Eating: Harrison's Landing

Place: Tavern on the Bay at Harrison's Landing
Location: 108 Peoples St Thead, Corpus Christi, TX

This place is fairly new, located on the T-Head behind the Corpus Christi Yachting Center.  The entire restaurant is located outside on the dock, covered by tents.  They are pet friendly and have a good bar. When I say pet friendly, you're four-legged best friend can join you at your table, and enjoy a nice bowl of water while you enjoy the view of sail boats on the water and the Corpus Christi Skyline.

I've been there a few times, and tend to keep my selections to their seafood menu, though there are several options of American style food if seafood's not your cup of tea. 

To me the idea of being practically on the water (because this place is merely attached to the concrete Thead not a part of it) just calls for a good plate of Coconut Shrimp.  Theirs is served with a delicious cranberry coleslaw and homemade potato chips and a homemade marmalade dipping sauce.  The shrimp are fresh and HUGE! The 4 that you are served are more than enough for lunch or dinner. The fish tacos are also good topped with a spicy sauce and fresh coleslaw.  These tacos are not just a plank of fish wrapped in a tortilla, they are Mahi Mahi cut to size and cooked perfectly.  On that note, the fish sandwich is a little on the plain side.  Though the bun is freshly made, and the fish inside well seasoned, there is a blandness to the whole affair.  Where other options on the menu have delicious, creative sauces (a spicy remoulade sauce, a tangy marmalade sauce, a great aoili) this has a thin tartar sauce on the side. Honestly it's a bit of a let down from a place that takes such great care to make their dishes unique in a city saturated with seafood restaurants.

That being said, for a small place, their services is inconsistent at best. Some days (early afternoon Saturdays, between the lunch and dinner rush) the service is good, others (lunch rush especially) the service couldn't be worse.  I've had experiences where myself and my party have sat ourselves and there was immediately someone there with menus and silverware. Other times, such as my latest visit with my grandma and aunt, we found a place to sit and the waitress and the helper pass us more than once before we were given menus and asked for drink orders.  I wish I could say that it was because there were to many tables and not enough servers, but that's sadly not the case.  I have seen on more than one occasion groups of servers just standing around and patrons looking for some kind of service. 

My verdict is: this is a place for a late weekend lunch when you have time to sit back, order a cocktail, and take your time.

Food: 4 1/2 Starfish
Atmosphere: 3 Starfish