On the waterfront in Fulton Beach, where the shrimp and oyster boats dock, we found the original Hu-Dat Restaurant, a joint that caters to the locals with Vietnamese shrimp dishes. We grabbed a table and started off with a couple of beers. The atmosphere was laid-back, the decor was shabby, and our third-generation Vietnamese-American waitress didn’t speak Vietnamese.

But the pho tom, Vietnamese shrimp noodle soup with perfectly cooked fresh shrimp and seafood broth, was off the charts, and the housemade shrimp eggrolls are equally amazing.

Hu-Dat is a play on the name of the owners’ famous son, Dat Nguyen, the Texas A&M and Dallas Cowboys football star.

Hu-Dat Restaurant
61 Broadway St
Fulton
361-790-7621

Hu-Dat Noodle House and Lounge
6418 S. Staples St.
Corpus Christi
(361) 906-1111
hudatnoodlehouse.com

Sa Thi Nguyen, Dat Nguyen’s grandmother, moved the family to the US in 1975 after the fall of Saigon. Like many Vietnamese immigrants, they ended up on the Texas coast working in the shrimp industry. In 1993, the family launched a banh mishop that evolved into the original Hu-Dat Restaurant in Fulton.

Now there is also a fancier Hu-Dat Noodle House and Lounge in Corpus Christi as well.