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Some good times at High Tides Restaurant
Friday, June 13, 2008
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by DICKSON MERCER
Michael Karpik, center, holds a fried shrimp dinner, left, and tilapia served over wild rice. He is with Bryan and Vickie Coffman, the co-owners of High Tides Restaurant in Colonial Beach, Va. The restaurant, which specializes in steak and seafood, has a dining room and bar inside and a deck outside. The restaurant will host Kashmir, a popular Led Zeppelin tribute band, on June 28.
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My wife Emily and I got out of the car and walked out onto the beach. To our left we could see the Riverboat on the Potomac, a haven for off-track betting. To our right there were fishermen setting up at the end of a dock. And behind us, the one-man band Roger McDuffie was playing a set of nostalgic, feel-good tunes on the deck of High Tides.
A table on the deck — with a cool breeze and view of the Potomac — was so appealing to us that we did not even look inside. We were immediately seated.
McDuffie, who sings and plays keyboards, performs at High Tides Fridays through Sundays. While he represents the bulk of the evening entertainment, the husband and wife owners, Bryan and Vickie Coffman, sometimes hire bands. On June 28, Kashmir, the popular Led Zeppelin tribute group, will perform a benefit concert on the beach for the fire department.
On the deck, McDuffie created his own Jimmy Buffet-like vibe. There was a small outdoor bar, and most of the synthetic wood tables were covered with bottled beers and summer drinks like pina coladas, daiquiris and smoothies. Among an assortment of Kahlua-inspired drinks is the ‘‘bushwacker,” which combines the popular liqueur with pina colada mix and ice cream.
We started with honey-barbecue Budweiser wings from the specials menu. Hungry, we wanted to get some food fast, and we did. But it turns out that meals at High Tides come with more than enough food.
The wings arrived in a beer bottle-shaped platter, right as McDuffie struck up Bruce Springsteen’s rockabilly ‘‘Pink Cadillac.” As the expression goes, these wings had a heavy coat of sauce that made them finger-licking-good. They did not last particularly long.
You could make a meal out of High Tides’ appetizer menu. Malibu coconut shrimp ($9.99) are served with mango sauce. The High Tides sampler ($12.99) comes with four jalapeno ‘‘Potomac Poppers,” four wings, four mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce and chips with a dip of crab and shrimp in a three-cheese sauce.
The restaurant specializes in steak and seafood, although the menu does have some lighter options, like salads and sandwiches. Surf and turf ($29.99) comes with an eight-ounce prime rib or ribeye with a half-pound of spiced shrimp. Prime ribs include a 14-ounce cut for $19.99 and a 10-ounce cut for $16.99. Filet mignon, wrapped in bacon, is $25.99. The New York strip is $19.99.
Emily and I were in the mood for seafood. We thought about ordering the seafood combo ($25.99) of tilapia, crab cake, shrimp, oysters and scallops with dipping sauces.
Emily chose the tilapia dinner ($15.99), which came with Cajun seasonings, peppers and onions over wild rice. I went for a personal favorite: fried shrimp ($16.99).
I could have ordered shrimp stuffed with crabmeat ($22.99) or jumbo spiced shrimp ($16.99). High Tides offers a variety of flounder and salmon dishes and even rockfish stuffed with crab meat ($25.99). Meals came with a salad, a choice of vegetable or coleslaw or applesauce, and a choice of baked potato or sweet potato or french fries.
The service was impressive. As soon as we finished our wings, our server asked us if we were ready for our salads. It was nice to have the meal served in courses rather than get everything at once. It allowed us to relax and enjoy our surroundings.
The salad fit the occasion. Appetite-inducing, it was chilled and topped with cheddar cheese.
My meal came with 10 shrimp. They were lightly fried and breaded, not quite what I expected. But I came to appreciate the way they were prepared, not the least bit dried-out, and flavorful, with a small cup of marinara sauce on the side. The coleslaw was sweet; the skin of the baked potato was coated in salt.
Emily’s tilapia came with a side of corn. The tilapia was well-done and yet moist, not oily and nicely broiled.
These were heavy meals. We had no intention of getting dessert.
But our server, believe it or not, convinced us otherwise with a tray of options from the shotglass menu. For $1.99 you can get a shotglass as opposed to a slice of banana caramel cheesecake, chocolate cake, strawberry shortcake or key lime pie. You can get four shots for $5.99, the same price as a slice. It was an easy sell.
My banana caramel cheesecake came out in a chilled shotglass topped with whipped cream and caramel drizzled down the side. The inside was a banana puree with chunks of graham cracker crust. Emily’s key lime pie had the graham cracker crumbs mixed into a distinctive key lime filling withwhipped cream. Both desserts came with a small spoon.
Before leaving High Tides we went inside to see the interior. We were impressed by what we found. Everything was a shiny wood, from the bar to the bar stools, tables, floor and ceiling.
Three years ago, the Coffmans, who own a trucking company in La Plata, purchased a vacant lot. They built High Tides Restaurant from scratch, and I’d say their efforts deserve some praise.
