Dirty Al's - South Padre Island

Dirty Al's in South Padre Island needs no help with my review..but i simply must share to people not from our area...and let them know...for the money...there simply isn't a better bargain for fresh made to order seafood ...PERIOD!! THE ambience is always poppin..and the restaurant has outside seating facing the laguna madre waters!! Simply something to behold after 8pm..any month of the Year!! I guarantee you will love it..or I'll eat and pay for the shrimp u didn't like ??? I had blackened fish tacos n ball n chain had blackened fish steak(if thats even a word ? Mike

The food was very good! I had the fish basket and my kids had the burgers. The crab cake is meh, I wouldn't recommend, not $8 for one. One of the burgers was under cooked, the manager was very polite and apologetic! The bathrooms were a bit dirty! One major issue I had was the bus service. They waited by our table staring at us awkwardly. They cleaned our table without giving us a chance to leave. One of the ladies even SNATCHED the basket from my wife. If it wasent for the other lady with her correcting her I would have. The service needs work, Staff isn't very inviting!! All in all the food is good however I WILL NOT RETURN! Good food isn't enough to excuse rude behavior!

This restaurant offers generous portion sizes, fresh ingredients, and a friendly staff. You definitely should try the seafood botana and fried mushrooms – you won't regret it! It's my top choice for seafood on South Padre Island. We ordered oysters, an appetizer sampler, Rockefeller oysters, and grilled shrimp, all of which I highly recommend, along with the seafood botana where we substituted half the onion rings for half the blackened fish. Everything was outstanding and cooked to perfection. I can't recommend this place highly enough!

Another letdown was our drinks—specifically the Painkillers, which is one of the main reasons we came! They were served in small disposable cups instead of the larger, reusable ones we're used to, and they were missing the sugary coconut rim. When we asked about the change, we were told they were out of coconut. What a disappointment! After this experience, we're not sure if we'll continue to include Al's in our tradition of SPI adventures.

Overall, it was an enjoyable visit. The food was delicious, and our waitress was fantastic. My only issue was with the billing system. My friend and I went in with our families, making a party of six, and we were each charged an extra $11 for being part of a large group, even though we had separate checks. I didn't realize this until after I had paid. It was a great experience overall, but be sure to check your bill before finalizing your payment.