On the Bayou

Let me start off by stating that the reason I am giving this place two stars is NOT the quality or taste of the food… I personally think the food is great. My meal was delicious and I had no complaints whatsoever on the taste. My issue lies in the unprofessional manner in which the employees and manager conduct themselves here.
Myself along with 3 others were visiting Galveston from Pennsylvania. We read good reviews on this restaurant and we decided to try it as our first dining experience in Texas.
The first night eating here, there were no issues. Everyone in my party loved their dinner. My boyfriend said it was the best philly steak sandwich he had ever had in his life… and he is a very picky eater. My girlfriend ordered a soft shell crab sandwich and was told they were out, so she picked a shrimp po boy instead. She enjoyed it and had no complaints either. Her boyfriend ordered a seafood pasta that he said was to die for. I myself got a grilled seafood sampler and it was simpy amazing.
So first night… spectacular. Nothing to complain about. So, we decided to take a second trip here later in the week for dinner again.
My girl friend asked if they had the crab in yet, and they replied yes, so she ordered the crab sandwich. The rest of us went with steak. When our food arrived, to my girlfriends surprise, the crab sandwich was a deep fried whole crab, like someone had picked it off the beach, dipped it in the fryer and tossed it on a bun. She admitted to the waitress that we were not from the area, and she was expecting more along the lines of a crab cake sandwich, but she would try it anyway. The taste was not at all to her liking, so she appologetically asked for something else. The manager then stormed over to her, asking her what the problem with the crab was. She explained that it was not what she expected, and that it did not taste good and she just wanted something else.
A few minutes after angrily agreeing to give her something else to eat, my boyfriend went to use the restroom and overheard two female employees discussing with eachother the crab situation. The one girl said to the other, «I would have shoved it back in her face and said no».
I am shocked and infuriated that two employees would openly discuss an issue and bad-​mouth a customer while other customers were present. We spent well over $ 200 here throughout the week, and were not in the least bit rude to anyone about the crab misunderstanding, so I am appalled that the manager and employees could be so rude in return. Also, I need to mention that during the night, my girlfriend got sick to her stomach and couldn’t even eat anything the whole next day. Not sure why… Needless to say we will not be returning here anytime in the future.

Worst dining experience. Waiter was rude asked what they recommended or what was a favorite. His reply well it made the menu it should be good. We then got our drinks and he never checked back after 50 minutes we left paid for our drinks but did not wait to get food decided heck with it they didn’t care

Great wings! Great drinks! & Great place to hang with the locals! Come down and join the fun!

I have brought a few friends tonight for fun dink and food. Great atmosphere live it that there are many people to have encounters with socially. I love the fact that they have multiple tvs. All the servers and bartenders I have encountered have been awesome and I am making this my neighborhood hangout.

This a nice bar. Big and airy. But they should really ditch the whole restaurant thing. Reminded me of the all you can eat buffet places except they triple the price. Pre-​prepared then warmed up. Yuck.
I would suggest they add craft brews on tap, keep the live music going, and stick to no more than the usual bar snacks.

The food here is mediocre at best. Even worse, 6 of their 7 A/​C units were out. This is August at least put a sign on the door so people know what they’re in for. The thing that upset us the most is the way management treated an elderly lady who is a regular there. She ordered the special, a sirloin steak, and we watched her trying to cut it and then trying to chew it. It was just too tough. The manager said she couldn’t comp her the steak because she ate some of it. She told the woman, who is a retired teacher, to take it home and put it in the crock pot to make it more tender. Really? Take your food home and cook it more because we didn’t cook it properly. Unbelievable. She even admitted that she knew the woman came on Fridays as her weekly treat. The woman said she’ll have to find a new place to go and we won’t be back either.

This place was great! We sat outside which had a great view and their Monday special of the rib eye steak with 2 sides was to die for. I seriously ate every piece of everything on the plate. I would definitely come again and again.

The food was mediocre but the service was worse! We dine out quite often and we ordered a bottle of wine that was uncorked when it reached the table. Unacceptable! Wine needs to be opened at the table.
I had Bisque which was flavorful but was lukewarm at best. My wife had pecan crusted redfish that was over cooked. The shrimp on my shrimp and grits were very small and the cheese grits left an after taste. The vegetables were served in the bowl with the grits which made eating them difficult. The rich served with all dishes was not done.
The waiter was poorly trained and service was slow. He tried to be cute and funny but just wasn’t.
We will not go back.

This place is outgrowing its ability to serve good food. There seems to be no concern with what is coming out of the kitchen or being sent back for that matter.
If crawfish season hampers your ability to turn out a med rare filet, that comes out like a hockey puck, make the steak seasonal as well.

Will never go there again. We ordered steak which was full of gristle and generally tough, when we said something to the manager he told us it was like that because we ordered the ribeye not a filet. Didn’t offer to get anything else or even say sorry, majorly overpriced for everything else we ordered. Waitstaff was slow and rude.

Horrible customer service… I asked the waitress for a drink menu and she simply responded with. «There’s one around here somewhere.» She pointed me towards the bar and walked on. Once I found a menu I went to my table where she comes by and says, «Oh you found one.» I left…

We had Crawfish and oysters Bayou very good! Great customer service by Theodore! This place is really cool so many areas to hang out!

Update! New lunch menu with great burgers.
I noticed they’ve changed the margaritas to fresh and the Sunday Brunch is pretty damn good.
Best place in G Town for sports now!

The poblano soup starter was a bit watery but had good taste. The meatloaf Sysco pre-​fab quality which resembled frozen Salisbury steak with typical brown gravy. When I received it, it was quite cold possibly indicating that it was not microwaved enough at first. I asked for a warm to hot entrée, it was obvious that they simply put it microwave, which made the texture even worse. While the portion was generous, it was too generous as I could only stomach half of the entrée and I let the waitress take it without requesting for a take out container. On a brighter note, the Banana Foster was tasty but the ice cream was not «smoked» as represented on the Galveston restaurant week menu. On another negative, the friend dining with me was originally told the they were out of seared tuna, but when we asked to go to the other prix fixe menu and comp the soup and to substitute it with the shrimp cocktail, they miraculously found some tuna. They must have found some at a bait shop somewhere because this tuna was at least 4 – 5 days passed is peak. Interestingly enough, it was cooked medium well instead of the typical medium rare. I guess the chef (cook) thought that if he cooked it enough my friend would not get ill. This sounds rather harsh, but if you are going to participate in restaurant week then cook what you know best– like chicken wings and chicken fried steak rather than try cooking above your ability by presenting a menu that was attractive to a first time visitor I suggest that anybody who wants to visit this restaurant as part of Galveston Restaurant Week, then you should look elsewhere unless it is the last restaurant on the list and you just want to say you have tried them all. On a positive note, the waitress (Rachel) was very professional in handling our requests and complaints in order to try and have a properly prepared meal.

Food is good but wow the service is a mess.
The hostess was a great server. No one has name tags but the girl assigned to our table is in the wrong profession. She needs training on how to be a waitress.

The good and the bad and the ugly. Came to watch the game. Tons of TV s. All the games. Cool. Got to watch the Cowboys during the Texans game. .50 wings. .yes haw. They were good. The nachos were a major fail. Cold chicken, crappy canned nacho cheese. Horrible. But the cute little manager took care of everything. So I’ll be back to watch a game. Not sure about dinner, but may have to give them a chance because of the manager.

Food was just good, and service was great. This specific venue has changed hands, owners, concepts more times than I care to count; but in my opinion the Sports Bar theme is a good fit for the sheer massive size of this place.
They need to fine tune the menu a bit. They have a crispy pork belly salad on the menu which let’s face it, would fly off the menu in Houston, but in Galveston the clientele isn’t looking for trendy fare.
Hoping this place sticks around, and makes use of that choice space on the Galveston bay.

Well, someone heard our complaints!
My bf really likes the food here so I found myself back in the seats at On The Bayou and boy, what a change!
First of all, drink menus!!! Although I didn’t order one of their signature drinks, I do enjoy having the option.
Our waitress, Cristel, was perfect! She was so attentitive and friendly. She made recommendations from the menu and she always had a smile on her face.
An empty plate didn’t stand a chance on our table. The second we slid a plate to the side, the bus boy whisked it off to the back.
The food was great as always, this time I got the skewers and vegetables. My bf ordered the stuffed chicken.
A++ for both entrees!
We ordered dessert as well. Bananas foster mmmmm, it was honestly a bit too sweet but we managed to finish it.
We left with full stomachs and nothing but positive thoughts. We opted to dine inside this time, I don’t know if that’s why the service was so much better… just a thought.
FYI, i didn’t see that waitress from my previous review, wonder if she was fired.

My husband and I decided to check out their Tuesday special of a burger and fries for $ 6. We also settled on their fried mushrooms with Jack Johnson sauce for an appetizer. ($ 8)
At first we were a little confused as they brought out two menus for, what seemed to be, two different restaurants… the white tablecloths and black napkin side where we sat and the sports bar side… my husband asked if there were two restaurants to which our server replied, no… we just have a bunch of menus…
Ok… we looked over the menus knowing we were going to get the special but still checked out their options… some things were on the pricy side, others not so much.
Our server was nice but did not mention the daily special nor was it on the menu (if it is, we didn’t see it) so as we are ordering she asks if we want cheese and says it is .75 cents extra… ok, no biggie… our $ 6 burgers just became $ 6.75… I got pepper jack, provolone for the hubs…
Our appetizer comes out and it is a nice size, perfectly hot and delicious! No complaints there! The sauce was a little bland so I got some ranch… fried mushrooms just go hand in hand with ranch… amiright?
We noticed the song playing loudly (Flobots — No Handlebars) and we said ahh cool music, doesn’t fit but still cool… when Offspring came on we were like right on… but then quickly realized it was the explicit version… loudly coming through the speakers… now, we are 35 but there were three other tables with significantly older people that I know heard those lyrics clearly… maybe someone said something or someone took notice and turned it down and to 80’s (awesome choice but still didn’t fit) and then quickly followed by country… hmm… guess they had it on shuffle after that… lol
The burgers have arrived! They were the perfect temp with ketchup, mayo and mustard on the side and a heaping pile of real fries! They were messy but well worth the price! The bun to meat ratio was perfect… and let me tell you about the bun… sweet, chewy, fluffy… mmm!
Our bill was $ 26 and some change… not bad for 2 burgers with extra priced cheese, 1 fried mushroom appetizer and a soda… I got water ;)
I am rating this place a 4 out of 5… because you really gotta screw up big time to mess up a burger! Our food was great, our waitress was nice and prompt and we will definitely be coming back!

this place has been quite a few establishments… they’re still working out the kinks.
i know if i was the owner… first thing i would of done is expaned the outside deck and made it inviting…
went in today for a few cold beverages… thot it was HH… had the t-​jack lemonade [jack daniels honey flavored whiskey] and barcardi mojito – nope. $ 9 each — island life will break ur bank!
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huge dinning place with one side being a sports bar. has 2 pool tables, darts boards and tv’s…outdoor seating near lake
went today for sunday brunch…$ 25 all you can eat lunch and breakfast stuff… turkey&gravy, salmon, prime rib, shrimp salad, shrimp étouffée, breads, salads…
then there is… made to order omelets, biscuits w/​gravy, grits, eggs benedict, sausage, bacon
and
fresh fruits with chocolate for dipping, muffins, bread pudding with brandy sauce, mini cakes
mimosa’s and make you own bloody mary’s [extra cost]
i ate everything… and had a mimosa… ALL was delish