Hours of Operation
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OPEN DAILY 12 Noon – 8 P.M (Wednesday & Thursday & Sunday) 12 Noon -9 P.M Friday & Saturday
Holiday Hours: CLOSED on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve-close early at 4pm; CLOSED on Christmas Day; and CLOSED New Year’s Day.
All seating is on first-come, first-served basis. We do not accept reservations, and we appreciate your understanding.
Note: Both the kitchen and bar will remain open past the posted hours if business warrants.
Our Story
Harrison’s Landing, a dba of Yachting Center of Corpus Christi, LLC, is a family-owned and –operated business, comprised of four areas of services: our restaurant Tavern on the Bay, Cathy’s Boutique & Gifts, Yachting Center, our boat tour operation, and our newest addition The Mariner, our upscale cocktail and tapas bar opened in August 2023.
The Yachting Center was opened in 2006 at its former location on the Cooper’s Alley L-Head, at the other end of the City Marina, in its original form as a sailing school, captain’s training and charter boat operation. By 2007, the operation had grown and a new, larger location was needed. A retired Army utility lash barge was purchased and modified to accommodate the existing two-story floating building. We relocated the sailing school and charter boat operation to our new location in April 2009, and expandedthe operation to include Cathy’s Boutique & Gifts.
The following year we opened Tavern on the Bay, an outdoor patio restaurant, serving a limited menu of hamburgers, hot dogs, pulled pork sandwiches and fried shrimp baskets. The Tavern has since expanded several times from the original self-service hamburger stand to the current day full service outdoor restaurant, with a second area for upscale cocktails and equally unique tapas options. The Mariner is also available for private events.
In 2010 we purchased a 50’ open touring boat to offer one-hour boat tours of Corpus Christi Bay. She was named Japonica after a touring boat that operated from Pleasure Pier in the early 1930s before the seawall and the T-Heads were built in the City Marina. Japonica is a favorite tourist attraction with its BYOB cruises, dolphin sightings, and a water view of the Bayfront, Harbor Bridge, Texas State Aquarium and USS Lexington. All ages enjoy a ride aboard Japonica, especially the sunset tours. In 2017, we acquired Texas Tease, a 65′ double-deck yacht in 2017 owned and operated by MCCA, LLC, a sister company, and it offers private charters, a full bar on both decks, bay cruises with live entertainment.
Cathy’s Boutique & Gifts began as what was supposed to be a “ship’s store,” but quickly was redirected to a tourist gift shop and convenient spot for marina tenants to obtain ice and soft drinks. Within a year, demand for more than just refrigerator magnets and Corpus Christi trinkets caused the gift shop to turn toward a more boutique retail environment. Cathy’s Boutique boasts an eclectic inventory of “all things coastal,” offering home décor, wall art, jewelry, fashion accessories, men’s and women’s apparel, and, of course, Corpus Christi souvenirs, although we try to offer items other than the typical ones found at the local souvenir shops across the Harbor Bridge or on Padre Island.
In 2011, we changed our name from Yachting Center to Harrison’s Landing to better reflect the multi-service facility we had become. As we grew in popularity, our second-floor view of the bay and cityscape became recognized as a perfect private rental facility. It also has become a popular place for wedding rehearsal dinners, graduation and birthday parties, meeting space, etc.
With the Spring of 2012 came the addition of the “Back Dock Tiki Bar” and two other floating decks, which were an over-whelming success. These areas labeled us as an outdoor destination, especially after the City adopted a “dog” ordinance allowing canines in compliant areas of outdoor restaurants. Furry friends are welcome on our back patio as long as they are wearing current city license and rabies vaccine tags and remain on a leash while on our property. Water bowls are happily provided for our furry friends, and we also offer a “Fido Menu.”
Our popular, beloved tiki bar and one of the two other floating patios were destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in August 2017. We rebuilt them, but separated the two, and the tiki bar is now a stand-alone floating bar with its own adjacent floating dock.
Tickets for ALL boats can be purchased in person at our boutique or by calling 361-881-8503 ext 2, purchase online at https://harrisonslanding.ensemblegroup.net/boating/, or by scanning this QR code:
Harrison’s Landing is committed to living out its mission statement: “At Harrison’s Landing, whether dining, boating or shopping, we strive to delight our guests with such an exceptional experience, they can’t wait to spread the word and come back again!”
We haven’t finished evolving yet, stay tuned for what’s around the next corner.
Harrison’s Landing, where the best of Corpus Christi comes together!
Mission:
At Harrison’s Landing, whether dining, boating or shopping,
we strive to delight our guests with such an exceptional experience,
they can’t wait to spread the word and come back again!
History
Why Harrison’s Landing you ask?
“Virginia’s Most Historic Plantation”
Berkeley Plantation on the James River usually appeared on Civil War maps as Harrison’s Landing. Settled in 1619 – a year before the Mayflower left England – Berkeley was acquired by Benjamin Harrison II in 1691.
In 1774, his great grandson Benjamin Harrison V, “the Signer,” was elected to the 1st Continental Congress. While in Philadelphia he “roomed” with Col. George Washington and Peyton Randolph, his brother-in-law and President of the 1st Continental Congress.
By 1776 and the 2nd Continental Congress, Gen. George Washington had assumed control of the Continental Army, Peyton Randolph had died and had been replaced by John Hancock, and Benjamin Harrison V joined 55 other patriots in signing the Declaration of Independence.
In 1781 the traitor Benedict Arnold pillaged Berkeley as a way to hurt a signer of the Declaration and close friend of George Washington, the man he had betrayed. Arnold recognized the sensitive points of Virginia aristocrats. He removed all the ancestral portraits of the Harrisons from the walls and placed them on a bonfire in front of the mansion. That not only hurt the Signer’s family – for the Virginia planters spent heavily on artists to preserve their likenesses into earthly immortality – but also future historians seeking portraits of the Harrisons.
In 1840, the Signer’s son Gen. William Henry Harrison (6th generation), was elected the 9th President of the United States.
In 1862, During the Civil War, 140,000 Union troops occupied Harrison’s Landing. President Abraham Lincoln twice visited there to confer with General George B. McClellan about his lack of prosecution of the War. It was during this 1862 occupation at Harrison’s Landing that the haunting bugle call “Taps” was composed and first played.
In 1888, William Henry’s grandson, another Benjamin Harrison (8th generation), was elected the 23rd president of the United States.
Cathy, Hank and Hannah Harrison are the owners of Harrison’s Landing in Corpus Christi. Bill, Hank and Hannah are 13th generation direct descendants of the Harrisons of Berkeley Plantation. Their father, W. O. “Bill” Harrison, was a 12th generation descendant. He was proud of his heritage, and he loved Corpus Christi and all that he knew it could become.