Here are five Baltimore eateries where soft-shell crabs are still on the menu.

Be More Thai

The crabs at this art-filled Federal Hill Thai spot remind you that there’s something so pleasantly carnivorous about stuffing whole appendages into your mouth. In the restaurant’s soft-shell entrée, two big ones spider across the plate to be crunched upon with sweet chile garlic or cumin curry sauce, veggies and lots of rice to sop it all up. Soft-shell also ornaments the vivacious mango salad, which hits the three most important notes for a salad: color, texture and plenty of fresh herbs.

Plus, a single soft-shell can be added to any other dish for $9. Some ideas: red curry, squid-ink pasta talay, tofu and mixed vegetables in brown sauce, or crab-fried rice to double down on the crustacean. 1006 Light St., 443-438-4805, bemorethai.com

Mama’s on the Half Shell

When Jackie McCusker was starting Mama’s on the Half Shell over two decades ago, she wanted the food to speak to Marylanders’ culinary memories, “how we all remember crab cakes and the way our grandparents made those soft-shells,” the owner-operator said. So the seafood restaurant in Canton and Owings Mills keeps soft-shell crabs on the menu year-round — a consistent purveyor sets dozens per week aside for Mama’s, Executive Chef Anthony Franklin said.

For a BLT sandwich, the soft-shell is dredged lightly in buttermilk and resists dryness with a house-made garlic confit aïoli. “We’re keeping it very traditional,” Franklin said. “We’re showing love to that soft-shell crab.”

Or guests can sample the crab as an add-on to cream of crab soup, providing bite to the unctuous, onion-rich soup, already full of jumbo lump crab meat. “Adding the soft shell on top is just giving that customer a little bit of an extra oomph,” Franklin said.

To pair on the lighter side, try the wide array of crushes, the ever-rotating oyster selection or the poke-inspired tuna tartare. It’s hard to mess up sushi-grade ahi tuna — lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper tend to suffice. But these mouthfuls of ahi take it to the next level with two sauces: soy pickled ginger marinade and sriracha aïoli, a harmony between freshness and fat. 2901 O’Donnell St., 410-276-3160; 10080 Reisterstown Road #20, Owings Mills, 410-438-1994; mamasonthehalfshell.com

Mo’s Seafood

During a busy Sunday dinner service at Mo’s Seafood, as hot fillets and shellfish were hurried to tables, a band of sailors paraded in, decked out in crisp, white uniforms. The Fleet Week display felt appropriate as the Inner Harbor-adjacent mainstay showed the service members some Baltimore hospitality with its enormous menu of seafood classics.

Soft-shell takes multiple iterations at Mo’s, which also has Towson and Middle River locations. Try them plain, in a sandwich or luxuriously stuffed with crab imperial. The fried soft-shells at Mo’s are only very lightly battered — good for those who are tired of versions that taste indistinguishable from onion rings, but some diners might not want to stare down the nearly naked creature.

And one thing separates the hardened Marylanders from the faint of stomach: You might get a dash of “mustard” smearing the crab with yellow. 219 S. President St., 410-837-8600, 1528 E. Joppa Road, Towson, 410-823-2200, 9727 Pulaski Highway, Middle River, 410-238-1700; mosseafood.com

Nanami Cafe

I first dined at Fells Point’s Nanami Cafe in March and have since returned at least half a dozen times. Is that too many when there are certainly other worthy sushi destinations in Baltimore? I’d argue not due to the restaurant’s waterfront outdoor seating, reasonable prices, kindly servers and creative rolls, a few of which contain soft-shell crab.

My favorite sushi is the Love roll, consisting of a sturdy eight pieces filled with soft-shell, eel, avocado and cucumber, combining crispy and smooth textures. On top, tuna and salmon are joined by a duo of sauces: standard eel and the creamy and slightly sweet cherry. The Chesapeake #2 has soft-shell inside and tempura flakes and garlic sauce on top, and the Spider roll gives the tempura crab an extra crunch of cucumber and Japanese mayo. Pazzaglia and Scales said the whale and jumbo soft-shell sizes are the most prized, so sushi is a great use for the mediums. 907 S. Ann St., 410-327-9400

True Chesapeake Oyster Co.

Of all the soft-shell crabs sampled here, the one at True Chesapeake Oyster Co. by the Jones Falls had the plumpest meat, not at all scraggly. “We’ve just been getting really lovely ones,” Executive Chef and partner Zack Mills said. In his composed small plate, fried soft-shell crab sits atop earthy romesco sauce, grilled alliums and a swirl of ramp-seaweed oil.

“I just wanted to come up with a nice, simple setup for the soft-shell that really let it shine through and just have a couple components that elevate and kind of complement the crab,” Mills said.

To flesh out the meal, consider gooey blue crab mac and cheese, or the Caesar salad, which swaps in smoked oyster instead of anchovy in the dressing and fried oysters rather than boring croutons. 3300 Clipper Mill Road, 410-913-6374, truechesapeake.com