Benno’s On the Beach

Truly unfortunate to not be pet friendly. I go to Galveston almost every weekend and my pet along side of me. No one has turned me away, Mosquito Café, Gumbo Bar, Shrimp N Stuff downtown and Olympia Grill on the wharves. These establishments are very pet friendly and the food is much better.

You refuse service to people with service dogs, which in a lot of cases means veterans who have sacrificed for our country… as a full time islander, you have lost my business, money and recommendations forever.
Bad call Benno’s.

Generally the food is pretty good even if it is way overpriced. Its over 10 bucks for just a bowl of rice and beans. The fry cook does a great job, and generally the staff is nice, except when they are not (i find the service hit or miss) i like this place but They loose my vote for local food because of their high cost and mediocre building.

Will Never go back. The manager Amad Jones asked a couple who had a legal certified Ther therapy Dog. The manager proceeded to tell them they had to leave. The couple provided documentation and still were asked to leave. This is where I got involved being a Disabled Vet and having a Service Dog of my own. I explained the LAW to the manager, and as a parting gift for doing the right thing. He called the cops on. If this was insult enough, one of the waitstaff wold not serve us our food so it sat on the counter till another lady could take it. I will never frequent this establishment and I would strongly urge others not to either. I have offered this couple my lawyer but then a dozen lawyers would love this case.

I just ate here with my parents and fiancée and we were all extremely happy with the food and service. We had boiled crawfish, jambalaya, gumbo, and the Cajun blackened platter. None of us had a single negative thing to say at the end of our meal. I will definitely be returning!

Just a heads up regarding them not being dog friendly any longer … :(
and to be clear, I really do like Benno’s and won’t hold this change against them, just want to make sure people are clear on the change before they bring their pooches along!
Benno’s told me today that dogs are no longer allowed on their patio due to city health code changes this year. That’s odd since that law changed in 2013 and most businesses ignore it anyways. Taken him a bunch of times, and it’s a bummer because I won’t be able to eat here now in the summer on days we drive down to the beach from Houston. Also, after having left benno’s someone at the place next door said dogs were cool there on their patio still. I also later had him with us along the strand with no issues, so who knows?
Anyways, to the food! Their crawfish are a little pricey usually but worth the price as their spice is real nice. Oysters are always good too and I never leave hungry.
If you want to spend a little less and not get what’s considered a «dinner» for lunch, check out the po-​boys, they’re great too and a little less.
Cheap beers too! Definitely check it out of you want some Cajun seafood!

The shrimp and fish was fried to perfection and taste like it was just caught from the Gulf earlier that day. I will make this one of my go to spot’s every time I visit the Galveston area… I wish there was another location near Pearland/​Friendswood.

This was my first experience with Cajun food. It was good at first but some of it seemed like it had sat too long in the boiled water. The garlic bread that it came with was not great. I added a half order of crawfish with the seasoning on the side. That tasted good. My stomach isn’t feeling great right now, but I’m hoping it’s just because I wasn’t used to all the seasoning.

The crawfish were very good on Mardi Gras day 2016!!! The fried shrimp and oyster platter was so yummy! Great place for seafood in Galveston on the seafood!

Jambalaya was great, and the service was excellent. I had the seafood platter, which was also very good.

Awesome to say the least. Got the boiled crawfish, seafood platter, red beans and rice. The shrimps tasted fishy, the crawfish was tasteless and soft… AWEFUL it left and ugly aftertaste in my mouth. First and Last time I will every go there. Talk about $ 45 down the drain. I would have rather ate Popeyes Chicken!!!

This is my second visit and still is amazing the taste if soft shell crabs. The cole slaw was fresh and good taste with no to much mayo just a hint. The people are nice and is right on the seawall boulevard facing the ocean. A hole in the wall seafood restaurant. You can hear the waves going against the wall. If you like soft shell crabs this is the place to be.

A fish place on the beach with a Cajun flair. The Cajun fish plate was our choice for a way to have a change from the fried fish during our vacation week. This place was perfect. Splitting the plate and a huge bowl of Jambalaya meant enough food for two with leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
While we were in the off season, there was no wait and the staff were lovely. Friendly, helpful no matter how many questions we asked.
Just over $ 30 for two, drinks not included.

Excellent crab cake with big hunks of crab. The Cajun seafood platter was spicy and delicious. Friendly staff, speedy service, down-​home delicious! Sorry, there’s no pic of the crab cake. We devoured it as soon as it hit the table.

We stopped here for dinner as I was entertaining visitors from out of town and I’ve heard good things.
My first impression wasn’t good as you needed to go to the counter and order, but the staff was very helpful.
For a self serve place I felt the $ 90 tab for four people was a bit high.
The food was good, but not spectacular. I have had better for less and felt a bit shorted by the no-​frills atmosphere.
Definitely worth a try but don’t expect table service or the best value in town.

Wait staff is basically nonexistent and very rude. The bathrooms look and smell like they haven’t been cleaned in days. The outside tables were COVERED in dirty dishes, which attracted birds, and the place wasn’t even busy.
The food was also very bad. Definitely not fresh. I don’t know how a place like this stays in business. Will not return.

Coming from a crab leg fanatic. hands down the best crab legs I have ever eaten! My first time trying butter garlic… but will not be the last! I was in heaven… I wasn’t even able to finish the last crab and I always finish my crabs!

OK, first I’m going to say this the service here really sucks. Just terrible. Aside from that the food is really amazing and good. I got a shrimp poboy sandwich that was really tasty, the corn on the cob was ok after pouring some hot sauce on it really did the trick lol. But the boudin sausage Christ in high heaven that was good flavorful and just the right amount of spice to kick the flavor profile that dances on your taste buds.
If I recommend this place for the food only the service no. If you can get past the service you’re in for a treat.

Great food but the facilities are dirty.
We went here based on the Unilocal reviews and the fact they have cajun BBQ fried blue crabs, similar to Sartin’s. When we first got there around 5:00, they said they had just received a shipment of the crabs and that they wouldn’t be ready for about an hour because they didn’t have anyone available to clean them. OK, fair enough… we’ll go mess around on the seawall for an hour. Did that and came back only to be told it’d be another 20 or so minutes. Uh… ok? Oh wait… no, we have some ready now. Alright, whatever. So we place a $ 56 order for some cajun fried blue crabs, one fried soft-​shell crab, a shrimp platter with half cajun/​half fried, and a kid’s fish meal. More expensive than I liked but we don’t eat like this very often.
So then we go to sit down and the only way I can describe this place is greasy. I realize the process of eating this type of food (crabs, crawfish, etc.) is messy but that doesn’t mean the restaurant itself has to be dirty. The highchairs had nasty food all over them, the edge of the table had food on it, and the bathroom floors were covered in slippery grease. It really shouldn’t be that hard to keep the restaurant clean but cleanliness just didn’t seem to be a priority.
HOWEVER, if you can get past all that, the food is excellent. The cajun BBQ fried blue crabs were my favorite, though they are a pain in the ass to eat. The fried soft-​shell crab was good but I wish I’d tried it grilled (or whatever the option is other than fried). The cajun grilled shrimp were good but didn’t have quite as much flavor as I would have liked and the fried shrimp were delicious. The kid’s fish meal (which I’m told was cod) was pretty bland which, in hindsight, might be a good thing for a kid’s meal.
In the end, we enjoyed our meal and may go back but next time we’ll be sure to bring plenty of Chlorox wipes with us.

Location and view get the highest mark. Food and décor lowest.
Location– Nice view of the gulf.
Food. Meh. Nothing to die for after scarfing down po boy. Sandwich was bland. Puppies had a kick but bready.
Décor– old but clean. Heavy aroma of bleach which was disturbing but at least they are using it.
Service– lady behind the counter was initially short for my liking but I later found her personable the more she came around servicing.
Would have given more stars but low rating for food was determining factor.