Pier 99 Restaurant

Reviews 4

KA

KandicePie4u

We stopped here after reading an online article that Pier 99 was one of the best seafood places in Texas. Cant say we felt that to be true. The day we went, there were very few customers in the place. Couldnt tell if the woman who sat us was bothered by us expecting to be seated or maybe it was her very first day and she was just clueless. We sat out back to get a cool view of the Lexington. We waited for the server..... He only spoke to us to take our order then was hardly seen after that. There were several feral cats circling around the tables. We ordered fried cheese sticks. They came reasonably quick. Then we waited and waited..... Husband walked our daughter inside so she could use the bathrooms. He said the place was real gross in the indoor dining area. The workers were just standing around and the tables were full of leftover food and dishes. My daughter said the bathroom was nasty and needed to be cleaned up. The rest of the food came served by a different person who didnt know the order and didnt even know if he brought all the food out. The food was average at best. Husband and daughter are allergic to shrimp and most of the seafood dishes listed shrimp included one way or another. Not a problem, they ended up ordering steak, med rare. One was overcooked and tough as a boot, the other was med rare. I was there to have seafood so I ordered the crab legs. They were ok. The shells were real weak and the crab stuck to the shells which is a sign of overcooking. The provided crab cracker would only bend the shells and the only other utensils provided were a regular dinner fork and butter knife. The fork was handy but I felt bad that it looked like it had been through a tornado after being used to open crab legs. We never received any drink refills and my husband had to go find someone to ask for the check and a box because I insisted that my daughter take the rest of her uneaten food. I started inside to wash my hands in the bathroom and then a waitress offered some hand wipes. We ended up leaving that steak in the hotel fridge because no one would eat it. Not sure what someone else might see in this place but we were not impressed and given the chance for a do-over we would go anywhere else.

AL

All that Jazz

This sucks to write. Im a local whos been eating here for more than 20yrs at this point, so many fond memories. Great view of the Lex and North Shore, sun, wind, the smell of the ocean. Evenings during the fall are even more awesome, when the fog rolls in you can really tell why they call the Lex the Blue Ghost. The great view combined with the good food was always a win win for us. Sadly, the views not enough to make up for the food anymore :( TBH the quality of the food has dropped in recent years. Portions got smaller, stuff disappeared from the menu, and the flavor of the food has been lackluster. Its not been enough to stop us going entirely but weve def been going less and less. Yesterday might have been the last time i think. The service was good as usual, tourist seasons not quite in full swing yet(theres a lull between spring break and summer seasons) so we were seated and served fairly fast. Our waitress was attentive and friendly. The food we were brought, on the other hand, was not. We got a boil for 2 and calamari to split between the 3 of us, pretty much what we get every time. And the food come out FAST. Unsurprisingly fast once we realized the shrimp was extremely UNDERCOOKED and the crab was STILL FROZEN. The staff were polite and understanding and had the food remade. Happily the second time around the crab was fully cooked, the shrimp... not so much. At that point we were just ready to be done with it so we just rolled with it and didnt eat the shrimp. Also, this was a platter for 2 and there were only 2 very small potatoes, usually theres 4 or 6 at least. And the whole thing was extremely under seasoned, the potatoes didnt even taste like there had been any salt in the pot at all let alone any sort of seafood seasoning.The crab and shrimp had a little sprinkled on top tasted like there where boiled in straight water and nothing else. Id like to reiterate that the wait staff and manager on duty were def trying to make our visit more pleasant in general and i have no complaints about them. That cook though needs to be fired before they poison someone with damn near raw seafood >:(

A

A Private User

If I could give this place a negative star I would. The only thing nice I have to say was the live music wasnt bad. We were very hungry when we went so ordered the appatizer sampler. It had onion rings, jalapeño poppers and cheese sticks- everything tasted the same- greasy and bland. That made us very worried for the fried food we had ordered for our dinner. It took forever for our food and when we got it- it was horrible. It is criminal to serve frozen fish when u are a restaurant on the coast! The fish was like jerky and when I told the server she said "oh, they probably over cooked it", like it happens all of the time. The fried oysters were like fried pieces of chewing gum, and the shrimp had big veins in it. My shrimp scampis shrimp were like little pieces of rubber that tasted like the bait I had used to fish the day before. The broccoli was wilted And mushy- and there was at least an inch of butter at the bottom of my bowl. The crab cake had very little "crab" in it- which was actually not crab at all. When I asked the server if the fish was frozen before hand- she admitted that it was-but she defended her crab cakes as having real crab in them-and got extremely rude when I asked about them. She did take my scampi and refunded me the price- there was no way I could have choked that down- but even with that gone our check was near $50- I could have had fresher sea food for much less at long John silvers. This was by far the most disappointing- overpriced meal I have had in a very long time. If you are like us- and looking for a good seafood meal at the coast- do not waste your money at this restaurant.

LI

Lisa Averill

The staff was very friendly, but I found the portions versus pricing extremely lacking. "Atmosphere" if you want to call it that -- does not satisfy hunger. If I pay $15 (which I did) and still feel unsatisfied "full feeling-wise", I will likely not return. This was the case for Pier 99. My friend from out of town raved about it prior, but not afterwards. On this particular Saturday, it was sadly wanting. Also, I dont like a scad of french fries as filler to a pricey dish. I know these things. The cole slaw fit into a tiny container as did the cocktail sauce and "tartar sauce". There was one teeny, tiny hush puppy as well. Unimpressive as well. It just felt ... well, chintzy. The waitstaff was fine, the seating so-so, the mimosa disappointingly small for the cost incurred, and the Fish & Shrimp Dinner ordered left MUCH to be desired. The flavor was non-existent, there was an excessive amount of french fries to "compensate", the coleslaw inedible, and the fish filets equally dull to the palate. I did enjoy the company of three or so cats that wandered around the outdoor seating area we were at -- but then learned they will be "removed" at some point...too bad. They were the best part of the entire experience and only part of the visit which was one of the few things that solicited a smile from me or my friend. I also ordered "Turtle Chips" which were tasteless as well. Overall, unimpressed. Oh, by the way, one must ask detailed directions to the restroom as well. Sigh.