When my father learned I took a beloved family member to Gaido’s he was disappointed in me. It took a while to convince him things have changed there since the 70s and 80s when he last went and it was truly the only game in town and therefore could serve schlock. I remember cheap bottled salad dressing transferred into little plastic cups with lids, perched on the side of a bowl of wilty lettuce and frozen seafood.
But times have changed, the youngest generation has taken over the 106 year old restaurant after formal culinary training and there are now many, many choices in Galveston and Gaido’s is killin it with house made salad dressings and sauces and fresh-never-frozen local seafood.
They were celebrating crab season with a special crab menu and we took advantage of it with a shared appetizer of fried asparagus with lump crab:
The Italian breading was a little heavy for my tastes but it was delicious.
I ordered two jumbo soft shell crabs which was a deal at $22. It came with a choice of 3 sides but we ended up ordering shared sides of onion rings (thin ones) creamed spinach (cheesy goodness) and crab mac n cheese:
Others had lump crab sauteed in butter (also available au gratin or in Asiago cream sauce), blackened shrimp and red snapper topped with lump crab:
For dessert we shared the ubiquitous creme brulee:
Service was so spectacular from our newbie server that the manager was called over to praise her efforts.
My that got wordy fast. Good meal.