Roosevelt's — Restaurant in Port Aransas

Where do I begin? Other than the venue is interesting and the vintage of the location is inspiring, this was one of the worst dining experiences in our lives. We booked our reservations early as we were out for our 34th anniversary. Once we arrived they seated us towards the back, in what we first thought "may" be a quiet and romantic corner. This soon became a nightmare. The table adjacent us, filled with Ivy League big mouths, were rudely loud and obnoxious the whole time we were there. Overtly loud and fake belly laughing and over talking everyone else in the dining room. We could barely hear each other at our table. No one from the staff asked them to tone it down even though the whole restaurant was affected. Now to the meal. Thankfully they had one of our favorite wines on their menu, this was the only redeeming part of our evening. We ordered appetizers consisting of Coconut shrimp ($26.00) and "Jumbo" sea scallops ($34.00). Our main courses were Chicken and Shrimp Involtini ($42.00) and Seared scallops and shrimp ($54.00). The coconut shrimp were overcooked and dry, the dip they came with was slightly redeeming. The "Jumbo" sea scallops were lightly bigger than a bay scallop, most definitely not Jumbo and the sauce they came with was tasteless and non-complimentary. Putting these 3 scallops in this huge plate was even a bigger embarrassment. For the chicken dish, the chicken was OK, the asparagus was boring and the accompanying "bread square" was tough and overcooked. The seared scallop and shrimp dish came with a huge helping of Fettucini, which was glued together with far too much cheese, tasteless alfredo and was not hot, warm at very best. The scallops and shrimp were cooked OK, but very little taste. Regarding the position of our table and in addition to being seated next to overtly rude and obnoxious diners, the door next to us is the door to the washrooms, which are located outside. During our seating time we were constantly disturbed by people coming and going along with the fact that the door closer is not a commercial grade unit and the door closed each time with a very loud bang. And then the proverbial icing on the cake, when we came time to pay our bill, the receipt shows that we need to pay a $9.42 fee to use our credit card.

This whole experience, for two people, for $264.89, before tip?

We eat all over the continent at fine dining establishments and understand quality food, service, ambiance and delivery along with value for your hard earned dollars.

You aren't meeting the bar you have already set too high.

Sidebar, our server was excellent, however we couldn't see fit to tip our usual generous amount, based upon the fails on the meal and...

We dined at Roosevelt's this evening, our last night of an extended stay in Port A for Thanksgiving... I must admit I'm struggling with the star rating here, as some things were great, and others not so great. I decided on the 4-star rating because many of the deficiencies were in the side dishes, not main courses, and Bar 1886 was an awesome end to the evening...

Out of the gate we decided to forego cocktails and get to vino ... a bottle of Honig Sauvignon Blanc was brought and served, temperature perfect ... very reasonably priced in this day and age! We initially paired that with the "Cheesy Garlic Shrimp" appetizer and the special of the day clam chowder.

The chowder was OK, pretty salty for our palates. On the other hand, the cheesy shrimp dish was on point... delicious! Served with toasted bread, we were thinking it may have been better with tortilla chips! In any event, the cheesy shrimp was OMG good... order that! It was huge, so we only finished about one-half!

Our entrees included the seared scallops and shrimp, and the chicken shrimp "Invotini." Both entrees were very good, the shrimp, scallops and chicken were cooked perfectly... YUM! The sides (as noted above) were a bit off... the scalloped potatoes were so heavy on the thyme as to be inedible. The mushroom risotto was salty (common theme), and the asparagus side was undercooked. So, entrees 5-star, sides 3-star.

After dinner we adjourned to the 1886 Bar, which is part of the restaurant. We maybe should have started and finished the evening there? A way cool bar, great vibe, served great appetizers and awesome cocktails. Mostly locals there, great conversations about Port A, and what's good and bad!

If we had started and finished there, the score may have been 5-star. A great couple of cocktails and a "key limon pie" martini finished the evening. Drinks were good, the dessert was OTC (off the charts)! Darn good!

Highly recommend Roosevelt's, but consider stopping in (and maybe eating at) Bar 1886 ... good evening, good...

The atmosphere Roosevelts creates meets its impression and price point. Unfortunately that’a the only thing that matches the price point. The food is cooked well by a talented team that clearly knows what they are doing. The menu has variety and the specials were good. Unfortunately, knowing how to cook and executing it well is about the bare minimum when you’ve got probably an $80-$100 check average.

Some of the creative decisions simply don’t make sense. We bought the bread app for $12 that was just some focaccia with a metric ton of shaved parm on top and 1 dollop of balsamic glaze. Reloook those proportions on this rather dry bread please. Also consider serving with EVVO instead of butter. The flavors were combative nor complimentary. My wife’s steak was fine but she commented that her risotto was just so so and she thought the vegetable medley was frozen which I really hope was not true.

The biggest issue that I can’t get over even days after this dining experience was the Dijon and herb Crusted lamb for $62. I got it with overcooked asparagus (but that’s okay small fluke in other wise well technically executed dinner) and the Savoyarde potatoes. On the potatoes I would not be as proud of that side as Roosevelts seems to be I found it a bit tasteless. On the lamb, it was cooked exactly as I ordered it so again good technical execution but they called it a herb and Dijon crusted rack and there might have been a herb or 2 on there but not “crusted” and the most egregious experience of the whole night - a huge slather of Dijon mustard across my lamb like a $62 hot dog.

I don’t know where the teams head is at, they clearly possess the technical knowledge and ability to cook at the level the restaurant puts forth, but the creative decisions put into the menu are, bluntly, bad.

You guys are...