El Barquito Seafood & Tex-Mex — Restaurant in Cut and Shoot

I can sum it up this way. They advertise Market Price on menu, but crab was old and freezer burned. My $50 plate was served with fake butter. Fake Butter!!! I've never heard of fake butter with real crab. But I guess I've never had freezer burned crab at a restaurant before either. I ordered a half pound, but for the first time ever, I left half my crab untouched on my plate.

I asked the server to let the kitchen know that the crab is freezer burned, she agreed to do so, but made no effort to adjust our bill. I didn't specifically ask her to compensate me. But we rarely treat ourselves to dinner and it was incredibly disappointing. As dramatic as it may sound, I felt jipped on my adventure with local Texas cuisine.

We were passing through Texas and this was our one and only experience with Tex Mex or dining at a seafood restaurant in Texas. It's been at least 6 years since I gave a restaurant a negative review. I just think it's deceiving to sell the concept of fresh seafood by listing market prices and then selling old seafood. Then when it was pointed out, there was just a verbal apology, which is somewhat of an admission that it's not fresh. Yet, no offer to adjust our bill. So if you decide to stop in, skip the crab. I don't want anyone else to pay for "fresh and local" and end up with fake and freezer burned.

On a positive note, the Cajun shrimp met our expectations. The cups that the soft drinks are served in are huge and that's kind of fun. The building is shaped like a boat and has a fun themed atmosphere. The service was efficient...

The service was so terrible...we were sat at a booth ( on a Monday @ 5-/+ p.m) and there were 2 other patrons at the bar hopes were high! It took them forever to take our drink orders (patrons at the bar not so unfortunate) then 2 others come in and boom they were seated and served promptly! We ordered another beer and watched as the 4 at the bar were served up right away! THIS WAS OUR FIRST TIME TO EAT HERE! 😭😭😭😭 Such a disappointment to be treated rudely just because the employees think you won't tip ( I always give at LEAST 20% of check CASH) and im not bragging I was a server myself and my daughter is a server! What happened to courteous service and kindness? People screaming about AI take overs should be aware that this is the very reason the threat is there! I will not be back, leave a $1.00 tip with the reason printed on it, and tell everyone I encounter about my experience! I feel guilty for asking for my fiancee to bring me here 😭 and the food was delicious too bad this has been the 4th time for this to happen! We are not that couple we joke and talk to the people taking care of us but I've been thinking of going full blown can I speak...

The rice was hard the fish was burnt the boom boom shrimp was really good but walking out spending 100.00 with no alcoholic beverages and not being able to eat the food was ridiculous. The Mgr and what looked like workers hanging at the bar drinking.... this place needs Jon Taffer and Bar Rescue. It's new but won't be open long. We have heard nothing but bad things from friends and family we have started to go here several times and passed it up due to what we have heard. We finally decided to go see for ourselves...the appetizer was great and we were thinking ok this is not going to be bad. My husband ordered crab, sausage and sides and it did not look fresh boiled at all. My grilled fish tacos were so burnt I literally left there hungry. I didn't want to send it back due to the atmosphere with the employees. Hopefully they will read this review, as a business owner reviews are damaging or they are a chance for a business to see from a customer point of view. Your menu looks great if you pull together the quality/freshness of food and get your staff off the bar you would/could have great place...