This quintessential neighborhood hangout is a longtime favorite of island folk. Larry Puccetti has been tending bar at Sonny's Place for 30 years. His dad, Lawrence "Junior" Puccetti, has been there almost 60 years. He inherited the place from his father Lawrence "Pappa" Puccetti, who opened the bar and restaurant in 1944. Junior grinds his own meat because that's the way Mama did it. And he employs the fresh ground beef in the excellent hamburgers, stellar spaghetti in meat sauce, and old-fashioned chili con carne. The gumbo, which is served only on Fridays, comes in your choice of shrimp, crawfish or mixed. The dressed shrimp bun is a po' boy on a hamburger roll. The walls are covered with photos and articles about the Galveston of yesteryear. Don't miss the plaque on the bar that tells the story of the gunfight that left a dent in the beer tap and a hole in the wooden bar top. Junior, it turns out, was once quite a gunslinger.