Going to spend a week in South Padre. I remember Olin saying Josephine's was the place to go for breakfast.

This will be my second year in a row for spending a week down there, considering making it an annual trip. Have a pregnant wife and an 8 year old, so no bars, but just good restaurants and fun.

You are correct about breakfast.

The Palms has a very nice restaurant.

We are also partial to Dirty Al's. I used to love the Sea Ranch, but our last two trips were a let down.

We like doing the beach and lunch at the Wanna Wanna.

Have fun!

That is awesome! Thank you! I didn't know about any of those places. My daughter loves the beach, and for a week I've always been partial to South Padre relative to the other Texas beaches.

Was at Sea Ranch in May, and it was still pretty solid.

The NY bagel place (can't remember the name) was good, but I always have a soft spot for bacon, egg, and cheese on an everything bagel.

If you like Ceviche, go back over the bridge to port Isabel and hit tortugos.

For Italian, meatball Cafe is good.

Thank you AggieOO. That bagel place sounds great, I can't say I've tried a bagel like that but I will.

I'll check out Sea Ranch and the port isabel place also.

I've heard Port Isabel has some shrimp place that is really good, might be Tortugos. won a lot of awards or something.

We had a good meal at Padre Island Brewing. And a nice breakfast at Grapevine Cafe.

Thank you EclipseAg. I will check out those places also,

For Mexican food and seafood tacos Chilitto Pikin

For breakfast try the Grapevine Cafe, if crowded my second choice would be Josephines. For dinner we never miss going to Dirty Al's, he actually owns Josephines as well. Los Tortuga is another good choice in Port Isabel, we actually buy our shrimp and fish there before we get to the condo, after loading up at HEB.

I highly recommend Pirate's Landing in Port Isabel, your 8 year old will love it.

The food is fine, not the best meal you will get but solid, but it's sits right on the pier, which is fun to walk out on. If your timing is right you'll see the Pirate ship go out for it's evening cruise. They usually have a magician roaming the dining room doing magic tricks for tips, tip him, he's really good. The waiting area has parrots. There is an ice cream shop right next to it for dessert. The lighthouse is a block away.

I've been going for fall breaks with my kids and it is always the place they ask to go.

Another plug that your 8 year old will enjoy that we have made a tradition... about halfway down the strip there is an amazing kite shop. They sell kites of every shape, size, color and price. We have made it a habit to go on our first day there and buy a cool kite that we fly on the beach so everyone can find where we are if they get too far down (I have teenagers that we give a little more freedom than your 8 year old will probably have, but they can still wander). It's fun to pick out the kite every year, fun to fly it, and something cool to take home besides a cheesy t-shirt. Sorry, don't recall the name of the shop but I'm sure you can find it if you are interested.

The place you can go to see the sea turtles on the north end of the island is pretty cool. Also, you can park at the convention center right next door and there are awesome boardwalks that go out over the marsh, you'll see tons of cool birds, occasionally an alligator, that's always fun. Also just north of that there is a popular spot for wind surfers, so if they are there that's fun to watch from there.

I also always enjoy driving to the far north end of the island through the sand dunes. There is a zipline park that also has horse back riding about 10 miles past the last hotels and condos on the left, but just driving through the dunes up there is pretty interesting. At times, they will cover parts of the road, and they tower over the top of the car.

And lastly, we always make a point to walk out on the jetty on the south tip of the island (near Sea Ranch). In some years the water is really clear and you can see to the bottom, lots of fish and interesting things. People are always fishing there and it can be impressive what they are hauling in sometimes. Honestly I'd probably be a little nervous with a pregnant wife walking out on the rocks, which can be slippery, but the first part of it is pretty smooth, or maybe you can tuck that away for a return trip.

Wow, Bluecat, I think you planned most of my trip for me. I agree, I enjoy that drive going north of South Padre, some little spot areas have access. But that drive is fun. I remember coming across that place last year with the zip line, which surprised me.

Dang, that Kite shop sounds fantastic too. I remember hearing about that jetty and my daughter is a shell seeker so that sounds like perfect.

I sincerely appreciate all of the responses. They are going to make our trip!

Thank you dg77ag. Will definitely check out those places also.

I think I will need to list out an itinerary, lots of good ideas and suggestions.

Never heard of that place. But I love Mexican food like everyone else. Hard to stop eating mexican food. We will have to try it!

Isabels Cafe in Port Isabel for breakfast.
Sea ranch, dirty als, The brewery, pirates landing. All solid choices

We are here now. I can 2nd Grapevine. Was a great little breakfast spot.

We did the sea turtle place. Kids enjoyed, good place to kill 1-2 hours. There are some sandcastles built up in a parking lot in front of Louie's that kids might like

Wife got coffee at Karma and said it was good

We also went to Lobo Del Mar for sunset. They play the national anthem on bagpipes at sunset. They had live music. Pretty loud for little kids but we had fun.

Yummies Bistro, my opinion, has the best breakfast on the island. My kids enjoyed it very much. Gabriellas has decent italian food. The other recommendations are good. If you enjoy an adult beverage, Driftwood Landing has good happy hour specials and good sunset views. Tequila Sunset is the same, food is okay, sunsets are nice.

I highly recommend Yummies atleast once. Have fun and enjoy the family time.

My friend is a local down there and took us to Yummies this morning. Enjoyed it.

Thank you all! We arrived last night in South Padre. I'm waiting for the rest of the crew to wake up. I have some great choices for breakfast! I'll wake them up pretty soon so we don't miss breakfast,

Going back home tomorrow. Crew is napping so wanted to share a rundown.

I've seen several magicians, and the Krooked hands Johnny at Pirates Landing restaurant is great. Mat Franco is great in Vegas, shin Lum in Vegas is ok, but I liked Franco better,

He did a show for us prior to the pirate cruise this morning, and he was great, the pirate cruise is really for kids 10 and under, but my wife and I enjoyed it too. Saw a few dolphins. I think it is like the dolphin cruise but more fun, they serve frozen drinks on ship too. I wouldn't do it though unless you have a kid with you. We went to the pirates landing restaurant after the cruise and I paid krooked hands Johnny to do some tricks at our table. he is well worth it to go there when he is there.

Tried grapevine cafe the first day, it was too crowded and the wait was too long so went to Josephine's. If you sit at the bar at Josephine's they have a blooper show going on tv, and it makes a fun and great breakfast. Tried yummies and it was good the next day, then went back to Josephine's. There cinnamon roll pancakes are great, very sweet, and the popeye omelet is a great omelet, huevos rancheros is good at Josephine's too.

Did some metal detecting on the beach, found some beer cans, bottle caps, and pull tabs. Nothing exciting but still fun and easy digging,

Liam's restaurant is great for dinner. Chilito Pickens is a great hole in the wall, Mexican food beef tampiquena is as good as it gets. Cafe on the Beach is good too at the Palms restaurant. I think Liam's is a little better with the high end dishes but that is just personal opinion. So many good places in south Padre,

I've been wanting to go to the Kite store, B&S kites, but just haven't had a chance with everything else. Overall great trip. I think next year my daughter will be old enough for the parasailing. Plan to drive north from the city to that park along the dunes. I

Excellent update!

Wyoming said:

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Going back home tomorrow. Crew is napping so wanted to share a rundown.

I've seen several magicians, and the Krooked hands Johnny at Pirates Landing restaurant is great. Mat Franco is great in Vegas, shin Lum in Vegas is ok, but I liked Franco better,

He did a show for us prior to the pirate cruise this morning, and he was great, the pirate cruise is really for kids 10 and under, but my wife and I enjoyed it too. Saw a few dolphins. I think it is like the dolphin cruise but more fun, they serve frozen drinks on ship too. I wouldn't do it though unless you have a kid with you. We went to the pirates landing restaurant after the cruise and I paid krooked hands Johnny to do some tricks at our table. he is well worth it to go there when he is there.

Tried grapevine cafe the first day, it was too crowded and the wait was too long so went to Josephine's. If you sit at the bar at Josephine's they have a blooper show going on tv, and it makes a fun and great breakfast. Tried yummies and it was good the next day, then went back to Josephine's. There cinnamon roll pancakes are great, very sweet, and the popeye omelet is a great omelet, huevos rancheros is good at Josephine's too.

Did some metal detecting on the beach, found some beer cans, bottle caps, and pull tabs. Nothing exciting but still fun and easy digging,

Liam's restaurant is great for dinner. Chilito Pickens is a great hole in the wall, Mexican food beef tampiquena is as good as it gets. Cafe on the Beach is good too at the Palms restaurant. I think Liam's is a little better with the high end dishes but that is just personal opinion. So many good places in south Padre,

I've been wanting to go to the Kite store, B&S kites, but just haven't had a chance with everything else. Overall great trip. I think next year my daughter will be old enough for the parasailing. Plan to drive north from the city to that park along the dunes. I

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Good hear you got around to trying Chilito Pickens. I found out about that place from a local few years back. Ever since always make a point to eat there great little local joint.

Thank you all! It was a great trip

For the last night we walked the jetty, saw most of the sunset. It was a great time, and perfect close to the trip. A lot of the restaurants closed at 9, except a few so we went back to cafe on the beach. That place is really hard to beat. It's quiet, open air to the beach, very good mixed drinks, good deserts. That might be my favorite restaurant even though there might be some better food had at a few of the other places. Plus it's open until 10 saved the night for us. Even had some fireworks tonight next to us.

Looking back on it, krooked hands Johnny at Pirates Landing might be the highlight. We are thinking if we call the restaurant tomorrow, nobody there will know who we are talking about, We suspect he was a spirit there that came to life for us today, at least that is what my daughter is thinking.

I have Mexican food all the time, and chillito Pickens was as good as I've had, We probably never would have went there, but glad we did, and I'm sure we will do a lunch there again next year.

From the area, a few of my favorite places are:
Breakfast: Yummies, Grapevine Cafe and Isabel's (in Port Isabel)
Lunch/Dinner: Blackbeard's, South Padre Brewing Co (mostly for the beer), Sea Ranch, Laguna Bob's and Joe's Oyster Bar (in Port Isabel)

Will be putting Chilitto Pikin on my list next time I go down!

We just got back from a weekend trip down to South Padre and had a great time. We came from The Woodlands so it was about a 6.5 hour drive, but went relatively quickly.

We stayed at an Airbnb not quite on the beach but a quick walk away. It worked out well and was centrally located to everything on the island.


We ate at a few places: Louie's Backyard, Blackbeards, Sea Ranch, and Josephine's.

Louie's Backyard - when we got there all they were serving was their buffet, which we did. The food was alright but we got a table right on the water which was great. Especially since we got there late after driving in so we got to watch the fireworks


Black Beards and Sea Ranch were really good. Those two are definite recommends for anyone that goes and is looking for sea food. My wife and I split the sea food platter at Blackbeards, and she got the seafood enchiladas at Sea Ranch and I got the Red Snapper. All fantastic. Josephine's was also a great breakfast spot that we ended up at twice.

Because it was so hot we spent the mornings and evenings on the beach, and did some touristy stuff in the afternoons.



We walked around the bird and wildlife sanctuary, and fed the tortoises which was fun.




We did a dolphin watch tour, which was definitely a highlight. We saw a ton of dolphins



We also did the sea turtle sanctuary, which was also pretty cool.


Overall a great trip, and would recommend. The drive is a little long but other than that, it's a fun place with great beaches and plenty to do

Awesome! Thanks for circling back and giving us an update.

Wow, fantastic pictures, and well described! Thank you!

Did the rental have an indoor toilet as well?

Haha it took me a second to get it. Fortunately, yes it did

Blackbeards is pretty much "meh," but glad you enjoyed it. I'd say maybe I went on an off-night, but unfortunately, I've been there several times, most recently in May of this year.

I agree on the food being average to ok. The magician was outstanding though at Blackbeards. And its at a good location, with the pier, lighthouse, and other things close by.

You go to blackbeards for a good burger and must have Onion Rings, seafood there's better choices

Wyoming said:

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I agree on the food being average to ok. The magician was outstanding though at Blackbeards. And its at a good location, with the pier, lighthouse, and other things close by.

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Are you thinking of the pirate ship in Port Isabel?

Yep, I was.