Saturday, March 06, 2010

Gaido's Restaurant of Gavelston

After an afternoon on the beach with Lynne, and our showers completed, we looked up a restaurant in the visitor rag. There was one with just a simple listing and no big advertising -- Gaido's Seafood. On the strength of that combination, I figured we should give it a try for an early dinner. We have not been out for dinner since early January -- before departing Columbus.

One of the first things we noticed was that it was huge, occupying what looked like a city block on the waterfront, Also, it was old -- in continuous operation for 99 years. What I immediately liked about the menu was that it featured smaller portions in a complete meal for the a la carte price -- what a concept! What we soon found out was that the "smaller portions" were only marginally reduced. For example, the dinner with eight shrimp was down-sized to five. It seemed like all the other courses were full sized -- at least to our current eating habits.

The second thing you notice about the menu is that they know how to prepare and serve fish. Everything was fresh and hot, served by a dedicated kitchen runner so as no to be sitting around waiting for the waiter. And Wow what they can do with shrimp. Mine were stuffed with pickled jalapeno peppers, cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, and stuffing, dusted in seasoned flour, wrapped in bacon and then pan-sauted, and basted in a brown sugar-chipotle glaze. "Amazing" does not do it justice.

The meal was introduced with a loaf of warm, soft bread and oil and herbs,  and a hot gumbo which was also loaded with whole shrimp. On the main dish there was a bed of rice and the fried onion rings I had selected along with slices of summer squash. The piece d'resistance was the desert of brownie and ice cream or crustless pecan pie -- either unbelievably scrumptious.

So, if you are ever looking for a place to eat in a strange city, you now have my fool-proof selection method, or if in Galveston, just head for Gaido's at 3900 Seawall Boulevard.

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