The Reef Mexican Bar & Grill

This place is an underrated gem and probably my favorite overall. Galveston county has a ton of Mexican restaurants, but this one is probably the best bang for the buck. Very large restaurant that's rarely crowded. Excellent service. And play just good Mexican music. Both the red and green salsas that come with the opening chips are very good. Happy hour house margaritas are $5.95, and have a small amount of strength and are tasty. Plates are generally $11-21 and are good. Their fajita meat is marinated very nicely and tastes as good as anyones.

Had the enchiladas and they were decent. I had the Pollo poblano and it was really good. The staff were on point with no problems. The inside was nice and freshly redone

Went here with my family on a Monday Night. There's plenty of tvs if someone is looking for a place to watch Monday Night Football. The service was exceptional, someone constantly stopped by our table to check on us, from the hostess to the manager. The food was good for the most part the only negative thing for me was the dish I ordered was a chicken plate and it was grilled chicken strips (3 I was expecting a chicken breast- made me feel like a kid) also the refried beans didn't taste fresh they tasted like they were canned ( I know the difference I've used both) happy hour drinks were good. I would consider going back again mainly for the service and trying a different dish.

We are here and the atmosphere here is great. My first visit but not my last and ms Amanda was a great server and was very alert. Our food can out hot and fresh . This place is clean and an old fashion look with TV and fish tanks big. Lots of space.

The place is hidden in the back and doesn't look like much on the outside. However the food here is delicious and fresh. There was a small wait to receive our food but it was worth it. Love it! Definitely coming back and recommending it to all my friends and family!

We came for an early dinner on a lazy Sunday. They must have change ownership and more of a Mexican restaurant. We came originally for seafood (its been a while and we came fromHouston) but opted for Mexican dishes. We were surprised at the Tacos al Carbon. Tasted great, meat (beef) was tasty and soft. I had chicken tacos and these were great as well. Well it's off to a good start and will come back to try other dishes. The atmosphere was OK as it looked like it was in slight transition out from a seafood restaurant. Service was good as well so pleased with that. By the way, had a great margarita. Tasty and you could taste a good kick. Kept it to one. Will come back for try no. 2. No pics as did not expect much but was pleasantly surprised. The good dine in options in this area are limited.

The food was great. Charro beans were fire, and we didn't have to wait too long the service was and attentive felt cozy pastor tacos were delicious waitress was knowledgeable about the menu and specials according to the seafood we killed three baskets and Salsa and we might just come back for the chips and salsa

Food is really nice, we were curious about this fried okra and surprisingly it's good, crispy outside, chewy inside. We looked for grilled oyster and thank God they have it, though we like our cheese well grilled but the flavor is still good, cooked and well balanced, will comeback there someday.

The food was great, charro beans were fire, and we didn't have to wait too long. The service was nice and attentive. Felt cozy. Pastor tacos were delicious. Waitress was knowledgeable about the menu and specials according to the seafood. We killed three baskets and salsa, and we might come back just for more chips and salsa.

The Reef Mexican & Seafood. My one word...nope. So they get 1 star because it's the minimum allowed, 1/2 star for being under new management and 1/2 star because they were nice. They apparently just opened yesterday and no seafood items were available. Ok so I settled on nachos thinking how bad could that be. Presentation was ok but oh my, the longer we sat & chat, it became a watery mess, see photos. I've never experienced that before. Husband says he wasn't thrilled with his tacos. The ground beef looked a little pink too.

Amazing new owners, great food service and beautiful upgraded remodel!!! You need to come to check out the new place and new staff!

Not the reef anymore. Not seafood. Bought the building kept the name. Half restaurant half club. Not a family place

Ok, here is the dragged net info! This place has been bought out! The name is the same, but the food fair is of an Aztaca flare, meaning not so Tex-Mex nor straight Mexican. Tje food is awesome and fresh. The drinks are heavy and will kick you on your ass. It is Texas City's rendition of The Donkey (of Pasadena fame). This is an overlooked jewel of a place. The food that I had was excellent-- hot and well presented. Let me add the women here that are part of the business and through the door are talkative and open to engage in banter. I did not feel or sense that I was a piece of meat being viaed for by the womwn or the men during g my visit. Did I mention the fresh real flour homemade tortillas! You bet I am doing that now, before You get bored of this review. I will also say the bar is large and long! It wraps around behind the pillered window paned glass wall. So it can accommodate your buddies or a girl's night out at bar side. With that being said, let me further add the game of choice is able to be viewed on the 88", 65"s, and 40" TV along and around the bar, which doesn't include the TVs placed for viewing by groups or sport families in the dining area. I gave it 4 stars due to the ambiance and the change from the ordinary dining experiences. Also their is an open area for dancing if you and your sig, date, or your group is so inclined to indulge in the art.

Found this little gem by chance. It's not on the main road (1764) but just a block away. Went on Sunday and was surprised to find they had a Mexican buffet for only 10.99! Quesadillas, queso, flautas, chicken fajita meat, rice, beans and quite a bit more. Enchiladas and tortillas are also included, you just have to ask your waitress. The salad bar was well stocked and fresh. The restaurant was clean with plenty of seating. It's a definite come back.

Absolute trash. We will not be going back. The food is of poor quality, not good at all. The staff is very welcoming. I guess if you're there for alcohol it's fine because they have live music.

This restaurant is under new management. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt, but if you're going to manage a Mexican restaurant in a city with so many already, you need to bring your A game. Our experience wasn't great. We visited on a Sunday afternoon and it was not very crowded. You could tell our waitress was inexperienced. I was unimpressed with the margarita. We were served chips & salsa and the salsa was served in small cups, 1/2 full. I ordered chicken and vegetables, with cheese sauce. It was ok. The corn tortillas were cooked a little too much. My hubby had the shrimp with veggies. The shrimp were rather small and the dish wasn't sizzling. We may give it another try since they are new to the area. Management cleaned up the place really nice and it's decorated in a western theme. The menus have the Reef name, but the name on our receipt says "stagecoach saloon and restaurant".

It's very much a hole in the wall, which I don't mind but this was different. I kept myself from looking in the kitchen as the door swung back and forth bc I was slightly concerned about sanitation after one glimpse. The waitress wasn't very knowledgeable about menu items and although it wasn't busy it took a while to get the food. The food wasn't terrible but it's nothing I'd go back for.

This little place put out some great food tonight. It's not fancy. The staff was very attentive and our food didn't disappoint one bit. My tilapia was creamy goodness. Grilled filets (2) with a creamy seafood sauce with an abundance of shrimp and crayfish. My husbands Swamp Tater was equally good. It was a spicy mix of cream , crawfish and shrimp coming together for a solid etoufee. The servings were generous. I think every staff member came by our table.

I find it hard to believe that this restaurant a block away from Texas City's busy Palmer Boulevard is still around given that the last time I ate here was in third grade. If we're doing the math, that was almost 30 years ago! After so many years, I returned yesterday with my older brother. While I don't remember what The Reef was like back then, I can attest for how good this place is now. The cold weather put me in a mood for gumbo. Shrimp gumbo, that is. I should pat myself on the back for picking such a flavor-rich, hearty dish. Truth be told, I was expecting it to come in a small bowl, but I was wrong. I just wish it had more shrimp. The excellent service complemented The Reef's down home, laid-back atmosphere. Should I have a craving for seafood, I'll be sure to make a third trip.

Really good food. Free hush puppies!! I had blackened shrimp salad husband had shrimp gumbo. Very savory! We came in on a Monday was pretty slow. But we enjoyed the place to our selves. We recommend to try. Staff is very attentive.

So we went to this restaurant because their online menu had an item that one member of our group really wanted. We get to the restaurant and they no longer serve that item. It took a while to get our drinks and then place our order but we know that restaurants are struggling right now so we extended some Grace in that category. There were some pretty basic things that were wrong with our meal... The fried shrimp was disgusting as it had been cooked entirely too long, the "butter" that was served with a crab legs was just foul and then they didn't boil the entirety of the crab leg clusters so the cluster part was still frozen on one and ice cold on the other. The fried oysters were half decent, half gross. The red beans and rice and the Cajun balls were good though. The bathrooms are also in need of updating and a thorough cleaning.

Went for lunch today. I will just say this: I wish I had read the reviews. It's a neat place but there's so much to not like about it. And yes, the hush puppies are just fried cornmeal balls, no seasoning. Manager: please clean up all that splattered paint from the ladies room floor. Hire an additional waitress. I want you to succeed. That's my review.

Hard to decide how many stars to give this place. On one hand, the food was very good. We all loved what we ordered (except the stuffed shrimp - those were really horrible with unpeeled shrimp in them.) BBQ crabs were fantastic and are really hard to find the way they make them. The main problem here is the service. I get it - they are short staffed and there's even a "now hiring" ad IN the seating area. No one was standing around twiddling their fingers or anything - all the employees and even the managers were working their butts off. But, the restaurant was only half-full so I really wonder what it's like when it's full! Anyway, it's just not cool to go in at 7pm for dinner and leave at almost 10pm. It took FOREVER to get anything - even water and tea took forever. Hard to imagine going back to this place unless I have an entire evening to kill waiting for food/drink. Hopefully, they get some new staff in and up to speed soon!

Not good...we got there at 730, three tables seated including us, the waitress was good, the owner, I presume, asked us if we needed anything, which was good. We ordered salads which came on a plate which half of got raked onto the table, no crackers or croutons. My stuffed flounder arrived, it was warm and chewy but didnt have any taste, if you put tartar sauce on it...it would taste like chewy tartar sauce. If you were blind you wouldnt be able to tell what kind of food it was. They really need a new cook, something needs to change.

Very disappointed. We ordered our usual, a fish dinner. It was a rip off $16 dollars for (lunch serving) one piece tilapia. I never felt so cheated, for that price. We usually get two pieces of fish for that price. The hushpuppies were horrific they tasted awful. As soon as I seen the meal I knew something had changed. We ordered an extra cold slaw and received 2 soup bowls of the stuff? Really!!!!!

Enjoyed a great seafood lunch Weds with fried catfish, fried shrimp, onion rings and french fries. Had enough to take home for several fish sandwiches. Great food and value. Texas City is lucky to have this restaurant still operating after COVID. Old location but wonderful fresh food.

Sadly this place isn't as great as it was years ago. My husband and i wanted seafood and remembered how much we loved The Reef(he grew up eating there). The complimentary hush puppies are usually delicious, ours seemed to be microwaved rather than fresh.. We ordered two appetizers, the boudin balls & fried mushrooms- they were delicious. Our salad was literally thrown together on a small plate.. Bummer, i remember them having yummy salads. We both got the build your own meal- hubs said the gumbo only tasted like okra, but the beans and sausage were good. I got the stuffed crab and i am kind of a stuffed crab snob, but these lacked flavor. I also got tilapia and shrimp, those were good. Hubs liked all of his food- shrimp, catfish, clams & crawfish tails. I got up mid meal to use the restroom and although they were mostly clean, the smell of raw sewage and air freshener mixed together made me extremely nauseous ruining the rest of my meal for me.(this smell hit as soon as you walk into the door leading to the restrooms) Bummer. Our service WAS outstanding though. Maybe one day we'll give it a shot again...

I've been stopping in once a week for the past few weeks to get a snack & a cocktail to go. 2 of weeks I was served by Lauren, who has amazing customer service skills & makes the best cocktails I've ever had. Unfortunately tonight Lauren was not the one who took my phone order, nor made my drink. Usually Lauren's cocktails will last me a couple of nights & have a nice buzz. Tonight my cocktail was flavored water & even after drinking the entire thing, didn't even feel like I'd had even 1 shot of alcohol. I have 2-3 alcoholic drinks a week & even if the drink isn't strong, can always taste alcohol somewhere in it. I am still trying to figure out if they forgot the alcohol completely because I didn't get a buzz & I sure as heck couldn't taste any alcohol at all. I called maybe 8 minutes before I picked up the food. The cocktail was sitting on the counter in a to go cup & the blonde waitress filled it to the brim with ice. From the first to the last sip - it tasted like candy water with zero alcohol content. I don't mind paying $10 or $12 for a cocktail - but I at least expect there to be some sort of alcohol in it.... The onion rings were as good as always, the jalepeno cheese were gross & we threw them out.. While I think Lauren is a wonderful asset to the business, I'd rather go spend $30 anywhere else after tonight.. We'll never go back...

We ate here while spending the night in Galveston prior to our cruise. Pros: It was easy to find, close to our hotel, the place is beautiful (there's this authentic seaside restaurant décor), and the wait staff was SUPER friendly. Cons: The food was TERRIBLE!! It was under seasoned (or not seasoned at all). The fish was "fishy" and almost made my friend ill and the drinks were less then stellar. They were out of several things on the menu, so everyone had a substitute of some sort with their meal. Lastly, the bathrooms smelled like an outhouse that hadn't been cleaned in several months and had ripened in the 100% heat next to the ocean. LOL [Imagery at it's best] Needless to say, I won't be eating here again!

The drinks were so good and so was the food. Our server was so sweet and kind and very attentive. The reason for the 4 stars is that the place had a weird smell and could use some renovations.

Good customer service, friendly staff and delicious food. 32 oz drinks are tasty and the menu has something for everyone. Louisiana style cooking. Gumbo and gator bites highly recommended!

Very disappointed. My family ordered 20 pc catfish and 36 pc shrimp and it should have came with 4 dozen hush puppies, and a box of french fries. We made a special trip to pick up this food because we don't live in Texas City. When I called and placed the order I was told we would get 4 dozen of the hush puppies but we only got one dozen. I didn't realize until I got home. The food was good just didn't get everything we ordered which made it upsetting.

Just your average seafood place. I had came here nearly 10 years ago and didn't really like it then but I was in the area for work and decided to come in, give it another try and see if they offered a lunch special. They did and had several items on the menu that are reasonably priced. I ordered the ribeye steak sandwich and noticed it was $1 more on the lunch menu, than the dinner menu....I pointed it out to the waitress and she only charged me the 9.50 as shown on the dinner menu. It took forever for the food to come out on a weekday lunch, which was surprising since it wasn't that busy. When it came out, the steak was on a hoagie roll with sautéed onions and bell peppers. The first few bites were good since it was fairly peppery and hot. I then scrapped off all the onions and peppers and found the tiny steak which appeared to be sliced horizontally and placed on the roll. It was cooked too much, I asked for medium rare and it was more medium well. It was about a 5oz portion of steak, although I wish it was thicker and juicier, instead of paper thin and dry as a bone. For one person to come in for lunch and can't get out of the place until over an hour later, that's just too long! I wasn't a fan of the cole slaw with green tomatoes on the side either!

The service was very slow and quite bizarre we had 6 adults 1 kid and 3 tickets and was served one ticket at a time with 15 to 20 min between each ticket. The breading on the shrimp tasted funny and the baked potato wasn't quite done and that was just on one ticket the other 2 parties also had issues with being fully cooked or not tasting right. We will not be going back

So here goes...I was down in Texas City for business today and my co-worker took me to Reef. He hadn't been there in a couple of years but said it was good. The location is decent. It looks like the city is trying to revive the area. The place has obviously been here a long time and has the standard decor of a seafood place but with some more authentic seafaring equipment than you see at places more inland. We were seated quickly, as the place had few customers for a spacious room. Several folks came in after us, so it looks like the place has a regular lunch crowd. The waitress was personable and genuinely cared about her job. She struggled a little with a special request but no big deal. She was knowledgable of the menu and kept our glasses full. She was accommodating on splitting our bill, as well. Now, for the food. They have complementary hush puppies. I'm not an expert on what one can do with something like this but they really lacked any character. It seems like they could jazz them up a bit, but hey, it's probably better than bread. The menu has standard variety of Cajun seafood. The name of the menu items reminded me of lingo you see in Pappadeaux's. I asked the waitress between two items and went with the Grilled Snapper. The salad came out first and was okay. I hate to say this and I rarely leave food on my plate, but the grilled snapper was really bad. The fish looked terrible and had little taste. The amount of seasoning on it belied what they were trying serve up. The sautéed vegetables had the same seasoning with the same effect. I looked around at the the other meals and they may have been a little better. Sadly, the food left a poor impression. Maybe it was just this occasion or the cook had a bad day but due to my infrequent travel to the area, I will chose something else if I'm ever back. Perhaps stick with something fried. The waitress recommended blackened fish next time when I told her my dish was no good. My rating system; .5 of a possible 1 for service, .5 of a possible 1 for location/building and 0 of a possible 3 for the food.

The food was cold and two other people came in and got there food in 15 minutes and us 45 minutes but we were there before them, and still charged us 18% gurturity. Bathroom was dirty toilets were stopped up. . wasn't a good experience, I will not be going back.sorry

The Reef here in Texas City by the Bay is a good place to come eat Seafood. It's located off of Palmer Highway just behind the Raceway Service Station and Convenience Store. It has a nice nautical setting throughout. The wait staff is really friendly and helpful too. The have a full service bar off to the left when you come in. I've been to Texas City a lot growing up and didn't really realize that this place was even here! That is until I went to work down here and my place of employment ordered two of their big family boxes with a great assortment of food in them that would feed twenty people easy!!! I really love their fried fish here! The fried Catfish is really good, as is the fried Red Snapper, shrimp and oysters. They have a really good Shrimp scampi too! The appetizers are really good here, I love their Jalapeño Cheese balls! They also have other items on the menu that are not seafood for those that aren't that crazy about it. Their Fried Chicken Strips are really good too. When you find in and order your meal it usually comes with your choice of salad or Cole Slaw, Hush puppies, and you can have fries or onion rings, or even both. They have a wide assortment to choose from too!!! You can also order PoBoy Sandwiches, or come by and get family meals to go!!! The family meals have a wide range of sizes to fit your needs so just check out the menu to see what might fill your bill!!! We occasionally come down here from League City for good food and to beat the crowds around the restaurants closer to the water! It's also good if you have to work nights, you can phone in our just drop by and pickup something to go!!! So if your ever in the City by the Bay Area, drop in and give them a try! I don't think you'll be disappointed!

This place was very disappointing! The free hush puppies were tasteless no flavor or spice what do ever! The service was lacking too. They weren't busy and the server got my order all wrong, was supposed to get catfish and shrimp with red beans and rice and got catfish and stuffed shrimp with gumbo (I didn't make a fuss about so I kept the plate my fault on that) stuffed shrimp had no flavor and gumbo had no meat! Probably the worst seafood I've ever eaten. The place looks cool on the outside mind s the huge pothole in the front, and the inside could look better if they would get rid of the tubs of dead plants in the middle of restaurant. Needs a good cleaning EVERYWHERE! Hold your nose if you have to use the restroom, smells like a sewer back up and dead fish. Will not return!

I ordered the seafood platter with shrimp, bacon wrapped shrimp, stuffed shrimp, stuffed crab, and fish. I only received 1 bacon wrapped shrimp and 1 stuffed shrimp. Don't be skimpy because the food was good but it turned me away because it's so expensive for the platter and I got ripped off. All you had to do was add more.

Definitely do not come here disgusting I got sick after eating here and it is so extremely expensive I wish I could give it a one star but I can't be careful

Haven't eaten here since I was a teenager so I figure I would give it a try... got the ponchatrain(grilled fish topped with shrimp and crawfish and butter sauce). First off the fish was very bland, there was maybe 3 big shrimp and the rest were like shrimp you get from those ramen noodle shrimp flavored packs. The ranch looked like it had gone bad and I paid $22 for this. I'm never eating here again ... I rather eat shrimp flavored ramen noodles instead

The service was not good, the owner asked the other table if everything was okay but us and another table that happen to be non caucasian. The restaurant smelled really bad. The waitress keep touch her hair and never was nor attempt to wash her hands. The food was so so but then again because of service and smell we only ordered red beans and sausage and a fried jalapeño cheese thing. The coke tasted flat. They need a facelift and proper training with staff,cooks, owner/manager!!!!!! Or Robert Irvin help!!!!

No. The hush puppies were grease flavored (no spices??? Come on...) the blackened catfish was mushy. The gumbo was alright, but that was the only passable dish we had.

been twice now. one just for $2 margarita's...sept 23, 2015 for rita's and crabmeat quesadilla's. everyday is $2 margarita's...and they're tasty with a kick...so thats good. this time i tried some food.---- the crabmeat quesadilla's were fantastic. plenty of crabmeat...and the homemade sauces...remoulade, cocktail, tartar and pico---wow! they were all excellent. $11 now, the only thing that is a fail...the hushpuppies. always dry. no taste. might as well...stop making them...or get a new recipe!

This night was by far the worst I have ever had from here.sad to say the food was horrible, portions size was so small which was probably a good thing ,the hush puppies where even bad oil all the way to the middle.wont see me for another year!

Oysters on half shell- from a jar - sent back Shrimp was old. Precooked and dry. Steaks were not seasoned. Needs FRESH seafood and seasoned food. Will not recommend this business

Great fresh fish and Shrimp All u can eat 25.95 I'm in love The owner Jerry was a gem. There's a new cook he's great love the green tomatoes

I assume that the locals enjoy it because the place stays pretty busy and has been around for years. Compared to other franchise seafood restaurants this family owned seafood house is just average. I have never dined here but we call in the take-out party platters from here for our luncheon meetings. They have a mixture of shrimp (fried, boiled and grilled), shrimp stuffed jalapenos, buffalo chicken wings, fried fish, hush puppies and dirty rice. We add on french fries and onion rings and the whole thing feeds about 8-10 people. Many of our employees like the platter because they probably feel like they are a fish fry rather than at work (well minus the beer and redneck music)! Personally, I am not huge on fried food and it seems like a lot of the other menu items they offer here are fried as well :( Recently we have noticed that every time we go pick up our food, the employees are quite rough and tend to favor certain people. They also dont help us carry out our order which im sure is not required but is expected and greatly appreciated-Basically, they are just not friendly at all. You would think they would be nicer to customers who purchase a minimun of $1000 worth of food a month. So, im not sure maybe they are more friendly to people that dine in. ok *EDITED* they have been nice to us the last few times we have gone so i think they either read this or got an attitude adjustment but whatever it is its greatly appreciated! :) so i have added a star.

The food is great but rather pricey. It was actually very relaxing to be there. Some places feel stuffy but even the children were having fun. It also had plenty of parking. So if you go as a group I'm sure you would like it as much as we did.

I can remember when this place was new and packed every night. After many years I have returned to my hometown to find nearly everything changed for the worse. Many things were destroyed by hurricanes and many others affected by the nearby chemical plants but I am happy to report that The Reef was not affected as much. We were seated straightaway in the same dining room that has never changed. I was struck by the question if we wanted to sit in the smoking or non-smoking area. I thought everyone got rid of that area a very long time ago. The iced tea was Texas sweet and the hush puppies were warm. I only had one thing on my mind and that was the all you can eat shrimp. They did not disappoint, covered with a very light batter and fired to perfection. The service was prompt and the server was also the Manager on duty. My only gripe was the overall atmosphere of the dining room was old and dirty with cushioned vinyl that made my drink nearly tip every time any of us touched the table. I used the $15 for $20 voucher featured on Yelp only to have my server/manger tell me that they don't take Yelp coupons. I insisted that she call someone of greater authority and she stated that the owners never pick up the phone. After an extra 15 minuets of trying to pay my bill she finally reached someone who confirmed that the voucher is valid. Then I had to suffer through the server/manager complaining about how uninformed she is. All in all the food is just as good as ever but the dining room needs an update. Also the upper management needs to keep the lower management informed about the deals that they are offering.

I'll be very succinct. The restaurant does not accept the Yelp coupon. The blackened seafood lacks flavor (which is unusual for blackened). On the sort of positive side, the seafood gumbo (that only had shrimp so could be called shrimp gumbo) had good flavor. The interior decor needs attention. For example, the blue, fish pattern, plastic table clothes are worn and dingy. I glanced at other tables. They are all like that. Unfortunately, I was not impressed, though the waitress was nice. I would give 2.5 stars but that's not an option. I think 3 stars would be too generous, so it gets 2.

The Reef is a family owned "seafood house". Inside it has a large, open floor plan with a lot of coastal shore themed decorations, fish tanks and advertising signs that reflect back on the past. They also include some very large Tiki themed wood carvings that really set the mood. There are a lot of ceiling fans and in the heat of the summer this place is always cool and breezy. The menu in this place features steaks and fresh seafood prepared in a variety of ways. For instance, every fish item on the menu can be prepared fried, grilled or blackened and each one can be topped with a variety of treatments including cajun sauces, shrimp and vegetables. Standout appetizers include "Crawfish balls" and "Boudin balls". The gumbo is good and the Boudin links are the best. We have introduced several people to boudin at the Reef and they have become true believers. Before your appetizer order is even taken, the wait staff will deliver a good portion of "hushpuppies", which is a fried cornbread that is dipped in tartar and red sauce. The best entree, in my opinion, is the grilled Red Snapper. Whenever we bring people here that are relatively new to the fresh seafood experience we recommend this dish over fried because it's good for you and the Reef does a good job on the grill. They also do a great job with steaks and fried seafood. With every entree you are given the option of a salad or cole slaw. If you want to try something different, ask for the cole slaw. It comes out freshly prepared and comes with a small bowl of pickled green tomatoes and really have a unique flavor. This is a large restaurant for the area and you can almost always find a table without having to wait, even on a busy weekend night. If you find yourself not wanting to wait in line, it is a safe bet to drive here and know that you will be seated almost immediately. I cannot stress enough how much of a unique experience this place is - from the interesting menu to the green tomatoes. The wait staff is excellent and everyone has a friendly attitude. For those of you new to the area, this place is located in the epicenter of a large commercial and sport fishing area. All the seafood here is fresh, not frozen - and let me point out that you may not be used to eating fresh seafood. Most "chains" utilize at least some frozen seafood and many people are accustomed these products and the first time they try fresh seafood, its a bit of shock. In summary, The Reef is an exceptional seafood house that blends classic coastal dining with a cajun influenced flair. The restaurant itself is large, clean and well decorated. The menu is extensive and the food is above average, if not nearly perfect. The parking lot is often full, but there is plenty of room inside and the entire operation is fast and efficient. You will also find the prices to be a notch or two lower than some of the big chains in Houston.

We found our way here after a fishing trip at the Dike, and unanimous craving for gumbo. A quick search on Yelp brought us to this nearby restaurant, and considering the 3/5 rating, we didn't have very high recommendations. The Reef sure was a pleasant surprise! Complimentary hush, puppies, big menu, large portions, good flavors, great prices & free soft serve! Their Build A Meal is a steal! I ordered: -5/5 Slaw & Green Tomatoes: SOOOOOOO good! I had never eaten green tomatoes, and didn't care to try it, but so glad I did! They were sweet & tangy. The cole slaw was a little soupy, but was some of the best I've ever tasted. -4/5 Gumbo: 4/5 pretty tasty & not all filler. -4/5 Cajun Catfish -3/5 Fried Crawfish Tails -4/5 Cajun Rice All this for just $11! All in all, the quality of their food is not great, but it's definitely good!

The food really was not bad at all but the service was very slow. There were not many people in for lunch (1pm). We were seated and it took close to 10 minutes for our waitress to show up. When she did she took our drink order and it took another 10 minutes to get 3 drinks. While reviewing the menu I noticed there were a ton of tilapia and catfish dishes. I was hoping for some authentic local fish (redfish, flounder, snapper, etc). Portions were on point and the dishes we ordered were not bad. After lunch my wife waited 20 minutes for a check before she had to get up and ask for it. I'm not sure if we will ever be back in that area but if we were I think we might choose another place.

New found fav: Nutty Shrimp salad! Indescribable! Just gotta try it. Bacon wrapped Shrimp brochette was also excellent.

First off, Yelp has their location wrong. Check their website for directions if you decide to eat here. Second, their seafood isn't bad (or anything special). The one star is for service. Expect to wait maybe 20 minutes for your appetizer or salad (which may come out very watery if it is particularly humid) and another 20 minutes for your main course. Food alone maybe 3 stars. Nothing special here

Husband and I went there for lunch. Place was warm inside. We got seated and then forgotten about. Took 15 min to get a drink. Place wasn't busy , waitresses standing around bullshitting, sloppy dress . Place used to be awesome. Im sad its fallen this far. Never will we go there. After 40 mins of waiting, we left.