Yardarm Restaurant — Restaurant in Corpus Christi

We took a weekend trip to Corpus to celebrate my partner's birthday, and on Saturday night, I wore 4" wood-soled heels and a beautiful dress to his birthday dinner. We found this place on Yelp, checked out the website, and decided to give it a shot.

Walking hand in hand through the way too small asphalt parking lot, thinking about talking a barefoot, beachy, post-dinner stroll, a small piece of gravel popped beneath my shoe, and my right ankle buckled, leaving me, at the mercy of Gravity, to land square on my left knee, and try with all my might not to wail in pain like a wounded toddler. My partner helped me stand, and held my hand as I limped up the ramp out front, and the host, who I suspect was also the restaurant manager, held open the front door for us, with a mild greeting. He asked if we had a reservation, and not knowing we'd needed one, we told him we didn't. He looked at my face, trying desperately to remain calm and pleasant (in an effort to trick my brain into thinking I wasn't in excrutiating pain), and said he's see if they could accomodate us. It turns out they had an open tabke immediately, just around the corner, and he led us to sit. We asked for an ice pack, and when e was confused, I flashed him my bleeding knee and explained that my clumsy ass had eaten asphalt in the way in. He immediately brought a fantasticly full and seal ziplock bag of ice, and even offered a paper towel soaked with hydrogen peroxide to briefly clean my wound. I was exceedingly grateful.

We order an appetizer of... Okay, I was just beginning to silently sob, and I don't remember what it was, but I remember taking a bite and remarking how scrumptious it was. Next came the bread course (yummy carbs, and salted butter!), then our soup course (gazpacho and clam chowder - Fresh clam chowder, y'all!), and then a run of the mill salad which we barely touched, before our entreés made it to the table. (For those counting, we're at Four Courses - this was about the time we realized we'd stumbled upon a fine dining establishment.) Both tasted delicious, and our lovely conversation had to pause so we could enjoy the flavors and textures of this very well prepared meal.

There were 2 complaints: A sharper knife, instead of the cheap serrated one we got, would have preserved the texture of the rare tuna steak, and enhanced the mouth feel and overall experience. The pasta was a little over cooked, so there was a soggy texture to it, which didn't serve the shrimp and sauce well at all. This was the main reason I didn't finish the dish. The flavors worked well, but the texture just got worse as the dish cooled.

Most of the cocktails were of the martini variety, so he ordered something pomegranatey and I had a margarita. We were both satisfied with our drinks, but they weren't anything worth writing Google about.

We were offered dessert, but couldn't imagine eating another course, so we declined.

In the end, it was a romantic dinner interupted by moments of intense pain as my nerves realized the damage I'd done, but because of great staff, a relaxed atmosphere, and a water front view through the giant windows, where we watched the sun set, we still had a lovely time. The check was well into triple digits which didn't seem appropriate for the atmosphere or quality of the details (how cramped the table were, the furniture itself, stemwear, tableware, napkins, the AC vent that dripped on my shoulder, etc.) but wasn't worth stewing over.

I probably won't return on future visits to Corpus, but I'm glad I did it once.

In other news, it's been more than 2 weeks and my knee is still sore and slightly scarred, and I had to replace the phone because my clutzy fall resulted in not just a shattered screen, but a damaged display - there was no fixing that. All's well that ends...

There are definitely pros and cons here. The pros are a shorter list so let’s start there. The owners are very friendly. The wait staff is happy to serve and you can tell they’re hustling but they just don’t have enough people bc the smallest things take FOREVER. Overall service was great. Aside from how hard it is to hear and how loud you have to talk, the atmosphere really is pretty awesome. If it was easier to talk to each other I could have hung out for a few hours.

Now to the cons. I have never, EVER left a restaurant in my entire life feeling more ripped off. I was absolutely floored when I got my bill. There are some average type prices for good seafood on the menu. $26 for chicken plate, $30 something for shrimp plate, etc. We were read the specials and, as a normal person would with specials, you assume they’re going to be similar prices or better. So we go ahead and order the tuna plate and the salmon plate. We start with an appetizer calamari (14$) and get the dinkiest kids sized plate of it after about 30 min. It was probably 10-15 small pieces. So consider that almost a buck a bite for something that tastes like anyone else’s. Next we get our soup. It was good but nothing special. Bread was also brought out and was fine but just plain nothing, probably $1 HEB French loaf plus “butter” that’s just yellow oil. Then the salad comes. It’s the smallest little nothing with a couple mixed greens and two cucumbers and a carrot slice. You could get an HEB bagged salad for $3 and make twice as much as they give you. Next comes the meal an hour later. The tuna was so heavily crusted with peppercorn it was almost inedible. You get about 6 green beans and a literal 1/8th cup of mashed potatoes. This plate ended up being FIFTY FIVE DOLLARS (as the “special”!). My wife got her salmon and it was quite delicious but the “black bean and corn salsa” was honestly about 6 kernels of corn and two individual black beans (I wish I was joking). She also got the infants sized green beans and a mashed potato ball that was about what you’ve expect size wise if it had accidentally fallen onto the plate. This was FOURTY TWO DOLLARS. I could not believe it. Two “specials” plus an appetizer for $119 bucks. I was scared to ask for a to go box bc it might have been $25 for it lol. It really sucks how bad they rip you off here bc the atmosphere and people are great but holy moly I have never left a restaurant more ticked off than I did there....

First and foremost, the service at this place is second to none, imo. Been twice over three last 3 months and had two different female servers. Both servers were excellent! The ambiance is awesome as well. One of the last old-school places still around. Tons of history and character in there. Romantic, charming place as well.

The complaint I have is with the price of the specials. Last nite my g-friend ordered the red snapper special. I didn't even ask for the price when she ordered, because that question always insulates, 'you cheapskate'. We got the bill and her fish was $55?! I cldn't believe it. Here we are, steps from the bay/ocean, where the snapper is readily caught and available, and they wanna charge $55. No way....

We go to New Orleans often, considered by many as the top seafood town in the US. The highest rated restaurant in NO, Commanders Palace, dsn't charge more than $40 for any of their fish dishes. Neither does Clancy's, another NO institution. Therefore, neither should Yardarm. Shame on them for that..(And btw, the red snapper special was just ok).

That said, the shrimp Dejonge at Yardarm is such an interesting, incredible dish imo. The homemade crab cakes are great as well. I will def go back just for those.

Therefore I wld recommend this restaurant, but my advice is to not order...