Andy's Kitchen of Corpus Christi

Behold the blueberry muffin!  That's Andy's welcome gratis when you visit his place.  All customers receive a blueberry muffin on the house.  On my first visit, the waitress gave me two!

Andy's kitchen is on Staples off the main north-south freeway that runs to North Padre Island.  Just head east (away from the gulf) on Staples and Andy's will be on the right.  By the way, Andy's Kitchen has been in business for 35 years.  Not too many restaurants last that long.  And come early, there's a crowd.

Bet you didn't believe me when I said two muffins.

Steak & Eggs:

Breakfast steak is just thick enough for them to prepare it your way.  Mine is medium-rare.  Look at the hash browns, they're brown.  Below are Andy's good biscuits.

Cowboy Country-Fried Steak:

Not just a country fried steak, though Andy has that as well.  This is a country fried steak covered with onions, chili, and cheese!  Put that on your plate, vegans.  Oh, and this comes with eggs, hash browns, and biscuits.  You can swap biscuits for toast, but why?

Chorizo & Bean Chalupa:

There is only one other restaurant (Lisa's Taco of SA) where the menu offered a chorizo and bean combination.  It's a deep secret of best Tex-Mex flavor that I have discovered in my travels.  Add cheese and I'm in heaven.  I ordered two chalupas and elected to have an egg on one.  Love them both ways.


Custom Scramble with Custom Hash Browns!

Let me start with the hash browns:  bacon and onions with cheese.  And now for the omelet: sausage, onions, mushrooms, and don't forget the cheese.  Now with a side order of biscuits, and that was a fun breakfast.




Fried Pork Chops:

Note that this plate comes with two fried pork chops, but you can get them grilled as well.  The plate comes with eggs, hashbrowns, and bread (I got the biscuits).  What a great taste!



Andy's Sampler Platter:

Large, but not too large.  This platter comes with eggs any style, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, two sausage paddies, two bacon slices, and a stack of silver dollar pancakes.  Note the bacon is perfectly cooked.  The scrambled eggs are a Tex-Mex scramble where the eggs are lightly beaten.  If you prefer French scramble, then get the eggs fried.  I saved the leftover pancakes for dessert (see below).

McCain's Cafe of Salado, TX

Ummm!  Dark chocolate pie.  McCain owns a bakery in addition to this restaurant.  Both quiche and pies and other baked goods are carted over from the bakery daily.  All other foods are cooked on site.

The website says that there is no other restaurant in Salado with the variety of home-made items as McCain's Cafe and that's true.  I have viewed a dining room filled with regulars and new customers and can tell the difference in how the customers interact with the waitstaff.  The place is located on Main Street which runs parallel with the I-35 frontage road.  Just take the first exit off I-35 you come to and turn on Main.  McCain's will be discretely located on the opposite side of Main as I-35.  If you're traveling from the north, it's located on the left; from the sough, it's an easy right turn.

Thanks to my Salado friend Becky for directing me to this great breakfast cafe.



Red Potatoes with Sausage Gravy:

Seasoned diced red-skin potatoes and this is good!  But not a menu item.  The potatoes came with the burrito breakfast, but I wanted the potatoes on the side.  Then the thought came to me: Why not add a side of sausage gravy.  Becky loved it as did I!  This needs to make the next menu update.



Biscuits with Sausage Gravy:

Look at the chunks of sausage!  Woh!  The biscuit came with the everything omelet so I ordered the sausage gravy for the biscuits.



Everything Omelet:

Cheddar cheese, onions, peppers, diced ham, bacon bits, crumbled sausage, and optional mushrooms.  Optional mushrooms!  No, not an option.  Have to have them.  Bring on the shrooms!  Three eggs and so much stuff inside that the omelet can't close completely.  Now that's an everything omelet.



Eggs Benedict:

Standard eggs bennies with a mild Hollandaise sauce.  Did I say standard?  No, not standard.  These bennies have melted Swiss cheese and does the cheese make a difference.



Breakfast Wrap:

Breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs, cheddar, green onions, and bell peppers.  Standard are the seasoned red skinned potatoes, but I had those on the side.  The wrap is a grilled jalapeno tortilla, burrito size.  This is a really good breakfast!



Migas & Eggs with Sausage:

You can order just migas and eggs, but why when it also comes with sausage.  Two eggs are scrambled with onions, bell peppers, chopped tomatoes, and crispy tortilla strips.  Cheddar cheese is added and I had the sausage upgrade.  This breakfast comes with extra chips instead of bread.  Yes!  My guess is that they make their own salsa which has a rich tomato taste.  


Guatemalan Pancakes:

An extra large pancake has walnuts baked into the batter.  All is topped with ripe bananas, powdered sugar and cinnamon.  Note that this is a small sample of the real thing.  Oh was this so good. 

Coffee:

The large round table at the entrance is reserved for the locals who meander in and out for coffee.  I sat down there by myself my first morning.  One of the waitress there asked how large was my party, obviously getting ready to politely move me to another large table.  I told her I was with Becky.  "Oh, this is her table.  What do you want to drink?"  It's always good to know the right people.



Ms. McCain & the Breakfastbro:

Lynette McCain-Jones poses with the breakfastbro.  A native of Oklahoma, Lynette moved to Salado in 2005.  Her dream was to open a restaurant here and three years later did so.  She now owns a bakery as well, but that's another post.   For more information, go to mccainsbakeryandcafe.com.

Island Cafe in Port Aransas

Look at that melted cheese.  Western omelet at the Island Cafe.

Those of you who visit Port Aransas or Port-A as residents, both full-time and part-time, call it, Island Cafe on Allister Street (TX-361) was one of the first to rebuild.  It's also the easiest to find.  Just follow the main highway, 361 into Port-A and look for the yellow building on the right.  The cafe has a simple breakfast menu with the only exotic item being the shrimp omelet (see several plates below).

Basic Egg Plate:

Here is the the basic egg plate.  Bacon is crisp not burnt.  Grits are thick enough to go on the eggs and that day passed the pepper test.  Small, but tasty biscuits.

Western Omelet:

Typical western omelet: bacon, tomato, peppers, cheese (lots of cheese inside and on top).




Another Basic Egg Plate:

Eggs over-easy with hashbrowns and pan sausage.  Good way to start a day.  Get a side of gravy for your biscuits.  Yes, I like black pepper for breakfast.

House Special: Shrimp Omelet:

This order was a must before I posted the Island Cafe.  Small cooked shrimp with onions and peppers and jack cheese.  I topped it with Tobasco Sauce.

Breakfast Places in Port Aransas

Port Aransas is rebuilding after Hurricane Harvey.  From what I have determined, most of the restaurants there have rebuilt and are opened by now, but not all for breakfast.  Here are some of my favorite breakfast haunts in Port A:


Moby Dick's--------------------------------------------

Egg yolk and green chilis!  Green chilis, like bacon, makes just about anything better.  And you can get this at Moby Dick's in Port Aransas from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Tuesday thru Sunday.  They're closed on Mondays.

To get to Moby Dick's, take TX-361 from North Padre Island in Corpus Christie into Port Aransas.  It will be located on the right.  Or you can take the ferry from Rockport and turn on to Alister Street.  It will be on the left.  This place also serves lunch and dinner.



Texas Benedict:

Moby Dick's does Benedict different: fried eggs over two biscuit halves topped with sausage gravy, green chilis, and cheese.  Doesn't get any more  Texas than this.  I had the similar dish at another restaurant, and they called it Eggs Benedict Arnold.



The Roosevelt-----------------------------------------

Great cottage "homestyle" potatoes at the Roosevelt.  The Roosevelt specializes is gourmet seafood brunch.  But traditional breakfast dishes are served as well.  Brunch is served Friday thru Sunday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Roosevelt is nestled behind the historical Tarpon Inn in Port Aransas.  Just follow the highway into Port Aransas until it dead ends at an all-way stop on Cotter Street.  Turn left and you're there.  If arriving at the port from the ferry, just drive straight down Cotter until you're at the Tarpon Inn.

Oysters Egg Benedict:

The chef lightly dusts oysters and pan fries them.  He serves the oysters on an English muffin under a poached egg.  The dish is covered with a Creole-seasoned Hollandaise sauce.  This dish comes with a side of Roosevelt's cottage potatoes.  This is an eat-slowly, take-small-bites dish.  Savor the flavor.



Island Cafe---------------------------------------

Great western omelet here.  Look at that fresh tomato oozing out of the egg.

This place is being rebuilt so the exterior may change, but it's easy to find.  The Cafe is located on the main drag, Alister Street.

Traditional Egg Dish:

The traditional egg dish includes eggs your way, breakfast meat, choice of bread, potatoes or grits.  I ordered biscuits, crisp bacon, eggs over-easy, and grits.  You can see that the grits here pass the pepper test.



Omelets:

The cafe serves a selection of omelets.  My girl friend Jewell's favorite was the Western Omelet: onions, bell pepper, tomato, cheese, ham.  She ordered a side of the hash browns which was shouting to me for ketchup.

Breakfast Places in Rockport

Rockport is rebuilding after Hurricane Harvey.  Hopefully, my favorite breakfast haunts will reopen soon.  Here are some of them:

JJ's Little Bay Cafe

Like sausage in my biscuit gravy.  JJ's is a neat little mom-n-pop cafe in Rockport Texas with great home cooked breakfasts.  Rockport is a nice little coastal resort town and a great place to dine out for breakfast.  I will be back to Rockport for the food.

To get here, just take TX-35 north from Corpus Christi.  Then select the Business 35 exit when you get to Rockport.  JJ's is just before you get to the coast.  And no, I did not try the pies yet.  JJ's pies are on my bucket list.

Brisket Omelet:

This is their brisket omelet with melted jack, sour cream, peppers-n-onions.  Really good stuff.  The potatoes were crisp.  This is a good breakfast combo.

Jalisco Restaurant

Oh yeah!  And this is not their big burrito!  Look at all of that cheese!  Don't tell my internist that this is what I ordered.

Tx-35 takes you to Rockport.  Cut off to Business 35 and ride on the main street of Rockport until you find Jalisco.  It's on the opposite side as the Gulf.


Beef Fajita Burrito:

This is hog heaven for me, and this is the mid-size burrito.  They make a larger one.  This was custom made for me: beef fajitas stuffed into a burrito and covered with chili con carne and cheese.  Look how much cheese!

Sausage Omelet:

Here's another omelet, sausage, mushroom, and white cheese.  This place has great choices when it comes to omelets.

Rockport Donuts

Rockport Donuts makes great pastries and breakfast sandwiches.  Above is a tray of fritters with cherry on the left and apple on the right.  They use real chunks of fruit in their fritters, and not many bakeries do that anymore.

We found the place on one trip from the camp we rented to town.  Take TX-35 north from Corpus Christi.  When you get to Rockport, just head downtown on Liberty Street where you'll find Rockport Donuts just before getting to the coast.


Breakfast Sandwiches!

This is why I come to Rockport Donuts, not for the pastries, but for the breakfast sandwiches, though the pastries will hold their own.  If you have children or grandchildren, you'll want to get their pastries as well.


Pigs-in-a-Blanket:

They make both small and large pigs-in-a-blanket.  Never had the small ones.  These are great anytime of the day to fill a belly.  Take a mess of them fishing with you.

Please, return to Rockport-Folton after it rebuilds and support these restaurants.  Hopefully, they will be up and running this spring or summer at the latest.