Esther’s Cajun Cafe & Soul Food

Full on southern soul food with way too much fat, salt and sugar. If you like that, this place is for you.

My boyfriend and I were craving Cajun cuisine and we decided to try something different than our go to places and we were both so glad we did. The food was amazing and tasted fresh. I got the shrimp/​crawfish étouffée, Mac and cheese, mustard greens, and it comes with cornbread. It was honestly one of the best étouffée’s I’ve had. I could eat here everyday! If you are ever in the area, do yourself a favor and give it a try!

A bit disappointed this time. The staff was great and very welcoming but The food was not as good as The last time. I had chitterlings platter. The Mac was not as creamy as the last time although I did like the fresh herbs they added. The greens weren’t really that flavorful last time but this time it really seemed to have almost no flavor. The chitterlings and some flavor but they definitely could have been cooked longer because they were very chewy. I had to throw them away. My mom had the oxtails. The oxtails were just as delicious as the last time. The yams were good I just wish they were candied. My son had the baked chicken which was melt in the mouth delicious. He loved it. Sundays are the busiest days here. The formal dining room looked really nice but the only bathroom in the place was overflowing and not working. I almost had a chef Ramsey moment and shut the place down until toilet was fixed (just kidding I don’t have that authority). I may need to take some time off from this here and try again later to make my final determination on this place.

Great Food and Nice portions but be patient sometimes there are long lines.

Great place with good portions. I hade the baked chicken with mash potatoes, Mac n cheese, and yams. Everything was good, the chicken fell off the bone!!! The people there are very welcoming and nice. I have to try the banana pudding next time I go, overall it reminds me of one of my soul food spots back home in Atlanta!

Looking I satisfy a craving for Orleans style soul food? This is the spot! Found it through Unilocal and I’m kicking myself for not finding this place sooner. Very attentive and helpful staff. Food that will leave you dreaming about it for days. The portions are HUGE! Bring a few friends and split a few combos so you’ll get a chance to try everything they have to offer! I got the chicken and dumplings bowl with a side of collard greens. My boyfriend got the ettoufee with sweet potatoes and mac and cheese. You can taste the love! Only drawback and it’s more of a personal preference thing, but I’d stick to the water. You get an option of fruit sodas, and cavity inducing tea, lemonade or kool-​aid. Between the delicious white sheet cakes and the drinks, I may have given myself diabetes ;). Other than that, it’s worth checking out. Definitely coming back!

The people that work there and the level of service is very refreshing from a black business.

This is the place to go for some good Soul Food. I really don’t understand all the negative comments. We had the Tilapia, Chicken, mac & cheese, tha greens and candied yams and they were all very good. They don’t skip on the flavor at all and you can tell they take there time to make sure they put out a great product!
I know it can get kinda crazy there and the parking is not the greatest but seriously… that’s most places in Houston!!! I think it is worth trying, I honestly can’t wait to try the other things on the menu.

It’s a very solid place for soul foods! A bit expensive ($ 15 – 16 for the ox tail) for lunch but the portion is huge. I can’t never finish half of it. I wish they have half portion, that would have been perfect for me. It’s perfect if you can share with another person then it would be a very delicious lunch with great quality and quantity for very cheap price.
I didn’t like the gumbo that much. They put real shrimp and crab in their but it was a little watery for me. May be that is how gumbo should be but I am more familiar with gumbo like at captain Tom.

My co-​worker and i went here on a lunch break because she was craving some soul food. My best friend’s aunt owns the joint ad i’ve been here once, and raved about it so she was eager to come. I knew as soon as i SEENT IT, that i wanted the ox tails. I got the maccaroni and cheese, greens, with dressing, and opted to get some cornbread too. It came out to be about 17 $ which was ok because of the portion sizes. The food was AMAZING! the dressing was seasoned, ox tails flavorful and the greens didn’t even need Louisiana hot sauce! i tried my hardest to finish the plate but it was tew murch. Got the itis 20 minutes after eating. Ate the rest for lunch the next day. Great food, nice interor, decent parking, customer service could improve, but when dining out its not that big of a deal. Love this place

The soul food here is supposedly suppose to be the best according to my uncle, he swear the food is dang delicious and how much it will melt in your mouth, he even swore that it was way better than Mikki’s.
When he said that, I knew that was a lie and needed facts to prove it.
So, my dad, mum and I drove here to find out.
When we get here, it’s about closing time and the line is long, but I can’t see why.
The food isn’t that delicious, definitely doesn’t taste as if it’s cooked with TLC or that deep southern cooking that my grandma always made.
The candied yams wasn’t as sweet and didn’t melted in my mouth like Mikki’s does.
Now, I love my sweet candied yams.
Even the green beans were lacking so much flavor. Although, the catfish was breaded in cornmeal, it was tasty, but it still didn’t hit me with the flavor I was looking for.
Now, that’s a huge issue because I love fried fish, it’s my favorite.
So, that being said the food was only OK good for the moment to fill me up, but not the best.
Even my mum didn’t like it, she loves Mikki’s.

Man! This food is amazing. I drive out of my way to come here. When I’m in the mood for some for real soul food I’ll come here.

I was really craving smothered pork chops but I think I came on the wrong day and ordered the ox tail instead. My only complaint, other than getting weird looks for being in there, was that the gravy was too salty. But the meat itself was so tender and just fell off the bone when I poked at it with my fork. But the rice, green beans and stewed okra were all delicious. I would love to come back and get some of the other entrees and sides. My oxtail with 2 sides and a piece of cornbread was about $ 15.

I LOVE this place, it comes off like a hole in the wall but my goodness it’s a hole worth discovering. The food was very flavorfull, the service was quick and friendly. The pricing is reasonable. All and all check this place out.

It was more like soul food slop. The food was horrible. I made a special trip over there because I had read how good it was.
I didn’t even finish the plate. I couldn’t.
I wouldn’t recommend anyone to this soul food place.

This could become my new favorite soul food restaurant after just one trip. The food is great, and service is friendly and attentive. Esther’s staff makes you feel at home and I can’t wait to taste my way through their menu. Their fried fish was great, but the shrimp and crawfish étouffée was my favorite of the meal.

This is a really nice restaurant. Tastefully decorated, plenty of comfy seating, and the waitstaff were very customer oriented. The menu was extensive without being overwhelming but it was still hard to choose. I wanted to pile a little of everything onto my plate! I finally settled on the Salisbury steak with black-​eyed peas and green beans. I swear to you… if I didn’t know better I’d have sworn my Momma and Grandmama was cooking in that kitchen. Everything was so delicious! I had their chocolate cake and if there weren’t other patrons there, I’d have licked the container clean… instead, I scooped remaining bits out with my fingers, LOL!
The only draw back was the parking. There might be 20 spots total but the restaurant is in a strip center with other businesses. There’s no nearby side-​street parking so when the lot is full, I don’t know where people park. I was lucky enough to find a spot quickly but I’m sure that doesn’t happen often.
It is expensive. Worth it but expensive. My lunch plate w/​dessert, no drink was $ 18.
So glad I found this place and am looking forward to my next visit.

Over all experience was okay, food is not the best soul food I’ve tasted, but it is ok. Chocolate cake with pecans, and caramel was the bomb, wasn’t to thrill with my plate. The party I was with loved their food especially the greens.
Parking is a bit overcrowded, small strip center with a outdoor patio in the middle of the parking lot, and needs expanding. I was blocked in when I was attempting to leave, and had to go in to retrieve the owner. Our waitress was attentive and always available to get whatever we needed. She did an absolute great job!

I have eaten here one time before a few years ago and thought I had written a review but I guess not. So I went back and here goes…
I went by for dinner last week. This restaurant is in an older strip center. When you enter the first thing you see is the cafeteria line. The interior of the restaurant is in dark wood and has a somewhat rich, clubby and upscale feel to it. The interior is one of the nicest soul food restaurants that I have ever visited. That night I decided to go with the smothered pork chop with green beans and black eyed peas and cornbread for about $ 16 that included a drink and tax. After paying I took my tray of food into the dining room and grabbed a table. As I started to eat a lady walked up to my table and informed me that she would be my waitress and asked if there was anything I needed. I had everything I needed on my tray and thanked her but realized that my self service at the beginning had turned into waiter service. That meant an expected tip for something where no service was needed. I don’t like it when restaurants do this because the diner feels compelled to tip for usually nothing. Give me table service and I am happy to and expect to tip. But, if I have to get my own food and drink i.e. Cafeteria style, I don’t like paying an extra 15−20%. To add insult to injury a couple of minutes later a cute little girl about 10 years old came up and said she would be my waitress and asked if I needed anything. I just wanted to eat my meal. During my meal the lady waitress came back 2 more times asking if I needed anything. I viewed it solely as an excuse for me to tip because it was evident that I didn’t need anything.
The pork chop was large and on a bed of rice and gravy (4). Very good. The black eyed peas were in a tomato based gravy and were good (3.5) along with the green beans too with bacon (3.5). Finally the cornbread was a little too moist as it stuck to my fingers however it was good too (3). During the meal there was good Cajun music playing in the background.
Overall I will give the meal a 3.5 but round down to 3 for Unilocal.The reason for the round down as opposed to round up is due to the unneeded waitress services offered by two people and the food was a little pricey for my pork chop meal. It was more like what you would pay for oxtails.
I did leave a small tip.

One of the best places to get soul food!
The platters are pretty big, so unless you have a huge appetite, consider sharing your plate. You are allowed 3 sides with one entrée. You can always order extra sides or an entrée with no sides.
We tasted oxtails, smothered porkchop (fall off the bone), fried catfish, cornbread stuffing, cornbread, sweet potato, cabbage, and mac and cheese. All delish!
Their lemonade is very refreshing and on the sweet side. They were so friendly they even gave us free refills to go!
The chef came out as well to ask us how the food was and was really friendly. Everything is made fresh every day.
My only issue is that they don’t have everything on the menu every day. I was eager to try the etoufee, fried chicken and blackened catfish. I guess we will have to come back!