The best dozen places for boiled crawfish in the Houston area
Big batches of boiled crawfish have been a big thing in the area for at least a couple of decades at casual bars and restaurants. Those flavors and fun have really caught on. As popular as they are now, it’s odd to think that I helped to throw the very first crawfish boil held at the West Alabama Ice House back in 1995. The newer Viet-Cajun-style boiled crawfish has struck a chord and spread, too, moving beyond just Vietnamese-owned restaurants. Though as messy as ever, there’s a lot more going on in addition to those Viet-Cajun dipping sauces, including the prices. Most places now charge for the traditional corn on the cob and potatoes. And there’s many more items being thrown into those pots. Mushrooms, sausages, Brussel sprouts and additional types of shellfish like shrimp, crabs of various types and lobsters, as restaurants try to keep the boil going year-round beyond just the six months or so of crawfish season here.
Listed alphabetically.
Posted on March 2, 2023.
The Best
BB’s – They’re serious about crawfish here, and not too constrained by tradition, offers it in a variety of ways helping set the pace for the enjoyment of crawfish in Houston. You can get the crawfish done in their signature Tex-Orleans fashion or the more familiar Louisiana way, you can get butter or another sauce for dipping, and you can add a whole slew of items beyond corn and new potatoes to the boil: an array of different sausages, boudin, mushrooms, Brussel sprouts, greens, edamame, boiled eggs. You can also add those meatier crustaceans, shrimp, and Dungeness and snow crabs. And for the crawfish, you can now even select the sizes, like shrimp. Market price. Montrose, Heights, Upper Kirby, Briargrove, Katy, Pearland, Cypress, Oak Forest, Energy Corridor, Kingwood, Tomball, Clear Lake
Boil House – Driving on 11th Street between Studewood and Heights, there’s a good chance you won’t not notice this single-story structure. It’s small and always seems closed, but it springs to life during the season from Wednesday through the weekend with its traditional southern Louisiana-style featuring crawfish delivered daily that’s $9.99 per pound this year. A boil can be enhanced with the almost necessary corn and new potatoes, and also mushrooms and link sausage for a little more. A dipping sauce, too. Another regional specialty, shrimp, can also be boiled. Heights
Crawfish & Noodles – Near the western part of Chinatown on Bellaire Boulevard, this busy and easily enjoyable outpost helped to introduce and popularize Viet-Cajun crawfish in the area so much so that it’s drawn national attention to the restaurant and proprietor and chef, Trong Nguyen, along with making the dish one of Houston’s signature culinary offerings, a testament to Houstonians love of the Louisiana-instigated mudbug culture and Vietnamese flavors. Even more, their crabs, wings and more show that casual, communal fare done very well can make the day that much more pleasurable and rewarding. A new location is in the commercial farmers market. Chinatown, Heights
Crawfish Shack – Serious boiled crawfish aficionados have been making the trek all the way to Crosby for a couple of decades now, and even forming long lines of cars at times for its drive-thru operation, and the output of the boil served with a choice of spiciness: Mild, Medium or Spicy, Med LA, Spicy LA, or Mo Spicy, and Mo Mo Spicy. For an additional amount, there’s corn, new potatoes, a spicy boiled egg, mushrooms, and sausage links. You can dine in, too, just remember to bring your beer, as it is only BYOB here. Crosby
Crawfish Café – The Viet-Cajun boil crawfish is the real draw at this expanding concept, though an array of other shellfish are also available for the pot, where a three-step order process is employed. You choose the shellfish, the spice level and the sauce among Cajun, Kickin Cajun, Garlic Butter, Lemon Pepper, Thai Basil, and Coco Loco. Blending those is encouraged. Heights, Chinatown, The Woodlands
Orleans Seafood Kitchen – A destination for boiled crawfish in season way out west, done in the familiar way, and just $8.99 now. Katy, Fulshear
Ragin’ Cajun – One of the first in the area to regularly offer boiled crawfish, the first time in 1976, the season is a clarion call for many mudbug lovers. Crawfish are in its logo, after all. Done in the familiar fashion, you can also get them boiled with new potatoes, corn, sausage and then butter after for dipping. Greenway Plaza
T-Bone’s Sports Pub – This no-thrills spot in a no-thrills part of town on TC Jester and 19th Street has been a go-to spot for those in the area for some years now, available seven days a week from open until close, and $9.99 a pound this season. Timbergrove
The Boot – Along the row of bars on 20th Street just west of the Heights proper, the Duplechin brothers who run the place know crawfish boiling it for years before opening this joint less than a decade ago. Their father even has a business delivering it here from farms in Louisiana. With plenty of leafy patio space and picnic tables, this can be the perfect place to enjoy them. Heights
The Patio at Pit Room – The friendly, kind of dumpy bar with plenty of outdoor space adjacent to The Pit Room with plenty of cold beer with an odd selection of choices on the ready is an appropriate setting for a messy crawfish meal during the season. Thursday through Sunday starting early and $12.95 a pound, which comes with corn, potatoes, mushroom and a half link of andouille sausage. Montrose
Willie’s Grill & Icehouse – This Houston-bred chain of casual eateries now has nine suburban area locations and crawfish shipped from Louisiana is found at each. Boiled with corn, potatoes, mushrooms, onions, and sausage, and then tossed in your choice of flavors: traditional, Crazy Cajun, garlic butter or Texas BBQ butter. Conveniently for home, you can even order one or pickup in a reusable thermal bag, three, four and five-pounds, from $35 to $55. Katy, Jersey Village, Cypress (2), Spring, Pearland, Sugar Land, 1960, The Woodlands
Winnie’s – A couple versions are served here at this useful and adept bar and restaurant with strong Louisiana roots in the kitchen. There’s the classic and Viet Cajun with butter, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and Cajun spices at $11 and $12 a pound. Potatoes, corn, sausage, lots of spice and a side of Viet Cajun butter are also $1 a more extra, though. Midtown
At T-Bone's
Listed alphabetically.
Posted on March 2, 2023.
The Best
BB’s – They’re serious about crawfish here, and not too constrained by tradition, offers it in a variety of ways helping set the pace for the enjoyment of crawfish in Houston. You can get the crawfish done in their signature Tex-Orleans fashion or the more familiar Louisiana way, you can get butter or another sauce for dipping, and you can add a whole slew of items beyond corn and new potatoes to the boil: an array of different sausages, boudin, mushrooms, Brussel sprouts, greens, edamame, boiled eggs. You can also add those meatier crustaceans, shrimp, and Dungeness and snow crabs. And for the crawfish, you can now even select the sizes, like shrimp. Market price. Montrose, Heights, Upper Kirby, Briargrove, Katy, Pearland, Cypress, Oak Forest, Energy Corridor, Kingwood, Tomball, Clear Lake
Boil House – Driving on 11th Street between Studewood and Heights, there’s a good chance you won’t not notice this single-story structure. It’s small and always seems closed, but it springs to life during the season from Wednesday through the weekend with its traditional southern Louisiana-style featuring crawfish delivered daily that’s $9.99 per pound this year. A boil can be enhanced with the almost necessary corn and new potatoes, and also mushrooms and link sausage for a little more. A dipping sauce, too. Another regional specialty, shrimp, can also be boiled. Heights
Crawfish & Noodles – Near the western part of Chinatown on Bellaire Boulevard, this busy and easily enjoyable outpost helped to introduce and popularize Viet-Cajun crawfish in the area so much so that it’s drawn national attention to the restaurant and proprietor and chef, Trong Nguyen, along with making the dish one of Houston’s signature culinary offerings, a testament to Houstonians love of the Louisiana-instigated mudbug culture and Vietnamese flavors. Even more, their crabs, wings and more show that casual, communal fare done very well can make the day that much more pleasurable and rewarding. A new location is in the commercial farmers market. Chinatown, Heights
Crawfish Shack – Serious boiled crawfish aficionados have been making the trek all the way to Crosby for a couple of decades now, and even forming long lines of cars at times for its drive-thru operation, and the output of the boil served with a choice of spiciness: Mild, Medium or Spicy, Med LA, Spicy LA, or Mo Spicy, and Mo Mo Spicy. For an additional amount, there’s corn, new potatoes, a spicy boiled egg, mushrooms, and sausage links. You can dine in, too, just remember to bring your beer, as it is only BYOB here. Crosby
Crawfish Café – The Viet-Cajun boil crawfish is the real draw at this expanding concept, though an array of other shellfish are also available for the pot, where a three-step order process is employed. You choose the shellfish, the spice level and the sauce among Cajun, Kickin Cajun, Garlic Butter, Lemon Pepper, Thai Basil, and Coco Loco. Blending those is encouraged. Heights, Chinatown, The Woodlands
Orleans Seafood Kitchen – A destination for boiled crawfish in season way out west, done in the familiar way, and just $8.99 now. Katy, Fulshear
Ragin’ Cajun – One of the first in the area to regularly offer boiled crawfish, the first time in 1976, the season is a clarion call for many mudbug lovers. Crawfish are in its logo, after all. Done in the familiar fashion, you can also get them boiled with new potatoes, corn, sausage and then butter after for dipping. Greenway Plaza
T-Bone’s Sports Pub – This no-thrills spot in a no-thrills part of town on TC Jester and 19th Street has been a go-to spot for those in the area for some years now, available seven days a week from open until close, and $9.99 a pound this season. Timbergrove
The Boot – Along the row of bars on 20th Street just west of the Heights proper, the Duplechin brothers who run the place know crawfish boiling it for years before opening this joint less than a decade ago. Their father even has a business delivering it here from farms in Louisiana. With plenty of leafy patio space and picnic tables, this can be the perfect place to enjoy them. Heights
The Patio at Pit Room – The friendly, kind of dumpy bar with plenty of outdoor space adjacent to The Pit Room with plenty of cold beer with an odd selection of choices on the ready is an appropriate setting for a messy crawfish meal during the season. Thursday through Sunday starting early and $12.95 a pound, which comes with corn, potatoes, mushroom and a half link of andouille sausage. Montrose
Willie’s Grill & Icehouse – This Houston-bred chain of casual eateries now has nine suburban area locations and crawfish shipped from Louisiana is found at each. Boiled with corn, potatoes, mushrooms, onions, and sausage, and then tossed in your choice of flavors: traditional, Crazy Cajun, garlic butter or Texas BBQ butter. Conveniently for home, you can even order one or pickup in a reusable thermal bag, three, four and five-pounds, from $35 to $55. Katy, Jersey Village, Cypress (2), Spring, Pearland, Sugar Land, 1960, The Woodlands
Winnie’s – A couple versions are served here at this useful and adept bar and restaurant with strong Louisiana roots in the kitchen. There’s the classic and Viet Cajun with butter, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and Cajun spices at $11 and $12 a pound. Potatoes, corn, sausage, lots of spice and a side of Viet Cajun butter are also $1 a more extra, though. Midtown
At T-Bone's
