Jump to content

Port Aransas

Paco

By Paco
in Food and Travel

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 1.6k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

BigDHornfan
BigDHornfan

The boy had a blast on the fishing trip and we hauled about 80 lbs of Blackfin and Snapper out. About 30 lbs of tuna steaks and 15 lbs of snapper filets at the end of the day.

BigDHornfan
BigDHornfan

Whole boat limited out on snapper in 45 min this morning.

Ag with kids
Ag with kids

Ok...so you want us to get rid of people and now you're complaining about methods????

Posted Images

justhookit

justhookit 4191

Posted
Posted (edited)

I don’t think some of y’all understand how the Port A economy works. Nobody can afford to open a restaurant on the water for fine dining anymore and even if they could you can’t staff it with quality people. Thus, you end up with places like Virginia’s, Grumbles, and FINS (which is way underrated by the way). You would not believe the sales numbers of those places.

Also it did have the best seafood restaurant on the water for years - Pelican Club. Sadly, dining options here in town aren’t what they were 10 years ago with the loss of that restaurant and Marcel’s.

For fine dining, Venetian Hot Plate is in a class by itself here. Lisabella’s is probably second but way overpriced. Same problem with Phoenix. Roosevelt’s is hit and miss. I really enjoy the dining at Black Marlin but it’s a little more casual than those places. Their new building will be interesting to see what they do with.

edit- when the new marina gets built at Charlie’s pasture we hopefully will see a wharf style shop/restaurant venue out there.

Edited by justhookit
  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ag with kids

Ag with kids 581

Posted
Posted
On 8/8/2023 at 1:17 PM, thrillhammer said:

both great and exactly what i'm t

 

23 hours ago, GreenspointTexas said:

The best restaurant on the island is a pizza place

Padre Pizzeria

Brooklyn Pie

or

New York Pizza Co

(I hope to GOD you're not talking about Dominos)

And actually, the best restaurant on NPI is Island Time

I will say that Guajillo's is actually really good too.  It's "Tex without the Mex"

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ag with kids

Ag with kids 581

Posted
Posted
On 8/9/2023 at 9:30 AM, justhookit said:

I don’t think some of y’all understand how the Port A economy works. Nobody can afford to open a restaurant on the water for fine dining anymore and even if they could you can’t staff it with quality people. Thus, you end up with places like Virginia’s, Grumbles, and FINS (which is way underrated by the way). You would not believe the sales numbers of those places.

Also it did have the best seafood restaurant on the water for years - Pelican Club. Sadly, dining options here in town aren’t what they were 10 years ago with the loss of that restaurant and Marcel’s.

For fine dining, Venetian Hot Plate is in a class by itself here. Lisabella’s is probably second but way overpriced. Same problem with Phoenix. Roosevelt’s is hit and miss. I really enjoy the dining at Black Marlin but it’s a little more casual than those places. Their new building will be interesting to see what they do with.

edit- when the new marina gets built at Charlie’s pasture we hopefully will see a wharf style shop/restaurant venue out there.

Where is that?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dmtx

dmtx 159

Posted
Posted
On 8/9/2023 at 9:30 AM, justhookit said:

I don’t think some of y’all understand how the Port A economy works. Nobody can afford to open a restaurant on the water for fine dining anymore and even if they could you can’t staff it with quality people. Thus, you end up with places like Virginia’s, Grumbles, and FINS (which is way underrated by the way). You would not believe the sales numbers of those places.

Also it did have the best seafood restaurant on the water for years - Pelican Club. Sadly, dining options here in town aren’t what they were 10 years ago with the loss of that restaurant and Marcel’s.

For fine dining, Venetian Hot Plate is in a class by itself here. Lisabella’s is probably second but way overpriced. Same problem with Phoenix. Roosevelt’s is hit and miss. I really enjoy the dining at Black Marlin but it’s a little more casual than those places. Their new building will be interesting to see what they do with.

edit- when the new marina gets built at Charlie’s pasture we hopefully will see a wharf style shop/restaurant venue out there.

Pelican Club was my fave. I still dream about their French Silk Pie.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ag with kids

Ag with kids 581

Posted
Posted
On 8/20/2023 at 10:14 AM, justhookit said:

Great. That’s exactly what we fucking need here.

Dad just said that the name will be the "Beach Bum".

Original, I know.

I told him to tell them that they need to have GOOD food there.  Maybe that will differentiate it AND give y'all something decent to eat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ag with kids

Ag with kids 581

Posted
Posted (edited)
48 minutes ago, zman13 said:

Harold!

image.png.bdc3b98175fed07ecd495f878c178970.png

Took my GF 45 min to drive from our house here on NPI to the Bluff (she teaches/coaches at FB HS).

I think I'll stay working from home, thank you.

I did see on the Facebook that at least one person has lost a NICE palm tree.  That sucks.  Those are EXPENSIVE to replace.

Apparently the wind was whipping the rain around bad enough that my Nest doorbell camera told me there was a person at my front door (it's pretty recessed from the wind).  It didn't even do that during Hanna...

Edited by Ag with kids
Link to comment
Share on other sites
justhookit

justhookit 4191

Posted
Posted
31 minutes ago, Ag with kids said:

Took my GF 45 min to drive from our house here on NPI to the Bluff (she teaches/coaches at FB HS).

I think I'll stay working from home, thank you.

I did see on the Facebook that at least one person has lost a NICE palm tree.  That sucks.  Those are EXPENSIVE to replace.

Apparently the wind was whipping the rain around bad enough that my Nest doorbell camera told me there was a person at my front door (it's pretty recessed from the wind).  It didn't even do that during Hanna...

Yeah this storm is way stronger than what I was expecting. Very strong wind gusts here in Port A and currently 5 tornado warnings inland north and northwest of us.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
justhookit

justhookit 4191

Posted
Posted
18 hours ago, Ag with kids said:

Dad just said that the name will be the "Beach Bum".

Original, I know.

I told him to tell them that they need to have GOOD food there.  Maybe that will differentiate it AND give y'all something decent to eat.

Any idea where it’s going to be? Good Food would be a major plus otherwise it’s going to be really tough to make it here. 4 or 5 bars have opened on the last year or 2 and 2 have already gone out of business.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ag with kids

Ag with kids 581

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, justhookit said:

Any idea where it’s going to be? Good Food would be a major plus otherwise it’s going to be really tough to make it here. 4 or 5 bars have opened on the last year or 2 and 2 have already gone out of business.

No idea yet.  When I get more info I'll let you know.  And yeah...they'll have to differentiate themselves.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gmr548

gmr548 16590

Posted
Posted
On 8/3/2023 at 8:27 AM, Hate said:

I go with a big group of friends for Tex-ou weekend. It’s the best time to be at Port A, imo. I know the weekend was made more fun last year after the 49-0 stomping!

We were just down there this last weekend; it was nice, but I found myself thinking that we should really be going in October when it cools off a little. Just brutal to be out there on the beach with the summers turning into what we have had the past couple years.

On 8/6/2023 at 5:25 PM, GreenspointTexas said:

Well to be fair, you dont really go to port a for the dining. Padre and Galveston blow it out of the water, food wise. However, port a never seems fully crowded every time ove been, and the water is great and the traffic is always light, comparatively speaking. Port A is a more blue collar, casual spot, which I love. Very little hustle and bustle compared to the other two big texas islands

Agreed, and that's kid of nice. My favorite spot to eat in Port A is San Juan. It isn't anything super special, just decent-to-good, no frills Tex Mex with great prices, exactly the sort of thing you want to smash after a day at the beach.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Steamboat1874

Steamboat1874 4074

Posted
Posted
14 hours ago, gmr548 said:

We were just down there this last weekend; it was nice, but I found myself thinking that we should really be going in October when it cools off a little. Just brutal to be out there on the beach with the summers turning into what we have had the past couple years.

Agreed, and that's kid of nice. My favorite spot to eat in Port A is San Juan. It isn't anything super special, just decent-to-good, no frills Tex Mex with great prices, exactly the sort of thing you want to smash after a day at the beach.

San Juan is very good and their breakfast is amazing and cheap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
Ag with kids

Ag with kids 581

Posted
Posted

Went to Snoopy's Pearl on Friday.  It's right between Doc's and Snoopy's under the causeway bridge.  It was pretty good.  Right on the water and an "outdoor" restaurant so no A/C if that kills the deal for you (and if it does then why the fuck are you and the beach).  They just had the lunch menu when I went but I think the dinner menu has more stuff on it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ag with kids

Ag with kids 581

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, CoachTex said:

Heading to Mustang island state park tomorrow with the family for a beach day.   Looking for a spot to eat dinner before heading back to SA. How is padre pizza?  Any other suggestions for a casual restaurant as we will be in swimsuits. 

Padre Pizza is pretty decent.  It's in our regular rotation here.  And I think ALL of the restaurants on NPI will be casual enough to come in with swimsuits.  We never have to dress up.  That's for the big city...

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ag with kids

Ag with kids 581

Posted
Posted (edited)

More info from my Dad on the new bar.  Looks like it's going to be a sports bar...which would have been really helpful to Austinvines this weekend.

It's going to be at the corner of E Cotter and N Station (232 E. Cotter).

What was it that used to be there @justhookit?

I've included a pic of the sign for the bar...

375803955_10224862536135956_3991872196194178319_n.jpeg

Edited by Ag with kids
Link to comment
Share on other sites
justhookit

justhookit 4191

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, Austinvines said:

We are here this weekend and our rental has Spectrum so won’t have the game. Any ideas on a decent spot for dinner that will have the game?

 

18 hours ago, Ag with kids said:

Stingrays should have it.

I’m not a fan but yeah it’s a sports bar with food. Personally I’d eat before and then watch the game wherever, Bernie’s actually has pretty decent food and good TV’s.

I’d invite you over but I’m watching the game at a friends house.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
justhookit

justhookit 4191

Posted
Posted (edited)
18 hours ago, Ag with kids said:

More info from my Dad on the new bar.  Looks like it's going to be a sports bar...which would have been really helpful to Austinvines this weekend.

It's going to be at the corner of E Cotter and N Station (232 E. Cotter).

What was it that used to be there @justhookit?

I've included a pic of the sign for the bar...

375803955_10224862536135956_3991872196194178319_n.jpeg

Well, that’s something. That was a Stripes - and a small one - so it will be interesting to see what they do with the space. They are keeping the existing building and remodeling the interior. It’s 3 blocks from my house so I’ll definitely be aware of its progresss and will check it out when it opens.

Edited by justhookit
Link to comment
Share on other sites
horn4life

horn4life 3775

Posted
Posted (edited)

You might be able to do OK in that stripes location, but where the hell are folks gonna park? What allows Beach Street to survive is all the parking around the baseball field that is part of the school's parking.  Maybe slap a big deck on top of that thing to expand the seating footprint?

I can't wait to get back down in October!  And I second justhookit's opinion of the food at Stingrays. It's serviceable, but I can't think of a single item that would make you want to return, other than a channel you cannot get to see a game on.  

I wish I simply did not have so much BS going on right now, as I look at the surf cams nearly every day, and the blue water is finally coming in all the way to the surf occasionally.  What I am starting to wonder about is whether with the markedly warmer water this year, how long into November will the great fishing last?  I can absolutely say that OU weekend is and always has been one of the best weekends to be in Port A.  We have been there for a couple decades now, and when the kids were with us, having that Monday school holiday made it awesome for a long weekend with the kiddos.  That one weekend is sort of the last surge of crowds, because of that three day weekend with the kiddos.  I am guessing a 2:30 kick off this year.

PS- here is a good link to several of the beach/surf cams. https://www.portaransas-texas.com/condo-rentals/port-aransas-surf-camera/

Edited by horn4life
  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
justhookit

justhookit 4191

Posted
Posted
18 hours ago, Shaddie said:

So @justhookit any tips on what to fish for bay side in late Oct? Had to change a CR trip for “local” (boooooo). 
 

Just hoping at least place is not crowded and we can enjoy beach days by letting mutts run slightly free. 

That’s the best time of year for redfish. October is the best month of the year here. Weekends will be a little crowded but you should find plenty of room the further south you go on the beach.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
horn4life

horn4life 3775

Posted
Posted
39 minutes ago, justhookit said:

That’s the best time of year for redfish. October is the best month of the year here. Weekends will be a little crowded but you should find plenty of room the further south you go on the beach.

Yep!  Can't wait!   The only thing I don't like about the new Jetty is that I used to be able to just back up to the bulkhead and drop a bucket to get fresh water, and just hang by the truck waiting for come mullet to roll through.  Made it easy peasy to get bait.  Still a good spot, but it was Sooooo easy before. 

Nothing better than burnt orange dawn fishing, that converts seamlessly into drinking pre-game for OU.  Can't wait! Did I already say that? 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ag with kids

Ag with kids 581

Posted
Posted
On 9/15/2023 at 8:47 PM, APMP said:

So who gonna be in Port A for the eclipse Oct 14th?

My organization will be out there helping to support a team that will be doing data measurements with balloons prior to and during the eclipse.  We'll be providing airspace support for them.  This will be out at Padre Balli on NPI.  Don't think we'll have any UAS up and flying but you never know.

I'm not involved in that operation (I'm in charge of engineering, not ops), but I'll probably head out to view it from the park since it's 2 min from my house.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
horn4life

horn4life 3775

Posted
Posted

Ok got a little delay but heading down next week for a month on and off stay.  Water looks great on the good days, and I see some trout and redfish heading to a plate nearby.  With the OU 11:00 game time locked in, I see some early burnt orange sunrise surf fishing followed by a complete Burnt Orange eclipse! (I hope like a mofo!!!)

Anyhow, if you see a fat fuck with an incredible head of hair in Port A over the next month, say hello!  I can't fucking wait for my beef fajitas, and hopefully the off menu crab stuffed portobello at La Playa!  Just need to hear the surf again, and see that long sunrise. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
horn4life

horn4life 3775

Posted
Posted

Of course weather is going to get cool right at I head down this week.  I need to go get the trailer set up at IB MaGee for the month, and while weather won't be perfect everything will be ready for the bounce back.  I watched most of the OU game last year at Stingray's but their food is blah.  Does Shorty's have more TV's now at the new location?  I was thinking maybe grab Kody's for lunch, and then drift somewhere else.  I would say Gumbles, by I am still in my refusal to sell out to the man and trying not to step foot in there protest mode.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...