Heirloom-corn masa, nixtamalized in-house.
We stone-grind whole heirloom corn three mornings a week. It’s slower, costlier, and the only way a tortilla should taste.
THE
REEF
MEXICAN
&
BAR
Our story
A coastal kitchen anchored to the bay.
The Reef began as a Friday-night pop-up on a friend’s back dock — a single grill, a sack of heirloom-corn masa, and a cooler of wild-caught snapper out of Galveston Bay. Three years later, the dock became a dining room, but the rules never changed.
We cook the food of the Mexican Gulf: wood-grilled fish, blistered masa, herb-and-citrus ceviches, and slow-braised cuts that taste of someone’s grandmother. The agave bar runs deep — single-village mezcals, reposados rested in oak, and a margarita built on fresh-pressed lime, never a mix.
Most nights you’ll find the owner at table six, the chef on the line, and the string lights swaying the same way they did on that first Friday.
Est.
2021
Texas City
Why we cook this way
Three things we refuse to cut corners on.
Wild-caught Gulf fish, never farmed.
Our snapper, shrimp, and tuna come off Galveston boats the same morning they hit the grill. If the bay is closed, the dish is closed.
A mezcal bar built village by village.
Forty-plus agave expressions, most of them single-village and small-batch. We pour them neat, with orange, and with the story of who made them.
The room
String lights, open fire, long evenings.
Reservations
Pull up a chair. We’ll save you one.
The dining room seats forty, the patio another thirty, and the bar is first-come, first-served. For parties of six or more, private events, or buyouts, send us a note and we’ll build a menu around your evening.
- HoursTue–Thu 4pm–10pm · Fri–Sat 4pm–12am · Sun 12pm–9pm · Mon closed
- LocationTexas City, TX — Galveston Bay side
- PartiesUp to 8 online · 9+ by request
- Walk-insAlways welcome at the agave bar