88 Boiling Crawfish & Seafood

Thai meets Cajun at this compact Westchase spot where crawfish can be found bobbing in glistening fried rice and plastic-lined buckets. But the notorious spring crowds cramming into the nautical-themed dining room key you in to the real draw: a messy yet satisfying adventure in crawfish-cracking consumption. Braving the congestion under all those plastic lobsters and decorative fish nets are diners hip to Kevin Vong’s signature 88 Special—a blend of garlic butter, lemon pepper, and Cajun spices all tossed together in the same boil bag. If you want to avoid the inevitable throng, Vong now allows customers to order ahead and hit the drive-thru window. 713-789-8288

Atchafalaya Crawfish

From February to July, a sleepy stretch of suburban Pearland starts to resemble rush hour in downtown Houston. But unlike the drivers creeping along during their morning commute, this snaking assemblage of automobiles is patiently waiting for a taste of Cajun-flavored nirvana. At the end of their gridlocked quest sits a modest, red-hued building where orders of boiled crawfish await at this takeout-only purveyor and wholesaler. Named after the largest swamp in the U.S.—located between Lafayette and Baton Rouge—this shop lives up to the titular appellation with crawdads delivered live daily from Louisiana. 832-770-9629

Boil House

Started by proud Louisiana State University alums Wayne Gonsoulin and Jason Murray, this one-time auto garage now serves as a small mudbug-slinging operation in the heart of The Heights. The restaurant’s diminutive size doesn’t deter the spring crowds that gather at picnic tables to enjoy steaming trays of crawfish served in Scoville-climbing levels such as “mouth burn” and “lip swollen.” Eating on-site in the spare, purple- and-gold-embellished dining space with a cold Abita beer is the ideal way to soak in the full bayou Bengal experience—but the drive-thru is also a revered time-saving option. theboilhouse.com

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Cajun Craven

Owner Henry Tran began his crawfish career putting on boils for friends and family while working as a shrimper in Port Arthur. The enthusiastic reception led him from a life on the seas to a culinary career at his neighborhood restaurant in 2008, where he put down roots in South Belt-Ellington. During the busy crawfish season, Tran personally drives to Louisiana several times a week to hand-select the ideal specimens. That attention to detail brings fans from across the city—many of whom are featured in photographs lining the walls, grinning from cheek to Cajun butter-smeared cheek. cajuncraven.com

Cajun Kitchen

The fervor surrounding this Asiatown destination’s wok stir-fried crawfish is serious enough that owner John Nguyen has found resourceful ways to source outside of the traditional Louisiana season. Tapping into up-and-coming Oregon and California purveyors, he’s able to provide year-round enjoyment of his Thai basil and The Kitchen Special flavored crawfish, the latter of which accentuates traditional Cajun spices with garlic, lemon peel, and orange slices. For a real treat, the chef even throws some of those hard-won crawfish tails onto French bread with an oozing stratum of mozzarella and parmesan. “Sourcing this way is a little bit more work, and it’s definitely more expensive, but we do it for hardcore customers,” Nguyen says.
cajunkitchenhouston.com

Crawfish and Beignets

What started as a modest stall in Hong Kong City Mall in 2000 has made a name for itself over almost a quarter century for its pillowy, sugar-dusted beignets and three distinct styles of crawfish. Now located in a full-service restaurant in bustling Dynasty Plaza, it’s more sought after than ever thanks to its sweet and tangy Thai citrus crawfish and signature “Krajun,” a blend of garlic butter sauce and Cajun spices that’s stir-fried with generous hunks of white and green onion. Fair warning: Bring a half-dozen friends if you want to tackle the Krajun CNB Feast, a seafood smorgasbord that includes crawfish, snow crab, jumbo shrimp, mussels, clams, corn, red potatoes, and sausage. instagram.com

Crawfish & Noodles

Trong Nguyen spent 30 years working in the casino industry before he made a big bet on himself in 2008. That’s the year he disembarked from Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Houston, where he poured his life savings into a restaurant that would change the course of crawfish history. The self-taught chef experimented with a completely unique way of preparing crawfish, using flavors from his native Vietnam like roughly chopped garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and butter. His flavor profiles would not only make him the “godfather” of the Houston Viet-Cajun style but a James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef in 2020. Now with two locations, it’s easier than ever to sample the dish that put Crawfish & Noodles on the map. crawfishandnoodles.com

Crawfish Cafe

Decisions, decisions. For fans of a build-your-own boil, Kiet Duong’s growing mini-dynasty offers a variety of tempting customizations. In addition to 12 sauce varieties like lemon pepper, Thai basil, and coconut-citrus, customers can request one of five spice levels and even the degree of sauce saturation. Clearly Duong is onto something—what began at Bellaire’s Hong Kong City Mall over a decade ago has grown into five thriving locations across the Houston area. crawfishcafe.com

Crawfish Shack

This seasonal shop in Crosby—open from January to early June—insists on serving seafood sourced from the most trusted vendors around owner Dan Meaux’s hometown of Rayne, Louisiana. “Three of my crawfish wholesalers I went to high school with, and my fourth is a farmer who’s married to my niece,” Meaux says. Over two decades, the University of Houston grad has gone through 13 different house seasoning blends trying to find the right amalgam for his Louisiana-raised crawfish. Today, he says he finally landed on the perfect mixture of 19 different spices that eschews too much salt—a common complaint among crawfish lovers. “Our restaurant is like a backyard party,” he says. “It’s fun, family, camaraderie, and just a really good time.” crawfishshack.com

Hans’ Crawfish Services

“Come pass the good time” is a phrase Hans Stevens took to heart when he was growing up among the rice fields of Lake Arthur, Louisiana. It’s also a mantra he carried with him when he started entering—and winning—Cypress and Houston-area crawfish competitions in 2016. Four years later, his success had turned into a crawfish-focused restaurant on 5 acres of farmland in Tomball. The lively outdoor venue seats hundreds and has a major advantage over the competition: Stevens’ cousins and uncles run a successful crawfish farming operation back home. With that kind of choice product, it’s only natural the chef would take a less-is-more approach to cooking. “I don’t deviate at all,” he says. “I have six ingredients that go in my blend; it’s all scientifically measured out, and that’s what we go with.” instagram.com

Jenivi’s Seafood Shoppe

Customers don plastic bibs with pride at this family-owned West Houston strip-mall establishment that’s been around since 1983. Although known for its large and well-balanced crawfish basking in garlic butter, the restaurant generously offers extra cups of sauce for those who aren’t afraid to wear the results of their crustacean fixation. Regulars are even known to pour those delectable little ramekins over other house specialties like softshell crab, plump Gulf shrimp, and Cajun fried alligator wings. instagram.com

Josephine’s

“I grew up fishing on the Gulf, and we would have crawfish boils and have a big hangout at the camp,” chef Lucas McKinney says. “At my restaurant, I wanted to celebrate the way Gulf seafood can bring a community together.” The Biloxi, Mississippi, native has done that at his Midtown restaurant, which looks like something straight out of the French Quarter. Served on scuffed wooden tabletops are singular seafood epiphanies, such as jerk-rubbed red snapper collars slathered in chile butter and bone-in bluefin tuna presented like a tomahawk rib-eye. Sourcing is particularly important to McKinney, so he limits his crawfish menu to the peak of the spring season. In those few abbreviated weeks, seeking out his Louisiana-raised specimens dunked in a fiery Viet-Cajun coating has become a Houston rite of passage. josephines
gulfcoasttradition.com

The Pit Room

Michael Sambrooks’ Montrose spot might be better associated with its thousand-gallon steel barrel smokers churning out robust beef ribs, Czech-style sausage, and brisket egg rolls. But during weekends in the spring, it transforms into an inside-the-Loop beacon for crawfish. The attached outdoor space, known as The Patio, resembles a rustic tailgate with Cajun-style crustaceans as the life of the party. Each order is enhanced with red potatoes, button mushrooms, and andouille sausage crafted by Ruffino Meats in Bryan.
thepitroombbq.com

Phat Eatery

The passing of James Beard Award-nominated chef Alex Au-Yeung shook the Houston restaurant community last year. The beloved virtuoso of hawker-
style Malaysian street food was one of the brightest stars of Southeast Asian cooking in Texas. Fortunately, his legacy lives on with executive chef Marvin He, who honed his skills for years alongside Au-Yeung both at the restaurant and in local crawfish competitions. Under his tutelage, He learned the art of soaking crawfish in warming Malaysian spices like fresh lemongrass, Ceylon cinnamon, and oyster sauce, then tossing the cooked results in a bath of sweet and spicy coconut curry. “Here, it’s all about how to make people feel welcome, just like Alex taught me,” he says. phateatery.com

Ragin’ Cajun

The sight of the giant iron crawfish adorning the roof of Ragin’ Cajun is a bat signal for customers drawn to the city’s OG Cajun restaurant—that is, if bats were bright red invertebrates named Franklin. Though the Upper Kirby restaurant has gone through some changes since Luke B. Mandola Sr. started slinging po’ boys there in 1974, the family-run joint still serves up South Louisiana classics from the bayou to the Gulf. A tradition started around Mardi Gras in 1976, their crawfish boils have become a Houston springtime custom that continues today. “At the time, we were the only ones doing it,” says Luke’s son and the shop’s current owner Dominic B. Mandola. “No one really knew what they were.” Decades later, the Mandolas still source their crawfish from the same Louisiana farming families and prepare a traditional boil laden with salt, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne, and chili powder. “If it ain’t broke, I ain’t fixing it,” Mandola jokes.
ragin-cajun.com