Gilhooley’s Restaurant

Perfect water side casual shack feel. Awesome grilled oysters.

A great place to ‘get your Texan on’! The patio area is overgrown, the tables are pieces of rotting plywood, and the globes on the lights are broken or missing. But that just adds to the ambience! The food was real good. I had the fried mushrooms and a burger. Hubby had the gumbo. He said it was some of the best because it had a lot of shrimp, oysters, chicken and scallops in it. They do not serve french fries (thank goodness) and they dont have straws. I guess you have to cut costs somewhere! Our waitress warned us that we may not want to sit on the patio on Saturday nights as it gets kinda rowdy. I guess we look too old/​too sedate for that crowd and shes probably right. She was very personable and did a good job (sorry I didnt get her name). We will definitely be back to try out other menu items as we really enjoyed ourselves.

We ordered the dozen fried oysters and stuffed crab appetizer. Very impressed with how large and juicy the oysters were. Overall, casual dining ambience and great food.

They really are the best grilled oryster’s. the shrimp gumbo was to tomatoe teasting it cash only and the oryster won’t let you down. Really a jem this place.

Absolutely the best raw oysters and the best fried shrimp and oysters I have ever eaten anywhere!

This place did not disappoint. Came for the raw gulf oysters, which were excellent– stayed for the beer and atmosphere. The patio is care-​worn perfection. I loved everything about it, especially the enormous shell mounds out back– a good sign of a legit oyster bar.
Also had fried oysters– pretty good but a little heavy on the breading– and the oysters Gilhooley which were delicious! No mistaking the pecan and oak grill flavor.
Great staff& service.

The signature oysters. You just need to try them. Once you try them, you’ll understand.

Just an update to my review of 3 years ago. There are so many places to get oysters in the area, I just hadn’t really thought about returning to Gilhooley’s.
We happened to be close by, had some cash, so thought we’d stop.
There were two distinct categories of diners outside. The somewhat timeworn regulars, & the ones, like we were 3 years ago, looking to experience the «iconic Gilhooley’s». Not hard to tell who was who.
We go to a nice restaurant in Clear Lake that serves a dozen oysters on the half shell for $ 8 (on Bay Area Blvd, starts with a T, two Ms in the middle & ends with Y’S)
Gilhooley’s was asking $ 15.95/dozen for theirs. Grilled or fried oysters are, as expected, more expensive.
Let me say that we’ve experience the Grande Tour at Alinea, so price is not a deterrent.
But $ 15.95 for the same oysters we can have in a place with clean restrooms? No thanks.
We just had a couple of forgettable appetizers & left.
One small, but annoying issue. When I paid for our check of $ 15+ a few cents with a twenty, the waitress asked if I needed change. Naturally I said yes. She brought back 4 ones. They kept the CHANGE. WTF? Sure – I could’ve pressed the issue. But we just wanted to leave.

Food was good but service was bad and no credit cards or kids allowed. Kinda inconvenient. Not sure I’ll be going back.

We really loved this place. It was simple and homey. The service was friendly and the food was really good… especially the oysters. We drove an hour to get there and will definitely be back with friends.

If you love Aw Shucks, Seafood Shack or Tasty Tails this ain’t the place for you. No freeze dried two day old bullshit here. Fresh seafood, shrimp and oysters daily. Out of the way, small dive beer and wine bar that sells great seafood. The two biggest pluses, no one under 18 and no credit cards. Cool place great with great servers.

This is a tough one for me. I love the atmosphere! Beer is ice cold. Ordered a couple dozen raw oysters which were pretty good. Unfortunately my bar was set way too high with Appalachicola Florida oysters. Also tried their house special oysters which are chargrilled with butter and garlic. Same issue but with Dragos in New Orleans.
Still need to eat oysters in Texas so go check this place out. Not the best but certainly good enough.

Gilhooley’s is a divey place and is Cash only. I forgot to bring cash but my bf backed me up here :) also it is nearly BYOB (small cup fee), so if we would have known that, we would have definitely brought some! :)
We ordered raw oysters, fried oysters, stuffed crab, oysters gilhooley, and oysters shrimp-​ooley (silly name but it’s fun to hear people say it).
After eating all of that… I would recommend the raw oysters, oysters gilhooley, and stuffed crab. For the good: the raw oysters were mostly big and fresh. Some had silt and my bf couldn’t eat ‘em. Thankfully I didn’t land on those. :) The stuffed crab was surprisingly huge! I was expecting the small stuffed crab you can buy frozen. But it was huge and there was a ton of meat. The only disappointment here was some of the meat was mushy having been fried too long. I would recommend a cooking style that cooks evenly without overcooking. Adding garlic would be nice too. Oysters gilhooley was good bc it was grilled but I have to say, Ragin Cajun’s grilled oysters are a ton better. The cheese they use and flavor are phenomenal.
The fried oysters had no flavor. They were big but jeez, give me some flavor! Add some spice in that batter or something please. The oysters shrimp-​ooley were just an added little shrimpy so I would just get the oysters gilhooley and call it a day since some were missing on ours.
The horseradish has no flavor — I believe the game plan next time is to bring our own lol. The cocktail sauce was good. Nice add to have saltine crackers with every oysters order.
A lot of reviews mentioned a deplorable bathroom but actually I thought it was decent! It was early Sat evening so it may have been before the dinner rush came.
Overall, it was a delicious dinner and one of the better ones I’ve had in a while despite the fried oysters. Come here if you’re in the Kemah area for decent priced seafood.

1) Ghetto. 2) Oh-​mah-​Gawd-​Stinky Ladies’ room. 3) Totally Rundown both inside and out. 4) One-​man service. Gilhooley’s is without a doubt a ghetto restaurant; yet, a ghetto restaurant that I (WE) LOVE! The husband has found Gilhooley’s from Andrew Zimmern’s show «Bizarre Foods» on the Travel Channel and has dined here once with his colleagues last month; he loved the foods and figured that his oyster-​loving wifey would love to try it too! Don’t worry, the foods at Gilhooley’s aint bizarre at all!
First of all, the oyster stew was creamy and very flavorful; loved it! The raw oysters were a tad small but fresh. The wood-​grilled shrimphooleys were not my favorite but the husband loved ‘em with good-​sized shrimp and Parmesan cheese on top of each oyster; on the other hand, the picante oysters grilled with gooey cheese and garlic were more to my liking. Fried oysters were small as well, but the deep frying batter was light and the oysters came out crispy and delicious! The «Everyone’s Gumbo» was probably the best bang for the buck; lots and lots of meat or shellfish. «Granny’s Fish» served in huge portion size, with coleslaw, hushpuppies, pickled green tomatoes and big slice of garlic bread on the sides, for just about 11 bucks was such a steal and everything tasted great!
Service was prompt and courteous; absolutely deserved a 20% gratuity. Prices were reasonable for the quality of the foods served. Keep this in mind, Bring cash! CASH ONLY! and also, no minor whatsoever under the age of 18 allowed on premises, neither at the bar nor in the restaurant.

Unilocal let me down. It’s rare, but it happens. I’m not sure if it’s because there aren’t any other seafood dive options near Dickenson, or if the owners are locals and have been here since Dickenson became a town, but this place is severely over-​rated. I was so excited because I figured anything this close to the ocean HAS to be better than anything I’ve had in Dallas, right? Wrong.
I originally put Gilhooley’s on my radar when I had read an article in a major publication that listed the «Best Seafood» in Texas. It was months later when I was spending Christmas with my sister in Pearland that I realized it was less than an hour away so we decided to drive out there the day after Christmas with the entire family and finally try this place out.
Location: ²⁄₅ Not exactly in a major city and a bit off the beaten path. It IS however, about 500 feet away from the ocean. And it’s located at a major intersection.
Atmosphere: ¹⁄₅ It’s a seafood dive/​shack/​shanty vibe. Old run down wooden building with a bar and a few tables crammed inside. There’s outside seating, but the tables are very old and naturally dirty from being outside. It was packed inside so we decided to sit outside at a big table. There were lots of dead leaves and sand and old oyster shells strewn about all over the ground.
Food: ²⁄₅ The raw oysters on the half shell were really good. They were bigger than any oysters I had ever eaten (picture posted for reference) and you could tell just how fresh they were because there were still tiny clams attached to the outer shell. The texture was good — firm and not too slimy and the taste was mild and free of any fishiness or grit. The rest of the meal, however, was very disappointing. We also ordered a dozen of their specialty: the Gilhooley Oysters. These are the smaller oysters that are seasoned with parmesan and garlic and then grilled. Believe me when I tell you that I could not taste any parmesan, garlic or even oyster. It just tasted… like charcoal. They weren’t burnt or anything, but it just tasted like i was licking the grate of a grill. Not great. A bunch of us got their fried seafood as well such as fried shrimp, fish, and more oysters. These were all soft and chewy. It’s almost like their oil wasn’t hot enough to fry and so everything was kind of soggy. Also, none of the batter was very seasoned. The coleslaw looked appetizing with the pieces of shrimp in it, but was also severely lacking any flavor and seasoning. Tasted like room temperature, fat free mayo with some shredded cabbage. We were shocked and a bit outraged also that they DO NOT HAVE FRENCH FRIES. How are you going to be a fried seafood shack and NOT have any battered french fries! Ugh! So we settled on «cheesy potatoes» and onion rings. The onion rings were heavily battered and fried in the not-​hot-​enough oil so they were soggy and there was WAY too much onion. A few of them actually had two rings fried together — as if the person preparing them was too lazy to separate the onion. The potatoes were literally red potatoes that had been halved and sprinkled with shredded cheese. 2 stars for the fresh, raw oysters.
Price: ²⁄₅ not terribly expensive, but we obviously we felt that was overpaid since the food was so disappointing. We paid $ 65 for a dozen raw oysters, a dozen grilled oysters, a half dozen fried oysters and a fried shrimp plate.
Service: ²⁄₅ Nothing to rave about. There’s no hostess and nobody tells you what you’re supposed to do when you walk in. We just started looking for a table and once we found one outside, we sat down and after a few minutes somebody came to greet us. One waitress was covering all of the outside tables, so she was stretched kind of thin. I’m thinking it was because of the holidays and a lot of the staff was probably on vacation. Waters took a while to get refilled and I had a really hard time tracking her down to get our bill and pay it.
Overall, a very disappointing first and last trip to Gilhooley’s. I’d rather go to Aw Shucks or Seafood Shack or Tasty Tails in Dallas.
Pros: raw oysters are fresh and as good as gulf oysters get
Cons: CASH ONLY, very disappointing cooked food, no french fries!

We’re never in this part of town, but since we were 20 min away from here yesterday, we decided to grab a bite to eat. It truly is a dive. Watch out for the oyster shells in the parking lot… I was feeling a little sorry for my tires running over those crunchy shells. Came in, we didn’t know if we were supposed to wait for someone or take a seat. Finally, after about 30 sec a waitress just told us to take a seat anywhere. We came at 3 so there was hardly anyone there. We ordered gumbo, boudin, gizzards, and a dozen oysters. We were supposed to get the Gilhooley’s oysters but the waitress didn’t put it in b/​c she figured we over ordered which I’m kinda glad we didn’t get it. Gumbo… they use real shrimp in it but I didn’t particularly care for it. Boudin was just ok. The side rice that came with it was cold and not that great. The gizzards were a good quantity for $ 4.95. Never seen it served with white gravy… but the batter lacked flavor. The oysters were a pretty good size… nice and plump. $ 15 for a dozen… seems a bit pricey though. Overall it was an interesting experience, but I was left a little unimpressed for a dive.

I love this place. The first time I ever came with a friend, she said DON’T be scared by the way it looks, the food is delicious!!!
THEY have some of the best oysters you will ever eat here. We Had dozen oysters Gilhooey which were grilled oysters in a parmesan garlic sauce. Don’t expect or anything but the basics, you get a chair to sit in, and a table, your lucky if your waitress smiles at you. It is truly and old school dive.
The bathrooms are in desperate need of renovation, it doesn’t look very clean in there either, but it doesn’t stop anyone from driving for miles to eat their delicious food.
Boudain balls are excellent, as well as their clam chowder it is thick and rich. It is also BYOB as they have beer and wine only. I have even brought in my own Champagne for Brunch (the wine is pretty bad too) the beer is always cold though. This is a great way to spend your Saturday or Sunday afternoon with your seafood loving friends. I highly recommend this place at least once, and I am sure it won’t be the last!
EVEN Better you can’t smoke inside anymore!!! It was a killer before but not it is wonderful that the smokers go outside!

Some of the best seafood I’ve ever had!
We started off with the half dozen oysters gilhooey which were grilled oysters in a parm garlic sauce. I’m an oyster person, but I gave them a shot and they were pretty damn tasty. They even gave us 9 oysters which was really nice of them since there were 4 of us.
Our second starter was shrimp ceviche. It wasn’t the ceviche I’m familiar with in a citrus sauce. I’d say this one is more comparable to Mexican shrimp cocktail. It had a sweet taste to it.
We all ordered something different and tried each other’s food.
I went the fried catfish. It was absolutely delicious. It was melt in your mouth good! I’m not normally a catfish person, but so glad I went with this option. It was so good and fresh!!! It came with shrimp slaw, the best garlic bread, hush puppies and picketed green tomatoes. The tomatoes were my least favorite since there were sweet instead of savory.
One friend with the everybody’s gumbo. It was soo good! Perfectly seasoned and with equal balance of sausage, shrimp, chicken and veggies. Nothing overpowered which was good.
One friend with the etoufee. It was really good and filling. I tasted a stronger sausage taste, but my bite may have just had a sausage chunk. The order was big and he couldn’t even finish it. He wanted it to go but we had another stop and it probably would not have been safe to eat it.
Lastly my other friend ordered the 6 piece fried shrimp. I didn’t have any of it since I had the catfish and it came with the same stuff.

This isn’t the place you go for a «fancy» dinner, but this cute little shack has a very friendly staff and a unique charm.
Atmosphere aside, Let’s get to the real reason why I give this place 4 stars: the food. It was… Phenomenal. We ordered sautéed shrimp cocktail (which was in an amazingly delicious garlic butter sauce) raw oysters (we ordered a dozen, but they have us an extra 5 because they were on the smaller side) they were very fresh even though they weren’t in season. Our second course was the chargrilled oyster shrimp Gillhooley (again, they gave us extra:)) and shrimp gumbo. I can’t even begin to describe how good the chargrilled oysters were. I’ve had a lot of oysters in my lifetime and this makes it to the top of the list.
I’ll def be back.
The only downfall is they only accept cash. So have some handy.

cute little place. probably wouldnt know about it. if a local galveston county person doesnt tell ya!
inside-​outside seating. BYOB. they serve beer & wine only.
18 years old and above. CASH only
i had the oysters SHRIMPHOOLEY — grilled oysters topped with shrimp — combo of HUGE and medium oysters… SOO GOOD
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