#1 Crab Legs with the Kretzers

Through Kretzer’s Grill and Bar in Hoyleton, L.D. and Tina Kretzer have continually served the community they call home.

Shortly after opening Kretzer’s in 2003, they found their niche in crab legs, a local favorite that L.D. and Tina’s restaurant is now widely renowned for.

“We run crab legs seven days a week,” said L.D. “We’re told by the major distributors we buy from that we are the number one privately owned crab leg location in the United States. On average, we sell 20,000 pounds of crab each month.”

The notoriety of Kretzer’s crab legs spread far beyond southern Illinois, with L.D. and Tina welcoming several out-of-state regulars on an annual basis.

“We’ve got a lot of regular customers from St. Louis and Chicago. There are customers that drive down from Madison, Wisconsin each year for king crab legs,” L.D. explained. “We have regulars from Nashville, Tennessee that come in once a month. We have so many customers that come in from I-57 and I-64.”

Kretzer’s keeps a map of the United States in the front of their restaurant, with pins in every state representing where their customers hail from, and they now have started a world map!

After 26 years in Hoyleton, L.D. and Tina relocated back to Centralia, where they quickly launched their latest venture, The Locust Street Pub, in December of 2023.

Formerly the Skipper’s Inn, they immediately embarked on a remodeling phase which includes additional space, a kitchen, and drive thru.

With their flagship restaurant firmly secured as a southern Illinois hotspot and their newest operation growing larger by the month, the Kretzers seem poised to continue their legacy of service and kinship in the communities they call home.