The joy of a summer day in Port Aransas can often be elevated to pure bliss with the right meal, especially while vacationing here, and we at Sandcastle Condominiums want to be your guide to good taste. Port Aransas may be more known for its world class beaches than our world class restaurants, but we hope to change all that, showing our guests, and the world, the best of our culinary landscape. This guide to the must-try summer eats you can devour during your Port A adventures will bring you joy, just as our Texas retreats will bring you comfort! Read all about the best places to eat in Port Aransas this summer!
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Turn up the Heat with Jalapeño Cheddar Bites at Lelo’s Island Bar, 212 Beach Street
Let’s start this conversation with a starter, the Jalapeño Cheddar Bites you will devour at Lelo’s Island Bar. Created with cheddar cheese and diced jalapeños and then breaded in potato flakes, we’re not going to try and convince you this snack is low calorie, but it is so addictive you won’t even try to count the extra calories. Besides, you are on vacation, you have starved yourself for months to fit into that new bikini, now the pressure is off and you can relax, and eat all you like of these tasty bites!
Sweet Breakfast Moments are Made with Pancakes at Coach’s Island Grill, 505 N Allister Street
Pancakes bring thoughts of lazy Saturday mornings spent watching cartoons and staying in your pajamas until noon, but to get the best pancakes in town, you should probably put on some shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops and head over to Coach’s Island Grill. Light, fluffy, and taking up the entire plate, guests can choose between regular buttermilk pancakes or pay a little extra and add blueberries, strawberries, chocolate, or sprinkles. We say go for the sprinkles. Vacation life deserves sprinkles!
Barbacoa Taco Tuesday at Cancun Grill & Cantina, 1023 Texas Highway 361
Tacos are fast becoming America’s favorite handheld, leaving burgers and hot dogs in the dust, and if you come to Port Aransas and you don’t experience Tex-Mex, specifically, the Barbacoa Tacos offered by Cancun Grill & Cantina, can you really say you have been to Texas? Well, you could, but your Texas trip of a lifetime wouldn’t be as delicious without one of these classic tacos!
Eat Your Pizza Like a Pirate at the Gaff, 323 Beach Street
We are all guilty of taking life too seriously at times, but when biting into a slice of the “world famous” Gaffer pizza from the Gaff, you will find it hard to be serious about anything but the food. Their pizza is a cheesy, gooey, flavorful blend of wonderful, but as you sit at a picnic table on a patio with a sea-and-pirate-themed mural painted over brick, or at a table inside, surrounded by all things pirate, your smile will be brighter, your heart will feel light, and all seriousness will fly out the window.
Binging at the Buffet of the Butter Churn, 1275 TX-75 in Aransas Pass
This next adventure in dining takes you on a little bit of a road trip, but we promise it is totally worth the extra miles you will have to travel, especially as you get to experience a ferry ride! In any case, we didn’t choose one signature dish for you to try at this wonderful restaurant simply because the entire buffet of home-cooked Southern delights deserves to be sampled. This buffet doesn’t offer over-salted, over-processed dishes with no soul, and as you bite into the crispy crust of a fried chicken leg, sample the lasagna that tastes as if your Italian Nana was back in the kitchen preparing the “gravy”, or treat your tastebuds to your favorite berry cobbler, you may be tempted to check the kitchen to see if your granny really is back there cooking, but no worries. We checked, she’s not!
Just Roll With it With the Rollin’ Tide Boil Co, 321 On the Beach Drive
You may feel it a little strange that we haven’t mentioned fresh, sweet seafood as of yet, but that is because we have been saving our favorite feast for last. Every beach vacation should offer at least one bonfire on the beach, one magical meal of fresh seafood, and the options to play cornhole in the sand and Rollin’ Tide Boil Co offers that entire trifecta of wonderful. All you need to do is show up, choose the colorful Adirondack chair that will bring you joy, put your game face on, and then devour all the goodness of a traditional shrimp & crab boil.
Feast on a Family Recipe at Home with Sandcastle Condominiums
Although the crab boil is sure to take top ranking in the meals you remember fondest, puttering around our fully equipped kitchens, tossing together a family favorite, will run a close second. Reserve your favorite Sandcastle Condominiums sanctuary today!
