Seeking out restaurants while on vacation can lead to some pretty interesting finds. Farley Girls Café is a catering service turned brick-and-mortar operation that serves the Galveston area. Situated on the east end of the island, in the medical district, the location is central to beach-goers and also those coming or going from the cruise terminal.

Who are the Farley Girls?

Farley Girls Café and Catering was started by two sisters, Rosmond Duzich Thormahlen and Ryanne Duzich Culberson, aka the Farley Girls. Growing up the daughters of local restauranteurs (their parents’ previous ownership included The Spot, Fish Tails, Waterman’s, and Fisherman’s Wharf), the girls said that opening a restaurant was “in their blood.” When asked about the inspiration and start-up of the business in August 2012, Culberson said, “The stars aligned for the right time and place when we were both free, and voila! Farley Girls was born.”

Rosmond, known as Roz, is a graduate of Johnston & Wales University in Miami and the University of Houston and is married with two children. She has learned to create fresh, sustainable dishes to offer the best dining experience possible. With these fine examples of how to run a restaurant well, she learned to do “whatever it takes” to please a dining customer. Roz finds new ways daily to improve everyday meals through new recipes with farm-to-fork ingredients.

Ryanne honed her management and food selection skills while attending the Culinary School of Austin. Currently, she runs the daily operations at Farley Girls Café with ease, having acquired restaurant experience from working within the multiple island restaurants that make up her family’s past business operations. She is very comfortable in front of the counter, as well as coordinating house-made dishes and menus with Roz. Under Ryanne’s supervision, Farley Girls has won Best Caterer throughout Galveston County for a number of years, as well as Best Sunday Brunch throughout the years of competition.

The tagline for the duo’s café reads “a little bit of everything,” which the expansive and exquisite menu most definitely reflects. “We had an endless amount of things that we wanted on the menu,” Ryanne said. “We wanted to be able to sneak into the restaurant at 2 a.m. and devour any craving.” The café has three separate menus including all-day breakfast, brunch, and lunch. Breakfast and lunch are served Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The imaginative brunch menu is reserved for the weekend, served Saturday and Sunday from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Now to dive in to these menus a bit more closely!

Breakfast

The greatest feature of this breakfast menu is that it is accessible all day. Many breakfast staples are offered a la carte as “sides,” including eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, and pancakes. The sisters also serve grits, but not the traditional Southern grits made from corn. Instead, the café serves a creative variety of grits made from mushroom and gouda. These grits can be paired easily with eggs and make a lovely breakfast choice for those looking to change up their breakfast routine. Two other notable choices on the breakfast menu include the Good Morning Galveston and the BTA. The former is a fried egg, bacon, and pepper jack cheese on a homemade bun. It is served with breakfast potatoes on Saturday and Sunday, and fries during the week. The BTA includes a fried egg, bacon, tomato, avocado, and pepper jack cheese on a slice of country loaf. It is served with breakfast potatoes on Saturday and Sunday, and fries during the week. This would be a great option when looking for something to satiate that savory craving.

Brunch

The brunch menu will have your mouth watering just reading over it. Along with classic brunch fare are several creatively combined entrees. One high point of this menu is the four varieties of eggs benedict they serve. First, you have your traditional eggs benedict with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce. Next up is the Texas Eggs Benedict, which replaces the poached egg with scrambled and trades the hollandaise sauce for queso. The Chorizo Eggs Benedict variation comes with guacamole and a poached egg, topped with chorizo queso. The last of the eggs benedict choices is the Lox Benedict, which comes with some flavorful extras! This dish is made of smoked salmon lox on a toasted English muffin, poached egg, hollandaise, capers, and purple onion. Each of these choices is served with breakfast potatoes.

Also of note are two entrees that really capture the full spectrum of taste buds: the Captain and the OMG. The first catches your attention with seafood, incorporating fried catfish, fried gulf shrimp, and bacon-wrapped shrimp and jalapeños stuffed with pepper jack cheese topped with remoulade. Next up, and a customer favorite, the OMG offers a choice in fried meat (chicken or steak) on a pancake topped with sausage gravy and a fried egg. Is your stomach grumbling yet?

Lunch

The lunch menu offers salads, sandwiches, and pizza, along with some dazzling main entrees. Classic salads are served with the choice of homemade dressings to include: balsamic vinaigrette, ranch, blue cheese, Caesar, and remoulade. One of the two non-traditional salads includes the French chicken salad, with Panko and parmesan-crusted chicken that has been pounded thin. If your taste buds are craving a sweet and sour mixture, the goat cheese and candied pecan salad would be a wise choice, accentuated by fried goat cheese balls, along with candied pecans, dried cranberries, greens, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

If your stomach is really rumbling from playing in the surf all day, the boy burger will fill that belly! This customer favorite is a beef patty with bacon placed between two grilled cheese sandwiches. If you are looking to fill your seafood cravings, then a shrimp poboy, shrimp and grits, or the baja tacos would fit the bill. If you want to combine that seafood craving with a pizza, you are in luck! Farley Girls Café offers a lox pizza that includes intriguing toppings: smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, and purple onion.

Catering Services

Farley Girls catering specializes in home catering services, and also is able to cater events at their restaurant location. Farley Girls has an extensive catering menu and is able to accommodate breakfast items, appetizers, soups, salads, and entrees. The full catering menu can be found on their website. Their famous bread pudding is offered as one choice of dessert, which utilizes all of their homemade bread, topped with a rich caramel sauce.

Location

This charming café is located a bit off the beaten path, on the harbor side, not far from the University of Texas Medical Branch. Street parking is available, or there is an adjacent attended lot where you receive a parking permit that can be validated inside the restaurant. Do not be deterred by the unassuming exterior building, as the moment you walk in the door you will be greeted with a fresh, energetic vibe coming from the white walls and farmhouse décor of this counter-service restaurant. Be sure to check them out the next time you find yourself in Galveston!