There may be a good two months left in this year’s crayfish season. And as we go down the wire, you’ll find heaps of crawfish broth bubbling all over the Greater Houston area.
But what if you’re one of those people who loves crawfish but not the laborious and messy ritual of peeling, squeezing and sucking? Fear not, you won’t be left out in the mudbug madness. Houston restaurants serve crawfish dishes beyond the traditional boil. Whether it’s fried tails, pasta, enchiladas or empanadas, there are plenty of ways – some inventive, some downright elegant – to enjoy our favorite seasonal critters. Here are some of our favorite crayfish presentations:
Ragin’ Cajun (picture above)
The Richmond restaurant that brought crayfish to the boil in Houston has a variety of crawfish dishes on its menu (in addition to one of the best boils in town), including crawfish stew and pasta with Lafouche seafood with prawns and crayfish tails in Alfredo sauce. But his fried crayfish tail po’boy is a stunner: a traditional French baguette filled with hot fried tails and seasoned with lettuce, tomato, ketchup and mayonnaise. 4302 Richmond; ragin-cajun.com
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at Winnie’s
Midtown Bar and Restaurant pays homage to the cuisines of Louisiana and Texas with its pimento cheese queso dip topped with blackened crawfish tails, served with tortilla chips. 3622 Main; winnieshouston.com
To know :
Heights Restaurant pays homage to the beloved mudbug with a seasonal dish of blackened gnocchi in crawfish sauce and andouille etoufe. 1344 Yale; knowhouston.com
Brennan from Houston
Crawfish dishes dominate the Houston classic, including grilled pork chop with crawfish and cornbread pudding; crawfish enchiladas; crayfish patties topped with poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce; and the new Crawfish Squared (cornbread and crawfish pudding with sautéed crawfish tails and Nantua crawfish sauce topped with roasted merliton). 3300 Smith; brennanshouston.com
Turkey Leg Hut
The Festival Palace in the Museum Quarter does everything big, and that goes for its slow-smoked turkey legs. One of the most jaw-dropping (and jaw-dropping) presentations is the turkey leg topped with Cajun crawfish macaroni and cheese. 4830 Almeda; theturkeyleghut.com
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Willie’s Grill & Cooler
The house fried seafood platter includes fried catfish, Gulf shrimp and crayfish tails. But if you want to focus on the crawfish, opt for the basket of fried tails and fries with cocktail and tartar sauces and lemon wedges. Multiple locations in the Houston area; williesgrillandicehouse.com
BB Lemon
Restaurateur Benjamin Berg’s tavern on the Washington Corridor offers crawfish hash for brunch on Saturday and Sunday. Potato and crawfish hash is topped with poached eggs and blackened Hollandaise sauce. 1809Washington; bblemon.com
Pier 6 Seafood and Oyster House
The San Leon hotspot gets into the crawfish feast with its special off-menu chef of crawfish empanadas. The appetizer includes creamy crawfish tails and Pepper Jack cheese in puff pastry. 113 6th St., San Leon; pier6seafood.com
State kitchen and bar
The restaurant with a Texas comfort food menu features Crawfish & Creole Benedict on its Saturday and Sunday brunch menu. Fried crawfish tails and poached eggs on French bread are smothered in suffocate and served with hash browns. 947 Gessner and 15930 City Walk in Sugar Land; statefaretx.com
monkey tail
Until Easter Sunday, the Lindale Park neighborhood bar and restaurant offers crawfish, shrimp and crawfish enchiladas made with homemade corn tortillas and topped with Cajun cream sauce and cheese. 5802 Fulton; monkeystailhou.com
The photos of Arnaldo Richards
Iconic Picos celebrates crawfish season with crawfish enchiladas: fresh corn tortillas filled with sautéed crawfish and smothered in a creamy chipotle sauce and Chihuahua cheese, served with Mexican rice and sautéed spinach. 3601 Kirby; picos.net
Piggy’s kitchen and bar
The Terrace Bar with an inviting pub fare menu created Piggy’s Cast Iron Cheesy Crawfish Cornbread, a hot skillet of cornbread stuffed with crayfish, peppers, cheese, Creole seasoning and butter. It’s made to order. 3412 W.Lamar; piggyskitchen.com
Cactus Cove Bar & Grill
The Creek Group’s comfort food draft house offers seasonal crawfish porridge in addition to its crawfish macaroni and cheese made with boiled fresh crawfish tails and cheese queso. 3333 W. 11th; cactuscovehouston.com
Barbecue Blood Bros.
Bellaire BBQ Restaurant offers a variety of daily specials and for crawfish season there are two specials: crawfish toast and a seasoned seafood dip created by Sous Chef Bao Nguyen. The cheese dip combines shrimp, chunk crab and crawfish and is topped with a hot link crumble and green onions. 5425 Bellaire; bloodbrosbbq.com
street cafe
The classic River Oaks features an artichoke bottom stuffed with crawfish, mushrooms, piquillo pepper and lemon butter. A stylish way to enjoy crayfish season. 1103 S. Berger; backstreetcafe.net
Greg Morago writes about food for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter. Send him topical tips at [email protected] Listen to him on our BBQ State of Mind podcast to learn more about barbecue culture in Houston and Texas.
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