Henrietta's Bayfront Restaurant — Restaurant in South Padre Island

Henrietta’s Bayfront looks like fine dining, but what came out of the kitchen was an insult to the craft. I’d rather they charged me for the view and let me bring my own dinner.

We were seated first at a table jammed against a pillar that blocked the sunset — the one selling point of the room. It took five minutes before anyone even came by so we could ask to be moved. That kind of delay when the dining room isn’t even full should have been the first warning.

The food confirmed it. The coconut butter turmeric mussels were completely unsalted, a rookie mistake. The roasted beef bone marrow came with two massive bones and one pathetic sliver of bread — not even a full grocery-store slice — leaving most of it inedible. We asked for more bread. It never came.

Drinks? A disaster. My son’s lemonade showed up first, my wife’s wine arrived 45 minutes after ordering, and my Coke Zero didn’t come until after the appetizers were finished. At this point the service theme was obvious: slow, disorganized, and indifferent.

Soups were no better. My short rib French onion soup was cloyingly sweet and again under-salted. The mushroom soup the same. The raw oysters arrived with them, plopped on a bed of melted ice that looked like it had been sitting under a heat lamp. When oysters are sweating on a puddle instead of resting on ice, that’s not just bad presentation — it’s unsafe.

Then came the entrée, and the night hit bottom. My wife ordered a filet mignon rare. It arrived medium-well, maybe medium at best if you squinted. The chimichurri was oversalted, and the $57 steak was so butchered she didn’t eat a single bite. I tried it. I left it too. Between the two of us, the entire plate sat untouched.

When we told the waiter, he offered to take it back, but we knew another 30–60 minutes would pass if we did. The real failure? No manager ever came by. Instead, we got a token offer of free dessert. That’s not how a serious restaurant handles a $57 mistake. That’s how a diner covers for burnt toast.

Henrietta’s Bayfront is all shine with no substance: a gorgeous space fronting a kitchen and staff that aren’t ready for prime time. Bland food, botched seasoning, overcooked steak, melted ice on raw oysters, glacial service, and a management team that hides instead of owning mistakes.

At these prices, this isn’t a “new restaurant finding its legs.” It’s a betrayal of what fine...

My boyfriend and I went to this restaurant for the first time this past Sunday on Labor Day weekend. We were so excited to try this new restaurant and we called repeatedly to see if we can make a reservation and we left a voicemail and we never got a call back. We went ahead and still proceeded to drive to the restaurant to try it out and as soon as we arrived, we asked if there was any tables available and The host said we are completely booked, but we do have a nice bar top. We didn’t mind sitting at the bar, but the restaurant was nearly empty with a few tables that were completely full. There was only one bartender and then another bartender came a little later and It took five minutes for someone to acknowledge us at the bar so that we can get menus and order drinks and appetizers. We placed our drink order and my boyfriend got his drink really quick and mine never came to come to me and the bartender mixed up the orders and served my drink to another customer. I understand that short staffing can happen, but unfortunately, since it was just me and my boyfriend and one other couple at the bar top, it took a long time to be served. I never received my drink order and I finally said to my boyfriend let’s leave. This is terrible service. I understand short staffing can happen, but it was terrible service. There should’ve been no excuse as to why we were not being served promptly. It would have been nice to be checked on every now and then just to assure us that our drinks and our appetizer were arriving. If somebody would’ve answered their phones or at least, give us a call back to notify us that the restaurant was fully booked we would’ve eaten somewhere else gladly. As my boyfriend and I were leaving the restaurant, the host or manager didn’t ask us if everything was OK and why we were leaving so soon. The host at the front she was wearing white and had this Smug Look on her face and I thought that was very disrespectful and didn’t ask us What was the matter with the service. We will not be returning to this restaurant ever. Your Restaurant...

Was very excited to try a new place on SPI. Overall, great if you want a cocktail in a beautiful setting, that's about it though. *Decor and Ambiance were great. *Drinks were diverse and delicious. *Complimentary bread and compound butter was delicious. Appetizers *Shrimp cocktail - shrimp were dry and overall bland. *Mussels - overcooked until the mussel flesh had exploded. Dish had zero salt/pepper seasoning. Just coconut water with turmeric. Absolutely disgusting. When queried, was told recipe included no salt. *Mushroom truffle soup- served lukewarm, was mediocre. *Beef short rib bourguignon - was served luke warm. Meat was a bit dry. Mash was tasty but dry. Green beans were nice. *Ribeye steak. Cooked to right temp. Lacking seasoning. Chimichurri potatoes had no seasoning and chimichurri just on the side. Bland mixed vegetables, same as every standard place on the island. Dessert No actual menu but was told slab of pineapple cake or strawberry cake or a tiramisu. Everything sounded so heavy and stodgy we decided to pass.

When asked about recommendations were told ceviche and the tacos. Pretty surprised considering the variety of other menu options.

$220 later (mussels deducted and only had 1 beer and 1 glass of wine) assessment was that it was style over substance. The overall temperatures of food, overall lack of appropriate seasoning (no salt or pepper on the tables despite offering unseasoned dishes), high prices, inexperienced wait staff asking if we were done with our food every 5mins (made us feel like we needed to give up our table asap). Very disappointed and would not recommend. For the prices paid, highly recommend you go to F&B instead where the price point is supported by an excellent chef serving the highest quality ingredients perfectly...