The Best Seafood in Corpus Christi

Salt Water Grill

★★★★☆ 4.3 (858) • $$

"Oh yeah,I remember now. Pre Pandemic! Does anyone remember that? I came to the coast in December of 2019 to visit my favorite town in Texas, Port Aransas . There's nothing quite as fulfilling as an empty town and beach. But the only time that's available is the truly " off season "of winter. As I said in my first review,I'd come inland for the day because a bitterly cold front moved thru. I found this place and it was perfect.So,finding myself around lunchtime in Corpus,I remembered. So,I dialed up Salt Water Grill on the Yelponator and headed over. They had maintained strong reviews and Star ratings over the last four years so I knew I was fixing to eat some great seafood. I decided to pull over and phone in my order. Perfect,friendly on the other end took my order expeditiously and said 10 minutes.I arrived in 5, was enthusiastically greeted,paid and off a beverage while waiting. Soon my order was ready and wisked away to a local park where I enjoyed fresh gulf coast fish and seafood .Reasonable prices,great service, comfortable inside vibe, extrodenaire prices for 2024.All's I can say is...Go!"

Snoopy's Pier

★★★★☆ 3.6 (983) • $$

"The food was amazing. The staff was friendly and helpful. They seem to be very family oriented. Definitely check out their ice cream shop next door."

Clear Springs Restaurant

★★★★☆ 4.1 (734) • $$

"Food- 4Service- 4.5Cleanliness- 3.5Overall- 4Waitress was excellent (Elisha?), food was yummy- onion rings bigger than expected for small appetizer, peach cobbler was really good, chicken fried steak was as large, coleslaw probably best, fried oyster and fried catfish worth writing home to mom about."

Paradise Key Dockside Bar & Grill

★★★★☆ 3.6 (808) • $$

"I am out of town with family for the weekend visiting Rockport. At first we were planning to go to another restaurant but noticed Paradise Key Dockside Bar & Grill was right across the way.Walking in the restaurant it was nice and bright since there are nice views of Aransas Bay. There is outdoor seating available.I decided to order the grilled platter which came with mahi mahi, grilled shrimps, crab cake and two sides, I chose the green beans and mac & cheese. The food is solid. I liked the mahi mahi because it is a "meaty" fish if you get what I mean. I did have an option to get blackened shrimp and that was a nice pick too. The crab cake was flavorful. The platter comes with one but it was enough. The mac & cheese did have some breadcrumbs to give it a nice crunchy texture. But one thing that made it a great experience was our server Salina.Salina was very friendly, respectful and welcoming. Very attentive and always checking on us. I was going to ideally give my experience 4.5/5 due to the random fly moving around but Salina's service made jt not too bad. She was soft spoken but provided great customer service throughout. I would like to be back with family. But it is not often we visit Rockport but the experience was pleasant. Besides the fly but it was a minimal inconvenience. You cannot miss the restaurant since it is a nice vibrating yellow color. But thank you again Salina for your work!"

The Blue Clove Seafood Bar and Grill

★★★★☆ 4.2 (520) • $$

"Tried a different seafood restaurant with my family this evening. The Blue Cove has a cozy and relaxed vibe to it. It is great for parties of all sizes. Depending on how busy it is you may seat yourself or wait to be seated. The staff is great! They are friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable.My party was served by Jeremiah. He was knowledgeable about the drink and dinner menus. I went with a his drink and food recommendations. I started off with a margarita on the rocks. For dinner I had a salad to start and then I devoured the local stuffed drum with rice and veggies that he recommended. The crab mixture the drum was stuffed with was okay but the drum was seasoned and cooked to perfection! The veggies were a carrot, squash and zucchini medley cooked with the right amount if garlic.For dessert we all shared a bread pudding with vanilla ice cream. Chef's kiss! I highly recommend this establishment. I would rate this in my top three restaurants to patron in CCTX for seafood!"

Landry's Seafood House

★★★★☆ 3.6 (698) • $$$

"The only sad thing about tonight was we did not capture any pictures of our delicious food. Made a reservation for Christmas Eve and was immediately sat when we came in. Fast service from the kitchen and amazing service fromBailey. We ordered drinks, appetizers, main courses and dessert. Bailey was knowledgeable about the entire menu. We did not have to ask for anything because she asked or brought before we could even want! Restaurant was decorated very nice for the holidays. If you stop in ask for Bailey and try the fried alligator with a side of ranch for the crispy bed of onions and the crawfish etouffee with a little extra spice.Thank you Bailey and Landry's for a great night!"

Fins Grill & Icehouse

★★★☆☆ 3.4 (740) • $$

"Went to dinner and sat on the deck. It was really relaxing. We ordered the Crab Cakes and shared the Fried Shrimp. All of it was really good. Our waiter was awesome. He was super attentive and very friendly. I would recommend it for sure!"

San Juan

★★★★☆ 3.8 (568) • $$

"Again,another place that's been here for decades so that I can drive by! Never looking for Mexican food when in Port Aransas prior,I was open to it today.4 star average with hundreds of reviews,I deemed it safe to test the waters. Always welcome is the seat yourself which is reiterated with any San Juan Employee walking by. Great start.As soon as we sat down the friendly waitress showed up and gave us the menu composed of enough selections for you to pick your top three, changing your mind over and over until the waitress returns and you unexpectedly spit out your third choice.Come on,you know you do that.All in all we enjoyed the food. I'm glad I was in the mood and gave it a try. Next trip I'll give the Mexican breakfast a spin. I have a feeling they sling some mean huevos ranchero.Atmosphere...expected kitchService.... excellent Prices...in lineFood...goodGo!"

Huli Huli Hut

★★★★☆ 3.9 (418) • $$

"Amazing food. Fried fish and shrimp were good and hubbys grilled chicken salad was good but the ranch salad dressing was a bit watery, almost to no taste. There were many tropical drink selections to choose from and the one I had was very good. It wasnt too strong but just right. Fried pickle slices were a nice appetizer choice and they even were fried perfectly. The service was decent, friendly and the atmosphere was casual with a very unique decor. This place is always worth a visit."

Atomic Omelette And Grill

★★★★☆ 3.7 (440) • $$

"This is one of my favorite places to eat! Everyone is so attentive and nice! The food is ALWAYS GREAT! The ambiance is perfect enough to have a convo and there are also plenty of photo ops for your social media!"

Alings Chinese Bistro

★★★★☆ 3.5 (491) • $$

La Playa Mexican Grille

★★★★☆ 3.9 (384) • $$

"If you are in Port Aransas in need of some Mexican food, look no further than La Playa!! This place has it all, Mexican food, Tex Mex, and Mexican-Seafood! They will have your traditional Mexican food, but a lot of the menu is a mixture of these foods with the local seafood! My all time favorite plate is the three seafood enchiladas, with shrimp, crab, and crawfish!! By far the tastiest item on the menu!! Their table-side guacamole is a MUST, it's so fresh and tasty! - the food is a 10/10, which is why I am rating this 5 stars, but the other aspects of this establishment you must look past in order to keep that 5 star rating. - the wait; there are NO reservations, so you must arrive at the restaurant (only one person in your party) between 3:45-4:00, In order to get your name on the "list", because when they open at doors at around 4:55 your entire party must be present when they call out the names to be seated. This time is extremely early to be ready for dinner, so you kind of have to revolve your whole day around getting ready for dinner so early. But, I'm okay with this earliness because the food is so good!! - The service; usually the service would be a 10/10 for me, because in previous times we've eaten here we had the delight of being seated and served by Susan, the best waitress I have ever had the pleasure of being served by!! She is the sweetest, kindest, most attentive person I have ever been hosted by, and she calls everyone things like "darlin", "young lady", and "sugar"! She's amazing at recommending items on the menu and constantly refills your chips and salsa!! But this past time I went, we were served by Adam. Don't get me wrong, he was an okay server, but he just wasnt as good as Susan. He talked in a very monotone voice, as he listed the daily specials he made nothing sound appealing because all of his words kind of merged into one long drowsy sentence. Every time chips or waters were refilled he would never grab the bowl or glass and fill it up away from the table, but rather he would happen to reach over my head to fill waters across the table and refill the chips. Pretty annoying! And I'm not sure if it was him or the kitchen, but it took about an hour for our main plates to arrive, which didn't make sense because all of the tables seated next to us at the same time we're packing up to-go boxes and leaving! Your experience at La Playa will definitely be made-or-broken depending on who you are served by! - one last thing is the payment: CASH ONLY! we did not know this our first time, but thankfully they have an ATM inside the restaurant! Just something to think about prior to arriving! - The bar is great! They have probably the most extensive selection of tequila (over 75 different bottles) in probably a 300 mile radius! They have probably 6 bottles of Clase Azul, so take advantage of that!! Also, parking is super tight, you will have a better chance of getting a spot at the baseball field 100 ft down the street than at the restaurant, so just find what you can! - All in All, this place is very good, so don't let the payments or severs alter your amazing Mexican Seafood dining experience!!"

Pier 99

★★★☆☆ 2.8 (727) • $$

"Great view of ocean with live music and friendly staff. Had a great time and also had some drinks."

Babin's Seafood House

★★★★☆ 3.7 (411) • $$

"If you have not had lunch at Babin's, it's definitely worth a look.My wife had the $12 blackened chicken and loved it. I had the crawfish half and half, which was offered as a special with red snapper bites instead of fried crawfish tails. The crawfish étouffée was delicious, and the fried snapper bites were excellent. Add a side of dirty rice, and this was a very enjoyable meal.Landry's has a rewards club called "Landry's Select". We signed up for it a week prior at Saltgrass. Basically, we paid $25 to get setup, then received $50 in credits to use right away. So we cashed-in one of the rewards with our meal. If you like the Landry's restaurants, ask your server to get setup.All in all, for lunch we spent about $15 per person for a quality meal (drinks brought it closer to $20 per person). Not bad at all!"

Adobe Cafe

★★★★☆ 4.2 (318) • $$

"Perfect place to fill your belly after a long day of water activities in the Texas heat! The margaritas are PEREFECT. Everything you're looking for in a frozen margarita. Or if you choose, get a huge mug of draft beer to wash down your chips. Now I'm not one to get food that isn't the type of cuisine of the restaurant, however, my husband tested the chicken fried steak topped with Queso and pico, and both of us agree, it's the best chicken fried steak we've ever had. And that's saying a lot coming from two home-grown Texans. The batter is so perfectly light and crispy, steak tender, and the jalepenos on top add the perfect kick. My quesadillas and enchilada were perfectly satisfying, and overall, we left with me complaining I ate too much. When in New Braunfels, eat at Adobe Cafe."

Butter Churn

★★★★★ 4.5 (274) • $$

"Such a fun, lively restaurant with good food and friendly service. The inside is decorated like a western town. There's several stations to get buffet items such as bbq, veggies, salad, dessert, and sides. The food tastes fresh and good and the staff seems to be checking and refilling it all the time. It's also a very busy place - we went on a weekend for lunch! The prices was super reasonable. They also have hilarious Christian tshirts for sale. Such a fun place that I know I'll visit again."

Kirby's Steakhouse

★★★★☆ 4 (320) • $$$$

"Took my parents here for dinner because I wanted to treat them out. The food here was absolutely phenomenal. We ordered the 8oz and 10oz medium-rare filet mignon and the steak was cooked to perfection. The meat was so tender that it basically melts in your mouth. The baked potato was to die for. We also got the lobster risotto, which was one of the creamiest risotto I ever had. Great infusion of lobster flavor as well. They also did not cop out on the amount of lobster in the risotto. We finished the dinner off with pecan pie along with cinnamon and vanilla ice cream. My mom also ordered the seafood salad and let's just say they were also very generous with the portion of seafood in her salad. Overall, each dish was pricy (but reasonable for a mid upper scale steakhouse), but the portion sizes were excellent. I highly recommend this place if you are looking for a upper scale dinner relative to what you normally eat. Parking was super easy. The restaurant is located in a parking lot with plenty of parking spaces."

Castaway's Seafood & Grill

★★★☆☆ 3.2 (488) • $$

"The first thing to know is that It's not easy to get in here in the evening on weekends. We waited almost 30 mins outside and then got a seat at the bar and ended up eating there because we were settled by the time out table was ready.The bartender was nice and busy but served us well once we got the attention. The food was nice and so was the beer. The bar area is nice to sit and the tables inside are nice too.The food took a while coming out and I hoped for a larger portion looking at the prices but it tasted nice."

Tip Top Cafe

★★★☆☆ 3.1 (491) • $$

"First time here so here goes all the good news first. We were looking for an old style lunch diner with comfort food. We would definitely come back. There were a few flaws but not enough to scratch this place off of our foodie road trip list. It's very clean, the decor is simple diner style, the staff is super friendly and efficient, the portions are huge, and the prices are very reasonable. It's a typical fairly limited diner lunch menu with daily specials (can you believe liver and onions - haven't seen that in years), and the ingredients for the most part were fresh done old school style. The roast beef was a REAL roast cooked in the oven for hours - so tender it just fell apart on your fork. I could eat that every day. The chicken fried steak was from scratch as were the amazing thick sliced huge onion rings. Almost every table had them. The breading for both looked like it had a little cornmeal mixed in. The gravy for the CFS was not the typical cream gravy. More on that later. The dinner salad was the usual diner salad but so crispy fresh and cold. The chunky thick blue cheese dressing looked and tasted like scratch made. The fluffy dinner rolls are made every morning and so are the scratch pies. You have to wait til the pies cool enough to slice. Some are a mile high. So there were a few minor issues but not enough to keep us from coming back when we're in San Antonio. First and foremost, the coffee was weak. That's a crime at a diner, and another customer was ticked off, but oh well. This isn't a coffeehouse. Overall, the food lacked salt. I'm ok with that because I'm cutting back and prefer to add more if needed, but some people want their food seasoned during cooking. Here, it's all very flat from lack of salt (except the salty packaged brown gravy mix on the roast). That included the bland thin yellow gravy that is served under the CFS. Never saw that before, but it kept the steak batter crispy. The mashed potatoes were a huge disappointment, the main reason for the 4 stars. To me and other diners at the table next to us, they were horrible. They were straight up russet potatoes mashed plain as if they just baked then smashed into a hard, dry lump that looked like it was scooped out of a big pan - no salt, milk, seasoning, or butter - just pure literal solid mashed potatoes. But the worst thing was the cold roast beef on the open face sandwich. The next table over's was cold, too. We sent it back to be microwaved, and then it was hot. And still delicious enough to order every day. Even so, with such a shortage of good diners serving comfort food these days, we were happy to find this place, and we will be back. We'll just avoid the pitfalls we learned from this trip."

Catfish Charlie's

★★★★☆ 4 (288) • $$

"Hush puppies were excellent (the highlight of our meal) and the service was good. Chicken Fried Steak met but didn't exceed expectations. The Bayou Teche Shrimp on rice sorely disappointed and resembled watery gumbo out of a can. If we ever returned, I'd want to try the red beans and rice with ham or fried catfish or shrimp."

Rock & Rolls Sushi Lounge

★★★★☆ 4.1 (274) • $$

"yeah!!!I know youseems like rock and roll is theme. I love rock and roll.What do I wantanything!!!!yeah.love it good"

Niko's Steakhouse

★★★☆☆ 3.3 (404) • $$

"Terrific food, I have been coming here since I was a young boy with my family and now bring business clients. Not only great steak but also great salads, appetizers and the staff is beyond wonderful. Great experience."

Costa Sur Wok & Ceviche Bar

★★★★☆ 3.7 (308) • $$

"My fiance and I decided to try this place out on date night. At first we were a little discouraged on the wait time for a table since it was on a Saturday night but man was the food worth the wait! We ordered the arroz chaufa (peruvian fried rice) and ceviche mixto (mixed ceviche) which was plenty for 2 people. This is the closest restaurant we have found that offers authentic Peruvian ceviche which left our palate watering since our last trip to Lima and that actually uses the limo peppers for their dishes. Thank you it was a great experience since we live in San Antonio. We will definitely be back on our next drive to CC."

Seahorse Bar & Grill

★★★★☆ 3.5 (318) • $$

"We chose the Seahorse for our dinner our first night in Surfside. We were seated quickly and after a few minutes our adorable waitress, Hailey, took our order. She knew the menu very well and was so sweet and helpful. My husband ordered the coconut shrimp and I ordered grilled shrimp tacos with a side salad. The food arrived quickly and was delicious! The jalapeño ranch on the salad was awesome! I could have eaten it with a straw! My shrimp tacos were great, especially theMango salsa! My husband loved his coconut shrimp. So crunchy and the sweet and sour sauce was perfect. The shrimp was so fresh! Loved the classic music they were playing and, of course, the view of the ocean rounded out our perfect dinner!"

Grumbles Seafood

★★★★☆ 3.5 (310) • $$

"I loved walking in to a clean and more modern establishment. You wait in line to order but it wasn't long and bonus, you can order a drink at the bar while in line! The Piña colada was one of the best I've had. And the food was great!"

U & I Steak and Seafood Restaurant

★★★☆☆ 3.4 (310) • $$

"This is one of our favorite places to eat when we visit Corpus Christi Texas. Today we ordered off the regular menu (not lunch or breakfast) so the price was a little on the high side but the food was great! The wife and I shared some fried shrimp and Maryland crab cakes which were both delicious! We had the best waitress, Elaine I believe was her name, and she was from Greece which made her personality perfect for the occasion. The restaurant itself isn't fancy but it is clean and tidy with nice restrooms and easy parking. I strongly recommend eating at this establishment and enjoying some great cooking!"

Dry Dock Oyster Bar

★★★☆☆ 3.1 (363) • $$

"The half shell raw oysters were so delicious and fresh!!! My friend and I had literally 24! 2Dozen !!! of oysters!!! Service at the time we went ,kinda went right at closing time ,the man was pretty amazing! and we sat outside ONLY TWO PEOPLE! It was fun! totally recommend!"

Palenque Grill Loop 20

★★★★☆ 4.1 (201) • $$

"The salsas and sauces are original and delicious! Huge portion (enough for two more meals.) Nice environment with friendly servers."

Island Italian Restaurant

★★★★☆ 3.8 (228) • $$

"I currently live in Austin, but anytime I come to the beach I make a stop at Island Italian. The atmosphere and the food are 10/10. They often have local live music which adds even more to the experience. My personal favorites are the Italian salad with their in house made dressing (highly recommend grabbing some to go) , the pizza rolls, and a cannoli martini. The staff are so warm and friendly. I can't recommend this place enough."

Yardarm Restaurant

★★★★☆ 3.7 (229) • $$$

"Food was excellent! Service, wonderful! Met the owner and he was so nice and so friendly! Fine dining at a very casual place. It's cozy, it's eclectic, and just really good food. Don't expect that quality of food at this place. Don't judge a book by its cover! Saw many comments about "run down" or "saw cats outside" like so what. The quality of ingredients and the servers and the experience are well worth it....in my opinion, anyway!"

Yola Cocina Mexicana

★★★★☆ 4.2 (172) • $$

"A lovely setting! I had the enfrijolados, and as someone who's half Costa Rican, I eat vegetarian beans, and these were flavorful. They also have beans with pork if you prefer (which I unfortunately tasted on my first trip despite specifically asking for vegetarian beans--make sure to repeat yourself if you have dietary preferences). Their rice also contains chicken stock, so keep that in mind too if you're vegetarian. I decided to give this restaurant a second chance and I'm glad I did because the staff is genuinely kind. However, I had to lower the number of stars for service because serving someone meat after they very specifically request vegetarian food is bad service. While my first meal which I didn't eat completely once I found the pork bacon - was comped, I don't want a free meal--I want my food prepared correctly, and I want the restaurant to pay attention to all requests, whether for allergies or other dietary needs. You know why? Getting a meal right isn't just a courtesy--it's essential, especially if someone has an allergy. If honoring requests is too much, restaurants should be upfront instead of serving food incorrectly. Todo bien. We can eat elsewhere. I gave them a 2nd chance and my meal was prepared vegetarian - that was nice - thank you! I must tell you they serve an interesting tres leches cake - the first I've ever had with NO leche! It's more of a DRY tres leches cake with no condensed milk sauce, just whipped cream served alongside it. It's paired with warm pineapple and strawberries. I enjoyed it dry, and it's certainly a lighter option with fewer calories. See my picture for reference. The staff is nice both over the phone and in person. If you believe in supporting local as I do - YOLA is an option."

Palenque Grill La Plaza Mall

★★★★☆ 3.9 (177) • $$

"Having eaten at the location in Laredo a few times, I was eager to eat at this spot during May 2024. This establishment is located inside the Las Palmas shopping mall. We sat at the bar and had some excellent service. We started with their chips, salsas, and dip. The standard setup is some smoky red salsa along with a bean dip - the beans have somewhat of a chorizo flavor to them and are absolutely delicious. I recommend asking for their avocado salsa to have, as well. That magic green sauce, though. I had my usual order of Enchiladas Callejeras, which were amazing as always. They enchiladas are stuffed well with Mexican cheese, and heavily topped with the same. It gets a little loud in here as the place fills up with mall shoppers and kids, but it still would be nice enough for a date night. It is a bit more elegant inside than most mall restaurants. Definitely it is a great place to check out when in the area."

Comal Crawfish Company

★★★★☆ 3.5 (199) • $$

"Food was great and love the choices they have on the menu. Staff was very friendly and nice.The place was spaced well and has outdoor seating. Tables and area was pretty clean. Prices for crawfish was reasonable. I would definitely recommend to family and friends."

La Costa Grill

★★★★☆ 3.9 (154) • $$

"We decided to come in for a late dinner our last evening in town. We said we weren't hungry but then the menu changed our minds! On a Thursday night this place was playing club music and it was definitely an interesting playlist for a casual seafood dinner spot. That said the food was very good and the starter soup that came in the Mason jar was delicious! The shrimp salad I ordered was generous in size and exactly what I needed for a late night dinner. We ended up eating way more than we should have, but it was all very good. Next time I'd like to come for lunch and see what the atmosphere is like in the light of day."

Surfing Crab Cajun Seafood Boil

★★★★☆ 4 (145)

"The seafood boil place was really good! The service was very friendly and very attentive. One seated our server was very helpful very knowledgeable and very kind during our time. The food was delicious (they offer to shake the bag for you to get all the seasonings or they can keep it at the bottom if you prefer). The place is really great for single dining. If you wanna sit at the bar or they have a large tables for families. It is a noisy atmosphere. There is a constant buzz going on, but once the food comes out, everything gets very silent."