Pirate's Landing in Port Isabel

by Hugh Barlow
(Harlingen)

Pirate's Landing is basically a Surf and Turf place with a pirate theme. The outside of the place looks a bit hokey as you drive across the Queen Isabella Causeway (the Island bridge) with pirates and cannons on the roof and walkways of the outside of the building.

Weekday prices are less than weekend and evening prices, but they are much cheaper than the prices usually found on the Island itself. Lunch items generally start at about $7.00 with sandwiches being at the lower end of the price spectrum. They have several excellent "Po Boys" (their name for sandwich) with a number of ingredients.

Pirate's Landing also has an all you can eat special for dinner that is well priced for people with a large appetite. There are varying styles of fish offered (from blackened to fried) and all are served with a choice of sides. My children just love their kid's meals which come with either fish or chicken and waffle fries. The kid's meals are served in little cardboard boats that the boys just adore.

The food is good with usually fair service. Weekends tend to be busier than week days, with evenings busier than lunch. Weekend dinner visits can have you standing outside waiting to enter for as long as half an hour. The interior is as rustic as the exterior, with the tables made of pine planks, and the chairs seeming to be made in the style of metal lawn chairs. As long as you do not mind the atmosphere, you should be able to have a good time.

Pirate's Landing is directly at the foot of the Queen Isabella Causeway, and is close to the lighthouse. It is directly on the Laguna Madre, and shares a parking lot with the fishing pier. There is also some on street parking, but the streets in the area are all one way. To get to the parking area you will have to turn a block away from the Laguna on the far side of the Lighthouse and basically turn around the lot for the Lighthouse. When you see the ice cream store, enter the lot. If there are no places, you will have to make the trip around the Lighthouse again to find parking on the street. Weekends can be difficult to egress from the street servicing the Pirate's Landing since there are often police directing traffic to get people off the Island faster.