PIRATE'S LANDING....THERE'S A DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE



My photo from Sand Castle Days 2010



We headed over to Pirate's Landing for a Friday night dinner before the hoards of Spring Breakers land on South Padre Island.  We will be avoiding the island restaurants at all costs for the next 9 days as college students descend on the annual tradition known as Texas Week on South Padre Island.  Bikini clad girls, lots of drinking, sunburned bodies...they will be populating every eatery in a 5 mile radius of the beach.  We stay home or go away during that time of year :-)  We are happy to have them...but we don't care to join them (well, the teen might, but he won't).

Anyway, we delightedly hopped into the car and headed to Pirate's Landing in Port Isabel.  I last blogged about it in September 2010....and really didn't think I'd be blogging about it tonight.  However, <imagine the sound of Obi Wan Kenobi's voice>

"I feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced."

It isn't Alderaan exploding but....our waiter, Shawn, informed us the complimentary yeast rolls were "no longer" as of April 1st.  NOOOOOOOOOOO.......



This pirate obviously had
a premonition of things to come



I had just ordered my usual Chef Salad and the teen had ordered his usual burger on the same delicious bread that they make the yeast rolls from, and our waiter was obviously finished when the teen piped up "Mom, what about the rolls?" and I said "I'm sure the rolls will come."  I looked up and the expression on Shawn's face was "uh...oh..." and I said "what, not during Spring Break?" and I quickly scanned the other tables...no rolls on any tables.  I'm now hearing the soundtrack from Jaws playing in my head...in full force alarm by now.  He then explained that they would no longer be complimentary as of April 1st but he would get me a basket tonight.

Whew...and then my brain flickered on "well, hell, I'm not coming here any more" (those little voices in my head get real sassy from time to time) ...and then, I thought, "oh, don't be stupid" (I guess that was the "other" voice - the voice of reason). 

We had great service, we had excellent food, but disappointingly, the rolls we had avidly awaited were hard...like they had been left in a warmer too long or had been microwaved to get them warm.  They literally crunched when the teen used a knife to cut them open (normally we pull the tender yeasty rolls apart - but not tonight).  Was this some kind of reverse psychology thing, I wondered?

He ate two, I ate a half...it wasn't worth the calories to eat them - they were that bad.

I appreciate the attempt to make me happy - and tipped accordingly.  However, if I had paid for those rolls, as I assume you will be required to do after April 1st, I would have returned them and refused to pay for them.

That little bit of negativity aside - I ate every bite of my delicious Chef Salad...the ham and turkey were fresh and tasty, good crisp lettuce, lots of bacon, red onion, cheese, black olives, a bell pepper ring (I had them hold the tomato...not a fan).  The plate was a small round plate on top of the previous platter that they used to serve the salad on...I guess everyone is making cuts everywhere.  I understand - and it was actually a more appropriate sized salad because I ate it all and felt full - and I used to leave some on my plate because it was too much.  I'm good with that...and the price of groceries is hitting everyone hard.

I admit to not liking change...unless it is for the better.  I hate to see the loss of the delicious rolls simply because I've been eating them for ten dang years!  Read my first post about Pirate's Landing and you'll see - the rolls are what I first raved about.  Fortunately, the excellent service prevails and the great location and view cannot be denied. 

Of course, I will return...after all I'm a Frequent Diner Card holder...I probably won't hold this against them.  But, I know there are going to be some unhappy Summer tourists...and I immediately texted my older children and my husband informing them why there had been a shift in The Force...in case they had felt "something".  I can't print what my oldest son texted back.  It's just too...ummm...well, let's leave it at "too bad"!

I still give Pirate's Landing the same Flip Flop Foodie rating.  No change there...just a touch of sadness.  I still love their tee shirts!!!  They are a hoot! 

SPI FLIP FLOP FOODIE RATING:

3 1/2 – Pretty Yummy - I feel my flip flops wanting to head back quite frequently!