South Texas Road Trip Guide – Where to Eat in Rockport
Evening Dining – Includes Fulton and Aransas Pass
Bellino’s Italian Restaurant. Bellino’s is a great place to enjoy a traditional favorite or to try something special for the first time. You can play it safe with Fettuccini Alfredo, but we recommend the Grouper Siciliano or Cheese Ravioli Pistachio. Most people have been to a lot of Italian restaurants, but a number of reviewers named Bellino’s their all time favorite.
495 Chesapeake Eats. Savvy diners ask locals where to eat. In Rockport, many in the service industry recommend 495 Chesapeake Eats. The menu is “Chesapeake Bay style”. For seafood lovers, one of the biggest disappointments at a seafood restaurant is a crab cake that is more breading than crab. Reviewers praise the crabcakes here for being full of crab and delicious. Try the Baked Flounder with Creamy Risotto or the Shrimp and Scallop Macaroni and Cheese.
Charlotte Plummer. Locals praise the fresh local seafood and bay views. Start with the bacon wrapped shrimp and crab tower. Recommended entrees include the Crab Cakes (not overly breaded), Stuffed Flounder, and Large Shrimp Platter. If you need a break from rich “travel food”, try the Seafood Cobb Salad. Ask for a seat upstairs for the best water views. We don’t usually get a lot of to go orders when we travel, but a number of reviewers praised the care taken by the Charlotte Plummer staff takes with them – accuracy, condiments, packaging, and presentation.
Paradise Key Dockside Bar and Grill. When you are on vacation, ambiance counts for a lot. When we are on the coast, we are looking for waterfront dining. Paradise Key delivers. Reviewers recommend the Soft Shell Crab with Green Beans, the Crab Tower, and the Blackened Mahi Mahi Tower. This is a fresh seafood town, but the steaks are also highly praised by diners.
Mickey’s Bar and Grill Aransas Pass. When you are vacationing on the shore, waterfront dining is part of the attraction. Mickey’s Bar and Grill is right next to a bait ramp, so you’ll see a steady stream of flats boats and bay boats cruising by. Don’t be surprised if a couple tie up for a meal. My wife enjoyed the grilled shrimp. One of my son’s had the fried shrimp and the other had the shrimp po-boy. The only dud was my order, the ham and cheese sandwich. Why did I order a ham and cheese sandwich at a waterfront seafood restaurant? I don’t know. Please don’t repeat my mistake unless you are craving low end ham and cheese on low end white bread. Lesson learned. The service was very good and the other meals were excellent.
Blue Water Cowboy in Port Aransas. The view from the 3rd floor is excellent. You can see across downtown all the way to the surf. We ordered off the lunch menu. Three of us had shrimp po-boys. They were smaller than we are used to in Southeast Texas, but no one left hungry. Each had four large shrimp. Each sandwich was anchored by a small dollop of the Blue Water Cowboy’s signature mashed potatoes. Unusual, but everyone seemed okay with it. The French fries were battered, which my youngest son really likes. My father-in-law had the hamburger steak with mashed potatoes, and he really enjoyed it.
We hope you enjoyed today’s Texas Road Trip Guide.
Stay tuned for more information on visiting Texas beaches, mountains, historic sites, and restaurants.
