"The James Beard Foundation named Gaido’s in Galveston, Texas, one of its America’s Classics winners in 2025. Operated by fourth-generation Italian American Nick Gaido and his wife, Kateryna, this 114-year-old seafood spot is considered a landmark on Galveston’s Seawall. Originally opened in 1911, Gaido’s offers a constantly changing menu with its best catches of the day, which include various preparations of catfish, snapper, and redfish; crabs and scallops when in season; and Gulf shrimp served in myriad ways. The restaurant notes that it still peels, shucks, and fillets all its seafood by hand, precisely the way it did when it opened more than a century ago. The food merges Southern, Creole, and Southwest cooking techniques and flavor profiles, all in a dining room filled with white tablecloth-covered tables." - Courtney E. Smith