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SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — I went fishing for the first time in my life last weekend on the Island, but this new harvester of the ocean needed energy before I spent all day in the sun, so I went to Padre Island Brewing Co. for a brew and some lunch.

It might sound crazy to some people that I’d never been fishing. I’d always wanted to try and thankfully, my good friend Josh gave me and my friends the opportunity.

With a plan to be out by the jetties at Isla Blanca all day, we first had to eat some lunch to be able to reel in those monster fish we imagined. Spoiler alert: We went home empty-handed. It was a great time regardless out there in the South Padre Island sun.

I always want to check out breweries — it lets me taste a beer that is uniquely found there, and it doesn’t get more local than that.

I found out that Padre Island Brewing Co, located at 3400 Padre Blvd., has been around since 1995 and has one of the coolest logos i’ve seen for a local restaurant.

Being around for a while is one thing, but seeing all the articles on the wall tells me the beer and food must be good to get all this recognition.

We went right around noon, and it was fairly packed, but most of the visitors were leaving at that time.

We were seated right away, got started with two appetizers and some beers. Most of the starters range from about $10 to about $25.

I love my blondies and I ordered the South Padre Island blonde. It was great; it had a rich taste but was way lighter than expected. In a way, it was not what I wanted but needed, since a light beer was the best thing to do before spending hours in the sun. I will for sure try the other local options next time I’m there.

We shared the beer battered stuffed mushrooms and seared ahi tuna. I love ahi tuna so I had to try it. I’m not a big fan of mushrooms but these were stuffed with crab which piqued my interest.

The seared ahi tune was probably my favorite item of the meal. There was a good amount which was great, so all of us could have a few pieces. The texture of the tuna was just perfect and I really enjoyed how they slightly seared each piece, giving it a unique flavor.

The battered mushrooms were also good and came out extremely hot. My friends kept burning themselves after each bite but they keep going at it. The beer batter on the mushroom itself was good with a nice golden crisp to it.

For our food, we shared a pepperoni and spinach pizza and a basket of fried fish, shrimp and oysters.

Like I said about the batter on the mushroom … same with the basket. They really know how to get a good beer battered crisp to the food. The fish item lacked a bit of seasoning but my friends said the oysters were good.

On the menu, the pizza section list that it is award-winning pizza and that they are all made from scratch, and it lived up to the hype. The pizza was about $16.25 for a 14 inch but can easily feed two to three people.

The pizza came out picture perfect, something that Garfield would drool over. Taking the first slice, it had one of the longest cheese pulls I’ve ever seen, something out of a commercial.

The first bite was even better. Everything tasted high quality, from the cheese to the dough. The pepperonis added a nice little crispy to it.

I want to try other sauces and toppings next time I come here since I went with a very basic pepperoni pizza. One interesting topping was having shrimp on it. I had thought about it but I kept it safe.

I stopped myself from getting too full from all the delicious food and beer for fishing purposes, but will be back soon and hopefully try all the local brewed beers, the ahi tuna and a different pizza.

Padre Island Brewing Co is open from 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily.

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