104 THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE • March/April 2018 TheCoastalBend.com and of course the Kitchen Sink. If you make it past the pizza, you might also try a healthy salad, an Italian sub including the awesome Chicken Parm, calzones, and a nice and sweet dessert selection. 14493 S. Padre Island Dr. • (361) 949- 0787 • PadrePizzeria.com • $$ Crawdaddy’s For over twenty years this downtown favorite fed hungry seafood lovers at its old location on Starr St., and recently moved to its new, larger home on Mes- quite St., where the Crawdaddy’s tradi- tion continues, now under the newly energized ownership of Mike Connor. This place is all about fantastic, down- home Louisiana seafood, from fried catfish and shrimp to their famous Cajun seafood boil with crawfish (in season), shrimp, crab, fish, sausage, potatoes and corn—all the great stuff everybody loves. Families love Crawdaddy’s for its casual atmosphere and big portions, and at lunch you can enjoy the best shrimp and oyster po-boys in town. 317 N. Mes- quite St. • (361) 883-5432 • $$$ El Jalisco Grill In a city with over 80 taquerias, it seems that everyone has their favorites, and some are kind of the same as most of the others. That’s not the case at El Jalisco Grill on Ennis Joslin Rd. at SPID, where the traditional Mexican cuisine is among the very best in the city. Here you will find all the favorites, and the quality of the beef used in their asada, fajitas and other dishes is outstanding, and prepared like you expect in a real South Texas home. The owner of El Jalisco Grill carries on a long family tradition of mak- ing folks happy with great food at low prices—but now in a beautiful, new res- taurant space on the fast growing south side, near the burgeoning TAMUCC community. The Mexican seafood here is outstanding and the offering are plenti- ful, as is the menu of sizzling plates like beef, chicken and shrimp fajitas, King Ranch chicken and Shrimp Gratinados! Start your day off right with breakfast at El Jalisco Grill, and you can even ride through the drive-thru in your PJ’s. 1813 Ennis Joslin Rd. at SPID (361) 452-0500 • $$ Texas Mesquite BBQ & Grill Padre Island’s single barbecue joint is owned by two veterans of Corpus Christi’s restaurant industry, manager Debra Foster and chef and pit master Or- lando Quintanilla. By that summer island visitors and residents were enjoying a new menu that not only took the quality of the restaurant’s Texas barbecue to new heights, but also introduced a new layer of gourmet cuisine to the island. Quintanilla learned to appreciate real South Texas cooking growing up on the King Ranch. His skill translates into the delicious, tender and perfectly prepared brisket, ribs, sausage, chicken, turkey and pulled pork that your find at Texas Mesquite. Everything here is homemade, including rubs and sauces that contain the most tasteful and natural ingredients like hand-selected peppers and spices. 14457 S. Padre Island Dr. • (361) 949- 0065 • TexasMesquiteBBQ.com • $$ Laguna Reef Laguna Reef has earned a reputation as a home of culinary creativity and skill with the tender bounty of the sea. For this food snob, crab cakes and whole flounder—each served as occasional specials at Laguna Reef—are the real test for seafood cooking because the chef is dealing with products that fully take on the spices and flavors to which they are exposed, not to mention the complex cleaning and preparation work involved. High quality standards perme- ate to all recipes on the menu, which includes just about every imaginable incarnation of grilled, broiled and fried seafood, many with a Cajun touch. La- guna Reef will cook your freshly caught and cleaned fish filets. Enjoy outdoor dining on beautiful Laguna Madre. 4242 Laguna Shores Rd. @ Bluff’s Landing Marina • (361) 937-2600 • $$$ Texas Mesquite BBQ Laguna Reef