FINS Grill & Icehouse — Restaurant in Port Aransas

This experience was atrocious. We brought our own fresh fish that we caught, for them to cook. Although we learned from other people in the area that Fins cooked your catches, we called ahead to be sure anyway. They confirmed that they did but, they failed to tell us on the phone that the fillets needed to be completely cleaned of all scales and bones before we got there (our guide already did most of the work but, one side still needed to be removed.) They handed my husband a pathetic knife and a plate and pretty much said get after it. My husband then went outside to someone on a boat and paid them to clean the fish for us with better knives. We ordered the island nachos and when we got them, they were a bunch of crumbs. We had to ask for better chips to actually have "nachos". We chose how we wanted our fish cooked and told our server that we wanted the Drum fish to be cooked "garlic" (panko breaded), which was my son's very first fish that he ever caught so, we wanted him to enjoy it too and and we wanted the Redfish to be cooked "blackened". We ordered some gumbo to try and it was disgusting. The spices were very off in it (and my husband is Cajun so, he knows his gumbo) When we got our meals, they waited until halfway through the meal to bring us plates and no one stopped for us to even ask, they messed up our fish, one fillet of each fish was of each flavor we ordered. Our server tried to lie and tell us that the cooks made it right when I know for certain whose fish was whose because my redfish was much larger than my son's drum and I had been staring at them since yesterday, excited to "enjoy" them. She then tried to tell me "well maybe they cut them", no they didn't because the width of each are still the same. I expressed how upset I was about them messing up my son's first fish that he ever caught and she gave me attitude. I told her to get us another server. She then rushed to go grab the check and had someone else take over. She was much more pleasant but didn't know anything that had happened. The "garlic" fish was bland and had hardly any flavor at all, along with the broccoli. the melted butter that they gave us to put on our fish for "flavor", tasted like it was unsalted. We never received refills and my son didn't get a drink to begin with. Overall, the food and the service was TERRIBLE. The way the server acted was like she either didn't have kids or like I didn't have a reason to be upset for my son. Either she didn't understand, she was just that rude or, just because it was an ordinary day for her, it had to be for us to. Afterall, WE chose you to cook HIS FIRST fish. We don't live here so, this was a big deal and we have had much better food at other places in the area. We'll never...

May 2025 We haven't been to Port A for two years due to medical issues. Those were the first two years we missed in 20 years. Fins was always a goto restaurant for us. Not in 2025. The calamari had to be frozen, unsure, but it was really tough with no flavor. My mahi with gumbo sauce - 1/4" thick fish, tiny, with a brown gumbo sauce that had exactly one piece of okra and one shrimp. Sheesh. The shrimp poboy was okay. Not sure what happened.

June 2022 We vote our meal this week the best in 15 years visiting Port A. We had a great server lady who was fast and attentive. The calamari were cooked nicely with a tasty marinara sauce. The salad was the bomb. There were so many components and textures, with a emulsified raspberry sauce (not tart) and with perfectly grilled shrimp. Just fantastic. And the mahi mahi fish tacos, oh my. They were amazing and I don't think we have had fish tacos taste so good anywhere in the country. Just perfect. We had to finished with a nice and lime tart key lime pie - cold and tasty. I asked for the manager just to tell her how impressed we were with the presentation and quality of the food. Fins has kicked it up a notch and are better than last year. So happy for Port A to have this place. Good job. Posted new pictures.

June 2021 5 stars We went to Fins for the first time. We have been going to Port Aransas yearly for 15 years but never stopped by this restaurant. The restaurant was packed, so we opted for the quick seating out back on the wharf. It was breezy and a bit chilly that day with weather in the 50s. I had a great time with my high school son chillin, and watching the boats come and go. It took 10 minutes to get noticed by a server. No big deal. I think the server was new. We ordered iced tea, calamari appetizer, side salads, blackened snapper on rice with coleslaw and fried shrimp poboy. The tea, check. The calamari with marinara sauce was cooked perfectly and was very tasty. Our side salads were very large and the ingredients were fresh, not wilting and no black spots. Our server brought our main course before we finished our appetizers and salads. So we had a table full of food. The snapper was great on rice. It was cooked just right. The close slaw was a bit small in a paper cup. The shrimp poboy was devoured by my son. The shrimp were not small popcorn sized, but not jumbo either. When we asked for the check, it took another 10 minutes - he was new. Overall, great experience for us and the food was tasty. We...

This is our second winter to come to Finns for All You Can Eat Shrimp. We are always a large group when we come and we have gathered for shrimp several times each year. This time was different. We arrived 45 minutes early and asked to be put on the list for a large table. We have done this in the past without a problem. We were told we would have to wait 30 minutes and then come back to ask again. We also learned they were out of carbonation so there would not be any draft beer or soft drinks that evening. The front bar was not open and we had to go to the back bar outside to order. We came back to the counter at 4:43, two minutes early, and asked if we could sign up for our table a couple of minutes early. We were told someone else now had the large table reserved and we would have to wait for them to finish. We were offered a table outside in a dark area (not on the lighted back deck) that was dirty and had litter. We said we would wait. All you Can Eat Shrimp started at 5:00. An hour later we were sitting out front still waiting while everyone else was seated, eating, and some were finished and leaving. New customers arrived and were seated. Then the hostess came out and tried to convince us to sit at the dark table. We declined because it was getting chilly outside and we wanted to eat inside. One of our party went in and said we were willing to sit at separate tables if needed. She was told they couldn't do that because we had already asked for one large table. Two hours after All You can Eat Shrimp started we were seated. We sat 4 minutes before a waiter came to take drink orders. We were served in small bowls rather than plates. The Shrimp came by twice, then we didn't see anyone come near our table for a long time. Most of us ordered water since we had 2 hours of waiting to enjoy other beverages. We were not offered water or tea refills until the bill was brought to the table. One of us had to get up and ask for someone to bring us shrimp. In total, I was at the restaurant for 4 hours. The restaurant was not full during the time, and after 5:30, no one was waiting for a table except us. They did allow us to split the bill, but a 20% gratuity was added on each bill. It was our last meal together as a group this winter and Finns...