Blackbeard's Revisited

http://www.blackbeardsspi.com

The teen and I were finishing up our holiday shopping on the island, at Paragraph's on Padre Blvd, and noticed it was approaching time to eat dinner - our meals had been sporadic that day and we were starved!  We were driving south and he pointed to Blackbeard's and said "hey - they don't have a crowd - no wait!" so I did a quick lane change and u-turn at the next block to return to the intersection of Esperanza and Padre Blvd.  It was 5:30 and early enough that it was, indeed, not crowded at all.  That's always a plus for me :-)

We were promptly seated in the "no smoking" section and our very efficient, and friendly, waitress took our drink orders and pointed out specials...and left us to peruse the menu.  The first question out of the teen's mouth was the oh-so-scary "hey Mom, do you have plenty of cash?"  Uh, why do you ask???  One of the specials was a steak and shrimp combo, which was not all that expensive.  I gave him the thumbs up if that was what he wanted. We also heard the table next to ours raving about the all-you-can-eat shrimp special they were enjoying. 

Despite the many good options, the teen went with a British Burger (1/2 pound burger with bacon and cheddar cheese).  He's so funny - because I knew it would be ordered "hold the cheese"....and it was.  I will say, the burger was huge and loaded HIGH with bacon.  The boy was in bacon burger heaven.  A big old  pile of fries...what teen wouldn't be happy with that?  He informed me we would be returning...it was a really good burger.

I ordered a chicken-fried steak, with green beans and mashed potatoes (how Texan of me, huh?).  I am here to tell you ladies and gentlemen...that hand-breaded chicken fried stick was enough to feed a farmer after a hard day working in the fields...two pieces of meat, enough green beans to serve 3 or 4 by FDA food pyramid standards, and a double dollop of mashed taters.  Cream gravy on the side (thank you very much - I hate it when the whole thing is coated with gravy before it hits the table).  Very possibly, this is a chicken-fried steak that rivals my Mom's. I've ordered this at several restaurants (because I get sick of seafood every so often) and I rank this the #1 chicken-fried steak in the Lower Laguna Madre area. (at least of the places I've visited...if you know of one I should try...comment please!!!)  I like gravy on my mashed potatoes and ketchup with my chicken-fried steak.  That's the way we ate it growing up.  I ate both pieces of the meat...completely...and scrounged for any crispy pieces that might have fallen off. 

And the green beans?  Tasted like fresh green beans and cooked the way I like them...some nice soft onion in them - and perfectly seasoned. Well-cooked...not under-done as is popular it seems - I like mine thoroughly cooked!  I ate every single bean in that very large serving!  Delicious :-)  I don't like frozen green beans...they squeak on my teeth...I was so happy these were not frozen as so often served at family-type restaurants.  I ate half of the mashed potatoes...they weren't bad - they just weren't primo...and I was so filled with meat and green beans and a big piece of buttery Texas Toast that I couldn't possibly have finished them even if they were the finest potatoes in the land :-p

Business started picking up as we were leaving, so I was so happy to have been early-birds.  Excellent service, excellent food, and all for a reasonable price.  That's the way I like my night to roll!

If you are on the island visiting, or a local...give Blackbeard's a try if you haven't been recently.  Open since 1978, we've seen some ups and downs...but this visit, we were very happy campers!

Bon Appetit Y'all!