Gaido's of Galveston   3800 Seawall Blvd Galveston TX 77550 409.762.9625 You might also be interested in these:     Business Lunches    Outdoor Dining    Seafood Restaurants    Waterfront Dining    ZIP 77550   Add Review       MY REVIEW: My husband and I visited Gaido's for the first time on our anniversary. At first, I was reluctant to try any more of Galveston's seafood restaurants, as I find most are overpriced with low quality seafood. My husband, who had dined here in the past, convinced me to give this restaurant a try. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Gaido's was different than the rest. The food was excellent and the portions more than we could eat. Our waitress was pleasant and attentive. The prices were good for the quality and volume of food we received. We will definitely be back! NAME: RMCGRL SUBMITTED: 7/22/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 06/2008 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: My husband and I visited Gaido's of Galveston for our anniversary weekend and dearly loved it. My husband had been there before, years earlier, but I had never been and I truly loved it....everything except...the hostess appeared a bit frazzled and a bit rude. I ordered the lump crabmeat sauteed in butter with a salad, shrimp bisque, (which was my least favorite...I make a better bisque....after all, I am Cajun), parmesean tomatoes and the pecan pie for dessert. My husband ordered the red snapper topped with lump crabmeat, a roumelade salad, augratin potatoes and mixed vegetables. His was divine! I agree that the tableware could have been of a little higher quality and the water glasses were so water stained and did not look clean. And yes, I did notice everyone there was dressed VERY casual. But, so were we...I felt like we should have dressed up a bit more. NAME: Bill & Cheryl Parham SUBMITTED: 7/21/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: July, 2008 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: I've been coming to Gaido's my entire life. All of my family is from Galveston so this establishment has always been thought of very highly (although I do not live down there any more). That said, I was SO disappointed with the attire being worn by the patrons visiting this restaurant on a Friday night. I realize Galveston is somewhat known for being the "redneck riviera". If that's a fact, then you could certainly see it illustrated at this historic establishment. I remember my grandparents getting dressed up, suit and tie, Sunday best, to go to this restaurant. Now I see ratty shorts, flip flops and tank tops all over this restaurant; not to mention men wearing hats at the dinner table - manners??? PLEASE enforce a dress code - shorts are fine, as long as they are paired with a nice, collared shirt. I know Galveston is a tourist town, but what has happened to our society? It's like no one cares anymore... The food... well, I was bit disappointed in this as well. Could have been a little less salty. Take note if you choose a blackened dish. And au gratin potatoes were just potatoes and cheese - nothing au gratin about them... disappointed. Scallops were bland with the exception of the extra salty blackened seasoning on the outside. Crab cheesecake appetizer was fair, different. Probably would not get it again. Portions were quite large so we had some to take home. The saving grace was the service... wonderful wait staff and white linen tables, however, they've downgraded to flimsey, cheap flat ware... maybe the good stuff was walking off?? Sorry to be so cynical - just disappointed in an establishment that I used to hold in such high regard... NAME: BOI SUBMITTED: 7/15/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 7/11/08 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: I have eaten at Gaido's for the better part of my life and have eaten seafood from coast to coast and this is far and away the best, especially if you like fresh Gulf seafood. The service is impecable, the atmosphere is professional, friendly and casual but somehow it remains elegant all at the same time. Started bringing our kids when they were quite young and now are bringing the grandkids. Gaido's is the main reason we return to Galveston at least once a year. NAME: CST SUBMITTED: 7/6/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 07/07/08 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: Gaido's came highly recommended to us from a trusted friend whom visits there from Houston often. The whole experience was top quality. The waitress was charming and professional. The food was 5 star. Seafood was fresh and delicious. I HIGHLY recommend this outstanding restaurant! NAME: JC Fischer SUBMITTED: 6/17/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 5/2008 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: After years of driving by and being turned off by the coffee-shop exterior, we recently stopped by for dinner. We left very impressed by the restaurant. The service was excellent and very personal and the food was delicious and unique. The prices seemed on par with other seafood restaraunts; but we all felt the food and service were a nice step above the usual seafood chain fare. NAME: jallaway SUBMITTED: 6/16/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 06/2008 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: All in all the food was decent at Gaido's. I was not really impressed. You do get a lot of food for your money. Trust me, go with the 1/2 meal deals. Could not eat it all and saved money. Service was excellent. Charming waiter. Don't order the fetaccini alfredo. Bland! Everything else was pretty good but it didn't go WOW. Casey's was fantastic. Huge plates, food was great. Owned by the same people right next door. We did get seated at a dirty table though. Even though there were other tables available. Tacky. But, I do recommend eating at Casey's. Deluxe Burger YUMM! NAME: Stacy SUBMITTED: 4/29/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: April/2008 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times MY REVIEW: I do not understand why anyone eats here. Ridiculous prices for very substandard food. Shrimp bisque was awful; other fish was not especially fresh and a lot of it had been frozen. Very heavy reliance on cream-based sauces to cover up not-great quality food. Service was good; ambiance not so good. Very much an old-people kind of place. NAME: Bean SUBMITTED: 4/16/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: April 2008 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: Glad to see the last several reviews were positive, because this is a well managed, fine-dining establishment that turns out consistently good Gulf Coast fare. Period. If something is not right with food or service, ask for a manager, and it WILL be resolved. In the 70's I moonlighted there on weekends waiting tables. These days I can afford to eat there a few times each year, and I can tell you that Gaido's committment to quality seafood and providing for their customers continues to be there. Texas Monthly refers to them as the Grand Dame of seafood houses. I agree. We are fortunate to have this elegant lady in our back yard. NAME: Sandy from League City SUBMITTED: 2/1/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 12/08 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: I feel compelled to add yet a third review because the complaints of others are absolutely inconsistent with my nearly 50 years of dining here. This is one of the few remaining classic Gulf Coast seafood restaurants and is very well run. In any restaurant, if you see a problem developing that isn't instantly corrrected by waitstaff, promptly inform the maitre'd or manager. Also, you'd have better luck anywhere by trying the local seafood; there aren't many salmon or Maine lobsters around here but there are lots of blue crab, shrimp, pompano, redfish, speckled trout, oysters, etc. Gaido's has always had excellent fried local seafood, very good steaks, fine meal combos, etc. The shrimp salad and gumbo could be better but EVERYTHING ELSE has been very good to excellent for decades. I have lived in most of the Gulf Coast beachtowns, including Galveston, and find this place always above par. Give GAIDO'S a try. NAME: le Vieux SUBMITTED: 11/22/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: Sept 07 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: This was my first visit to Gaido's in years, since I don't make it to Galveston very often. So my girlfriend & I stopped in for lunch; she had never been before. With so many choices our order was rather appetizers heavy. We decided on the Crab Cheesecake, Soup Combination (small cups of gumbo, shrimp bisque, and the soup of the day, tortilla soup), Shrimp Pegues (peggys), Crab Fingers, Fried Shrimp, and Pecan Crunch Pie. The Crab Cheesecake was pretty good, kind of rich (go figure) and served in a mushroom sauce. The soups were very tasty with the bisque and gumbo standing well above the tortilla. I've never been to a restaurant with a "soup flight", so take advantage of this. The Shrimp Pegues were delicious. Shrimp + cheese + bacon + jalapeno = YUM! I could not place the sauce that came with them, I don't think it mattered much. The Fried Shrimp were cooked perfectly and came with my choice of side, Potatoes Au Gratin. The potatoes were excellent as well. The Crab Fingers however, were my favorite. I wish I had ordered a big platter of these as they were awesome! The pecan pie was very good, different from any I have had before. Be warned though, it is very hot on arrival! With all the food we ordered, the only leftovers we took with us was a whole pecan pie for later! NAME: BobG SUBMITTED: 11/19/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 11/2007 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times MY REVIEW: I've been to Gaidos 3 different times in 30 years. I'm from New Orleans and I can honestly tell you that I've seen some of the best Gulf Coast seafood there is to offer. I must admit I would normally be biased for New Orleans restaurants, but Gaidos has lived up to its reputation in every respect. For those who have negative things to say... You are the reason these boards mean nothing. EVERY restaurant in America comes across unfortunate moments were service and product becomes unsatisfactory. The sad thing is people only tend to write on these message boards when they are unlucky enough to have terrible experiences. The simple truth: America is becoming dominated by miserable chain restaurants that won't respond to these negative comments. I've made three visits to Gaidos and I have never experienced anything resembling anything but a classy, well-run, and service oriented restaurant. I hope these terrible critics never take a legitmate crack at our restaurants in N.O. because it would be disheartening. Every visit, the food was great, the service pleasing, and the atmosphere unsurpassed. NAME: Travis SUBMITTED: 11/16/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 11/07 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times MY REVIEW: Sunday afternoon, restaurant not very busy. Food was excellent. Service was atrocious. After being seated, waiter did not show up for over 10 minutes. He explained there was a "mixup" on table assignments. Manager apologized and gave us a free appetizer (LARGE plate of shrimp). Unfortunately, service remained bad. Had to ask manager to check on our entrees, I ran out of iced tea halfway thru meal (!), never saw waiter until we were finished. This guy could give invisiblity lessons to a ghost. On the other hand, watched a couple of tables near us get excellent service from another waiter (attentive, frequent refills), so this may have just been one bad waiter in the group. NAME: Randy B. SUBMITTED: 11/3/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 10/07 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times MY REVIEW: I went with family members at noon on a Saturday. I was expecting some hum-drum run of the mill, on the beach hyped up type meal that would be overpriced, greasy and typical of most resort type restaurants these days. Well, well, surprise, surprise! I was wrong. The food was excellent, the service very decent and the prices better than I was expecting. The fried seafood platter was very good. It had more than I could eat and really was much different than some of the big name chains. If this experience is the norm, I would not hesitate to go back. The salads were excellent. All members of our party came away very pleased. NAME: Ken Cook SUBMITTED: 10/13/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 10/13/2007 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: I've probably eaten here more than 6 times in my life - our family used to vacation here and Gaido's was always the "big night out". My daughter requested a trip to Galveston for her birthday for two reasons: 1) Gaido's and 2) to go seining in the bay at the State Park. I'll spare you the details of the seining. We had a party of 7 (5 teenaged girls, 2 parents) and hit the restaurant right as they opened on a Sunday. Our waiter was excellent (as usual) and the bread was even better than I'd ever had. The dipping oil (? basil & pepper & Parmesan, perhaps?) was too die for! I had to make the girls stop eating bread because I knew we'd be stuffed with the dinner. Sure enough, the portions were huge and the entrees were excellent! I don't think their sides, like the potatoes au gratin, are nearly as good as the entrees but when you're eating fish Michael who cares? ( _____ Michael is the fish of the day, or snapper if you're REALLY lucky, dusted with a Parmesan laden flour and pan-fried in butter.) I've never had a bad experience here and my friends have always loved it, too. I'll take this over *ANY* chain restaurant any day! There's something to be said for a family owned place that hangs on and doesn't compromise, doesn't rely on gimmicks to sell a meal and has waiters who've worked there since you were knee-high to a pelican. (No disrespect to the _andry's or the _appas restaurants, they're good - but this place is special.) NAME: Big Time Gaido's Fans SUBMITTED: 8/27/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: June 2007 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times MY REVIEW: The service was terrible. The food bland and uninspiring.Party of 3, ordered beers, barely cold. Each ordered either soup or salad. We had to ask the food runner for them, he told us "sorry they would be right out". 10 minutes later when the server came to check on us, we asked her. As the first person was finishing their entree the salad and soups arrived. The salads were sans croutons and dressing. We had to tell her what dressings again. 5-10 minutes later the dressing show up. The food was unimpressive, portions very nice, the food tasted as if it was meant to take no risk of offending anyones taste. BLAND! So after the meal, the waitress apologizes profusely and asks us if she can get us any desert. We take her up on her offer. Ok, deserts, and then we get the bill and she appeared to offer us desert for such horrible service with the meal and room temp drinks. And on top of that, we had requested the checks be split for expense purposes. Well they were'nt. I ended up paying for all the drinks and my meal, because she couldnt figure it out. When I asked to visit with a manager aobut our experience, after 5 minutes or more, I was finally told that the GM was busy in his office and the assistant had to go to the hotel to take care of something, it would be awhile. Oh, and one last thing, if you get a desert with ice cream to go, you dont get the ice cream and pay full price, thats just how they do it, I was told. If you ever want to get great food, amazing service and moderate prices try D*ick and Jenny's in NOLA. The dishes and prices are similar, but thats where the similaritys end. NAME: cbeau SUBMITTED: 8/27/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: Aug/2007 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: Tried Gaido's for the first time on a Friday afternoon. We were seated promptly and our waitress was very nice and provided excellent service. The food however, was just ok. Started with shrimp bisque and it was good, not great. Then had the wedge salad which came with the lettuce not just wet, but seeming like it had been soaked and then put right on the plate. Then my husband had the blackened snapper with asiago sauce and he really liked it, however I had the same dish broiled and found it a bit dry. Afer all the hype for this place, nothing made us feel that we must return. NAME: dlw SUBMITTED: 8/7/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 08/07 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: Try the Jazz Martini, an appetizer. Marvelous. Fresh lump crab with shrimp in a cilantro sauce, served in a Martini Glass. Delicious. Don't let the $7.99 price deter you; it was enough for two people, especially if you're waiting for a table and plan to eat dinner. Now, if I could just find the recipe. NAME: Nan SUBMITTED: 8/6/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 8/5/07 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times MY REVIEW: amazing! my friend and i needed to get away for the weekend, so we drove an hour south to galveston and he took me to Gaidos, a restaraunt that he has been going to since he was a kid. this is a serious place to eat! he had the shrimp pegues with au gratin potatos and i mean i just about died!! this food was so great, wonderful, fresh seafood! i had the texas jumbo lump crabmeat and the garlic mashed potatoes. i ate everything and the portions were huge! we were in a food coma afterwards because our tummies were happy! i will definetly be back!! NAME: lindsey SUBMITTED: 6/6/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: june 2007 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: By far the best food I've ever had, and at a reasonable price! My husband and I went to Galveston for a long weekend, and sadly, Gaido's was the last place we ate. If we'd eaten there sooner, we might not have gone anywhere else! The grilled shrimp were wonderful, the clam chowder was so full of clams I hardly saw anything else in it, the bread was unusual and delicious, and that Pecan Crunch pie was to DIE for. I've been searching for a recipe since we came home! NAME: Thalassatx SUBMITTED: 4/21/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: April 2007 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: We went to Gaido's last evening to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. The food was excellent as was the service. We were seated as soon as we got there and within minutes our drink order had been taken and we had received it. Our server was very good. She was friendly, courteous and very efficient. When she found out it was our anniversary, she brought out a special dessert dish as a gift. We both had ordered the small combination dinner and the quantity and quality was more than adequate. I would highly recommend this restaurant, especially for a special occasion. NAME: txnf SUBMITTED: 3/2/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: March 1, 2007 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times MY REVIEW: Know many people who have been there over the years. Only ever heard good things. A Texas legend, yet it exceeded our expectation. I have to wonder if the bad posts are planted by competing restuarant. This is, afterall, the internet. Gaido's is the real deal. We loved it. NAME: seafood lover SUBMITTED: 2/26/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 2/2007 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: This may be a little belated, but I felt the need to respond to the negative reviews. My husband and I went to Gaido's in September for our anniversary. We had eaten there the year before and enjoyed it so much we wanted to repeat the experience. The food was wonderful, and the service was flawless--attentive but not overbearing, and leisurely, which is not the same thing as slow. If you are in a hurry and want to get in and out in under an hour, go somewhere else--Gaido's is not that kind of restaurant. All you complainers, listen a moment: Fine dining is SUPPOSED to be leisurely. The courses come one at a time so you have time to enjoy each one and you don't have to rush. If you plan ahead and allow two hours or so for the entire meal, you will be fine. Perhaps the casual dress code throws some people off; casual attire is fine, being on the beach, but this IS fine dining. Our waiter was terrific, and no wonder--he mentioned that he had been working there for 28 years! It is a rarity to find a restaurant with such loyalty among the staff, and a testament to the quality of Gaido's that they have achieved it. It is truly a pleasure to be served by a waiter who really knows his job. As for the food, it is wonderful. The menu can be a little overwhelming, as there are so many choices of preparation styles. The full-meal choices are truly a good value. I always get the "admiral's" dinner, which is a half-portion of the main course, and still it is almost too much; there is no skimping on the portions here. On the day we were there, in addition to two kinds of bread, we were brought a small plate of grilled salmon (as a "freebie"). It was moist and flavorful; I would say it was the second best salmon I have ever eaten, but then the very best was in Alaska, which is a pretty high standard of comparison. Everything was delicious--the bisque, the fish dishes, and the desserts. You MUST save room for dessert. NAME: A Gaido's fan in Lake Jackson SUBMITTED: 2/9/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: September 2006 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times MY REVIEW: After attending the Texas Bowl in Houston (loyal Rutgers fans!), my father and I decided to take a trip down to Galveston Island to see the beach, surf, eat seafood, and just wander around. Luckily, we wandered right into Gaidos. As summers residents of the Jersey Shore, my family is accustomed to quality seafood on-demand. Thus, we won't settle for anything less than great. Gaidos certainly lived up to our expectations. The food, which included unbelievable oysters on the half shell, grilled gulf shrimp and oysters, red snapper, and sweet pecan pie, was complemented by a classic coastal interior, panoramic views of the Gulf, and attentive, professional service. Incidentally, our server hailed from Central Jersey, which provided for an interesting conversation. Highly recommended! NAME: Justin Auciello SUBMITTED: 12/30/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 12/29/06 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: I have no idea how many times I have dined at Gaido's. My dad first brought us here in 1952, (I was eight years old.) I can't remember a bad meal or inattentative waiters. If you don't like Gaido's, you don't know seafood! NAME: Rick B. SUBMITTED: 11/11/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: Aug. 2006 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times ©Copyright 1991 - 2008 B4-U-EAT.COM. All rights reserved. Design and database by B4-U-BUY