Dirty Al’s Restaurant

Wonderful seafood. Very fresh and cooked to perfection. Blackened fish was flavorful but not over-​seasoned. My wife had fried fish and it too was perfectly cooked — not too heavy. Really good!!!

The caboose was pretty cool.
But the menu was somewhat limited to fried and blackened things. Mom was hoping for a baked something but was disappointed there.
The food was good, though all fried, and we split an appetizer combo and a large fish & shrimp between 3 of us. Plenty of food and the cost was not unreasonable. Still, too much fried food for my liking, but with mom not liking the «blackened» spices, you had no other choice.
Wait staff was polite. Appetizers were quick to come out.

Its was actually one of the few places here that had good food. Definitely a find. We had the whole fish, oysters and collars. Everything was good. Was glad that we found a decent place to eat. Their seasoning is hella good. In hindsight I should have bought some to take home.

Walk in and the first thing that hits you is the smell of freshly boiled shrimp. Best tasting shrimp on the island. Most of the fish selections are fried, but its all good. Great lunch spot. For dinner go to Daddy’s, same menu plus fantastic entrees.

We have been fans of the original Dirty Als in SPI for years. We were a little skeptical that the same taste & quality would transfer to this locations. We have been here a few times and I gotta say that it is spot in. We will come back as long as the doors are open.

My favorite place for shrimp on the island. Always fresh and super good!

Dirty Al’s if the best sea food restaurant in the island. They have very affordable prices, fresh food and good customer service. Shrimp is locally caught, and the food is consistently good. Highly recommend it.
Only draw back is that the drinking water does not seem to be filtered and has an odd taste.

Excellent food! Got here before the rush. Shrimp Po boy and fish tacos were excellent.

Early lunch at Dirty Al’s, a seafood shack right outside of Isla Blanca Park on the tip of the island. It’s on the bayside, with picnic tables and windows overlooking the docks.
The seafood is like any other seafood place — it’s fried. It comes with french fries or a salad (What? No cole slaw?!?) I ordered a salad, the only dressing option is Ranch. The fried shrimp was good — not as spectacular as the location, but it was served hot and that’s the most important thing.

BEST FRIED SHRIMP anywhere near Padre Island. Not the prettiest place but the food is why you go there anyway. The fries are seasoned with something unique– has almost a hint of maple syrup flavor. Sounds strange but really worth a try.

Went on Saturday night this past weekend. The wait was about 30 minutes for a party of 2. Wait was outside the door when we arrived about 7:30 pm.
Negatives
1. Hostess seemed annoyed and was slightly rude.
2. I noticed that the table next to us was not wiped down from one party to another. Luckily I had wipes in my purse and made sure to wipe our table.
3. Bathroom in front was dirty! Filthy actually. And no hand soap.
4. Restaurant could use a good cleaning.
Positives
1. Waitress was friendly and refilled drinks without having to be asked.
2. Food was hot and no complaints.
3. Restaurant was busy but not too loud.
I ordered the seafood basked (9 grilled shrimp with fries). The shrimp were grilled perfectly and nice jumbo size. The meal came with tartar and cocktail sauce. My husband ordered the shrimp, fish, and oyster basket with fries. He seemed to enjoy.

OK so, Dirty Al’s…
We went so that we could enjoy a good meal by the water, but the hostess said that outside seating meant we’d have to order our food in «to go» containers and then seat ourselves accordingly. We thought this was weird, and didn’t particularly feel like getting our food in wasteful packaging, so we had her seat us inside instead. As for that dreaded, wasteful packaging… yeah, it was just as bad inside. Every dish we ordered was delivered on tissue paper, with plastic cutlery. Why?
All of that aside, the food was mostly good. We sampled raw oysters on the half shell, Oysters Rockefeller, cheese fries, shrimp po’ boy, seafood medley po’ boy, jumbo shrimp skewer. The raw oysters were the best, so fresh! Oysters Rockefeller were good, but could’ve used a more delicate touch; I love cheese, but it masked whatever interesting flavors may have been there. The cheese fries did okay here… no fun toppings, but plenty o’ cheese throughout. The po’ boy shrimp had a good snap, but the size, quantity, and batter were disappointing… especially given that their website boasts them having «the world’s best fried shrimp.» It was good, but nothing to write home about. Also, the bun didn’t hold up; it got soggy on the bottom. The jumbo shrimp are no joke though, absolutely huge! Also, the amount of shrimp on the skewers is generous.
I’m conflicted with this one. The food was good, not great. The vibe was kind of like family friendly meets bowling alley bar.

Overall good experience. Atmosphere was typical island «dive». Great for kids in a casual come as you are place.
Had the special, redfish throats and blackened calamari. They would have got 5 stars if they would have cooked it blackened as I asked but it was deep fried. I wasn’t going to argue so I ate it. I’m not a fan of deep fried sea food but the throats were great. Watch the bones. The blackened calamari was tasty and a good compliment to the red fish throats.
All were washed down with cold tap Miller High Life.
I’ll be back for more.

AWESOME Food I Ordered THE Blackened Red Snapper .It WAS Served On A Pizza pan. THE Plate WAS Bigger Than ME. .very good

Initially tried to get into Pier 19 with a group of 18 and told an hour and a half wait– really? Didn’t take reservations and at 6pm sure didn’t seem full. Left there and came over to Dirty Al’s. They took us right in and served us promptly: great boiled shrimp, fried pickles, then onto the entrees. Our group had several different ones and everyone ate well. Service very good and prompt.
Be sure to visit here and don’t waste time at Pier 19!

Overall, I enjoyed my experience here, but would order differently if I came here again. I paid approximately $ 18 for my meal (not including tip), so it wasn’t the cheapest, but it definitely was filling. After 5 pm on Mondays, this place does 50 cent oysters, so I would get that, maybe some calamari, and some fried shrimp to finish my meal.
I came where in a group of 5 at around 5:30 pm on a Monday night after the guy at the front desk of our hotel (clearly a local) told us to come here. It is definitely hit or miss with a lot of their options.
Food: As a group, we ordered the crab fingers and calamari for appetizers. The calamari was decent, but the crab fingers definitely subpar. They did not have much meat, and I ended up chewing some shell multiple times. Personally, I ordered the 6 piece Shrimp and Fish combo along with 6 oysters. The oysters were darn good even at 5:30, and my craving was most certainly satisfied. The combo was okay overall. The shrimp were huge and delicious, but the fish was (like the crab fingers) subpar and smaller than expected.
Service: The service was mediocre and pretty slow. It took us a while to get ordering and such, although we were seated pretty quickly.
Environment: The entire place is pretty beat down, but the restaurant definitely made sure people knew they served seafood with the fish on your left immediately as you walk in. The environment had very little effect on my experience as a whole.

The food here was simple and super yummy! I ordered blackened fish tacos and my hubby ordered fried seafood… their seasoned fries were really good! Everything was so fresh! We can’t wait to come to this place again.

I ordered the half fish half shrimp plate with salad and a stuffed crab. The crab was a little spicy but tasty. My family ordered calamari and mushrooms. Those were also pretty tasty but about average with all of the others I have had. When they brought out my order (about 10 min after apps) they brought it with fries and then proceeded to tell me that I did not order the salad and that if I wanted it they would have to charge me for it or take all of my food back. Fine… I wanted a salad. When I got my salad it was only roman lettuce and 2 tomatoes. Not what I call a salad! The star is definitely the fish. The shrimp was mediocre. I would go back but only order the fish. Oh and FYI, they charge you extra if you ask for more tarter sauce.

Ok– it’s a dive… it didn’t appear any more dirty than any other casual island atmosphere and the staff was sweeping and clearing constantly– you can tell it’s well worn, (maybe mistaken for dirty per other reviews) and its on the water. Smallish fish market as you walk in but lots of fresh good size shrimp, king crab legs, fresh whole redfish and fresh whole flounder. Their special blend of seasoning for anything blackened available for sale also. Then stroll a few more steps to the hostess station. On early Sunday night after Thanksgiving with mass exodus occurring earlier there was no wait… zero, nada, zippo.
We were approached immediately and ordered our beverages. It’s not a very complicated menu and stressed all substitutions are $ 5 …(too discourage I’m sure). We ordered an appetizer of ½# peel and eat shrimp to share. They came to the table on a bed of ice, with lots of fresh lime, soda crackers and cocktail sauce. They were between extra large and huge in size… and were fresh and their shells zipped off easily. They were good. My spouse ordered the broiled fresh fish filets plate and I ordered the freshly caught whole redfish– the side is either a salad (described as lettuce, tomato and ranch dressing only) or French fries. Interesting enough the waiter offered a substitute of onion rings for an up charge of $ 2.50 (lol), anyway I chose salad and spouse chose fries. The waiter checked on us periodically and offered an apology for the wait on the meal but we had expected it would take a bit since I ordered had ordered a whole fish — blackened. Shortly thereafter our order arrived– piping hot and beautiful. A nice sized plate of fish broiled with butter and cooked to the flaky stage… with a pile of delicious looking fries. and then there was my fish– looking up at me– lightly blackened just as requested, taking up half the platter/​plate the other half covered with chopped romaine lettuce and a couple tomato slices and 2 generous portions of ranch dressing. There was also Tartar sauce and cocktail sauce. It was very, very good– just fresh fish lightly spiced and easy to eat, big enough to easily discern bone– I ate thru the top half (really?) including the cheek and gently started lifting and removing the head and then the rest of the skeleton and was left with some chunks of the filet and the salad which I took to snack on later. Overall a great experience. I will say I saw some reviews about the vulgar shirts and so I was prepared and indeed a couple of staff did have them on, but not all of them. I would have to think about how to handle that with children depending on their age and it would likely make me avoid the restaurant despite the 4 star food. Since I was with an adult (Ok– quasi… but he is 65 so supposedly) it worked out for us this time.

I was a little disapointed with my visit here after reading some mixed reviews. I came for the weekend and was hoping to find a restaurant where all the locals go to. They were out of fresh oysters, snapper throats and I had to settle with the small oysters that come from the jars for my fried oyster platter. These things were tiny and I almost thought they were popcorn shrimp, but instead called them popcorn oysters. I could tell they weren’t fresh but I was still craving oysters. I also ordered the grilled shrimp plate. This was a little better and made with their large sized shrimp, not the jumbo ones which I really wanted, but couldn’t fathom paying nearly $ 30/​lb for them, when you only get about 9 on a plate.
Although this restaurant was packed when I arrived, I was able to get a seat within 10 minutes. Thankfully my bill was less than $ 30 and I could leave knowing I didn’t waste too much money here. I probably won’t be back, sorry Dirty Al’s, I just didn’t see anything special with what I ordered.