Venetian Hot Plate

If you haven’t been here, what are you waiting for. The food was phenomenal. Seriously, some of the best food I have eaten in a while. Service was amazing. We had two lovely ladies waiting in our table and we lacked for nothing. The wine recommendation was on point and the dessert was exceptional. This will be our go to spot when in Port A.

There’s a reason this is considered the best restaurant on the island. The food is delicious, seafood is fresh and steak was so tender. The staff is great and the owners seem wonderful - very friendly and they clearly know all the locals and regulars who come in. Nice wine list and a corking fee if you bring your own. What a standout in this cute little touristy beach town. Still laughing about a 1-star review left the same night I visited. Couple complained they were asked to move tables to accommodate a party of 8. Manager was very kind about his request and acknowledged it was his mistake at seating the couple at that particular table instead of one over, as he’d meant to. The restaurant was full; people were waiting/standing for a table. This couple didn’t have food or drinks on the table yet, so it should have been no big deal to move one table over. Instead, they threw a Kevin and Karen fit and said they didn’t want to be near a big party. TOO BAD! You don’t get to decide who you’re sat near, especially in a busy restaurant and the height of dinner rush. The entitlement is out of this world and I think the entire staff and nearby tables were relieved when this awful couple left. Good for the owners/managers for not putting up with their terrible manners, and still acting professionally while they were acting so rude and calling his wife a b****. Absolutely trash behavior from people who claim to be in service roles. Meanwhile, the table of 8 were lovely and disturbed no one.

Would give a zero star if allowed. We called the day before and made our reservations. Our initial feeling was the restaurant was quaint and we were looking forward to our final dinner out before heading home. An assumed to be bus boy brought water, he was kind of dirty and appeared to be ready to skateboard more than work in a restaurant. We ordered a bottle of wine and decided on an appetizer. The manager then approached us and asked if we would move from our table to allow him to seat a party of 8. We said we would move but preferably a table away from the large group. The Owner (Female) was extremely rude (another word would be used here)and totally unprofessional. The manager was also rude. The owners walked up to us, threw her hands up and said loudly, seriously then stomped away! The manager then came back and we expressed our dissatisfaction to which he said she could say what she wanted. Given the fact we were planning a nice dinner out and going to spend a few hundred on dinner, it seems dumb. The waitress was very unprofessional given the expected quality of the restaurant. We decided to leave instead of spending our money here. We had a super delightful dinner at Roosevelt's and will return there again. Given we both own and or work in a service business it was not an acceptable behavior on the restaurants management.

This restaurant is the best dining experience in Port Aransas. I love knowing I can count on the consistency of the food quality and service. Angela assisted Paul, our server last night and WOW, impressive service. There is definitely something to be said for hiring and KEEPING seasoned experienced servers. What a winning and difficult business model to maintain. Congratulations to the ownership for your serving staff.

Giving VHP a 5-star review for two main reasons: 1) the owner welcoming us in at 5:00pm without a reservation and saying he could seat us if we could be out by 6:45PM! and 2) our waiter Mike who was fantastic at accommodating our desire not to be rushed, and who had our check on the table at 6:35pm! Oh yeah, there is a third reason ... the food is great! We shared many dishes, the Crab Crostini, the Grilled Romaine salad, the Scaloppine Carciofi (veal w/ creamy artichoke hearts), the Lamb Chops special, and the Tiramisu ... all were outstanding! We plan on frequenting VHP on every trip to Port Aransas, you should too! Update 11-28-2023 Off season in Port A, TX this week... not a whole lot of folks around the week after Thanksgiving, many of the people who are here were at VHP tonight, the restaurant was busy on a Tuesday night, when many other places in town had 1 or two cars in the parking lot... say no more! VHP consistently serves up one of the best meals in town! Tonight's culinary adventure began with a bottle of 2020 Stefano Di Blasi Gold from Tuscany (when in Rome, right?), the bottle was from our cellar at home, so the modest $20 corkage fee was a bargain. FYI, when dining out, BYOW when you can... call ahead to find out about the corkage fee. If allowed, it's the best way to have great wine with your meal without breaking the bank! The food parade began with an order of the Misto Mare, a delightful blend of shrimp, diver scallops, blue lip mussels, littleneck and chopped clams, steamed and served in a light garlic white wine sauce. The surprise is a little kick from the pinch of crushed red pepper... OMG good! The seafood was SUPER fresh, not a hint of "fishiness" from "yesterday's catch!" We followed the seafood with one of our favorites, the Domingo's Grilled Romaine salad. If you've never had grilled lettuce, try it sometime, it's a game changer when to comes to getting your veggies in every day. The grilled lettuce was presented with a light balsamic reduction, a nice handful of fresh parmigiano cheese and crispy baked prosciutto... heaven on a plate! The next act, the entrees, included one of the specials of the day, the lamb chops, and the Scaloppine Carciofi. The serving of lamb chops was HUGE and included enough for lunch tomorrow! Wonderful sauce under the lamb, with sides of garlic spinach and roasted potatoes. YUM! We ordered the lamb medium rare, and many of the chops were more rare than MR, we saved those chops for lunch tomorrow... Not sure why I keep ordering the same veal dish (Carciofi), I should have read my last review! LOL I'm drawn to fantastic food! It was awesome as usual... perfectly cooked tender veal, smothered in a creamy artichoke, tomatoes and mushrooms sauce, with red potatoes (cut in the shape of mushrooms) and garlic spinach on the side. We easily brought home two pounds of leftovers. Everything was Delicious, with a capital "D." We ended the meal with a wonderful piece of Tiramisu ... forgot to get a pic of that... sorry! LOL Special shout out to our waitress, Karen, who did a fantastic job... attentive but not intrusive. Thanks Karen, job well done. The bus boys also did a great job (didn't get their names), including bringing our "leftovers" bag out to the car after we left it on the table (happens often). One observation I will make about the process/procedure at VHP... a trend we're seeing more and more, was a 3.5% add on to the check AFTER the bill was initially presented and the credit card run. No notes on menu, no mention of the charge when picking up the bill to run the card, or even when presenting the final bill to the table. Ours was a debit card, so likely no fee incurred, but for the $6, I let it go. Note to business folks... Many customers will take the charge out of the tip, which hurts your wait staff. Be upfront and not short-sighted! Highly recommend Venetian Hot Plate, one of the most special restaurants in Port A, and worth the visit every time we're in town. A real treat!

The food was outstanding and the service was even better! We were a walk-in on a Tuesday night, not realizing how busy they would be. The hostess bent-over backwards to find a way to seat us. Karen was prompt and consistent in her attentive service. Perhaps the highlight was that even the bus person, Scott, was friendly and attentive in his service. He went out of his way to ensure we were taken care of. This establishment gets customer service right -- makes you feel good just to set foot in the place. Thank you for a terrific evening out!