Island Italian Restaurant

Always one of the places we've had on the list, we finally said "this saturday" and make the trip across the intracoastal. We're not beach-heads so this is officially out of the way for us. Everyone we know says this is one of the best for good italian food. Our visit was for lunch time on Saturday. I know they have live entertainment...but not while we were customers.So, is it? We both ordered mushroom chicken so speaking about different dishes is out. But for what we ordered, we both enjoyed the dish. Very thin slices of chicken in a bowl of noodles with a lot of mushroom in tasty but subtle sauce. I was rather famished so I finished mine...not a trace left of salad or pasta. :-)The server was on point...not too frequent, not leaving us hanging. The atmosphere is "island chic" and there's enough screens around for those wanting to keep up on the game or animal planet (??) as they enjoy their food.I didn't ask anyone directly, but I recall that the lease is up at the end of this year, so what's going to happen after...I can't say. But I hope it's not a long transition to a new location. The food is worth the trip.

Friendly, welcoming place. Can't really tell from the outside but it's a nice hole in a wall type place. Food was delicious. Family visited from New York, and they loved the Chicken Parm Sandwiches. I got a Reuben Sandwich, and the kids got a pepperoni pizza. Meat on the reuben was a bit chewy/fatty, but nonetheless had great flavor!!The mermaid water drinks were pretty tasty as well. Nice kick of alcohol!

Unfortunately haven't had the opportunity to dine here in a couple on months. While residing in Flour Bluff we dined here regularly. Always enjoyed having a beer with the owner "Tag), long time deceased. However, wonderful selection of Italian meals and definitely recommend the antipasto, escargot, white cheese pizza, surf & Coop and of course their homemade Tiramisu. Maybe, just not all at once...

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.

We have been taking home Island Italian restaurant food since 2020... Covid times. The food has been absolutely consistent and delicious. It's not fancy food. It's just solid "home cooking." Like really, I feel like I'm having food at somebody's house. And no matter what I order, I need the house made dressing... so good! I haven't eaten in the restaurant, but when we call, they are always kind and polite and they recognize us as "regulars." I love that they acknowledge that we return time after time. When we pick up, it sounds loud and bustling, which can be fun, but we prefer to eat at home for a more quiet, intimate atmosphere. I recommend this for the solid, satisfying menu and I just love that it's a family run place. We have never been disappointed..

Busy Italian restaurant on the island. Food was delicious and portions are big. Very laid back atmosphere. It's kind of loud because of the business. We didn't have a reservation but it's highly recommended.

Look. As an honorary Italian, I should have known. I have no doubt this place rocks a good pizza and beer combo. Maybe even lasagna. But don't assume that just because you're by the ocean and the genre is Italian with a bunch of good reviews that it's gonna be like you're back in Venice.Feel free to file this under "haters gotta hate" but you've gotta have standards, right?When on the island, most don't expect authentic or even up-market Italian food however based on the review strength on Yelp I entered overly optimistic... My mistake.Came in, wife ordered the veal parmesan and I ordered the "clam linguini." I have to put that in quotes because I don't want anyone to confuse this with "linguini and clams" as I was quickly corrected upon ordering.My optimism was quickly brought back to corpus reality after receiving the salads. The Caesar salads are not Caesar salads but rather regular salads with a plastic tub of Caesar dressing. Et tu brute? Why not just call it a house salad with choice of dressing?The wife's cocktail was highlighter pink. The kind of color you don't bring home to mother. I have no doubts that it'll get you there.Then. The mains themselves.All the pasta was batch/par cooked and is cooked soft. Soft pasta is actually America's preference but I did have hopes of at least receiving an al dente pasta upon request. Boiling fresh noodles shouldn't be that big of a request.The veal parm wasn't horrible but it was oddly thick and juicy. Closer to what you'd expect in a chicken fried pork chop rather than a veal parmesean. Not pounded out and thin.The clam linguine was a bowl of linguini with sautéed chopped clams, herbs, garlic etc on top. I'll admit that I didn't hate the flavor profile but the texture was a bit off and where did those clams come from? Fresh was not claimed and looking back, should have not been expected.Garlic bread? Fugettaboutit. We also got a dessert at my wife's desperate request which met my now low-low expectations so after two bites, my fork retired for the evening. Highlight of the evening was actually the live music. Oh and the service was great. Kudos to the service team -- y'all get five stars.I think given a different set of expectations, maybe I would bump the two stars to a three but I just can't. I honestly would have rather been at the Olive Garden.

One of my all time favs on the island. Also, best chicken wings in Corpus Christi!Friendly staff, nice atmosphere, and reliable food and service. Pizza is pretty dang good too!

Service was amazing. We were greeted walking in & acknowledged walking out. The ambiance is welcoming, family style and the food was amazing! We had pizza, spaghetti with meat sauce, chicken Parmigiana, shrimp with linguini, Caesar salads, and what tasted like rich, homemade deserts (chocolate cake & Oreo cheesecake) No complaints from anyone in party. The bonus of the night was the live music. Stevie Start is very talented!

Average garlic bread. Terrible grilled mahi and broccoli. Clam chowder was tasty but much too heavy. Baked lasagna was good. Kids liked the cheese pizza. To be honest, the kids pizza and fettuccine dish was better than my $25 seafood entree. And it was much too cold in the restaurant. We most likely won't return again as we are not on Padre very often.