Dirty Al's Pelican Station Revisited

I've written about Dirty Al's on the island as well as at Pelican Station before, but I hadn't been there in a few months so I thought I would stop in with the teen for a Saturday afternoon lunch.  It was a beautiful day and the traffic heading to the island encouraged me to stay on the mainland for our meal and Dirty Al's was the teen's chosen location - so we went!

We were seated promptly at a table in the south end of the dining room right at the window - so that was a good thing.  Full on views of the bay and bridge and South Padre Island are always enjoyable - on a beautiful, albeit hazy, day. 

Prompt drink orders were taken as well as an order of Lupe's Mexican Cocktail (a Mexican Shrimp Cocktail).  It and our drinks arrived quite quickly... we placed our orders for the teen's Bacon Burger - hold the veggies and cheese - with fries.  I ordered a 2nd appetizer for my meal - Fried Calamari.

The Mexican Cocktail was very tasty and filled with cut up pieces of large boiled shrimp.  Spicy after burn kept me sipping my soda...it was very tasty.  My only complaints - and there were two - was that there were about 4 minuscule pieces of tiny tiny bits of avocado.  I'm used to a Mexican Shrimp Cocktail having a LOT of chunks of avocado...so that was disappointing.  I liked that it had minimal cilantro though...some places put too much in.  Taste wise, it was very good.  The second complaint is that it was served with packaged saltines.  There were 4 packets of 2 crackers provided.  Now, this cocktail is basically a dipping sauce with chunks.  You need to put it on tostado chips or crackers.  I ran out of crackers on, well, the 8th bite.  I had to ask twice to get more crackers (and then he brought a basket).  I found it irritating to have to open that many cracker packages to get through my appetizer.  I love saltines, but with a Mexican Cocktail, I prefer tostado chips...in a basket...not wrapped in plastic wrappers.  I had a huge mound of cellophane on my plate by the time it was all done with.  Ehh, pretty minimal complaints...but certainly room for improvement.  Oh crap, I have one more complaint.  The shrimp was not deveined.  Not much I hate more than biting into a piece of shrimp with a gritty vein in it.  Ick. Still, I would definitely order it again.

The calamari were just about perfect - no complaints - no rubbery pieces - crisp and light coating - a good dipping sauce this time.  The teen ate a few pieces and gave them a nod as well.

The teen's burger, unfortunately, had to be re-made.  It was coated with cheese and he doesn't eat cheeseburgers.  When it returned it was piled high with bacon, so he was happy and didn't mind the wait.  It was tasty he said and he was happily adding his own mustard and ketchup when I irritated him by snapping a photo.  He gave me "the look".  Oops, no more photos I guess :-))))

The bill was slow in coming after we finished eating, but that was no hardship as we were enjoying watching the pelicans chase the gulls from their piling perches.  Overall, a very lovely lunch.

I ate at the island location last week with friends...I have to say what I've said again...I really prefer this location in Port Isabel.  The menu is just slightly different and more to my tastes...AND they serve breakfast which is a plus.

Bon Appetit, Y'all!