Is Padre's a bar that serves food, or is it a restaurant with a bar? I don't think they've decided yet, but I'd say they're more of a bar. Most of their footprint seems to be taken by their bar, and even on a weeknight they had what I would consider party music playing.
Padre's does have what they called a "dining room", but it looks like the poor step child of the place. It's very small with only about 5 tables or so, and the decor is awfully depressing. Especially compared to the rest of Padre's, which is very lively. My older dinner guests didn't appreciate the music in the dining room and thought it was too loud (I liked it).
As other reviews have said, the menu is really interesting and the food is awfully good. I would show up just for their rice and beans alone. The rice is the best ever! Of course the bar makes very good drinks too. The service was pretty good, but I think was distracted by helping in the bar, because there were a couple of glitches.
Go to Padre's if you want to eat in a fun bar atmosphere. Avoid the "dining room".