The Five Best Places to Get Your Shrimp On in Galveston, TX
Make no mistake, Galveston is a foodie town. “Bring your appetite—uh, and your sunscreen,” the hotel clerk told me over the phone before I arrived. Given that I’m a sucker for a Southern-y shrimp dish (read that: any good shrimp dish, really), I decided to travel to this oh-so touristy hotspot to find the city’s best shrimp-tastic fare. Whether you’re looking for inexpensive eats or an ultra-decadent seafood dish, Galveston has the best of all worlds. And, on a good day, your server will be the first to tell you their shrimp is locally sourced, straight from the nearby gulf and slapped on your plate.
Heads-up, we tried to keep our list strictly local—because, local. But if you’re gonna venture to chain-land, there’s a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company prominently perched on the entrance of Galveston’s infamous Pleasure Pier. (Shout-out, Lt. Dan!)
Uh, and if you’re looking for something healthy on this list, think again. Most of these dishes are cholesterol-inducing, caloric bombs. Tasty, flavorful, sinful shrimp bombs. Mmmmm … shrimp.
5) The Spot
Less than 30 minutes after arriving in Galveston, we opted to visit Galveston’s iconic, The Spot. Located right along Seawall Boulevard, it’s a loud, bawdy, five-bars-in-one mecca where tourists and locals happily co-mingle. It’s also got a surprisingly elaborate, drool-worthy menu. My friend Pam had been hyping something called shrimp kisses for days leading up to our visit. As our server explained, “It’s gulf shrimp (!!!) stuffed with pepper jack cheese, wrapped in bacon, and served on crispy onion strings with a side of ranch.” (My arteries began clogging almost instantaneously.) I’ll say this much, they’re a perfect start to anyone’s meal, but wolf ‘em down when they hit the table. They lose their flavorful, piping hot luster once they cool down.
Another crowd favorite were the nuclear-orange buffalo shrimp bites, which can take your breath away if you don’t have a beer handy. Our basket was fried to perfection and tossed in a hot-but-not-too hot sauce with plenty of bleu cheese chunks sprinkled on top to temper the heat. Locally sourced seafood is the star attraction at The Spot, but the beachfront views are also hard to beat.
4) The Cafe at Maceo Spice & Import Co.
Not only has this venerable eatery been around since 1944, it’s also been obliterated by countless hurricanes. (Look for the high-water markers outside the building; some closing in on 7-8 feet.) Today, the place is just a hop, skip, and jump from the ever-busy cruise ship docks and remains a constant culinary draw. While they have a mixed bag of shrimp offerings like the shrimp and crab gumbo—to die for, by the way!—we opted for the Cajun Shrimp Po’Boy. The crusty French bread was heaped with blackened Gulf (!!!) shrimp, lettuce, tomato, pickle, and corvette sauce. (I’ll guarantee they use their homemade spice mix for the blackened seasoning. It’s a given. And it’s also for sale.)
On the day we visited, the joint was also offering a shrimp salad sandwich special, which looked to be quite promising. Unfortunately, we got there late in the day, and they were sold out. (Stupid cruise ship passengers.) Fingers crossed they’ll offer it next time. If you’re on the hunt for a quick, order-at-the-counter eats, this place has the goods. The zippy, rush-rush service squad has gotten the hecticness of the restaurant down to a science.
3) Mario’s Seawall Italian Restaurant
This relaxed, family-friendly Italian bistro resembles an Olive Garden on steroids. Good thing the food is light-years beyond OG’s offerings. Mario’s often ranks at the top of many Galveston Best Of lists—and for good reason. It’s got a bountiful menu—complete with a dizzying array of pizza, pasta, and seafood offerings. (And don’t even get me started on the dessert menu.) When I asked our server about an ideal shrimp dish, he pointed me to the Shrimp-3-Way entrée, a hodge-podge of their best shrimp dishes conveniently slathered on one giant plate, including shrimp scampi, shrimp parmesan, and shrimp fettuccine alfredo. While it didn’t necessarily look that appealing on the plate, the trio was a huge hit. My friends’ forks kept finding their way over to my meal. And, yes, in case you were wondering—shrimp parmesan is just like chicken parmesan, complete with breading, cheese, and copious amounts of red sauce. Also, bonus—the shrimp were huge. Again, probably steroids.
2) Shrimp ‘N Stuff (two locations)
You know a place is bound to be a complete and total shrimp-o-rama when it’s in the title of the restaurant. With two locations, this breezy, hyper-casual restaurant has more than eight different shrimp options on their seafood-centric menu. While we skipped the shrimp gumbo, we did beeline to order the shrimp tacos. Forget tiny street tortillas, these tacos were generously portioned and heaping with fried shrimp with all the trimmings. The crab-filled stuffed shrimp was another stellar pick—and as the cashier told us, “a definite crowd favorite.” Whether broiled or fried, both are solid choices.
Again, this is a flip-flop, ballcap kinda place. But don’t let the minimalist décor fool you, everything is made in-house and from scratch. “We peel, de-vein, and bread every shrimp you eat,” the cashier bragged. Now that’s dedication!
1) Rudy & Pacos
Want to splurge a little? Ditch the kids? This upscale Mexi-bistro is just the ticket. We perused the menu and found countless must-have shrimp dishes. My friend Sarah says the shrimp empanadas are, by far, the best of the trio of empanadas mixtas. (Sorry, chicken. Sorry, beef.) She adds, “I could bathe in the dish’s cilantro cream sauce.”
But the real star here are the lightly seasoned grilled gulf (!!!) shrimp, which they call camarones parilla. Served with sauteed paco pico, Sarah confesses she licked her fingers after polishing off her plate. We inhaled the camarones diablos pasta, which featured a marinara sauce packed with peppery heat.
Oh, and don’t make the same mistake we did by arriving in shorts for dinner. Nope, you gotta have on long pants to eat here for dinner. (Yes, we had our suitcases in the car. Yes, we slapped on khakis in the backseat. Shrimp waits for no one!)
Creator: Michael Mackie
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