If you bring kids, watch them. I don't know how they get away with the blazing woodstoves in the dining area, but they should provide an incentive for parents to mind the rug rats.
The food? Decent but pricy barbecue. Gotta give 'em credit, though: not only can you get a baked potato, but the Iron Works' gives you a massive one, well worth the price.
On the other hand, the meat is just fair: better than any place downtown, for sure, but that's not saying much. A good choice for convention center dining, or perhaps out-of-town visitors, but not compelling otherwise.
I used to like the Iron Works back when they had an all-you-can-eat deal like the Salt Lick. Then we stopped going because they dropped the all-you-can-eat, raised prices and seemed to suffer a decline in the quality of the food. We went back to see if they had improved. They have, some.
I went with the beef and pork ribs plate, which was pretty good if a bit pricey ($16), plus a salad. Despite their reputation as a beef rib Mecca, I actually thought the pork ribs were better, quite tender and tasty; oddly enough, the beef ribs ranged from good to mediocre, depending on the individual rib. The salad bar choices are pretty paltry. And there's not much in the way of sides.
The BBQ is good, but it isn't in the same league as the Salt Lick or Kreuz Market, and is more expensive than either. The biggest thing The Iron Works has going for it is location. For downtown dining, it offers much better 'cue than Stubb's BBQ or Earl Campbell's, and better than what Bongo's BBQ is serving up these days. And the building (which was literally an iron works in it's heyday) has a nice ambiance about it. Worth a try if you don't want leave town for your BBQ jones.
Nicely large Tex-Mex combo plate, pretty good service: yeah, I like this just fine, thanks. I'm not sure I would go to this location (as opposed to the South Lamar one) on a busy night, because it was slightly cramped: other than that, though, it was better than passable.
A slightly better than average TexMex joint with better than average service, but too small for the trade they do (they badly need to expand). The chicken fajita nachos were good, but, at $8, pretty pricey for what you get. My fajita enchiladas were also good, but not any better than a half a dozen other TexMex places. A far better choice than El Arroyo in the same general area, but nothing to drive out of your way for.
I have a certain minimum set of expectations for a burger joint. The major one is that they'll get my order right. Honestly, how hard can "nothing but onions" be? Too hard for many places, apparently, including Airport Haven. Even when they get it right, the burgers aren't worth the trip. I'd rather eat at Dan's. Or Wendy's. Or anywhere else.
Pluses: They make large shakes (though not as large or good as Players).
Minuses: Everything else. The hamburgers are fast food chain mediocre, and the onion rings are among the worst I've had in Austin.
Frankly, I'd rather eat at Burger King.
We were in Corpus Christi for the World Fantasy Convention, so no formal conspiracy. So, instead, you get a few random notes on places in Corpus.
Dining options in general seemed pretty limited. Heck, the whole city seemed limited: our friend Walter Jon Williams compared the empty streets of the city to something from a J.G. Ballard novel. Despite this, we did find a few good places: