great food plagued by poor layout/management. the food is exceptional, among the best, if not the best, in corpus christi; the wine selection is second to none (for corpus); and the view is incredible, especially at dusk.
what kills the ambiance, however, is what appears to be a poorly managed/laid-out restaurant;
a) the smoke area is located outside of the doors at the front of the restaurant, which means smokers are constantly walking through the middle of the restaurant through dinner service (and bringing with them the faint odor of burnt tobacco and inevitable gust of smoke when the door is opened) - it makes dinner a lot less appetizing (but i'm sure the view for the smokers is incredible)
b) every time i've visited this restaurant the wait staff appear to be very disengaged, almost robotic. even asking for something as simple as a replacement piece of silverware usually gets you at least a sigh of disapproval.
c) people who work downtown hang out at the bar, which separates the entry and the restaurant, and they usually crowd the bar area (at least every time i've visited) and are usually pretty drunk. it definitely establishes a certain vibe for the restaurant (i.e. walking through a bar scene to get to your table)
there are other issues with republic of texas b&g, but all minor. despite the issues i highly recommend the place, at least for one visit. they use opentable for reservations, i recommend adding in the comments to be placed at a table near the front windows ifdiningthere at dusk.
i recommend the wedge salad (they use freshly cooked, warm bacon pieces instead of store-bought bacon-bits) and the steak (i think it's a bone-in rib eye).