Chef House - South Padre Island!

UPDATE MAY 2015 - REPORTED CLOSED AT SOUTH PADRE ISLAND LOCATION

UPDATE NOVEMBER 2013:

Chef's House Restaurant is now on the island! At the south end, at 1500 Gulf Blvd in former Padre Bar near the Padre South Hotel. Same owners; same fantastic food. Check it out.

I have been wanting to try this small intimate restaurant that gets such great raves on the various review web sites...and I always seem to be wandering that way on a day or time they are closed.  They are open for breakfast and lunch only and are closed on Monday.  Today, however, my sister and I were "on" for lunch following a mani/pedi at our favorite Venus Nails and Spa on the island.  I suggested The Chef House and she was game.  We are soooo glad we made it.  It has lived up to the raves and every table was filled by the time we departed (there are not a lot of tables mind you, it is a small venue).  We started with glasses of iced tea and they served a complimentary basket of freshly made tortilla chips and 3 delicious salsas.  All were very good - and unusual - and not overly spicy!  Excellent start to the meal.

The have a menu of both Mexican and American cuisine and I have heard everyone say "get the daily special" if you are there for lunch.  My sister opted for a grilled chicken breast with some unknown spice and the waitress offered an alternate of a mushroom sauce if she preferred...which she did.  She was not disappointed.  Beautifully plated with refried beans, an amarillo rice, and a grated cabbage salad, she said it was very delicious.  I tasted a bite and concur! The only thing she didn't care for was the cabbage salad - not dressed, it was bland. Everything else on the plate was outstanding.

I opted for the special of the day.  The special includes a main entree, soup of the day, dessert, and iced tea.  Today it was a pork loin with some unknown, yet delectable, spices and a rich creamy sauce...and the soup of the day was cream of asparagus.  I couldn't have been more pleased.

The soup was creamy deliciousity.  I ate every single drop of a very generous bowl.  Then, out came my stylishly plated pork loin leaning against one of the best mashed potatoes I've ever eaten, topped with fresh greens, lightly sauteed red onions, and a marvelous cream sauce.  The loin was so tender it was easily cut with a standard table knife.  It was simply to die for!  Happy, happy tummy :-)

Feeling full at the halfway point, we boxed up the leftovers for my sister's husband and we were both served the perfect small bite of dessert.  I love to have dessert, but rarely order it out...because it is too much.  This was the perfect little mini sponge chocolate cakelet topped with a sprinkling of finely diced fresh fruit and light sauce on top of chocolate sauce....yummmmm I nearly wanted to lick the plate.  It was "just right" as Goldie Locks would say!

I can't wait to go back - I want to try it for breakfast.  It is likely a spot you have driven by many times and didn't even know it existed.  I learned about it via word of mouth.  I almost didn't want to blog about it - I want to keep the perfect ambiance of unrushed personalized dining that really makes it one of my new favorite places to dine!

Oh yes... one of the best parts...our check was under $25 for all of the above.  WOW!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

UPDATE 10/25/2012:

Went to Chef's House for Brunch on 10/23/2012.  I had the Migas with Eggs and Salsa - side of bacon - side of corn tortillas.  OUTSTANDING.  Mr. Flip Flop had the Florentino Omelet with a tasty potato cake.  He said it was absolutely delicious.  Complimentary small-bite dessert again - awesome!

Then, went to lunch with my lady friends today.  I had the beef enchiladas with red sauce. OMG - the beef was roasted and tender, not ground beef.  The tortillas were tender, the sauce appropriate to my please-don't-burn-me palate and coated with delicious melty cheese.  One of my friends had the carnitas - she said they were delicious.  The dessert was slightly different - still the perfect bite - and so very nicely presented.

Rating remains unchanged from the original visit!  Small venue - patience pays off!

SPI FLIP FLOP FOODIE RATING:

5 – OMG – that was an outstanding meal!  I can’t wait to go back J

Grapevine Cafe

This glorious first morning of September, I dropped my son off at the high school and drove straight to the island.  The bay was smooth as glass, pelicans floating, gulls diving as I crossed the causeway...just beautiful.  My first stop was the beach for a quick walk...there wasn't much of a breeze, though, and the sun was intense for 8:15 in the morning!  So, it was a brief walk.  I dusted my feet off and drove to Grapevine Cafe for breakfast (okay, that was my intention all along...the walk just makes me feel less guilty).

Grapevine Cafe, at Padre Blvd. and Swordfish, is a breakfast-and-lunch-only establishment; open daily from 6:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  It is reminiscent of a diner without the counter or waitresses with big hair and aprons.  The tables are linoleum topped - the chairs are wooden and vaguely uncomfortable (they slant forward just slightly and it feels like I can't get seated correctly - a friend told me that was purposeful, to keep the tables turning - who knew?).  Coffee is in a mug and sugar is in an old-school pourable dispenser. A fork and knife wrapped in a paper napkin on the table.  Customers reading the paper or watching the news - families on vacation, young adults often looking hung over, seniors, and locals.  Cheap prices for the island.  Nothin' fancy.  The service is generally good if they aren't crowded - with the same wait staff I've had since I first start going.  When they are crowded...prepare to wait for any attention, they get spread a little thin (raise your hand and signal a coffee refill).  Today, it's quiet on South Padre and there were only a few other customers...the service was great!

This is the second time I've been there in the past week - school's back in session and I have some morning freedom. (yay!)  Last week I had their Texas-sized breakfast taco.  The tortilla is  bigger than a dinner plate - it is HUGE and toasted on the griddle.  I had egg, bacon, cheese, and avocado with their homemade salsa slathered all over it.  I'm careful about the slathering - some days the salsa burns the Hades out of this white girl's tender mouth!  Their salsa is cooked and is served warm most of the time.  The taco comes with egg - anything more is an additional charge.  I generally can't eat the whole thing.... but I never seem to order their regular size breakfast tacos. 

Today, I had my sister Sheryl's favorite item - the fresh fruit, yogurt, and granola parfait.  Served in an old fashioned ice cream soda glass, it is a fabulous concoction of seasonal fresh fruit (cantaloupe, watermelon, apples, red and green grapes, and strawberries were in there today), plain yogurt, and a great crunchy granola with occasional bites of chewy dried blueberries and currants.  That, with a cup of coffee, is a great meal.  Today, because I was hungry, I ordered a side of bacon.  Yum....love bacon.  Their order was 3 pieces of crispy and tasty bacon.  The entire meal, with coffee, was $10 and some change. 

They have a daily special for both breakfast and lunch - in the $4-$6 range.  Today's breakfast special was 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, and 2 pieces of sausage or bacon - slightly over $4.  Lunch special today was chicken fried steak.  The only lunch I've had was their Enchilada Plate - basic cheese enchiladas, beans, rice, a tortilla, and more of that homemade salsa.  It was good, basic food for a good price.  My other companions, or myself, have had the huevos rancheros (muy caliente!), huge bowl of oatmeal with toast, pancakes, basic eggs and bacon, and tasty omelets.  The only thing none of us liked time and again, are the grilled biscuits.  They've been burned, returned for a different one, and the replacements dark brown.  I am unfamiliar with the practice of open-face griddled biscuits.  I'd like to stay unfamiliar with the practice.  Biscuits should be fluffy in my opinion. 

To summarize....diner fare with a nod to the border proximity by including many Tex-Mex menu selections.

I like that the owner is there every day that I've ever been.  He always offers a friendly wave and hello once he recognizes you as a local.  Grapevine Cafe is not haute cuisine - nor is it traditional island fare.  However, if you want a decent cup of coffee, fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice when it is in season, and a low cost but plentiful breakfast or lunch...this is a good choice.

SPI FLIP FLOP FOODIE RATING:
3 – Pretty Yummy - I feel my flip flops wanting to head back from time to time!