It is with mixed emotion that I post this... Sometimes secrets are meant to be shared, but you hate to ruin a good thing by letting too many people know about it. =) One of my all-time faves recently reopened after being obliterated by Hurricane Ike. It's not quite as divey as it once was, but it's still worth the trip when you have a taste for seafood by the water. Before the oil spill you'd see shrimp boats, fishermen, and the party-goers on their cigarette boats. Now Southern Living magazine has included Top Water Grill in their Top 10 Southern Seafood Dives list to get the freshest catch in the south.  Enjoy!

TopWater Grill, San Leon, TX

Anglers have to backstroke for table space among the bankers, lawyers, secretaries, and other landlubbers who anchor for lsucculent seafood specialties fresh off the boat at the hidden-away eatery between Houston and Galveston.

Don't Miss: About the best treasure you'll find here now is flavorful pecan-crusted snapper topped with lemon butter and fresh Drunken Red-fish cooked in a white cream wine sauce. Start with an order of shrimp, grilled or fried. Sit outside on the deck, and watch as the catch is unloaded from the fleet of shrimpboats. Then you'll see why the TopWater Grill is a secret too good to keep. Les Thomas

TopWater Grill: 815 Avenue O, San Leon, TX 77539; (281) 339-1232 or www.topwatergrill.com. Directions: From I-45, take State 517 east to the blinking red light in San Leon, and go right on Ninth Street to the water.