Galveston – When it comes to playing in the surf and sun of Galveston Island, one eventually has to find time for some seafood and for a lot of folks, that stop is Gaido’s.

“We absolutely love the seafood, the absolute best in town,” said local Michele Ballard.

“You know that service going to be good. You know the food is going to be good,” said diner Betty Chandler.

“I hold our restaurant as it is one of the best in Galveston,” said Nick Gaido, the 4^th generation of G men that have operated this family restaurant that’s been a part of Galveston Island since 1911.

“Growing up, I never really thought about it. To us it was just kind of the family restaurant,” said Nick.

Nick’s great grandfather San Giacinto Gaido opened the doors to the restaurant originally in part of Murdoch’s bath house. And in the 1930’s they situated the restaurant on the side of the seawall and have never left.

“It’s actually pretty crazy, I’ve never been to a restaurant that’s been here for this long, and to have seafood that fresh being served for that long. And it’s just a great place to come. Love it,” said Michele.

“Well, we’ve been coming since 1970 off and on,” said longtime customer Steve Letbetter.

The key to keeping customers hooked? Consistency. “My grandfather and my dad taught me the expression, ‘Find out what the guest wants and then serve it.’,” said Nick. “That same cup of bisque that you’re eating today, it’s the same recipe and procedure that was made 60 years ago,” said Nick.

Being a Gaido, Nick wasn’t a big fish when he got caught up in the family business. He had to learn things from the seafloor to the surface and that all started when he was a boy. “My first summer I was 12 years old, peeling shrimp, washing dishes, busing tables, eventually graduating to be able to grill food, fry food. So I’ve spent a lot of weekends and spring breaks and summertime here,” explained Nick.

With so much history and lore here, there is one Texas sized tale I wanted to try to reel in, the gigantic blue crab sitting on the roof of the restaurant. “We get phone calls about it. You’d be surprised, but we get phone calls about it, but I’m sticking to my story. It was caught in Galveston Bay. I’m going to stick to that. We haven’t had anybody try to tell us otherwise,” said Nick.

Considering just about everything served here is caught out in the Gulf, I’ll allow it. Keeping things fresh is what kept Gaido’s such a go to on Galveston for so long and I was ready to get a taste so Nick first got things started on their Oyster Deluxe Combination, a dish that features all of their famous oyster preparations.

As that dozen bake, Nick prepares a few oyster brochette. “What else is better to cook oyster than bacon fat,” joked Nick. And then a few fried oysters. As the oysters are fried, this station always brings back memories for Nick.

Nick puts the massive amount of mollusks on a dish and we start preparing the red snapper. “They were cutting this snapper here at the bar this morning,” stated Nick.

After being seasoned with a parmesan crust, a little bit of butter is put in a pan to sauté the snapper. Once finished, a beurre blanc sauce is added with jumbo lump crab meat on top. As the fish finished up, Nick plates it up and I’m ready for a meal featuring the spoils of the sea. Well, with a deluxe combination platter, it’s safe to say we are eating like a king down in Galveston!

First up, a dozen oysters with six different sauces, asiago style being my first bite. Then baked, which combines butter and cracker crumbs. Wonderful oyster with a delicate finish. That is very good!

“We do love the oysters,” said Michele.

Onto the Beanville. Shrimp, mushroom onions, white wine, seasoned breadcrumbs, cayenne pepper, and Parmesan cheese. It’s a whole lot going on in this one. Very unique flavor. Monterey has shrimp, cream, sherry and cheddar cheese. That is like old school oyster flavor right there, Sherry and oysters man.

And then Ponzini. And that just might be the tastiest scheme I’ve ever been a part of.

Finally, go to baked oyster, the Rockerfller which does have a hint of jalapeno. Amazing, oh my goodness gracious, great balls of fire. And finally, a little bit easier work with the oyster brochette. Great bacon flavor on that one.

As for the redfish, the beurre blanc sauce just comes off that fish and tastes sensational.

Well, if you’re looking for a great place to take a date down on Galveston Island, just guide her on over to Gaido’s, because it’s well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List.

“It’s fresh. It’s delicious,” stated Michele.

“It is a perfect way to end a day, enjoying great, fresh seafood,” said Steve.

“You need to come down and experience the Gulf. You need to see the water. You need to enjoy this experience and go back home and appreciate where you’ve been,” stated Betty.

West – Whenever we stop in West, Slovacek’s is where we gas up and get our favorite kolaches. Now the BBQ is divine at Slovacek’s but if you’re looking for something a bit different in this town known for its Czech heritage, then the Czech-American Restaurant is the check mark you seek.

“I love to make people happy when it comes to food,” said owner Janene Gueringer.  The Czech-American is a laid back eatery that’s been in Janene’s family since 1980. “This has been my only job. I’ve been here forever,” said Janene.

So has some of the help! Her friend Malorie has been with her for over 20 years, Marcy the cook has spent 25 years here, so Janene definitely has a camaraderie of people who are proud to work alongside her! “It’s an amazing feeling, because I think they kind of like me. I’m a great boss,” joked Janene.

That’s because Janene has done it all! For as long as she can remember, she has been washing dishes, busing tables, and putting pivo in pints. “Oh, I could barely see over the bar, like reach the bar. Yep, my dad and all his buddies would be sitting at the bar drinking, having a good time and dad would holler at me, ‘Janine, go grab us a beer.’ So I ran back there. Barely set it on the bar, but…And then I would go run back around the bar and stick my hand out and they’d all give me quarters to go play the video games in the back,” said Janene.

Her mother Patsy was the patriarch of this place and was well known for her perfect pies. Thank God for her, because she has taught me everything I know. So it’s all up here,” said Janene while pointing to her head.

When Patsy passed away in 2015, Janene was adamant about keeping that tradition alive. “It hurt my feelings to make my first pie. It was kind of tough. She took such pride in making them pies and meringues that tall and everybody’s like, ‘Well I don’t like all that meringue.’ Sorry, that’s the way I was taught, and I’ll never change that recipe. I’ll always be a mile high meringue,” explained Janene.

The other popular dishes here consist of anything Czech. Seriously anything. “A lot of Czechs still live here. You have all your Czech last names, and have to feed people what they’re used to,” said customer Eric Kostecka.

“Just the way that it’s made, it’s not the same everywhere and I think that the way they make it is from their family tradition, a good Czech recipe and you can’t beat those kinds of foods,” said customer Stephen Nesrsta.

Well when it comes to Czech food, you know sausage and sauerkraut are going to be involved. “I do like the sausage and kraut sandwich,” stated Eric.

I’m getting it sandwich style with something called the Bohemian. Marcy gets my sandwich started by buttering the bun. While the bread grills up, Marcy throws on some pepper jack cheese and then goes for the pot of gold, a big boiling vat of sausage on the cooker. Once Marcy slices the sausage and slides it onto the sandwich, the sauerkraut comes into the equation and mustard is added as well.

Once the sandwich is ready, Marcy whips up some Czech fries which start with sliced potatoes, and are topped with special Czech fry seasoning. “Cannot tell you what’s in it. That’s my secret,” said Marcy. And now my meal is complete.

As I sat down with this behemoth Bohemian sandwich, it was steaming fresh off the grill from Marcy. The smell coming off those potatoes and that seasoning is sensational and I couldn’t really smell a difference in the kraut, but we hear you can taste a difference.

After one bite, it is absolutely amazing. The kraut definitely has a little sweeter tinge, but it’s not overpowering. It actually compliments everything very well.

“We never leave here with anything left on the plate,” stated Doug.

“It’s a pile so high. Oh yeah,” said Eric.

Well, at least you only have to go all the way to West,Texas for this sandwich, and not all the way to west Texas.

“It’s different than my grandmother’s, but yet it’s their own flavor and every now and then I like the taste of it,” explained Eric.

You know I married a Czech girl, because I figured she could make an Irishman some potatoes like this, but I’ll have to ask her, where are the potatoes like this?

“Czech fries are really good, it’s my favorite,” stated Eric.

And of course you have to finish things off with a little bit of pie which is of course homemade and fantastic.

Well, if you’re looking for the perfect check mark, coming to the Czech-American Restaurant in West is well worth a stop. Thanks to the Bohemian sandwich, those Czech fries and that incredible coconut cream pie, definitely a filling and fulfilling stop on The Texas Bucket List.

“Knowing they’re going to get something good to eat, makes me happy,” expressed Janene.

 

Weslaco – Considering the countless number of cultural cuisine stops we have in the Lone Star State, it’s not often I run into something I’ve never heard of before. But over at Nana’s Taqueria, that was exactly the case with the lonches. “It’s like an everyday thing for us here in the valley. You say ‘lonches’, where at,” said customer Christy Flores.

“Lonche is not a hamburger. Lonche is not a hot dog. Lonche is not a taco, lonches is lonches,” said Alfredo Trevino, co-owner and the one behind the infamous lonches.

“At the beginning, they were like, ‘What’s lonches? What’s lonches?’ Now a lot of people here in the valley know what lonches are. Yes, it’s very original from Progresso,” explained co-owner Roxanna Trevino.

Roxanna and her husband Alfredo have been together 30 years and started Nana’s Taqueria back in 2010. “He’s a very good cook. So his love for tacos and then my love for lonches, click together,” stated Roxanna.

The couple used to own a pottery business in Progresso, unfortunately the perpetual problems in the border town forced them to make the move to Weslaco. “Since a lot of people didn’t go to Progresso anymore, because of the violence during that time, everyone was like, ‘Oh wow, you have the lonches here!’ So we started getting famous because of our lonches,” explained Roxanna.

“We have a hard start, but it’s more beautiful,” expressed Alfredo.

“It was very hard to start from the bottom again, but nothing is impossible,” expressed Roxanna.

Now their thriving restaurant brings that taste of Mexico into Texas thanks to their fantastico food and asombrosa atmosphere. “If it wasn’t for the family, they wouldn’t have this, a dream. And it’s a beautiful dream. Just look around,” said Christy.

“Everything’s really sensational about the place,” stated customer Derek Alanis.

“Total experience of the food, the beautiful environment, the fresh air,” said another customer Jacque Webb.

As if starting over wasn’t hard enough, Roxanna recently battled breast cancer and finally returned to work after a year of treatment.  “I had a lot of support from my family, from my husband, and from my daughters. So thank God that helped me go through it too, because it was very hard. Those treatments are devastating. They’re very hard. And here I am. Here I am, back to work. It feels great. It feels great. The moment I came back, I was like, ‘Oh, thank God. I’m back to work. Another opportunity. Thank you, God,” expressed Roxanna.

Alfredo is also happy to have his wife back in the building. “In this wonderful country. The boss is the woman. You know, I am a strategic associate,” joked Alfredo.

Well I was ready to get a whiff of something new so Alfredo took me to the back to give me the lowdown on lonches. My first question, what goes into making the lonches? “The most important is the bread,” stated Alfredo.

Similar to the bread I had in east Texas with the pistolettes, the little loaves are fried up to get it all warm inside. “Not too long, because remember we need to protect the skin,” stated Alfredo.

Alfredo pulls them out before any oil can sneak inside. Then comes the uncomplicated ingredients. “The next step is the vegetables. We use cabbage, some tomatoes, and some cilantro. And this part, well in Mexico, is very important, the avocado. And then finally we need to fill Mexican cheese. This is a typical order, the lonches,” explained Alfredo while putting the lonche together.

Now when you dig into one of these, you can smell that fried bread on top of all those incredible ingredients.  I’m told putting Nana’s homemade green salsa on each lonche is the way to go. After one bite it’s safe to say that they are dreamy.

The flavor is on point. The ground beef has got great seasoning and then you put in those fresh veggies on top of it. And then once you take a couple bites that steamed bread just rolls on in, that’s pretty good. “The way they fry and puff up that bread is delish,” said Jacque.

On to lonche number two. This time I try the spicy sauce, another homemade salsa made at Nana’s and this one is supposed to be extremely spicy. After taking bite, the flavor of the salsa is fantastic but after a while, the heat kicks in.  This salsa even gave me the heat hiccups! “I like a little spicy. I’m a spicy person,” stated Derek.

Each one of those sauces definitely brings up something different in each lonche and I’m a glutton for punishment! “Everyone should try a lonches. They’re really good. They’re really, really, really good,” said Roxanna.

Well, you may have to go way down to Weslaco to get a little lunch of lonches. but if you happen to be in the area, Nana’s Taqueria, it’s well worth the stop on The Texas Bucket List. “Always trusting in God that we’re going to make it, and we’re going to get this going. And I thank God that we’ve been together, and all of this has been possible because we’re together,” expressed Roxanna.

Bulverde – In the central Texas town of Bulverde, Hatch is a happening hot spot. “This is my home away from home right here. It’s my little happy place,” said customer Susan Smith.

Catalina Ortiz owns Hatch. “It is important that it’s good because I like good and I like food,” said owner Catalina Ortiz. Originally from Monterey, Mexico Catalina came to Texas after living in California for a few years with her family. It’s safe to say she likes Texas. “We came to Texas all the time and California is too far. I don’t want to say too much about California, but it’s too far,” said Catalina.

Catalina came across an opportunity when her family moved to Bulverde and hatched a plan to become a baroness of brunch. “I bought the business. The business was called Hatch 5 because the former owner had five kids. I just have four, so I didn’t want to move it to Hatch 4, so right now it’s Hatch,” explained Catalina. “It’s unbelievable to me that I have something on my own. Never thought,” stated Catalina.

Catalina also never thought about how much work owning her business would be. I mean this ain’t no wine mixer. “Well, it was very exciting, but then I didn’t realize how much work it could bring in. Sometimes I just have two people, I just have two hands. Whatever I can do with these two, I’ll do,” stated Catalina.

Well, those hands have created some amazing flavors including a sandwich that’s stacked with ham and brie. “I love cheeses and I like brie, and so I start just browsing around, things here and there, and I put it together,” explained Catalina.

Catalina got things started with some fresh bread that is freshly baked in house. Once mayo is added, Catalina spreads on a unique pesto made out of jalapenos. “The traditional pesto is with basil, but there’s one, it just came, we roast our jalapeno, fresh jalapeno, and then we blend them with olive oil and walnuts and garlic and spices, and then we spread that on the sandwich,” explained Catalina.  “Then I’m going to add a few apples. Oh, you’ll see it. It’s very nice. And then this is the jelly that we make in house. It’s a pineapple jalapeno jelly,” explained Catalina as she put together the sandwich. As the sandwich starts to toast, you can’t help but notice the brei begs for mercy under the heat.

The first thing you notice when you sit down with a ham and brie is the brie just filling up the air, along with that warmed up ham.  For my first taste, I want to make sure that I get bite full of brie and I did!  As you bite down into that ham and brie sandwich, the flavors just start to explode. From the brie to the pineapple jalapeno jelly, the ham, the bread, it all just explodes. And then you have the apple on top of it. Just amazing flavors!

“There’s a whole cornucopia of flavors going on there,” said customer Alan Whiting.

It’s awesome, as you get into that soft cheese and you get that brie flavor and then out of nowhere, you’ll bite into that apple and it’ll be crunchy, and just add a little bit of sweetness. And then there’s the jalapeno pesto. There are so many flavors in this sandwich.

“You always just expect sweet with ham and brie, and then that kick just comes in and slaps you,” said customer Anna Hepp.

Well, if you’re a big fan of big flavors, the ham and brie sandwich is right up your alley. The jalapeno pesto, that jalapeno pineapple jam makes such an incredible, big flavor, and that’s well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List.

“You’re not going to get any better food anywhere. I don’t care what you pay for it,” said Susan.

“More than proud, I’m happy, because at the end of life it was given to me, this opportunity,” expressed Catalina.

Amarillo – Over the years in the Panhandle we’ve met all sorts of colorful characters like Bob Lile at the Lile Art Gallery, Angela Corpening at the Golden Light, or the Oliver family at the Oliver Saddle Shop. Well now you can add Margaret Glasscock, owner of Green Chile Willy’s to that list. “You get over 70 and you go to thinking, ‘God I’m falling apart.’,” joked Margaret.

Margaret has lived in Amarillo for over 50 years and back in 2007, she opened Green Chile Willy’s with William Douglass and Scooter Jeffers. “Every nail in the place we put in here ourselves. Every board, everything in here, we did ourselves,” said Margaret.

William and Scooter moved on but Margaret has been making sure the Green Chile Willy’s continues to crank out some of the finest chicken fried steaks in the state. “That’s what we’re famous for,” stated Margaret. “This place is the number one place to eat chicken fried steak,” said customer Cody White. “Good home cooking. Good atmosphere, great food,” said customer Jack Lewis.

But it’s not just the chicken fried steaks that have one heck of a reputation, so does Margaret! “When they know I come in the back door, they know it’s heads up time,” said Margaret. “She keeps this place together. She keeps it going,” said customer Brittney Flatt.

Jim Robinson is the GM and Margaret’s son and not always the ultimate bad cop. “I can come in, I can yell, I can put the pressure on and say, look, if you don’t fix this, she’s going to show up. So it helps a lot,” said Jim.

“My kids all maintain my business. So if they don’t do something right, they’re your kids. You can pop them upside the head,” joked Margaret. “She is one tough, tough lady. Tough lady,” joked Cody.

“When she started building this place, I thought she was crazy. I told her that. I said, there’s nothing out here. Why would you want to build a restaurant in the middle of nowhere? I ate my words,” joked Jim.

Speaking of eating, I was extremely excited to try a chicken fried steak, because green chile is what they’re known for. “Our green chili chicken fry is one of our main deals. Everybody loves it. It’s why they come here,” stated Jim.  “Everybody’s partial to the green chili because that’s our name. Everybody wants to try the green chili,” said Margaret.

Turns out they also have a jalapeno gravy that’s also extremely popular. “Puts that warmth in your belly and gets you going,” said Jack.

My only problem, how do I pick? “We have what you call a sampler plate… You can just pick and choose which one you like the best,” said Margaret.

Jim got started on the sampler by throwing three small freshly breaded inside round steaks in the fryer. “We probably sell, like I said, two to 300 chicken fries a day,” stated Jim. That’s a lot of chicken fried steaks!

Once they’re fried up to a tender perfection, Jim slabs on three different and distinct gravies. He the tops them with jalapenos and green chili, throws in some green chili mac and cheese and some green beans.  That officially makes my dish the most green I’ve ever seen on a chicken fried steak plate!

For my first bite, I stuck with the traditional gravy and right off the bite I notice that this has got to be one of the meatiest chicken fried steaks I’ve ever had! “Up here is beef country. I mean you can’t beat it,” stated Cody.

Next up, the green chile gravy. The flavor of the green chili gravy is warm and delicious with some incredible spice thanks to those fresh green chilies on there. It definitely kicks things up a notch “The green chili is not as spicy as the jalapeno, but it’s got a little warmth and it’s kind of a different, unique flavor,” said Jack.

And finally, the most popular one, the jalapeno cream gravy. “It’s got all the jalapeno flavor, but we make it with cream cheese so it doesn’t have all the bite and it’s really good,” said Jim. That jalapeno cream gravy is rich and spicy. That is definitely not diet food, but still absolutely delicious! “The flavor of the jalapeno and the tenderness of the chicken fried steak. It melts in your mouth, you just have to use your fork. It just falls apart, it is so good,” said Brittney.

Well, if you’re looking for a chicken fried steak that packs a punch in the panhandle, come into Green Chile Willy’s in Amarillo to sample the sampler.  Its incredible selection of gravies is definitely well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List!

“It’s a great little place. We stay very busy and I’ve been blessed. That’s all I can say,” expressed Margaret. “Number one in my book, best in Texas,” stated Cody.

Texarkana – When traveling around Texarkana, sometimes it’s hard to know where Texas ends and Arkansas begins. But when you smell the sweet smoke of BBQ through the air coming across the state line, you grin and bear it while sneaking across the street into the Bear State to try Naaman’s BBQ.

Darby Neaves is the owner of Naaman’s and there’s no question where his allegiance stands. “Well, I was born in Texarkana, Texas but I grew up in Ogden, Arkansas. Now, if all hell breaks loose, I will be in Texas,” joked Darby Neaves. And his BBQ? “Yeah, absolutely it’s Texas style,” stated Darby.

Turns out it doesn’t matter what side of the line you’re on as long as you have good BBQ. “This is a stop every time we’re here. Every time we’re here,” said customer Chuck Holle from Brenham. “It’s the best barbecue in the whole world,” said customer Irene Chin.

Now this all started when Darby went to his first BBQ cookoff. “Me and my pastor went to Arkadelphia to a barbecue cook-off just to see what it was like, and they let us be judges that day. I had some of the best barbecue I’d ever had in my life and then I had some nasty stuff, and we swear to you, you couldn’t swallow, you had to spit it out,” said Darby.

After chewing on it for a while, Darby decided to start a team. “I got obsessed with it. We just went all in,” stated Darby.

Darby’s team went on to win several cookoffs. “Had a lot of people, a lot of good cooks, take the time and show me a lot. Some of them will tell me almost the truth and I’d have to figure the rest of it out. But that’s competition, isn’t it,” said Darby.

Darby first opened a food truck before opening the restaurant that bears his son’s name. “Naaman’s, Narmon’s, Nearman, I don’t know. It’s different every time,” joked Darby’s son Naaman.

Back then Naaman was just a kid. “I’ve been in this for almost 10 years now,” said Naaman. “I’m very proud. He’s still a kid in so many ways, but at the same time, he’s not,” expressed Darby.

Naaman’s is known for a sizable sandwich that might as well be another one of Darby’s kids, except he calls this one the “Red Headed Stepchild.” Naaman got things started with a buttered bun that gets topped with torn up brisket. “Yeah, you just rip it apart so it’s easier to chew because burnt ends are kind of tough,” explained Naaman. “In Texas most of you don’t have chopped anything. I used to have a saying, ‘Chops are for people who don’t know how to cook’,” joked Darby.

Then comes the pulled pork. House made sausage is stacked on top of that, then comes the coleslaw, and two kinds of bbq sauce. It is a beautiful, big, old sandwich. All sorts of meat, coleslaw, sauces.  Such an incredible assortment of flavors. Much like the Ark-La-Tex, you got three different things coming together to make one incredible dish. “It’s my top five,” said customer Chuck Holle.

It’s kind of like when you finish your three-meat plate and you got a little bit of coleslaw left, and all those meats, you just have to scoop them together and put them in a slice of bread, and it’s amazing. “Good sandwich. It was a mixture of everything that’s on the menu, just about,” said customer Brian Talley.

Well, if the Red Headed Stepchild was in my family, this would be the favorite. “I’ve eaten a lot of barbecue, and this is the best barbecue I’ve ever eaten,” said Irene.

“The brand of names, the brand means more to me than money. It’s my son’s name. He was three when I started competitions. I had no idea that it would ever turn into something like this. That’s not my name to ruin. I want that name to mean something. Quality,” explained Darbey.

Well, if you’re looking for a bite that brings together the people of Texarkana, just come to Naaman’s for the “Red Headed Stepchild.” A big, old sandwich that brings together Texans and folks from the other side of the state line and it’s well worth a stop.