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    The Gumbo Diner

    4.0 (1.4k reviews)
    Open 8:00 am - 11:00 pm
    Updated a few days ago

    Order The Gumbo Diner Takeout or Delivery

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    THE GUMBO DINER ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Classy
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - The Gumbo Diner

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    Not sure what this is call but it's a pepper filled with seafood and it's good
    Lindsay S.

    Love this place and love the service. It the last stop we make before heading home . The servers are always so happy to see people walk through the door. I've only ever had the shrimp and grits here and it's so good that's the only thing I'll get here. I e tried it at other places in Galveston and they don't compare. I also have found anything as good back home. I look forward to this dish every year!

    Christopher S.

    +Customer service was excellent. +Food portions are huge. +The hash browns were crunchy and crispy, just how I like them. -Both, the seafood gumbo as well as the chicken and sausage gumbo, tasted very similar. Hard to describe, but a strong herb flavor at the end that lingers. -The pancakes were a bit too dense and doughy. Thick and fluffy would've been the perfect meal. What we ordered: Kids Cheese Omelette $5.99 Seafood Gumbo $14.99 Chicken and Sausage Gumbo $14.29 All Day Pancakes (3) $11.59 Total: $50.73 post-tax plus tip

    Shrimp & Grits
    Victor I.

    This is an older establishment on the Seawall. The inside is a little dated and the floors need a good cleaning. The food however was amazing. The shrimp and grits are the best ever. Service was good fast and friendly. The price was a little high for what you got but after all it's a tourist stop.

    Crawfish Étouffee
    Jason F.

    I stopped by here a couple of days ago with my wife for dinner. We happened to be on the beach nearby when looking for a place to eat and my wife found The Gumbo Diner. When she called in the order they told us it would be ready in 5 to 10 minutes, which I thought was super fast. We arrived at the restaurant about 30 minutes later and the food was waiting to be picked up. Since I was only inside for a moment, I can't say I paid too much attention to the surroundings, but it did remind me of a classic diner. For dinner on this day, I decided to go with the crawfish etouffee. The menu described it as a traditional Cajun delight served with white rice. It was packaged into multiple containers, one for the etouffee, one for the rice, and one for the bread. I appreciated that, since it kept the bread from getting soggy and the rice from soaking up all the etouffee before we got home. After adding it all to a plate, I tried it and thought it was pretty good. The etouffee had plenty of crawfish meat, and the gravy had a nice flavor with a little bit of spice. Both my wife and my mother-in-law thought the shrimp and grits they had were pretty good as well. The bottom line for me is that I would head back here again in the future. I enjoyed my crawfish etouffee and thought the prices were reasonable too.

    Chef James R.

    Awesome job with service today Damian the waiter was great checked on us every 5 min we went for spring break weekend and my family wanted something different so we seen they was open and we came great hospitality from the staff and manager will be back soon food tasted delicious hot and fresh

    Brent E.

    Really good food. Breakfast all day. Great prices at a nice local diner on the beach. My wife's omelette was really good. I had a big beach breakfast, which was also really good. However, the pancake came out late and was a bit thick. Nice beach view if you sit in the right place.

    Catfish Little Daddy's House Special
    Casey H.

    The good: Generous portion of crawfish in the etoufee. Good flavor. Staff was sweet. The not-so-good: My etoufee was barely warm. They brought my toddler's food several minutes after ours and we watched it sitting on the counter. My husband did not love the catfish because he said it was mushy and still had the "silver strip."

    Cozy dining room with a great view.

    Yvonne is a sweetheart. The 'Costal Cuisine' dish was amazing. Do not skip the beignets they are so yummy.

    huevo rancheros

    The best breakfast on the island. We eat here at least once per week. Usually breakfast,"OMG! The waffles!"YUMMM! The cheeseburgers are awesome also. I love their French fries. The service is excellent. Never disappoints. We consider the staff as family. We love them all. Cozy and comfortable. They never disappoint.

    Biscuits & Gravy Combo
    Katherine C.

    This little diner is great. It's located on the Seawall and has a great menu. I was here before the breakfast crowd arrived. They have a traditional selection of breakfast items, from fluffy pancakes, Belgium waffles, chicken and waffles, omelettes and biscuits. I had the biscuit and gravy combo. It comes with 2 eggs, sausage or bacon, cheesy grits or hash browns. I opted for the bacon and cheesy grits. The biscuit wasn't large, but it was delicious. I really love the cheesy grits.

    Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Seafood Gumbo Crawfish Etouffee Green Beans Jambalaya
    Joya-Nicole C.

    Let's begin with the environment, so welcoming and cute. You can see so much going on behind the scenes because it's pretty much an open layout, which is cool. The servers and service was AMAZING! The FOOOD!!!! Omg. AMAZING! I couldn't decide on what to order, so I went with the sampler and it was a great idea! Absolutely would visit again if I'm ever in Galveston again!

    Pam M.

    My 2nd time here after many years, and the food was just as amazing as I remembered. Our waitress Charlene was extremely attentive and sweet! We shared the Bayou platter and it was a prefect size. Our favorite was the jambalaya and crawfish ettoufee

    Menu Aug 2025
    Smith Family O.

    First time visiting here. Casual ambiance with quick service and friendly staff. Manager checks on customers. Something rarely seen nowadays and much appreciated. Sometimes small things mean so much. Clean but small establishment. Good waitress. Asked for a sample of the gumbo and I personally didn't like it because it tasted powdery so I ordered the junior cheeseburger with fries and sweet potato fries on the other order. Great burger and fries. Good sweet tea too. Stays busy even during the week. Seemed the staff all got along well with each other. I wanted to order the beignets but we've eaten so much these past few days that it's a shame. Next time... I recommend trying it out since they have great variety of food items. We will come back.

    Kitchen with staff

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    Christy L.

    Awesome to hear that! Thanks! Come back soon for another amazing meal.

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    Food, service and restaurant are always good. I took visitors there recently. All enjoyed it, even the kids.

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    Daniel and Irene are the best . Friendly and professional. Love the BIG BEACH COMBO BREAKFAST

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    Page 1 of 36

    Ask the Community - The Gumbo Diner

    Do they serve oysters on the half shell?

    Yep!

    View All 2 Questions

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    Katie's Seafood House - Dockside oysters, grilled

    Katie's Seafood House

    4.4(2k reviews)
    2.1 mi
    $$

    March 2025 visit This restaurant is located next to the…read moreGalveston Channel, Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum, and the cruise terminal. Free parking for the restaurant. Pay attention to parking lot signs at the cruise terminal next door. There is a tall flight of stairs leading to the entrance of the large room with TVs at the bar. Instead of waiting for a table during the busy lunch crowd, opted to sit at the bar instead. Friendly busy staff serving entrees.....made for a short wait for my 3 delicious fresh fish tacos. Definitely will visit again.

    The reviews posted here are perplexing and the only thing I can assume is they are either mot very…read morewell traveled or friends/employees of the rr. Had the "best" fettuccine- it's literally named this- and had to send it back. Pasta was undercooked, lukewarm, unseasoned, sauce, and yet hard on top for some weird reason. Honestly, the fettuccini from Olive Garden is 10x better. Even the fettuccini from Costco would be an upgrade! They did take back the fettuccini after 3 bites. I replaced it with a bisque crab soup. The flavor was nice but there were literally only 3 tiny pieces the size of my pinky fingernail in the whole bowl. Something as easy as 1/2 sweet tea and all 3 of us who ordered it sent it back bc it was over the top sweet/undrinkable. A coke was less sweet! The other meals at the table were just ok but not spectacular. For the appetizer, we had some kind of wings made of fish. These are such a hazard. They had many bones- not bad tasting but difficult to eat. The boudin balls - awful. More like a weir flavored soft meatball to be honest. I'm so sorry to be this negative but the food was not good especially after all the positive reviews..

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    Katie's Seafood House - Golden Tile Fish served "The Galveston Baked" style.

    Golden Tile Fish served "The Galveston Baked" style.

    Katie's Seafood House - Great view

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    Shark Shack Beach Bar & Grill - Grilled Shrimp over Fettuccine Alfredo!

    Shark Shack Beach Bar & Grill

    4.5(1.2k reviews)
    1.8 mi
    $$

    Cutting across Texas to New Orleans, I knew we would be skimming the shore of the Gulf of Mexico…read more Shut up. My review, I can call it what I want. That being said, it had been some time since I've gotten some proper fish-n-chips. I had to remedy that. Especially since the BBQ fiasco the other day, I was going to go on a hunger strike, but once I made the sign, I got potato chip fingers on it and started to eat it. So, I decided to fight fire with fire, and figured I would eat myself happy again. Which I'm never mad about. Sometimes I make myself angry just so I can eat myself happy. And now, the rest of the story. I have learned that I enjoy Cod fish for my fish-n-chips. And I think also Haddock. I am not a fisher nor a fish. So it's hard for me to say. But I know Cod is one for sure. I also sometimes have baby mouth and am afraid of new things. I do know I love my fish battered and deep fried. I also know that Shark Shack had good reviews for their fish, so, that was all I needed to hear. Plus, it was a perfect little eatery with bar seating, table seating, and gifts! So you can bet your bottom dollar tomorrow I ordered the English fish-n-chips. Boy oh boy. Just like how Britain colonized all those countries back when it was the cool thing to do, these fish and chips colonized my taste buds. Respectfully. This plate came with FIVE logs of fish. FIVE! Maybe they were tubes of fish? Honestly, I don't care what shape they came in, they looked perfectly crunchy and perfectly brown and perfectly fish. The super cool extra bonus? These fish came with CRISPIES! I've only ever seen crisps with fish from Long John Silvers, whose fish is probably as far from Cod or Haddock as legally possible. I actually think one of my pieces of fish from there had shoelaces. Didn't matter. Still ate it. Respectfully. (If you aren't privileged enough to know what fish crispies are, there little batter pieces that fry or fall off the fish as they cook. Basically little crumblies. If you make a wish over a fork of them and get the forkful in your mouth without dropping any, your wish will come true). Homemade tartar sauce was good, but there was a certain flavor profile that I wasn't a fan of. It was still good to use on the fish rods, it just tasted a little too much out of the tartar sauce field for me. The meal was wrapped up nice and tight with lovely square-cut fries. Perfect doneness. Perfect Ketchup vessel. I could just stare at a pile of them all night. Mostly because I'm weird. Perfect Fish Capsules: 12/10 Ideal Fry Sticks: 12/10 Times I Would Re-visit: Infinite

    It has taken me a little while to write this review purely because I am so torn on the rating. Some…read moreareas of our visit warrant a 3-star rating, and some a 4-star. I decided to lean more toward the 4-star side, so here we are. While in Galveston for a quick weekend getaway, we wanted to go out for dinner. Katie's was my first choice, but the wait was too long, so I pulled up Yelp to see what else was recommended. Shark Shack had great reviews, and when we arrived there was zero wait, so we went for it. The one area where I docked a star was the service. We were seated immediately but waited quite a while for our server to appear, and then even longer to get our drinks. I was so excited for a margarita, but when it arrived in a plastic cup, I was immediately disappointed. Plastic cups are for the beach and nightclubs, not a restaurant with a bar. And that's not where the awful drink experience ended -- it was so weak and just not good at all. Our server seemed so disinterested in everything: taking our order, answering questions, and when it came time to pay, we had to wait ages to see him and wave him down. The food was decent with no major complaints. It wasn't "blow your mind" amazing, but it was good. The owner -- well, I assume he was the owner -- came and spoke to us when he found out my husband was military, and he was really nice, friendly, and very supportive of the military community, offering a very generous military discount. That definitely raises the rating and is much appreciated, so thank you. Overall, the big fixes for me would be the service and the drink situation. I can't say we would rush to come back just because we love Katie's for the service, food, and drinks..

    Photos
    Shark Shack Beach Bar & Grill - Top Rated Seafood & Burgers in Galveston's Downtown, just 1 Block from the Cruise Ships!

    Top Rated Seafood & Burgers in Galveston's Downtown, just 1 Block from the Cruise Ships!

    Shark Shack Beach Bar & Grill - Redfish Tacos!
"Famous for Fish Tacos!"

    Redfish Tacos! "Famous for Fish Tacos!"

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    Shrimp N Stuff

    Shrimp N Stuff

    3.9(1.6k reviews)
    0.7 mi
    $$

    First of all I'm bias. I remember coming here as a kid, tween, early teen, punk high schooler, 21…read moreyear old dumb butt and now back with my family. Could be nostalgia but I doubt it. What we ate: Fried shrimp po'boy side of hush puppies 2 pints of gumbo 1 bowl of gumbo A create a platter with boiled shrimp coconut shrimp potato's and hush puppies. Fried Shrimp po boys - it's good. A long time favorite and barely out of first place for my all time favorite. Shrimp perfectly fried. Bun just right. Lettuce and sauce hard to beat. I hate tomatoes but they are probably pretty good. I like mine with a few cracks of black pepper and some malt vinegar soaked into the bun. Gumbo - couple two tre splashes of hot sauce and it is just as good as any of them. We came in a day when it was in the 40's and it sure hit the spot against the cold. Highly recommend crumbling up some hush puppies in it. We got a lot and probably could have made it work with just 1 pint. The platter - (keep in mind my wife is a yankee from Oklahoma) coconut mid- did not like the sauce "too sweet". Boiled shrimps - good would eat another helping right now. Boiled potatoes "these are the best I have ever had" "I could eat these till I keeled over" she ate all of her plate and after sharing and mixing we maybe had 1/2 a bowl of gumbo left. The service is friendly and efficient. Ambiance is some kinda something. Diner? Dive? Are we in Maine? It's cool and homey and feels like a local secret. Not on the beach but beach feeling. With three locations this one on avenue o feels like where the locals still go? Idk it still makes me happy like it has all these years!

    We made a stop here for dinner on the way to the Bolivar Peninsula and were warmly welcomed by the…read morestaff. It was our first time here, and the staff member provided helpful recommendations. We ordered the coconut shrimp (with hush puppies, coleslaw, bean relish), fried shrimp, and a chicken tender kids' meal. Being a fan of coconut shrimp, I was excited to dig in but was met with disappointment upon realizing that the outer layer was over-fried, too dry, and with very little shrimp (not fresh shrimp) inside. The fried shrimp was better but didn't have much flavor. I also took a bite of the kids' chicken tender, and it was also very dry. Restaurant was clean and well-maintained; service was fast. This restaurant can benefit from significant improvement in food quality.

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    Gaido's - Complimentary Bread

    Gaido's

    3.7(1.6k reviews)
    0.2 mi
    $$$

    First off - since 1911 - the heritage alone = a must try…read more Nice spot with views of the Gulf. While dated (one might think) - it just adds to the charm and experience from my perspective. Our granddaughter on the other-hand - (9) - exclaimed upon walking in that she thought she was on the Titanic ; ) I found the wood finishes and vintage photos rich and nicely done. Granddaughter thoroughly loved her oysters for dinner and our grandsons raved about their dishes too. My wife and I shared the Gulf Shrimp and Catfish platters - both fresh and fried to perfection. Appetizers of fried crab fingers and the lump crab meat with avocado had us from the start along with the starter bread - which one could eat their weight in - so pace yourself - wonderfully delicious. Pleasant attentive staff and hostesses. Highly recommend you enjoy this Galveston landmark !

    Lovely historic restaurant... Beautiful decorations, with historic elements abound in this gorgeous…read morelocation right on the sea-wall!!! Good service, Geraldo was kind, courteous, efficient, and provided nice recommendations based on our ask. Hearing his growth from greeter to busser to bartender and server is such a great story, and one that shows a restaurant that cares about their people. The food however is a 2-Star at best! Expectations at this level are extremely high, and crunchy undercooked rice, seared tuna with no sear, and a burger without a toasted bun for my son... just doesn't cut it. They fixed the burger with adding a bit of cheese, but didn't replace the rice on my BLACKENED YELLOWFIN TUNA, unsure if the concern was escalated properly, as we were in a later seating. This place is basically a good deep fryer place, as the only people who truly loved their meals were my wife with the FAMOUS FRIED PLATTER and my younger son with the kids chicken nuggets... Even my meal where the fried potato wedges were the highlight and not the fish. To their credit, the portions are very good, and the TWO CHOCOLATE MOUSSE was divine.... I think the kids polished the glass to a radiant shine! It's unfortunate, as this had all the makings of an epic family night out... only to become a bit of a downer.

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    The Gumbo Diner - seafood - Updated May 2026

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