Pacific Star Restaurant & Oyster Bar - Round Rock

Pacific Star Restaurant & Oyster Bar - Round Rock

Written by Pitt Garrett Saturday, 07 July 2007

Fresh seafood impresses even those from the Gulf Coast

Tucked away behind the Dairy Queen on Hwy. 79, Pacific Star is a true jewel of a seafood restaurant. I grew up in Galveston, and the laid-back, beachcomber atmosphere is still in my blood. The second location of this Austin-based restaurant, it has the familiar Gulf Coast aura shown in everything from its light blue walls to the oyster bar to its no-nonsense menu. This is a place to relax and enjoy great seafood.

The menu offers a variety of options including Red Snapper, Shrimp, Flounder, Crawfish, Catfish, Oysters, along with Chicken Tenders and Chicken Nuggets for landlubbers.

We began our meal with two great appetizers. The Cold Boiled Shrimp ($4.99) was an excellent, large serving of peel-and-eat shrimp. Along with the Gumbo ($3.50), which was full of shrimp and fish, the appetizers prepared us for a great main meal.

One of our diners chose the Whole Flounder (13.99), but without the typically included spices. The whole flounder is normally served spicy and may have too much paprika for some. However, sans spices, it was the best-prepared flounder we have tasted since a trip to Guido’s in Galveston several years ago. Even the manager, Chris, had to comment on the quality of the prepared fish. Served with shrimp-seasoned rice and melted butter, this is a true delight.

A man next to us had ordered the Fried Whole Catfish ($8.99), which looked amazing, but a past visit to the Northwest Austin location of Pacific Star tempted us to try the Flounder and Crab Meat Stuffing again.

Instead, we opted for the Stuffed Catfish ($12.99), served with shrimp-seasoned rice and melted butter — and it was marvelous.

Pacific Star has so many choices on its menu that I asked the manager to name his favorites.

He said he personally loved the Red Snapper and the Crawfish Etoufee, but it has one serious downside. Sometimes the restaurant runs out of crawfish by Tuesday, so diners who fancy the dish should be sure to come by between Friday and Monday.

Besides regular meals, Pacific Star is also a great place to hang out, have a frost-covered mug of beer, a dozen oysters on the half-shell and watch a ball game.

It is a restaurant that reminds me of a time when ’40 Fords were hot, Mickey Mantle signed for a whopping $100,000 a year and thongs were worn on your feet. For awhile, it felt like the good old days were back.

Restaurant history

• The Leyva brothers began the Anderson Mill restaurant 10 years ago.
• Juaquin Leyva and Jeff Barnett are co-owners of the Round Rock location which opened more than a year ago under the management of Phillip Barbato.

Pacific Star, Hwy. 79 at IH 35 North • 255-3535 and Hwy. 183 at Anderson Mill • 219-5373 www.pacificstarseafood.com