Catfish Station

    CATFISH STATION PERMANENTLY CLOSED DURING THE PANDEMIC

7903 Beechnut

The Frenchy's Fried Chicken at this location has closed and been rather quickly replaced by this new outpost of another home-grown mini-chain.  According to their website they started out of a trailer in Third Ward only a little over a dozen years ago and the website now lists six brick and mortar locations  It falls a little more into the fast-casual category rather than fast food as the food is prepared to order.

I tried the 2-piece catfish plus 2 shrimp snack basket which came with one hush puppy and some very good battered fries.  The coating on the fish is similar to Capt. Benny's, a mix of corn meal and corn flour, I think, but a little bit thicker.  The hush puppy was sweet - they're described on the menu as sweet corn hush puppies but I didn't find any kernels of corn in mine.

The chicken and sausage gumbo was very good with a good rich, medium thick roux and lots of Cajun sausage; the chicken pieces were mostly shredded in my first sample but I got chunks the second time I tried this.  There was a chunk of tomato and the menu indicated there also should have been okra although I didn't find any pieces in my samples. Pictures posted online from in-house diners with this dish look a little better than my take-home sample - the rice settles down to the bottom in transit.  It has a mild amount of heat but there are bottles of Cajun Chef on the tables.

There are grilled dishes, chicken tenders, seafood tacos and po-boys plus one pasta dish.  House specialties include shrimp and grits, Cajun sausage with red beans and rice and more.  A link of boudain comes with a very tangy remoulade sauce and crackers.

The crawfish pie comes as an empanada stuffed with mostly shredded or minced pieces of crawfish and is served with a home-made etouffee sauce which is an onion gravy.

Besides the desserts listed on the website the in-house menu board offers Stonie Clark's Tea Cakes, an Austin specialty.

Dining-in accommodations are not plush but they're clean and the staff has been very friendly.

Catfish Station

7/30/17 - Per the Chronicle, four more Frenchy's are converting to Catfish Stations.

Frenchy's open, Acacia closed, Lotus gets a rave - UPDATED 9/1/17

The Frenchy's Fried Chicken on the Beltway at West Bellfort is open for business.  Frenchy's has been adding locations all over town.  UPDATE:  THIS LOCATION HAS NOW BECOME WALLA-BEES - THE STING IS IN THE WINGS.

Acacia Food Market, the ambitious and impressive Turkish market on Wilcrest at the Southwest Freeway has closed. Correction:  Acacia just moved, just south of 59 at 11821 S. Wilcrest, back behind a Popeye's, in a big strip center with an Office Depot and Dollar General.

Another option for Turkish foods is Makkah Mart, 10560 Synott @ West Bellfort, Sugar Land, and, of course, Phoenicia on Westheimer. Makkah Mart is now known as Anatolia.

Lotus Seafood Market, 8550 S. Braeswood at Gessner got a rave review in Houstonia Magazine.  It's rare for any place in our part of town to even be noticed by the foodie media.  Dining in accommodations are very basic.  The tales of long lines are true and the parking lot is usually crammed; it's best to call in an order and get it to go.  Lotus Seafood Market on Facebook.  There are pictures of the menu.

Ruchi's Taqueria on Gessner between 59 and Beechnut has become Jabastian's.

Edit to add:

I drove by the former Sheba Cafe location, 6521 Bissonnet @ Hillcroft, and saw the 'Open' sign lighted in the window again.  I found a Facebook page.  It's now called Habesha Cafe, an Eritrean restaurant, and apparently it's been open all along.  The sign in the window says it's open 7 days a week.  They must neglect to turn on the Open sign many days! 

Panaderia y Pupuseria La Sultana has moved into the space formerly occupied by Panaderia Mexicana & Colombiana, 6039 Bissonnet.  La Sultana was for a long time located in the center at Beechnut and Bissonnet that has been razed for an Aldi.  It also housed a Central American grocery store at the former location but I don't know if that's the case here.

Mido, the Turkish/Middle Eastern sandwich shop at 6905 Bissonnet has closed.

A Food Truck Park in Sugar Land, sorta...

on the southeast corner of Highway 6 and Bissonnet

Bansuri Indian Food Corner has set up shop in it's new location; it's parked along Bissonnet actually, barely visible from 6 behind a Conoco station.  It will be closed Sundays and Mondays.

About 75 to a hundred yards away, at the other end of the same parking lot, are four other mobile units including Big 6 Bar-B-Que, which I have visited and reported on before, BB's Beef and Hot Dogs, Yum Yum Sno Balls, and a new one, MJ Seafood.  Since they're outside the city of Houston they are parked practically bumper to bumper and can set up tables and chairs for customers.

I think BB's is the same operation that used to have a small shop on West Airport off of 59 serving Chicago style hot dogs and Italian Beef.

There's also a Mexican restaurant in the strip center and Vishala Grocery and Restaurant is just across Highway 6.

9431 Highway 6 South is the official address.

Bansuri Indian Food Corner

Big 6 Bar-B-Que

Sausage and Boudin Shack

3610 Reed Road

Back when I wrote about JW's Cajun Boudin Hut on Homestead I opined that our city needed more drive-thru boudin huts.  Up until now I have been rigorously ignored but there is at least this:  there's no drive-thru but in its stead is a parking lot and a neat covered outdoor dining area alongside a shotgun shack, just east of Scott, not far off of 288.

The owner is from La Grange originally.  He makes his own boudin but the sausage served is from Weimar.  There is also fried or grilled fish, wings, a pork chop and salmon croquets on the menu plus breakfast.  They are open 8 am to 8 pm Monday thru Thursday and 9 am 'til you stop eating' on Friday and Saturday.

It's a beef boudin.  I got an order by itself (also comes as a plate with choice of 2 sides and bread or toast).  It was about 12 oz of lightly smoked boudin with a portion of rice topped with diced tomatoes and green onions, plus saltines.

This is a Cajun Pate style of boudin.  You pierce the thick, inedible casing (not easy to do with the plastic ware provided) and squeeze it out onto the crisp crackers and you're good-to-go with Cajun Canapes.  This is not my favorite style of boudin but I found it very tasty.  There are no solid bits save for maybe a stray, partial grain of rice or the like and there's just a very mild heat.

I saw some of the fried fish plates being put together for takeout and they looked pretty good; the grilled fish plate on Yelp looks even better.

Sausage and Boudin Shack

Pyburn's Food Market

12675 Fondren (2 blocks north of S. Main)

My family's route into the big city when I was growing up in Brazoria Co. was right up the old 288 which became Almeda Rd. and would take you right downtown. We must have passed the original Pyburn's in Almeda hundreds if not thousands of times. I seem to remember it was usually busy but we never had any reason to stop. So it was news to me when I read in the Press a year ago that they were noted for their boudin and dirty rice and I made a note to stop in sometime. Perhaps I'd make a nostalgia trip down the old highway some day (now known as FM 521 which actually was the original designation going back to the 1930s, I think).

Now I don't have to. The grocery store has come to me, or, at least, my part of town. This new location of Pyburn's has only been open a short time. I seldom go down that far on Fondren but had seen some work underway recently on the building which previously was a short lived independent meat market. It's not close enough to me to be my regular neighborhood grocery but it's a heckuva lot closer than Almeda Rd.

It has quickly become popular and has been doing a good business when I've been by or stopped in, partly due to the lack of any viable competition for quite some distance no doubt, but it's a nice, clean and well lit facility, more like a small grocery store of decades ago or the Pantry stores that HEB built when it first came to town - there are somewhat narrower aisles and taller shelving. The staff I have encountered is very friendly and helpful. The meat department is a standout section with butchers at the ready and it has a complete line-up of the home store's noteworthy boudin, dirty rice and other sausages. The boudin is predominantly rice but also includes chicken liver and gizzards, yellow and green onion, pork, bell pepper, parsley, garlic and black and red pepper. The natural casing crisps up and has a nice snap to it when roasted or smoked. It's a firm boudin, not one that dissolves into a soup when cooked. I'll be tossing several links of the mild on the smoker in a while; I'm headed to a potluck get-together this evening and I'll be fishing for copious compliments.

There's an in-store hot-foods deli due to be operational in a few weeks. I don't know what kind of foods they'll be offering but I'm looking forward to finding out what else comes out of Pyburn's kitchen.

UPDATE:  See an update on Pyburn's as part of this post.

Cooper's Po-Boy Express

S. Gessner @ W. Airport - MOVED

The latest mobile unit to roll to a stop on the southwest side is a streetcar - a New Orleans po-boy cart. Clang, clang, ding ding, woot, woot -I have no idea what sound a New Orleans streetcar makes but what a great visual tip-off to the goodies that await at the window. When I first saw this I couldn't believe my eyes and was sure they must just be parked here because the owner lived nearby. But no, they're here to stay, although hours are somewhat limited. We have places to get tortas galore, banh mi shops too numerous to count, but when it comes to other types of sandwiches we've been severely lacking here on the southwest side for anything other than chains. Could it really be that now we have a purveyor of some of the best sandwiches on the planet, New Orleans po-boys, and just 5 minutes from my driveway?

I couldn't wait to try it out but I had to. There are no hours (or menu) posted on the cart and the website is not much help but at last I caught them open. They just got their permit the end of March and started operations around the middle of April but some equipment problems have arisen, notably that I know of an inadequate ventilation fan to handle the smoke generated by using the grill. Roy Cooper supervises the frying and grilling, an ever-beaming Patricia Harris greets the customers and keeps an eye on the whole operation. I think these people are as excited and happy to be offering their foods as I am to have them.

The menu is small, 8 types of po-boys, hot sausage or smoked sausage, hamburger, roast beef, turkey or ham ranging from $5.99 to $7.99 for a half sandwich and from $9.99 to $11.99 for a whole, a choice of toppings, fries, chips, beverages. The hot sausage is Danton's, the smoked sausage is D & D's, both products from Bogalusa now carried by Fiesta stores. I tried the Danton's hot sausage first, an all-beef pan sausage liberally laced with cayenne. The sandwich, a half is 8 inches, contained 3 patties, grilled, with shredded lettuce, tomato, pickle and gobs of mayonnaise, the latter an essential part of a New Orleans po-boy to me, and was really good. The bread is a really important factor, of course; many places here in Houston that claim to offer New Orleans po-boys get the bread all wrong but this one is pretty close, very similar to the bread used by Antone's, although it could benefit from a little more crustiness.

When I was called to the window to pick mine up I got a big face full of the exhaust fan problem - I was hit in the face with a blast of smoke that knocked me back; inside it was smokier than the pit room at City Market in Luling and I didn't see how they were going to cope with that for several hours. I think this problem has been taken care of; for the sake of the crew, hopefully so.

I wouldn't be surprised if most people name a catfish, shrimp or oyster po-boy as their favorite but my favorite New Orleans po-boys are the roast beef with gravy and debris and the hamburger po-boy and I went with the roast beef on my second visit although I had second thoughts while standing around smelling the fish frying. This wasn't quite as good as the hot sausage; as I suspected, there wasn't much gravy on this po-boy. Per city of Houston regulations, a mobile vendor cannot provide an eating area nearby so almost all business is grab and go and too much gravy would turn that bun into a soggy mess very quickly. I could accept that limitation but I was disappointed in the lack of any debris - the meat had not cooked enough to begin to fall apart. Still, the flavors were all there. Also there was a slice of cheese, a surprise to me since I didn't even realize that was available. I prefer no cheese on a roast beef po-boy with gravy and I'll have them leave that off next time.

I look forward to trying all the other varieties here. They're open only Thursday, Friday and Saturday from around 11am to 8pm.

Cooper's Po-Boy Express

Sno Dreamz

Fondren, just south of West Bellfort, next to the Chevron

Update 11/20/11 - a big banner now proclaims Shaved Ice - don't know if this means they no longer do New Orleans style snow balls, though. It was closed when I went by.


Now that the Season of Swelter is obviously here, I had to check out this little stand that I've been noticing for a couple of months. Over the window it says Sno Dreamz SnoBalls - is this really New Orleans style snoballs or is that just a catchy name? When I saw Tigers Blood listed as one of the flavors, I thought I knew the answer to that one.

There are more than 36 regular flavors, about 2 dozen more specials, 4 sugar free, add-ons, and more on the menu, a dizzying array. A sign in the window says they've added some Mexican flavors, tamarind, horchata, dulce de leche. I chose Wedding Cake with Cream (condensed milk). I'm sure it wasn't the word 'wedding' that attracted me, I'm just a sucker for the word 'cake.'


Okay, not a lot of color contrast in this one (and not a lot of sharp focus, either) but this was really good. That's a small (8 oz cup, $1.50, + $.50 for the condensed milk).

They used to serve boudain but have taken it off the menu since it wasn't selling; there are a few options besides the snow treats including pickled pigs lips - she said it's a New Orleans thing. They don't have a menu printed up and I couldn't get a shot of the menu board because it's behind glass and I got too much glare.

They're open Monday thru Saturday 12N to 8pm, Sunday 1pm to 8pm.

I've got a feeling I'm going to be a regular over the next several months.

The Lunch Bag

9900 S. Gessner @ S. Braeswood


This new truck popped up right in my neighborhood and I was very eager to rush right over and try it out. Not only is it convenient, it's one of the growing number of mobile vendors offering something other than or in addition to the usual tacos, quesadillas, burritos, etc.


So of course, I show you a picture of a couple of tacos...but they're a little bit different. The best thing I've had here was the Caribbean Jerk taco on the right, meaty chunks of chicken breast with jerk sauce, lettuce and tomatoes on a flour tortilla. I've also enjoyed a Buffalo taco, golden fried chicken tender chunks in a Buffalo sauce, also with lettuce and tomatoes. This wasn't as appealing to me because I don't care for hot wings or Buffalo sauce but the pieces of chicken were crisply fried making me think some of their other offerings will be good, too.

Less successful for me was the Blackened Fish taco, on the left in the picture, blackened tilapia with lettuce and tomatoes plus tartar sauce. Many people might find this just fine but tilapia is such a bland fish and I thought it needed a more assertive fish presence as well as a more assertive use of blackened spices. The whole thing was dominated by the tartar sauce for me. The tacos are served rolled.

I've also tried the jambalaya, a daily special one day (not listed among the regular daily specials) but I'm at something of a loss to assess jambalaya since I've had it only a handful of times and it's not something I usually order at a Cajun restaurant. It had a nice heat level with generous chunks of chicken breast meat and a rather salty beef sausage but the shrimp were frozen I think and the seasonings were lacking in complexity. I also would have liked more evidence of the veggies in the mirepoix.

The folks running the truck are very nice. There's a small tent at the end of the truck with some chairs to wait out of the sun but no tables. They occasionally take a day off (besides Sunday) because of catering or other commitments.

This end of town and my neighborhood in particular has not been fertile ground for mobile food vendors nor for those of us who like street food. While we have two of the very best in the Bansuri Indian Food Corner and Boogie's, the majority of the rest I've sampled do a competent but not spectacular job. I'm glad to see The Lunch Bag set up shop and I hope they make it. It sure is nice to have a change of pace on a food truck menu and one so close to me. Grits on a taco truck (on the breakfast menu)? Alright! And I'm interested to make it back over there for the fried catfish and sweet potato fries on a Friday.



The menu undergoes changes, especially the daily specials. The jambalaya I had one day is not listed, nor was the fried chicken dinner (2 wings, cabbage, toast and one other vegetable) on another day. Prices may vary too.

The Lunch Bag

Luke's Place

9600 Fondren, St. 104 @ South Braeswood

UPDATE: 7/23/10 - THIS PLACE HAS GIVEN UP THE GHOST AND IT'S A REAL BUMMER. IT WAS REALLY GOOD, HOME-STYLE CAJUN FOOD AND VERY ACCESSIBLE TO ME BUT THEY HAD A BAD LOCATION, INCONVENIENT PARKING AND ALMOST NON-EXISTENT SIGNAGE. BEST WISHES TO THESE FOLKS. I HOPE THEY LAND ON THEIR FEET SOMEWHERE ELSE (HOPEFULLY CLOSE BY AND HOPEFULLY I'LL DISCOVER THEM). IN THE MEANTIME, I'M EAGERLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THE CAJUN MADE CAFE GOING INTO THE FORMER FRENCHY'S LOCATION ON BELLFORT, ONE BLOCK WEST OF FONDREN.

This place bills itself as Classic Louisiana Soul Food and Cane River Cookin.' The owner is from Nachitoches, hence the Cane River Cookin' sobriquet. I've been going here since a few weeks after it opened last summer and had some very good meals. It's just minutes from my place so very convenient when I'm in a hurry and I've been 7 or 8 times.


The first time I went I had the Cajun Stuffed Meat Loaf and it's still the best thing I've had here, a very meaty, dense loaf with little or no filler material, covered with a spicy tomato gravy and served on a bed of mashed, skin-on red potatoes. I was able to find out the secret ingredient in the stuffing is minced green and black olives. The green beans were possibly canned but very flavorful while the mac 'n cheese was a bit thin and tasted too much of flour. This was the only time I've tried the mac 'n cheese which isn't a favorite dish of mine anyway.

The original menu spelled out which dishes would be available on a rotating basis and there were some very interesting sounding ones but there's recently been a revamping of the menu and some dishes no longer appear. Service is off a steam table for the plates while some items are prepared fresh. They've offered the famous Nachitoches Meat Pies a la Lasayonne's but have never had them to serve when I wanted to try them. Shrimp and sausage po'boys are available as well as Old Fashioned Hamburgers, made on order. The po'boys are a Wednesday special while the Hamburger is offered as a special on Monday. On the recent menu there's only one daily special, Monday thru Friday. Oxtails appear to be available to serve everyday and look good; I've had some of the gravy over rice with other dishes but haven't tried the oxtails, yet. A plate includes a choice of meat (2, sometimes 3 to choose from), a starch (rice or potatoes) and 2 vegetables.

Meatballs and sausage in mushroom gravy I tried once used canned mushrooms for the gravy; the sausage link was a very fine grind and mild and the meatballs, perhaps made the same as the meatloaf, could have used a little more browning before being added to the gravy as they were a little soggy. That was perhaps the most disappointing meal I've had. Their catfish has a heavier breading than I like but was okay otherwise; there are better places for catfish on the Southwest side as far as I'm concerned. Fried foods tend to have a very dark exterior but have not been over-cooked and dried out on the interior.



The fried chicken has been very good with a very thick breading, very moist and flavorful on the inside and very large pieces.

A sausage po'boy I tried once was different in that it used a thin sausage patty rather than a link. The bread was crusty but not up to the best po'boy bread I've had at Calliope. The gumbo here, a special on Friday, has a milk-chocolate colored roux and is very flavorful although somewhat thin. The one time I had it mine had whole tail-on shrimp, a blue crab claw and a skin-on, bone-in chicken wing. It was rather unique and very good. For some reason I failed to get a picture of either the po'boy or the gumbo.

Luke's has been discussed on HAIF's restaurant board and drew thoroughly positive comments. I was worried they might not make it, buried in the back corner of a small shopping center with inconvenient parking and barely noticeable signage, but I'm glad they have. Only one time have I seen dine-in customers...the place is clean and bright and cheery but a little lonesome for dining-in. My favorite soul food place in town is Just Oxtails on Reed Road, especially for the fried chicken and catfish, but that's a long way away and this is the best soul food I've found on the SW side.

J & R Louisiana Cajun Boudin

At a gas station, convenience or grocery store near you.


I was toodling around in Southwest Houston the other day, hadn't been able to decide what I wanted to eat but was getting very hungry and spotted this truck making a delivery at a Texaco station. Obviously it was my destiny to have some boudin for lunch.

The display was just being set up, the crockpot steamer to keep the links warm wasn't even plugged in yet but the guy from the distributor who was installing the set-up told me just to nuke it for one minute.

The link, a very tight fit in a lidded hot dog boat (I estimated 6 oz but the website says 8 but this may be a different product for ready-to-eat), came in either mild (green markings) or spicy (red markings), individually wrapped in foil, which has to be removed before zapping, of course. The display sign described this as the New Double Meat variety. Unfortunately there is no smoked variety available. Help yourself to some packets of saltines, napkins, a spork and some extra Cajun Chef if you like (the spicy needed a little more heat for my taste) and you're good to go for $2.15.

The link was very firm, might have been pick-up-able even with the casing removed. There was a slight snap to the casing. There were clearly distinct grains of rice and a few identifiable shreds of meat but the rest was a paste about the consistency of chicken liver at a deli. For some reason, the picture I snapped didn't take.

This wasn't bad, not as good as my favorite boudin nor even the best gas station boudin I've had (DJ's West, on I-10 out toward Winnie) but it was a heck of a lot better than any gas station hot dog or fried chicken I've had.

When I got home and looked them up I was surprised to see they've been around for years. I don't think I've ever seen them, even at grocery stores where I've shopped for boudin in the past.

Obviously it was my lucky day. So I bought some numbers for Mega Millions on Friday. If I win, I'll probably be writing less on gas station and taco truck fare.

J & R Louisiana Cajun Boudin and Sausage

JW's Original Cajun Boudin Hut

7719 Homestead Rd.

A couple of months ago I was contacted by The Linkster at The Boudin Link asking for some recommendations of locally produced boudin for him to review for his site. I'm not an expert on boudin; having found several that I like (Burt's, Boogie's, Crawfish City - all reviewed on this site), I seldom order it elsewhere. I've also tried most of the supermarket brands and a couple from Spec's deli and Hebert's. I sent him a list of all the reviews on b4-u-eat.com that come up when you search the site for boudin and also suggested he get in touch with Jim Gossen at his Great Southern Foods blog who probably would know more about where to find good boudin in Houston than me.

Since then, though, I've given some more thought to the subject and been more aware of it on menus. I tried the crawfish boudin from Poche's that I found at Spec's (didn't care for the pureed texture) and on a day trip to Galveston stopped off at Leo's Cajun Corner on Broadway at 32nd and tried both the crawfish and smoked boudins (didn't care for them much, either, again because of the texture and they were too mild).

I like a very firm textured link, firm enough to pick up and eat out of hand, with distinct grains of rice and bits of meat and whatever else is used, good and spicy and smoky. Burt's spicy/smoked is my # 1 choice.

One of the places listed on b4 that intrigued me was JW's Original Cajun Boudin Hut on Homestead, for which there were no reviews (but I found some elsewhere, on CitySearch I think).

I don't think I've ever been on Homestead Rd. in my whole life, indeed wasn't even sure what part of town it's in. It's on the far northeast side, of course, a part of town I seldom get to, but as fate would have it, recently I found myself having to make a trip up the EastTex Freeway and I decided to take a little detour and check it out. Serendipity, as they say.

JW's is located in a non-descript drive thru that has seen better days, perhaps several decades ago. There's a sign on the street but nothing on the building but an open sign and a note that Cajun deep fried turkeys are available, just below the drive-thru window. It is drive-thru service only; the only windows in the building are the drive-thru openings.

Despite that rather uninviting aspect, any misgivings were eased when I pulled up to the window and was greeted by one of the most pleasant ladies I've ever encountered in a drive-thru. I ordered some boudin; she asked if I wanted spicy or mild and I said spicy, of course. As she called out the order to someone behind her I inquired what else they offered, since there was no menu board. She cheerfully started to reel off a long list of dishes while handing me a take-out menu.

JW's serves a good variety of soul food and Cajun specialties including mild or spicy pork boudin as links or in cups, beef boudin, seafood boudin, and smoked boudin, mild or spicy. Unfortunately they were out of the smoked. Besides that there's a home made beef sausage, sausage on a stick, turkey legs, pork chop sandwiches and dinners, fish, gumbo, jambalaya, etouffee, chili, red beans and rice and so on and so forth. She said there was just one item on the menu they don't make themselves; I think it was either the sausage on a stick or turkey legs but I'm not sure as I was having trouble taking it all in. She said the chili is not only homemade, it's made with 'real chili meat' and is good and spicy. It's a seasonal offering.



The link that I got for $2.65 was very impressively large; I calculated it to be about 11 or 12 ounces. There's not only no dining room, there's scarcely enough room for the drive-around and none to speak of for parking. Fortunately, all up and down Homestead are shuttered businesses and strip centers so I pulled in to a parking lot a couple of blocks away, put the car in Park and dug in.

The link was too hot to pick up in my bare hands but judging by the critical resistance-to-the-spork test, the casing had a moderate amount of snap, though it still was a little tough and chewy. The link was mostly rice but had full grains of rice through out plus identifiable bits of meat and red pepper. The heat level started out slow but built to a nice level and my mouth was happy for several miles down the road after I'd finished. I missed the smokiness very much and also the little bits of green onion in Burt's boudin, but I judged this one of the best I've had other than my aforementioned favorites. There seemed to be something else missing but I never could put my finger on it; maybe it was just the smokiness. It was a little on the dry side.

I think JW's is a neighborhood jewel and I wish it was in my neighborhood. As it is, I may never get another chance to try the food here but if I do, there are quite a number of dishes I'd like to sample. They're open Tuesday thru Saturday, 10a - 8p.

One important conclusion I've drawn from this little exercise is: Houston needs more drive-thru boudin huts.

The Linkster has not yet posted any recent reviews of Texas boudin but there are some older reviews of a few supermarket products and other Texas made links which you can check out just by scrolling down the list on the left side-bar on the site. He gave an A to DJ's, a Beaumont produced brand widely available in supermarkets here (it's the best supermarket boudin I've tried). He gave an F to a link he got at Central Market. It sounds like a case of mislabeled product to me but I've never bought boudin at CM.

The Cajun Stop

2130 Jefferson

FORMERLY KNOWN AS CALLIOPE'S PO-BOYS, OWNERSHIP UNCHANGED

There's a new po'boy shop in town and it's a good one. According to what they told reporters, the owners are from New Orleans; they settled in Hattiesburg after Katrina but decided they missed the big city and wound up here. We're fortunate to have them.


I've tried the lunch special, a generous cup of gumbo (close to 16 ozs worth) and a small sandwich for $10. The chicken and sausage gumbo is thin but very tasty and loaded with tender chunks of smoky sausage and white and dark meat chicken pieces; it's mildly spicy.


It was hard to pass up the assortment of seafood po'boys available (soft shelled crab, oyster, fried crawfish, shrimp, catfish - there are 13 po'boys on the menu in 4 sizes, including the 32" extra large plus buns) but I was drawn to the roast beef and I was not disappointed. A grievance of mine for a long time has been the bread used for po'boys by most places here and while BB's and Jazzie both have bread that is better than most I think Calliope outshines them both. There are hints that it's bread from the Leidenheimer Bakery in New Orleans, or at least a very near clone. It's nice and crusty but lighter than a baguette or bolillo, still much better than the usual sandwich roll served by many places, toasted or not.

Besides the roll, the beef, gravy and other condiments were all tasty and there was an appropriately generous amount of both the gravy and mayo (I believe the correct measurement of the latter is 'gobs'). This was the best New Orleans-style Roast Beef Po'Boy I've ever had in Houston.

The manager asked me, as I was finishing up, if it had been messy enough - the right question to be asked after a New Orleans Roast Beef Po'Boy. The pile of wadded up paper towels on my table told the tale.

I'm looking forward to many more visits.

The place was virtually deserted when I was there just after 1pm; perhaps the downtown lunch crowd has not discovered it yet. The staff was very friendly. Despite the Jefferson Street address of the shopping center the restaurant is hardly visible from Jefferson; it's actually closer to the intersection of Hutchins and the St. Joseph Parkway.

The Cajun Stop

Quick Bites III

Quick Bites is about places I’ve visited only once or twice, discoveries I want to share with others without a full review.

Restaurante Dona Tere, 9808 Beechnut just inside Beltway 8, in the same center with Panaderia Tierre Caliente and Supermercado Teloloapan.

This is a nice sit-down restaurant that is related to the Tamales Dona Tere places around town. There’s sit-down service, a counter for take-out, even a drive-thru window, although I’m not sure it’s actually used. I first went here several months ago when I got started exploring the regional specialties of Mexico. The menu includes some of the same tamales you’ll find on the menu at the tamalerias; there are dishes labeled Mayan, Aztecan, Pueblan, Chiapan, Oaxacan, and either Veracruzan or Tampiquenan (can’t remember) plus from Distrito Federal.

On my first visit I tried the Molcajete Mixto, for twelve dollars one of the most expensive items on the menu. It included a section of skirt steak, a portion of chicken breast, a section of a very good longaniza, a green onion, cilantro sprigs and a cactus pad in a moderately spicy, green broth, all served in a hot molcajete. The skirt steak was a little tough and had a little gristle but except for that the meal was very good. I loved the longaniza.

The chips are house made, thick, warm, slightly oily. The salsa is not very remarkable but I’ve grown to like this style of chip as opposed to the thin, salty ones of the bet-you-can’t-eat-just-one persuasion served at most places. I’m sure I’m in the minority in that but here they have an additional value here since portions are rather modest and sides are extra.


On a second visit a couple of months later I tried one of the dishes labeled Mayan, Cochinita Pibil, roast pig in achiote sauce with a habanero pepper on the side, so the menu said, but it was included in the sauce. This is probably my favorite Mexican dish of all and this was the hottest version of this dish I’ve ever had but not the best. I first had Cochinta Pibil back in the 70s at Merida on Navigation and it was one of the most sublime pork dishes I’ve ever had. I've also had it at Pico’s, Otilia’s, Jarro’s and Merida more recently (not as impressive) plus Durango’s reviewed recently on this blog and I’d rate all of those versions better than this. However I’ve never had the dish in the Yucatan so I don’t know which is the most authentic version.

I do plan to return to this restaurant more times and may post another review after some more visits; I just haven’t had much craving for those big tamales.


Crawfish City of Texas
Houston Catfish Station
New Orleans Style Sno-Balls
The Whole Sha-Bang
14090 Bellaire Blvd. at Sugar Land - Howell Road.

NOT ALL OF THESE VENDORS ARE STILL IN OPERATION AT THIS LOCATION. THE WHOLE SHA-BANG HAS NOT BEEN SEEN HERE MANY TIMES.

I was out on the far west side the other day and spotted this cluster on the corner. I had just been contemplating Howard Rushing’s picture of the boudin at Boogie’s but Boogie’s wasn’t going to be open for several days so I pulled in to sample the wares here. Crawfish City is a shack with a small covered deck, a drive thru window and drive thru ramp but the corner is a virtual food park; the other eateries all operate from trailers on the site.

Crawfish City offers boiled crawfish, shrimp and crab, plus live crawfish and crabs, raw shrimp, potatoes and corn for sides, fresh homemade lemonade and smoked and steamed boudin. I didn’t see any of the crawfish offerings; I just picked up a smoked boudin link. It was very, very smoky and very good. I like a boudin with the rice still a little firm and distinct and this was perhaps just a little past prime but good nonetheless. It had a mild heat level. UPDATE: After several visits, the texture of the boudin has been pretty consistently more mushy than I like.

I looked over the other menus. Houston Catfish Station offers catfish and shrimp plus gumbo, there are about 2 dozen flavors listed on the Sno-Ball trailer, and the Whole Sha Bang offers burgers, barbecue, chili pie and more sno-balls.


I got a Catfish Snack for $5 bucks from Catfish Station, three thick, sweet pieces of catfish in a cornmeal coating with a small side of nicely seasoned fries and a buttermilk hushpuppy that had a nice tartness to it and was moist and flavorful inside. Catfish Station has a deck but the cover is missing; it was starting to rain so I retreated to the car.

I thought both the boudin and catfish were very good bargains.

A few days later, back in the same neighborhood, I stopped in again. Crawfish City was closed (Monday) and I think the Whole Sha Bang was too; I tried another Catfish Snack. This time the pieces were much larger, almost twice as large as those pictured, but the fries were of the frozen, extruded, crinkle-cut persuasion and not very good. I tried a cup of the homemade gumbo ($2.75) and it was excellent, with shrimp, crawfish and sausage and ‘homemade Cajun seasoning.’ I’ve had gumbo three times in the last couple of months from Burt’s, Capt. Benny’s and Capt. Tom's and this was definitely better than the last two. I’m not ready to pronounce it better than Burt’s outstanding chicken and sausage gumbo but this is seafood. The shrimp were probably frozen but the gumbo is very thick and rich and has a nice heat level. I won’t hesitate to stop off again on this corner to pick up some gumbo whenever I’m in the neighborhood.

UPDATE: CRAWFISH CITY IS OPEN THE MOST RELIABLY. WHEN HOUSTON CATFISH STATION IS CLOSED THEIR MENU IS SERVED BY CRAWFISH CITY, ALTHOUGH IT'S NOT AS WELL PREPARED.


BB’s Donuts

8349 SW Fwy @ Gessner (northbound feeder)

I relied on Christy’s for a few years for my donut fixes although it never was as satisfying as the original in Midtown. Now that Christy’s has closed I’ve been checking out other donut shops on the southwest side and this is the best I’ve found so far. It’s a small shop and there’s not a lot of variety. As a long time Houstonian I love Shipley’s; it’s a true Houston institution and a signature Houston taste, but in the last several years I’ve developed a fondness for cake donuts as opposed to the yeast-raised and Shipley’s cake donuts are not that good, I think. That’s the big thing I like about BB’s; the cake donuts are very good, maybe the best I’ve ever had in the city. They are light but they’re also a bit smaller than others. Some may not like them because of that but I’m into smaller portions in everything these days. Their old-fashioned donuts are good too; I get both with a light glaze, not icing. I haven’t even tried the yeast-raised.

Besides donuts (and excellent fritters), they have pre-made breakfast burritos, sausage kolaches and croissants and they serve Community Coffee. I have tried the sausage kolache and while it’s not bad I have to admit I’m addicted to the sausage/cheese kolaches at Shipleys and have never found any I like better.

The place also has a small lunch menu including fried rice and burgers but I haven’t tried them. The lady at the counter has always been cheerful and pleasant

BB's Donuts

Burt's Meat Market and Hot-To Go-Cajun Deli

5910 Lyons Avenue

After stocking up at Canino's and El Bolillo this week I made my way over to Burt's for the first time in quite some time. The place has been refurbished, new flooring, improved lighting, seemingly more space (I think they removed some of the display racks in the tiny grocery section). The biggest improvement is the menu, now on professionally printed placards hanging down over the counter. It used to be you had to wait until you were right at the front of the line before you could see the menu on pieces of paper somewhat randomly tacked on the wall to the left and had too little time to peruse it before it was your turn to order. It's still too much to take in. I had never known until a recent Press review that Burt's was known for it's pan sausage and I was looking for a pan sausage sandwich or something but didn't see one so I bought a pound and brought it home. That's some seriously good breakfast sausage.


In the spirit of the day I tried a couple of new things. My four course meal included a bacon-wrapped jalapeno sausage popper, spicy, smoked, loose boudin, a mess of greens, and chicken and dumplings. I've seen the latter before but always passed on it because I prefer drop dumplings but I thought I'd give it a try. It was good but I still would prefer drop dumplings so I'll probably not get that very often. The popper I don't think I'd ever seen before. One problem with Burt's is that things like that sit out under a heat lamp and may get dried out but this was not a problem - that sausage link (one Burt makes?) was very, very juicy and tasty. Not only that, the jalapeno was not stripped of seeds and was really spicy, putting my saliva glands into overdrive trying to cope with the heat. I should have fluffed up the boudin before snapping the pic - they stuff so much into the containers it got squshed down. The greens were from the bottom of the pan and included a huge amount of bacon; it took the server close to 5 minutes to fill that 2 c container as she had to drain each ladle of excess pot likker carefully before adding it to the container.

I picked up a business card which has a website listed, burtsmeatmarket.com, but I can't get it to come up.

Here's an earlier review on the blog.

Gotta Muffalotta?

In the interest of full disclosure, I've never had one of these in New Orleans so I can't comment on 'authenticity' of the bread, balance of ingredients, etc., from that standpoint, only my experiences and taste buds here in Houston. However, I have just seen the re-run of the 'Sandwiches You Will Like' show on Channel 8 which had a segment on the original as served in New Orleans.

More or less in the order of preference, from the top: Spec's Liquor Warehouse Deli, downtown, loaded, everything seems in proper proportion to me, olive salad next to the bread on both halves of the loaf, as it should be. The quarter sandwich photographed better than the half sandwich.

Candelari's on Washington. Kind of a fu-fu presentation for this working stiff's sandwich but good. I liked Candelari's best a couple of years ago but I think they changed something (made it bigger so a half sandwich is all I can handle, for one thing).

District 7 Grill, Midtown location in the sleek diner on Pierce almost underneath the Pierce Elevated. No sesame seeds, but this may be the best bread; the online menu says there's turkey in there but I think that's a misprint. Mine had ham, salami, cheese; olive salad between the meats, preventing it from permeating the bread like it should. The olive salad was more like a giardinara than the others with cauliflower, celery, etc., and not enough olive-y taste for me.

Ragin' Cajun on Richmond. I was surprised at this one. I picked it up to go so maybe there was some shifting of cargo on the way home but I don't think so; still, there was almost nothing between the bread on one quarter of the sandwich.

Maceo's, Galveston. Also surprised at this one. Pre-made, they asked if I wanted it heated and I said yes so they zapped it in a microwave briefly. Part of the sandwich was almost too hot to put in my mouth, part of it was still room temp. I thought this one had the skimpiest ingredients.

Mandola's Deli on Leeland serves a Deluxe Paisano which they also refer to as a muffaletta; it appears to just be one of their regular po'boys (on a po'boy roll) with olive salad added.

Spec's

Candelari's

District 7 Grill

Rajin' Cajun

Burt's Meat Market

UNFORTUNATELY BURT'S IS NOW PERMANENTLY CLOSED.  THE SAUSAGE MAKER, RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OUTSTANDING PAN SAUSAGE AND OTHER VARIETIES, REPORTEDLY NOW WORKS AT HENDERSON AND KANE OFF WASHINGTON AVENUE.

5910 Lyons, between Lockwood and Kress

This is one of my favorite finds of the last several years. Burt’s is an actual meat market and small convenience store but they have a hot foods deli where they specialize in Cajun and soul food dishes and they do an excellent job on lots of things.

When you go in, you turn to the left and usually find yourself in a line, waiting to be served in the hot deli. Sometimes the line moves pretty fast - there are lots servers working behind the counter - but sometimes people (like me, for instance) come from across town to stock up not just get enough for one meal, and it can take a little longer. You’ll have to wait until you get closer to the counter to see the menu which consists of pieces of paper stuck on the wall to the left of the counter and get a look at the offerings yourself.

The gumbo is excellent, dark and rich, loaded with chicken and sausage. The first time I ordered it and saw the server deftly blending the rice and gumbo in the container I wanted to leap over the counter and grab it and gulp it down. Good thing I didn’t, though, it’s served piping hot. The greens are excellent, with a nice amount of heat, and the cabbage and sausages (+ bacon) is also excellent.

Then there’s the boudin which is sold both as links and loose, with the casing removed. It’s available either spicy or mild and it is without a doubt the finest boudin I’ve ever had. Of course that’s a matter of taste but I like that the rice is still firm, the grains identifiable, the burst of piggy-liver goodness on the first bite, the little, identifiable chunks of meat and even bits of green onion still having some of the texture of the raw vegetable. The boudin is also sold from the meat case to take home and prepare yourself and boudin balls are available.

The only things I’ve been disappointed in were the boudin balls and a piece of pie, I think it was supposed to be chess or buttermilk, which wasn’t much better than I could find at a supermarket. The boudin balls are precooked and under a heat lamp and tend to have absorbed too much grease in the cooking. One thing I’ve learned to look out for is if the server tries to drain too much of the pot likker off the greens or the cabbage, as mine did in the samples pictured here. They try to pack as much into the containers as they can and sometimes that means draining off too much of the liquid. I learned that too late for this report unfortunately.

There are many, many things offered that I haven’t tried but one unusual item I’ve had is the fried pork chop sandwich. I have an interest in the Pork Tenderloin sandwich common in the mid-west and very seldom seen on menus in this part of the country, but I thought I’d try Burt’s version of something similar. I’m not sure if this is a soul food thing or a Cajun thing but I’m guessing they don’t sell very many. The pork chops are already cooked and under the heat lamp - not an ideal prep, obviously. They’re quite large and served bone-in, even for the sandwich. The two times I’ve tried this it was prepared very differently but neither time did they have any ice berg lettuce. This is not a bad sandwich; not as good as an Indiana Pork Tenderloin (a credible version is served at the Little Bitty Burger Barn) or the fried pork chop sandwich at Sparkles’s Hamburger Spot (a review to be posted soon).

There is no eating allowed in the store and no place on the premises other than the front seat of your car but there is a small park behind the Tuttle branch of the library at Lyons and Kress, just a few blocks east. Other than that my only complaints about this place are: too many things to choose from and too far away. With regard to the latter, though, maybe that’s a good thing. If Burt’s was right around the corner from me I think I’d eat there far too often and I don’t think any of the offerings qualify as diet food.

For the sake of the pictures, I took the food home and put it in bowls; it’s served in lidded plastic containers and though the gumbo is so thick it’s practically forkable, all you get is a spork. The pork chop picture was taken in the front seat of my car. Here's a follow-up review.

Louisiana Foods Deli

4410 W. 12th Street, in a warehouse district

UNFORTUNATELY THE DELI HAS CLOSED (SOMETIME IN THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS).

Just a word about this place - a seafood wholesaler with a hot foods deli that’s open only on weekdays from 11am until they run out. Louisiana Foods was the kitchen for the original group of Landry’s restaurants, before they were sold to the present Landry’s, Inc., and still is a seafood wholesaler supplying lots of markets and restaurants in the area.

About a half dozen menu items are available each day, including daily specials. It’s counter service only and there’s no place to eat on premises so if you don’t live in the area, as I don’t, it’s a problem. I usually head over to Memorial Park, about a mile and a half away, and lunch under the trees.

The crawfish etouffee plate is available everyday and is always good, much better than you’re going to find at any other counter-service place for a similar price. They use Louisiana crawfish, not the stringy, tasteless, imported Chinese variety. It comes with French bread and a side, which varies. Surprisingly I found the Shrimp Gumbo, also available every day by the pint or larger sizes, to be very disappointing, very thin and with frozen cocktail shrimp only. Likewise the Tuesday special of meat loaf was a disappointment so I have since stuck to the etouffee.

They are also the franchisor for this area for Krispy Krunchy Cajun Recipe Chicken and Seafood. This is one of those franchises for convenience stores and gas stations and it’s the best one I’ve tried, though I’ve only had it here. It can be quite good, but it does sit under the heat lamps so can get dried out and tough.

They also have some very good boudin balls and the chicken and boudin balls are available everyday.

This is accessible only from North Post Oak; W. 12th does not go through under Loop 610.

Louisiana Foods

Krispy Krunchy