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Friday, November 19, 1999
The Shrimp House
Appearances are deceiving at 'warm,' 'cozy' Port A spot
The Shrimp House's exterior provides few clues about what you'll find inside.
Green paint peels from the outside walls, and a pink and blue sign outside the tiny restaurant states simply: "Shrimp House." A chalkboard says the place opens at 5 p.m., yet on a recent visit that was more like 5:10 p.m. or so.
But another exterior sign, a flashing neon banner announcing fried shrimp and beer, lured us inside. And we're glad it did.
While the outside is a little unkempt and ragged, the inside is clean, warm and cozy. Walking inside the front door is like entering a house, with a small foyer opening into the main eating area.
Individually lit artwork hangs on the white stucco walls of the primary dining room that only has room for about five wooden tables. Bottle openers are attached to the end of each table, and multi-colored Christmas lights around the A-frame ceiling add a warmness to the low-level lighting.
Built-in bookshelves on one wall hold a few knick-knacks and add to the comfortable feel. Or you can head out back to a screened-in porch, where diners sit at picnic tables and enjoy the gulf breeze.
The menu is simple, but well done, and offers grilled and fried shrimp, oysters and the catch of the day, along with fish, oyster or chicken sandwiches. We started with cool peel-'em shrimp, which came with crackers and traditional seafood sauce.
A satisfying salad of green leaf lettuce, tomatoes and onion came next with only a choice of ranch or Italian dressing. Like all of the food here, the salad was served on disposable plates with plastic utensils.
The grilled catch of the day - in this case, drum - was moist and tender. This thick slab of grilled fish was the size of a good steak and equally as filling. Served with wild rice and grilled zucchini, this dish was quite tasty.
But our favorite, by far, is the fried shrimp, which is unlike any we've ever had. The coating on these huge butterfly shrimp was like a light chicken-fried steak batter, crunchy and not too greasy.
Our side order of cole slaw, made mostly of purple cabbage and with a slight oniony flavor, complemented the meal well. Along with the well-seasoned curly fries, this meal was well worth the $9.95 price.
Service was good, with our waitress being efficient and friendly, but unobtrusive enough to let us enjoy our meal.
Port Aransas has its share of seafood spots, and we've sampled a number of them. We rank the Shrimp House as one of the best, particularly for fried shrimp.
The Shrimp House
315 S. Alister, Port Aransas
(361) 749-7595
Entrees: $4.95-$9.95
Hours: Open 5 p.m. daily
Beer and wine
Credit cards: No
Food: ** 1/2
Atmosphere: ** 1/2
Service: **
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