Dirty Al's - on South Padre Island

I've written several reviews about Dirty Al's - mostly have visited the Port Isabel location - but certainly have gone to the island location several times - but not in the past 6 months.  We live on the mainland side so Port Isabel is an easy destination for dinner.  Last Friday night, February 11th, we headed out to eat...kinda later than we usually go.  My hubby had just rolled in from Austin and was tired and we were all hungry.  I asked him what his preference was and he said "Dirty Al's".  We pulled into the Pelican's Station location to find the parking lot full and the waiting area filled.  We circled right on out of that lot.  My hubby said "just go on across"...so I turned right onto the causeway...and he said "I meant across to Pirate's Landing".  Uh, well, too late!  I told him if said to "go across" - to me that meant across the bridge!

We proceeded onwards to Dirty Al's on the island and, thankfully, they were not overcrowded.  Apparently they close a little earlier though, because we hadn't even gotten our food when they were turning off the open sign and flipping the signs to say "closed".  Whoa...it was only 7:45!  Anyway, Dirty Al's continues to provide the consistent good food we have come to expect...tonight I had an order of calamari for my main meal...with a small side salad.  Perfect.  Actually, there was so much squid I had to offer it up to the bottomless pits men at the table to help me finish it off.  The teen had his usual burger and fries, and my hubby had a boiled shrimp taco salad.  Pretty basic stuff - but everyone was happy with their orders.

One of the best things about eating on the island is I'm now to the point where I tend to see someone I know or at least someone I recognize.  This evening was no different.  Joni and Griff, from Paragraphs on Padre Blvd., were finishing up their meal.  Joni stopped at the table to say hi.  It's always good to see folks we know.  I finally feel like a local!  Love small town America :-)

So, there's the update on Dirty Al's...everything is copasetic!  Good grub as always.

Where to Eat??? Cap'n Roys It Is!

New Year's Day night I hit a wall...I didn't want to cook or bake another thing over the next 24 hours.  My hubby was informed "kitchen closed" and he could either go get us some fast food or we could go out to eat someplace where I didn't have to get all fixed up :-)  I required "casual, no make-up, wild hair acceptability".  When we got back from the beach today I had scrubbed all the sand off my face, pulled back my hair and I didn't intend to change my attire other than moving from shorts to jeans as a nod to the dropping temperatures.  After running through potential options, he suggested Pier 19 since he hadn't been since he was home in October for Sand Castle Days.  Sounded good to me so off we went.  I don't know what we were thinking...lots of traffic on the island...Saturday night, a holiday, Winter Texans arriving, people in town for the Polar Bear Dip...lots of activity...lots of restaurant traffic.  The parking lot wasn't full - but it was more than half full...and it was too cold and windy for outdoor seating, so there was a 20 to 30 minute wait.  Wow, that was a first for us both - we've never had to wait there.  Oh well, no go for me.  I was hungry.  So, we moved on.

Next stop, Gabriella's....where I hadn't been since the end of October (I've been busily baking and testing recipes and prepping for holidays...not eating out so much).  Just passed on by...parking lot full.  We looked at each other and I said "this might not have been a good idea - but let's try Cap'n Roy's if that's okay with you, before we give up?"  He was good with that...he did the looking when we slowly drove past...looked okay to him...so we did the u-turn at the light and what a great decision that ended up being!  We got a table instantly, drink orders taken immediately...really good service for the entire evening.  We munched down two baskets of chips and salsa before feeling the "edge" taken off our hunger (we hadn't eaten since breakfast).  The staff kept our drinks topped off and everything replenished.  They seemed legitimately happy to be at work.  That's nice to see in a wait staff.

I had the beef enchilada plate...it was awesome as always.  My husband had decided on grilled shrimp tacos...and then made a quick change at the last minute to the fried shrimp platter with fries and a generous helping of their delicious fumi salad.  You can guess what the teen had...hamburger and fries. <sigh> By the looks of the 3 cleaned plates - I'd say everyone thought their meal was reallll good!

I'm so glad we ended up at Cap'n Roy's.  It was a perfect end to a good day.  Good food, good service, happy people.  Who could ask for anything more?

SPI FLIP FLOP FOODIE RATING:

I'm bumping up their rating - everything has been so good the last few times I've been there...

4 – Lip smackin’ - good quality – flip flops will definitely be parked under their table again!

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!

Tom & Jerry's

Photo Source: http://www.spadre.com/tomandjerrys.htm

About halfway through the South Padre Island Christmas Parade, the teen-ager was chomping at the bit to go eat.  I think it was moving a little too slow for him.  Note to self:  get there earlier - stand closer to the start of the parade instead of the end of the parade :-)

So, I succumbed to his "looks" and said, do you want to leave after the Port Isabel HS band passes by?  YES he nearly yells.  He asked if we could eat at Tom and Jerry's (we were standing slightly north of them) and I said, "well, it's a sports bar...and loud...are you sure?"  He responded yes and so we walked down there and, of course, it was quite empty due to everyone being outside looking at the parade....except for the bar area, of course....several people there watching a game.  So, I told the host we were a party of two...and we were led to a table back by the kitchen...despite the many empty tables by the windows. <sigh>  I will say, they might have been set up for reserved parties.  Later I noticed festive people going to those seats.

The cigarette smell was overwhelming and I really wanted to leave before ordering.  It was so loud, though, I couldn't have discussed it without it being a "top of the lungs" discussion.  I just decided to suck it up.  I need to say I've only been to Tom & Jerry's once before... a couple of years ago.  I got so po'd that I never returned.  The hubby and I went one Fall afternoon - it was nearly empty - the service was slow - I ordered the special of the day, which was the Mexican Plate...and they were "out of salsa" so I had none to put on my taco.  I joked with the waiter that The Blue Marlin was just a couple of doors down, couldn't someone get some since the Mexican Plate WAS the special of the day?  He looked at me like I was a bother and walked away.  I really was so angry with the sucky customer service that I barely nibbled my food and left in a snit.  Never returned.  Wouldn't have this time except the teen had his heart set on going there. <sigh, the things we do...>

Thanks to our outstanding waitress, Emily, I endured the loudness from the bar, the smoke, the Lakers/Bulls basketball game in the background, and sitting at a less than prime table.  A sports bar is just not my idea of fun.  Everyone is different...and I am so past that stage in my life.  We don't even watch sports in our immediate family (well, I watch Longhorn football...but that's it).  We'd rather watch gymnastics or ice skating :-)  Go ahead, laugh it up...that's just the way we are.

Anyway, back to Tom & Jerry's....  Emily was sooo good with the teen.  He tried to order a medium rare "Tom's Big Burger" (he always asks for medium well, so what the heck???) and I said "you mean, medium well, right?"  He gave me "the look" and said "no, medium rare...I want it moist and juicy".  After back and forth about food safety and undercooked ground beef, he got the stubborn look on his face and nearly growled at me...both the waitress and I could see he was not happy about being questioned!  She told him that hamburgers were really better cooked a little more - that it would be better not rare.  He turned on me and started to argue that he wasn't a baby and to stop treating him like one, he wanted it medium rare.  I told him I cared about his health and that wasn't a good idea.  Emily stepped in and told him "I'm 25 and my mom still cares about me and would tell me the same thing - it never ends - she's your mom!".  I don't think he was happy about any of it...a tired teen-ager who hasn't been fed is not the most rational person in the universe.

I ordered a Patty Melt with Swiss cheese and onion rings instead of fries (I knew I would pay for that much onion later, but it just sounded good).  The food came out pretty quickly which was a really good thing considering it was nearly 8:00 and lunch was hours ago.  The teen inhaled his and said it was really good.  I ate a little more slowly...and I had only one very small complaint.  The bottom side of my sandwich was a heel of bread.  I'm not a fan of the heel and I've never been served a heel in a restaurant in my entire life!  Nonetheless, it was an exceptionally tasty patty Melt...perfectly cooked onions, double meat.  So large, I couldn't finish it.  Generous serving of tasty onion rings...also couldn't finish.  It was a good meal.

I probably won't go back to Tom and Jerry's only because of the noise and cigarette smoke.  There are too many places I can go without having to endure that smell.  I think, however, my middle son would like it.  Sports bars are more his thing than mine :-)  Here's a link to the menu.  They seem to have a good variety...and their customer service has certainly improved (and it wasn't just my waitress - I observed good service all around - bar and restaurant areas alike).  There were obviously a lot of locals that night as the parade wound down - big crowd by the time we left...everyone seem to know everyone else.  That has a lot of value to me.  I like going to local "spots" where people are greeting each other (staff and patrons alike)...it feels very welcoming.  Just can't endure cigarette smoke - previous smokers, we're always the most intolerant :-)

It is hard to rate this using my usual scale...the food was good - so I'd give it a 3 - but I probably wouldn't want to go back...so I can't really say my flip flops would be interested in parking under their table again.  <shrug>  Many thanks to Emily, our waitress...she made the experience so much more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise.  She rocked!

Cap'n Roy's

One of our family's "go to" dining spots on the island is Cap'n Roy's at 1313 Padre Blvd. ....everyone has their favorite and it's a frequent choice when we talk about grabbing a bite to eat on the island.  I tend to go for the Mexican food offerings, my husband goes for the seafood, and the teen either goes for a burger or fried shrimp.  No one has ever had any complaint about their food - and I don't think we've ever not 100% cleaned our plates!  Last time, I had the enchilada plate - beef enchiladas specifically.  I ordered chips and salsa for the side - and they are big freshly fried 1/2 tortilla sized chips and a cooked style salsa.  Only complaint is the bowl isn't big enough :-)  I always need more.  I have also had, on a cold dreary day, a revitalizing serving of excellent carne guisada.  Delicious.  My husband loves the grilled shrimp tacos or the fish tacos with the fumi salad.  And we never fail to seek out their booth at the annual Shrimp Cook-off in Port Isabel.  They always have an award-winning concoction of goodness to sample.  The teen - he loves, loves, loves the big old half pound burger with fries.  Their fried shrimp is always a good call - with french fries and the delicious tart fumi salad (a vinegary yet sweet slaw - really pairs well with fried food).

The only complaint I have is having to do a u-turn to get there when coming from the bridge.  But, that's no biggie to get to a guaranteed good meal.  If they are busy, there's lots of stuff on the walls to look at - old photos, big fish, other nautical "stuff".  It's a small joint - but that's the way I like it.  The prices are reasonable, the waitstaff are courteous and friendly.  It's a great island spot!

SPI FLIP FLOP FOODIE RATING:

3 1/2 – Really Yummy - I feel my flip flops wanting to head back from time to time!