CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — In today's We're Open report, we check out a local gem when it comes to sandwich shops.
The Surfside Sandwich Shoppe, located at 15113 South Padre Island Drive on Padre Island, always takes pride in serving up great food.
And at the restaurant, which has been around since 2009, the motto is very simple. When you are visiting, you are always on island time
"We want you to come here and know that you are on that island time,” Surfside co-owner Kim Parlasca said. “Now, we are going to cook your food as fast as humanly possible and get those drinks out fast but we want you to relax and have a good time."
Parlasca and her husband, David, own the Surfside Sandwich Shoppe and Scuttlebutts. But Kim spends most of her time here at the sandwich shop.
She pretty much does is all, even diving into the kitchen to help prepare a wide assortment of sandwiches and even seafood items and burgers. There are many really good choices.
"A steady favorite, of course, is our Cuban press sandwich,” she said. “We slow roast our pork overnight and add a little bit of kick to it with the sauce we make and that's a popular one. Our seafood does really well here, we have Baja shrimp tacos and a great piece of blackened mahi and even a traditional Rueben sandwich.”
The Surfside Sandwich Shoppe is big on giving back to the community. All uniformed first-responders get 50 percent off their meals.
But Parlasca admits it's hard for her to say no to anyone.
"I'm pretty much anytime someone comes and asks for a donation for local and I'm all about local they get it so I'll probably get a flood of donations requests now,” she said. “But that's ok because we want to keep it local.”
Parlasca says support from her loyal customers has been a real blessing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am really thankful that we have been able to get through, not really but us but the people that continue to support us,” she said. “Now, we are very thankful for the 25 percent dine-in (of seated customers) although for us it's a small percentage -six people. But we have our outside patio and that helps."
The Surfside Sandwich Shoppe is open seven days a week.
