We arrived at noon on a Sunday and got a table right away for a party of 6. The service was fast and friendly! The hit of the table was the blackened Sea Bass fish! Po-Boy and plate style, with yummy crispy fries. The picky eater of the group said his chicken strips were good and the price was very reasonable. Looks like a bit of a hole in the wall (but that is truly a compliment - as hole in the wall's typically have the best food!) The restaurant was clean and the staff was friendly.
Overall it was a good visit. The food tasted great and the waitress we had was wonderful. My only complaint was the billing system. Me and my battle buddy went in with our family and we were a party of 6. They charged me and him $11 extra for a large party even though it was two separate checks. I didn't notice until I had paid. Was a good experience just check your bill before paying.
Food was good. Service was great. Where we are disappointed was the amount of food from a “large” to a “medium” was minimal. Several of us ordered medium dishes and one ordered a large. There was almost no difference between the two, yet a difference in price. Medium fish and shrimp dish had 3 fish 4 shrimp. The large Fish, Oyster, Shrimp had the same amount of fish and shrimp and a few oysters added. Next complaint was our drinks “Painkillers”- which is why we come!! The drinks were served in small disposable cups - not the larger reusable ones we have come to know. But also was missing the sugary coconut rim!! We inquired why this was different? And were told they were out of coconut. Bummer! Not sure we will keep Al’s in our tradition of SPI adventures after this visit.
Dirty Al's in South Padre Island needs no help with my review..but i simply must share to people not from our area...and let them know...for the money...there simply isn't a better bargain for fresh made to order seafood ...PERIOD!!THE ambience is always poppin..and the restaurant has outside seating facing the laguna madre waters!! Simply something to behold after 8pm..any month of the Year!!I guarantee you will love it..or I'll eat and pay for the shrimp u didn't like ???I had blackened fish tacos n ball n chain had blackened fish steak(if thats even a word ?)Mike
Great portion sizes, fresh food, and friendly staff. You can't go wrong with the seafood botana and fried mushrooms. My favorite place for seafood on South Padre Island!We got the oysters, appetizer sampler, Rockefeller oysters, grilled shrimp **highly recommend**, and the seafood botana with a substitution of half onion rings and half blackened fish. Everything was incredible and perfectly cooked. I cannot reccomend this place enough!
After a week on Soth Padre, this place is our nominee: "best deal on the isl for blackened fish & fries. The large plate make a good lunch for two (at our age anyway). Staff are friendly; service is quick.
We’ve dined here before during previous vacations. Our experience this time around didn’t match our prior outings. Perhaps staffing issues were to blame. We enjoyed our combo appetizers but were so-so on our dinner entrees. I ordered the combo basket of shrimp & chicken — they brought me fish & chicken — it wasn’t worth pushing back since they were short staffed so I kept the basket — the fried fish was good but the chicken was average — perhaps they use the same oils & fryers. Our server was friendly and did his best to keep up the extra demands of double coverage. One curious note — I ordered a Corona which was delivered to the table with a heavily salted rim (bottle no glass) this was a first for me so I tried it anyway. Located on the bayside south of the bridge tucked between fishing tour boats…. Not the same views one finds at locations on the bay farther north on the island.
I had the grilled red snapper. Well it was very very good I was more impressed with the green beans lol. Overall the food was amazing I did take my food to go because it was 8:30 and they were closing at 9:00 p.m. So I can't tell you much about the atmosphere although it looked very inviting. The staff was very helpful and accommodating the first time I went and the second time I went even more so. Yes it was so good that in the three days that I was there I went twice! They are a little pricey, but in the end I decided they were worth it. If you're in the market for fresh fish this is the place to go.
My family has been here before but this was my first time eating at this restaurant. One of us had called ahead of time to see if we could place a reservation but they said they weren’t doing reservations and that the wait line was short anyways. The guy on the phone was super nice and he was even nicer when we finally got to the restaurant. We arrived for dinner and the wait was 10-15 minutes but they have a shop you can look at and we spent time chatting with the friendly staff and looking at the menu. We were seated at nice tables by the windows; the view was beautiful! The worst part? Apparently they have no oysters right now because they are too expensive so some of us were left with the craving but our food was good. We ordered a couple of platters that fed about 4 people each and we were a group of 8. A couple of people ordered burgers too. The best part? Did I mention that the staff was friendly, cause they sure were!
The food was the best we had our entire trip and most all was good but this was the absolute best! From oysters to fish and kids meals all was great - the atmosphere and service were exceptional. Some great people!