republic of texas bar & grill

management. the republic of texas is located in the omni bayfront hotel. i stay there on a weekly basis ands wish i could dine at this establishment. i have had nothing than sub-par service at this establishment. on more than one occasion there has been a extremely bad experience with the management, etta butz. i will not mention the first several times that i have encountered the experience in herrestaurantthat she manages. the straw that broke the camels back was when i was seated with an employee wanting to show him a good time. we were seated by a hoastess and after 20 minutes were not acknowledge. therefore, we moved to the bar thinking we would get better service and it was actually demeaning. i ordered a $16 glass of wine and my employee odered a drink, too. then we proceeded to order dinner (it was 7:15 pm an was told we couldn't order until 8:30 because they were slammed with room service! since when is room service come ahead of people actually eating in the restaurant? needless to say, i do not recommend thisrestaurantto anyone and wish i could dine at this establishment. unfortunately, the management needs to be addressed. until then, i do not recommend this restaurant.

amazing view. the view from the 20th floor of the omni was what attracted me to therestaurantand it definitely did not dissapoint! the staff/service we interacted with (waiter, bartender, hosts, manager) was wonderful, food was pretty good. cocktails were excellent. definitely worth trying.

certainly one of the best in corpus. 

therestaurantitself is starting to show its age pretty bad, but luckily the food is still pulling strong.

typical higher end steak/seafood house. 

whats better you say? morton's, ruth's chris, etc. but im certainly happy this is in corpus.

our first visit was for our 4th anniversary. we will definitely be returning customers. everyone from the hostess to our waiters, cruz and tommy, were excellent. the atmosphere was gorgeous and relaxing. the view of the harbor bridge was stunning. the food was outstanding! we loved the complimentary dessert we received for our anniversary. our waiters explained everything and answered all our questions about the menu,restauranthistory and best drink choices. it was well worth the money to have such a fine dining experience.

we went there for our wedding anniversary. overall, the food, service, view was exceptional.
tip: ask for a bay view. if items on the menu are unclear ask a lot of questions.
this is a fine dining top notchrestaurant& our expectations were met completely. i would highly recommend rep of tx!

worth it. while i believe it's possible for a aaa four-diamond-ratedrestaurantlike republic of texas bar & grill to have an off night, i also believe that anyone who says 'hostess was terribly rude,' is probably stretching the truth. either that, or the reviewer neglected to say 'customer was a horse's ass.'

still... the hostess was quite polite to us during our visit on feb. 19, 2013. but that could have been because we said 'good evening' to her. (we aren't the type of people who think we can treat people like garbage just because we're eating a $200 meal.) all of that aside...

atmosphere
it's probably the bestrestaurantatmosphere south of houston, if only because of the views of corpus christi bay. the warm woods, light linens and low light of the place make for a nice ambiance.

service
from the time we walked in the door, until the time we left, service was top notch. everyone was polite and seemed to care about our experience. our server (a college-aged kid whose name i cannot remember) was about as genuine as they come.

food
between the three of us, there was a filet, shrimp and a bone-in prime rib (me). the beef was lightly seasoned, as all good beef should be. (if it needs sauce or a boatload of seasoning, that usually means someone's trying to hide something. -- i expect such shenanigans at places like k-bob's or golden corral).

my prime rib was ordered 'medium' and was perfect. there was a nice char around the edges, and it was fork tender throughout. the same can be said for the filet. the shrimp, according to my wife, was some of the best she's ever had. (i thought it might have been overcooked by 15-30 seconds, but i still rate it high.)

we ordered asparagus and sauteed mushrooms to go along with our dishes. divine.

the ladies shared a creme brulee for dessert. my wife is still talking about it two days later. i had the bananas foster, served with banana bread. outstanding.

backing up a bit, i ordered oysters republic for an appetizer. in short, it is similar to oysters rockefeller, but topped w/ shiitake mushrooms, capers, spinach and a brandy cream reduction. the oysters were smooth -- like butter. some of the best i've ever had. even the ladies (self-professed oyster haters) had one each. both gave a thumbs up.

i honestly expected nothing less from such a highly-rated restaurant. and you shouldn't either. whether you want a seriously good steak, a fine view or service that is far beyond your local chili's, republic of texas bar & grill is the place.

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 therestaurantthrough 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 thisrestaurantthe 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 therestaurant(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 if dining there 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).

nice view from the 20th floor but otherwise old and unpleasant ambience. the service would've been considered poor at chili's so here it was just plain terrible. the food was ok but nothing spectacular. this is nothing more than an overpriced hotelrestaurantwith mediocre food quality. really corpus? is this the best "fine dining" you can do? i won't be back.

just okay. my husband and i went to celebrate our anniversary. everyone told us it is the bestrestaurantin corpus christi. we arrived early (before dark) to enjoy the view. don't make the mistake of showing up here for a late dinner. sadly, the view may have been the best part. the food was over-salted and just average. good steaks, but no "wow" factor. the service was cordial, but again, no "wow" factor. we finished our dinner and did not stay for dessert. probably won't go back again.

not so much. it's a decent place, but i definitely think a steakhouse should do better. customers are paying mostly for the view (which you dont really enjoy in the evening) tacked onto high hotelrestaurantprices.