Gaido's Seafood Restaurant

One of our group grew up in the Galveston area and Gaido's was the special occasion restaurant. Now as an adult, and on the first trip back to Galveston after Ike, eating at Gaido's was a must. We all really appreciate how Gaido's played such an important role in the recovery in those first few days after Ike. She did not disappoint. Excellent food and service. The perfect way to ease into the magic of Galveston. It's what keeps us coming back for more. Also had a great meal at Casey's the next day. more

It was very good. Had a great time and would recommend it. We tried some things we had not eaten before and were pleased. We made reservations online before going and were seated in an appropriate amount of time. The bread with olive oil was a great starter. more

My scallops were great. I would have to say the best part of the meal was my creme br?l?e for dessert. It was the bomb. more

I had not eaten here in 20 years until now. It was everybit as good as it was 20 years ago. This was the first time my wife had eaten here and she loved it. We have eaten at some really nice restaurants in the past and this is one of the best for the money. Next time we are in Galveston we will certainly eat here again. more

Our waiter was fantastic! The food was delicious! What a great Father's Day lunch we had there. more

OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS HAVE BEEN DINNING AT GAIDO'S FOR MANY YEARS. I AM 83 YEARS OLD WHICH MEANS I AND MY FAMILY AND BUSINESS ASSOCIATEAS HAVE DINED AT GAIDO'S FFOR 60+YEARS. more

We were treated very specially, our service excellent. more

Terrible, terrible experience. 1. The place smells so bad you will lose your apatite when you walk in if you have a sense of smell. I tried to leave but my girl sat down before I could get her out of there. 2. The waitress didn't know anything about the menu and kept rushing me to order. Her answer was"" it smells good, it's the best thing i've ever smelt"" when asking about something on the menu. 3. I wanted some good crabs so we decided to try the place because it has a huge crab outside and locals say its the best seafood on the Island. What the hell are they eating? I ordered the crab clusters because for some reason they don't have actual crabs. OMG! Tasted like sewage run off from Huston! No joke. Worst thing I have ever put in my mouth. No crab flavor at all and I almost got sick on the table from one bite. 4. When I put the plate on the side of the table and told the waitress that I couldn't even eat a bite it was so bad her response was that I didn't like seafood. I love seafood why would I be at a seafood restaurant. She still charged me 20+$ for it. I didn't ask for the manager because I just wanted to get out of there and put it all behind me. 5. The fired catfish was ok and the $7 little side salad was good but way over priced, like the rest of the menu. The prices are fine dining prices but the service and food is poor at best. What a bad experience. Enough to ruin your vacation. You have been warned ! Eat at your own risk! I mean it, thats what the menu says. Joe's Crab shack is 100 times better, so what does that say? Cons: to many more

From the moment I sat down the service was great. Adam our server was very attentative. He asked if we have dine at Gaido's before, my answer was no this is my first time. Adam gave us Gaidos history. Did you know Gaido has been in business for 99 years? It was the first restaurant to grill fish, and everything is fresh mostly caught from the Gulf or delivered the same day (nothing is every frozen). The complementary bread and olive oil was tasty, I ordered the pan seared crusted mahi mahia with Au gratin potatoes, delicious. The salad was cool and crisp, perfect start to a meal .Last but not least ""THE PECAN PIE"" was the absolute best. Pros: Customer Service (Adam), Meal, Ambience Cons: Not one more

We ate here the last eve of our vacation, and loved it. I wish we had ate there our first nite, now we have to wait till next year for more. All the food was tasty and the service was outstanding. Definatly worth it. more

Was looking forward to eating there. It was very cool and comfortable in the restaurant. We had reviewed the menu online and knew what pricing to expect but the food was not that good. Best thing about my meal was the $4.00 side-salad. Just wasn't worth the money probably would have enjoyed a Big Mac more. Pros: Nice and cool on a humid day Cons: Food overly salted. Tasted like any other restaurant. more

From the moment we arrived at Gaido's, we should have known that we were about to have an unpleasant dining experience. The indifferent hostess took a phone call when we arrived and we waited approximately two minutes until she hung up and seated us. When we were seated, it was another few minutes before the waiter came to tell us about the specials of the day and take drink orders. It was quite some time before he actually took our order for dinner and by that time it seemed, from many at our table, that we were not welcome and felt like an annoyance. The average entree was between $20-$30. We expected good food. The food was delivered an hour after we arrived. We were very displeased, but willing to forgive if the food was exceptional. Unfortunately, it was not. The portions were incredibly stingy. Many of the side dishes, such as steak fries, were ridiculous (four fries on a saucer dish.) We saw the manager pass by our table several times, but he never once stopped to ask us how we were enjoying Gaido's. The food was OK. I wish that we had just gone next door to Casey's Seafood where we had eaten before and had a much better experience relative to this. If you want a classy seafood dining experience, I would recommend visiting Landry's Seafood on the sea wall. Pros: pleasant dining atmosphere; linen tablecloth and napkins Cons: poor attitudes from staff, overpriced items, long wait more

Definatly try the crusted mahi mahi. i suggest the micheal. it tastes amazing for those who love cheese. It is a vibrant flavor of parmesan cheese, not the soggy fish that can be found at lower class restaurants but an absolutly crusty, and full of flavor. i suggest this restaurant for everyone! though the wait leaves much to be desired, just make reservations. more

My girlfriend and I visited Galveston for vacation and went to Gaido's after being recommended by a local. There was a bit of a wait, but once we were seated the experience was superb. The complementary bread and olive oil were anything but filler. On the recommendation of the waitress, I ordered the wade red snapper with au gratin potatoes and shrimp bisque. The snapper had a light texture and a subtle butter and lemon taste. The bisque was creamy with a subtle flavor and a hint of spice. My girlfriend had the salmon with a creamy shrimp topping that she really enjoyed. For desert, we both had their world famous pecan pie - I wouldn't recommend any other dessert...ever. All in all, I have to say that this was one of the best meals I have enjoyed in years. Certainly the best seafood I have ever had. Pros: Food, ambiance, service, menu Cons: Wait more

I don't understand how this place has gotten any good reviews. My boyfriend and I went here for a romantic dinner and fortunately for us we have a sense of humor, because the night was anything but romantic. We sat at our table for about 15 minutes before my boyfriend went over to the manager to ask him if we had a server. We recieved no apologies just a quick and disgusting shrimp cocktail dropped at our table with no explanation. The shrimp had no flavor and the sauce served with them looked like it had been sitting out all day. The menu at this place is so complicated, made worse by our waitress who barely spoke English. After looking over the menu for about 20 minutes and not understanding what any of it meant we picked our meals. My mahi was fried and greasy, covered in a goopy sauce made from god knows what surrounded by the saddest vegetable medley I had ever seen. My boyfriend's blackened seafood plate tasted like a big bunch of fresh thyme had been burnt and thrown right on top. Overall, the food was terrible as was the service and the ambience. The only positive this place has going for it is location and wine (thank god for that). more

Gaido's has some of the best dishes ever! I've always had a great meal there. In fact, I can't think of anything I've ordered that I did not throughly enjoy. Their pecan pies (more like pecan cake) is pretty killer, too. Watch out, it's hot. Pros: Food, service, atmosphere Cons: little pricey (but still a decent value) more

My husband and I ate here in March 2008. We loved this place. We both order a variation of the red snapper. My plate was around $25 and I got two huge filets. The gulf shrimp was good too. We also had Gumbo as an appetizer. The food was very fresh!! You can tell they take pride in what they do. We will go back to this place every time we go to Galveston. They have a nice lobby area you can sit and wait in (because the wait is a little long since it is a popular place.) You can order drinks and appetizers from this lobby to keep your hunger at bay. The staff was very friendly. We had a great waiter who described the menu in great detail to us. My mouth is watering just thinking of all the great food we had. This is a must-go if you are in the area. The only seafood I have had that is better was in San Diego, CA at the ""Top of the Market"" Restaurant. Pros: Right across from the beach!! Askfor a window seat - it may take a lil longer to be seated but it is so worth it. Cons: Long wait - but the accomadate this with a nice lobby area. more

Since this restaurant came highly recommended, my hubby and I decided to try it out on our weekend visit to Galveston. Sorry folks...but a lot of hoopla for nothing too impressive. I've had better quality seafood that was much tastier. I guess we've been spoiled since we just moved out to TX from southern CA. Cons: Long wait, no parking. more

I travel a lot for my job, and I always go to places that serve seafood. Very relaxed and sophisticated environment. Great serving style and nice view from the inside. Everything was great from the bread to the dessert. I will make it a point to come back when I am in Houston. I would not bring little kids during the evening hours; but older kids and business meetings would be ok. Pros: ambience Cons: parking more

My family and I went to Gaido's on our recent trip to Galveston because we had heard so many good things about it. We were NOT disappointed! This was bar-none the best seafood we have ever had anywhere. I had fried shrimp with parmesan tomatoes, my daughter had grilled shrimp on angel hair pasta with a creamy sauce, and my husband had a mixed platter of fried seafood--all to die for--not to mention the incredible bread and herbed olive oil dipping sauce that came before. We were too stuffed for dessert but did see the array of offerings that looked incredible. The very next day we tried Joe's Crab Shack (awful!) and wished we had just gone to Gaido's again. Gaido's is great, great, great! Pros: Food, service Cons: worth the wait and the price more