This is the type of sight you expect to see around Port Arthur, Texas, these days in the wake of first Rita in 2005, then Ike last month.
Actually, the photo was taken after Hurricane Rita hit and was actually in Sabine Pass, which although is about 10-15 miles from downtown Port Arthur is an annexed part of Port Arthur.
To be honest, downtown Port Arthur is nothing to brag about. It was a once vital city and shows some promise with several oil refinery expansions including one which will make PA home to the nation’s largest refinery. But back to PA, it’s kind of a mutt, a sad-looking place in that old Rust Belt type of way. Yeah, I know, this coming from someone who lives in nearby Beaumont. Enough said.
But just because a place looks as if it was hit with a neutron bomb doesn’t mean one can’t find a decent place to eat. There are, in fact, a number of good eateries around Port Arthur including one of the best seafood places I have ever set foot in — a place called Esther’s Cajun Seafood which is located underneath the Rainbow Bridge on State Highway 87 South. (The northbound bridge is the Veterans Memorial Bridge unless they redirected the traffic since I last visited there.)
Today I found a little place to eat in downtown Port Arthur tucked away in between a couple of buildings on Highway 87 between Twin City Highway and Highway 69/96/287/Woodworth/Memorial (Pick one.) It’s called the Tropical Grill.
While you are greeted at your table with chips and salsa upon arriving and are given a bilingual menu, the place is not just another Mexican restaurant.
The Tropical actually has an extensive menu with a large appetizer and soup/salad menu, the latter featuring a Cayman salad no doubt a salud to the native Cayman population in this highly diverse city which sports a large Vietnamese Buddhist temple not far from the grill.
Included on the menu are numerous steak, chicken, pasta, shrimp and fish entrees. Here you will find the likes of Aruba grilled chicken or devil shrimp, Bahamas scampi, Hawaiian grilled fish, and even Acapulco shrimp kabobs. A pretty extensive Mexican entree menu is also available with standard fare such as fajitas, enchiladas and the not-so-common-in-these-parts such as Mojarra frita, which is whole fried fish with bones served with rice, pico de gallo y tortillas Mojarra.
And then there are sandwiches. I had a breaded, tropical fish sandwich which pits a large breaded filet against an equally large piece of French bread with some sort of sauce with lettuce, tomatoes and several nice pickle chunks on the side. It comes with fries or onion rings. I chose the latter, which was okay, but was nothing special. But iced tea. Yes if you can taste unsweetened ice tea in these parts you have found the Holy Grail and mine tasted just fine.
You can have a cold one there if you like. I was on lunch break so I stuck to tea. I can’t imagine many good reasons to go to Port Arthur these days unless you work or live there but if you do and want something different and tasty in a meal, then you should try the Tropical Grill, 4751 Gulfway Dr., Port Arthur, TX (409)982-3357. Open 10:30 a.mm.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 10:30-10 Friday and Saturday; and 10-8 on Sunday. Bring your appetite.