The Gumbo Diner
| Address: | 3602 Seawall Blvd, Galveston, TX 77550, USA |
| Phone: | +1 409-762-3232 |
| Site: | thegumbodiner.com |
| Rating: | 4.3 |
| Working: | 7AM–10PM 7AM–10PM 7AM–10PM 7AM–10PM 7AM–11PM 7AM–11PM 7AM–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
MI
Michael Forman
Beware...check your bill before you leave. Had two items that they double charged me for, adding about $20 to my bill. Intentional or not, protect yourself. They should have comped my whole ticket for that BS but they did rectify it and apologize. Thank you Edwin. Although everything except the above mentioned and the hostess were great, I will probably not frequent this establishment again. When mistakes are made in this business, find a way to make the customer happy. Charging my card twice and having to wait three days (unbeknownst to me) for a refund of the first charge is not something I want to deal with again or take a chance of having to deal with again. Not only that, I want my waiter or waitress to be presentable to my customers. Tarter build up and plaque in your teeth is not presentable (to me anyway). I dont care how great of a waiter or waitress you are, hygiene is imperative. Not so much at this restaurant. And lastly, The original table we were sat at had the sun shining right in my face, I was in a wooden chair with 7 stitches in my back and I asked the hostess if she minded if we moved to a booth where I could be more comfortable. The first thing out of her mouth should have been, no problem at all. What she actually said was, well, is something wrong with the table youre seated at (with an attitude). Then when it came down to the bill, I walked up to a manager to get it taken care of and she (the hostess) walked up to me, as I was standing next to the manager, pulled my arm and said, rudely I might add, do you need something sir? Because youre standing in the aisle. I apologized because I had no idea, but the way she grabbed my arm, I almost punched her because it felt like someone was getting physical with me. RUDE!! Lastly, the food was great! I had probably the best dozen oysters that I have had in 10 years there, and the Gumbo, hence the name, was AMAZING. But the lack of customer service will keep me from going back, barring a phone call from management or a gift card. Hint: Get it to go! BTW...the beignets were awesome, too!
DE
Dennis Cao
For our last meal of our weekend in Galveston, my group decided to try Gumbos. We ordered their crawfish etouffee, seafood platter, seafood ball, beignets, and of course their namesake - the seafood gumbo both in lil and big daddy portions. I myself ordered the seafood platter, but I tried just about everything except for the gumbo; I had to stop somewhere. What I can say about the gumbo however are about their sizes. The big daddy portion is not messing around. Its certainly a hefty option and most people would and should settle for the lil daddy portion. As for the food I did taste. The seafood platter came with a fried catfish filet, fried oysters, fried gulf shrimp, and a side of fries. Everything was fried in cornmeal and they were all done perfectly; the fried oysters particularly stood out. The crawfish etouffee was extremely rich and creamy. I like to think of etouffee as the Cajun curry and if anyones ever had Indian curry, you would understand. The etouffee was rich with butter but at the same time full of spice with the creole seasoning. It was also loaded with crawfish meat. The seafood balls was a first for me, they were literally fried balls of seafood and cheese. It was almost like a fried crabcake with a center of creamy cheese. As much as I liked the entree portions, the beignets were the best note to end the meal. These triangularly fried sweet pastry were so airy and warm. Of course they come dusted with powdered sugar and were plenty sweet. Apparently 3 come with an order so be careful when you order otherwise you may get an overload of sugar. This diner really does feel like a hidden gem. Located on the Seawall Blvd where you could find lots of restaurants that could easily seat 100+ customers and are at least twice its size, this more modestly sized spot looks and feels like an underdog. Its positioning in regards to the street also makes it easy to miss if you dont actively look for it. Dont let the appearance fool you though, as this may well be one of the best tasting restaurants you can find in Galveston.
BR
Brenda Hall
The most disrespectful Server I have ever had! Food: Gumbo good, oysters small, chicken fried chicken OK. Atmosphere: Looks like a Waffle House, same set up and very small Service: The hostess was pleasant and well mannered. The server was rude and inappropriate, even argued with me. My mother and sister were visiting from out of state. My mom ordered Chicken Fried Chicken and chose mac & cheese as a side. The server told her she should not have 2 starches. My boyfriend ordered Oysters to which she replied “EWWWWW”. My boyfriend and I were not served any food until my sister and mom were about halfway through their meals. I asked about getting our gumbo and was told in a very rude manner “You didn’t tell me you wanted anything first. You didn’t tell me anything. You just ordered food”. I told her “you don’t serve the soup and entrée at the same time and you don’t serve only half the table” to which she replied “I just serve the food. I don’t cook the food.” She ranted for about 3 minutes. Eventually we received our food, all at once. While I was eating my gumbo, my entrée, crawfish ettoufee (sp?)” became old and jelled. I didn’t want to argue with the server, so when the manager came by, I asked her to take it off my bill. During dinner we did notice another couple who were unsatisfied and had their bill voided.
RA
Raven Felts
For all to know the food was good I had the seafood gumbo hey it had nice shrimp, oysters & plenty of them taste was great! My daughter had the burger it was also good I would order one some time my self . Why 3 stars ? Im glad you asked because the service stunk to you know were and back !! Picture this you have waitress on there phones talking & texting not just one of them but all of them while whom I assume was the manager just sat back and said nothing. Not like they were bizzy . Hell I ran out of soda and had to get up ask the manager for a refill they had at most eight customers then a couple came in sat at the bar looked at the menu waited for service no one even asked if they would like a drink much less food they stood up and walked out while the manager just stood behind the bar never said anything to anyone!! Long to short the gumbo is all it should have been the staff lacked leadership they should fire 85 percent of there staff put under new management on the sign an run it right no way can they stay in businesses much longer if they keep doing and employing the same people.
LA
Lauren Palmer
I will grant that the restaurant was very busy when we arrived. We waited 30 minutes to sit down. At first the waiter seemed very helpful to get the kids food out first. It was late and they were cranky. My husband asked for a glass of tea at least 3 times. Neither of my kids would eat the fried fish. My 7 year old said it tasted fake. I did see then bring the tilapia out in vacuum packages so.... The green beans were standard, the Mac and cheese was ok but the French fries were overcooked and hard. Then we waited over an hour for our meals. After seeing at least 4 tables that were seated about the same time that got food, paid and left, we asked for our check. They tried to box the food for us to take with us and were going to have us pay for it. To be fair, after i asked them to take it off the bill, they did. But for 2 drinks, 2 sides, a salad and a kids meal it was $30! Poor wait service, mediocre food, poor manager response. I do not usually leave reviews but felt i had to disagree with this being a must see in Galveston. Would not return.
