Any advice and/or recommendations are greatly appreciated.

I am buying a condo in Galveston and plan on spending about a third of the year there for business and pleasure. I have vacationed there dozens of times staying at San Louis. I have eaten at Guidos, the steakhouse at the San Louis and the Mosquito Cafe.

All that being said, I need to know what are some of the best bars (not touristy dives), fish markets, restaurants, and places to know about down there.

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[This message has been edited by Wrangler (edited 5/17/2008 11:47a).]

I could sit here and give you a run down of just about every restuarant in Galveston. Rather than doing that I will tell you about the places I eat.

Mexican - El Napolito, La Estacion, El Jardin, and El Gusto. You absolutely must try the surprise burrito for breakfast from any of these places. Another good burrito is the Bronco burrito at The Donut Shop. It is the same as the surprise except it has chorizo too. I don't eat Mexican for dinner too much. Most of the places that stay open for dinner are touristy. The one exception is The Original, but that place doesn't do it for me. A lot of people like it though.

Italian - DiBella's (try the steak), Mario's (Either location. Best pizza in town). I never stray from these two places when I want Italian.

Greek - The Cajun Greek, Olympia Grill, and there is a place on the Strand that I can't remember the name.

Seafood/Steak - Rudy and Paco's, Shearn's, Pic's on 45th, Sky Bar (Sushi)

Other must try places - Sonny's Place for a true slice of locals. Good bar food and gumbo (gumbo only served on Fri). The Sunflower.

Bars - Yaga's, O'Malley's, 21

That will get you started.

Captain Jacks at the Holiday Inn on the Seawall is a decent bar. It is a Cancun style open air palapa and is good for people watching and they also have live music.

The bar he speaks of at the Holiday Inn is sweet. It is a nice secret. Most people go to The Spot for a seawall experience. Good place, but very touristy and biker. The H-Inn has the same view with less crowd.

Oh yeah, if you really want a nice outdoor place you need to check out H2O at San Luis. Nice red couches with poolside bar. Also, if you are single you need to go back to the bar next to The Steakhouse. You will find the hottest bartender on the island. Her name is Carrie. Sweet girl.



[This message has been edited by FairwayAg (edited 5/21/2008 11:45a).]

Excellent stuff. You have no idea how much I appreciate this! Feel free to add any other cool stuff to do there.

Since you said you've vacationed in Galveston I presume you have been to Moody Gardens. Definately a must. Schlitterbahn (the water park) is great if you have kids. If you're a golfer the muni course, which has undergone a massive redo, is scheduled to open next month and should be very nice.

fake O'Donohoe name dropping

For Mexican food The Apache is good. The best pizza on the island is at Murphy's Pub. Luigi's is the best Italian food. For expensive seafood Gaido's and Willie G's. For cheaper Benno's and Shrimp and Stuff. For Greek food Olympia is the best. For bars I would recommend Woody's, Murphy's, Captain Jack's. A lot of name droppers' places are uppity establishments, but some are good suggestions.

Um yeah, the name dropping was in bad taste. Posting at 3am from Elk City, Oklahoma will do that to you.

Cracker - you must not know the O'Donohoe's very well if you think I am a fake.

Fairway -

just joshing you a bit about claiming the Momus King as your dad

random ?: are you playing in the Ronald McDonald Tournament June 7th at the new course? I'm looking forward to it. Ya Ya we all know you and Buddy Herz are best buds too. j/k Hope to see you out there.

I got five on the weed and fifty on the drank.

Call me lucky. David has been my step-dad since I was five. I call him and my bio father dad.

I don't have plans for the golf tourney. I will most likely be out of town that week. Good luck bro. I can't wait to get out there.

That's great. I didn't know he had a step child. I thought you were just a close friend of the family or something trying to brag. My apologies.

Sorry you aren't making it out to try the new course, but I doubt it will be that much fun with brand new greens anyway.

btw, I'm building a website that will hold exactly this kind of information. Local people's advice on local places to go... not up yet but soon, either travellocal.com or travellocal.info

Sonny's

You know when people talk about getting beat like a red headed step child? Well Fairway is the real thing.


Just messing with you Fairway. Cracker, he is the real thing.

Damn, all this talk about places to eat in Galveston is about to make me take a road trip down their for some grub.

A burger from Sonny's or a fish po-boy from Shrimp n Stuff sounds great right now.

The best barbecue we've had on the island is at Leon's - we go there everytime we're in town. Gaido's for good seafood.

But I'm a tourist - the locals will know the best places. We always try to find the good local places and avoid the chain restaurants, but they are getting few and far between. We're planning a trip to fish in July - so any suggestions on good places would be appreciated here, too.

quote:

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You know when people talk about getting beat like a red headed step child? Well Fairway is the real thing.

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Awesome Ag_B_10! It's funny, that commment never made any sense to me as a kid.

Back to the food...

Leon's has good BBQ. Queens is better in my opinion.

Has anyone been out to the Crazy Oaks? It is where the Lazy Oaks used to be out by 13 mile road and Stewart Rd. I stopped in briefly a couple Sundays ago. It was early so no one was there except the bartender and his dog. I brought my dog too. Not a bad place to hang out and let your dog run around while you enjoy a cold one.