Hicks House Cajun Cafe

Ok, I ate at this place two times in the past, and the food was good. Now the business sign is no longer up and the front door is locked and chained. So, this restaurant appears to be closed for good!

my wife and I have eaten here several times and it has always been an excellent experience. Pick anything off the menu and you’ll enjoy it.

I wanted this place to be good. I eye balled the reviews on Unilocal for awhile before I actually tried it out. I went in a couple weeks ago on a Saturday during lunch time and got a catfish po boy with fries. I ordered it to go and I stay a mile from the business. When I got home and began to eat it I got really sick midway threw. I had run to the bathroom. I stayed running in there for the majority of the afternoon/​evening, my stomach was rejecting something from the food. I don’t know if it was the catfish po boy or the fries. The staff was friendly indeed, but I can’t say that I’ll return here.

How in the world does this place have great reviews?! Food was terrible. Crawfish Étouffée was void of spice and very fishy. Blackened Chicken pasta is NOT blackened. Boggles the mind this place has a 4.5 stars. Will not come back. Staff is very friendly.

This place is awesome! We ordered the maque choux, the shrimp po boy, the shrimp étouffée, and the shrimp and grits as well as the boudin balls. My favorites were definitely the maque choux, shrimp and grits and the amazing boudin balls. We will absolutely be coming here again! Great place for extremely satisfying, authentic Cajun.

Tried this café based on the Unilocal reviews. Husband ordered Shrimp Maque Choux and water. I had the shrimp poboy with fries and coke. We also tried the boudin balls and beignets. My Poboy was tasty but light on the shrimp. They make their own bread, and it was tasty. Husband’s Maque Choux used poor quality sausage, nothing to write home about. Boudin balls were very good, but overpriced, at 2 for $ 5. Beignets were basically sopapillas with powdered sugar. Total bill for lunch =$ 35.48. Gentleman who cooked and served was very nice and informative. We won’t be back, too expensive for what you get.

Delicious! Ate here for dinner. I had the catfish po boy, my husband had the crawfish étouffée. We started with an order of boudin balls and finished up with some beignets. Everything was cooked fresh, hot, and perfectly seasoned. Their bread, while not the traditional French bread for a po boy, was very good. Crunchy and toasty on the outside, warm and chewy on the inside. We are definitely coming back to try everything else. Can’t wait to come in on a cold rainy day and have some of their gumbo.

Felt like we were right at home! Loved this place. Shrimp Po Boy and étouffée were wonderful. Couldn’t leave without beignets either. Will be back!

The crawfish étouffée was fantastic. I had never had the dish before and am glad I tried it here. Had a little spice and I was pleased.
The staff was great– small staff, family owned and operated.
I am not normally a fan of sweets but I had to get an order beignets. Ate two of 3. Very good. Homemade.

I love Cajun food and was really impressed with the food here. The boudin balls almost started a fight when my wife ate the last one (I’m kidding, I would give her anything).
I love going to New Orleans and eating off the beatin’ path to find really good food, and this is what this food reminded me of. Food from the heart and soul.
The owners are genuine salt of the earth good people. I will go back again and again… and to the other reviewer, about the ketchup packets; cut a little slack, they are just getting started. Also, I thought the bread was great!
oh, and I loved the music :)

This is a delicious cajun restaurant. I loved the gumbo, and the flavor. The blackened carfish and dirty rice are to die for. Yummy beignets! The place is hard to find, but worth the hunt.

Cute little family owned Cajun spot. I had the jambalaya it was spicy fresh and full of chicken, shrimp, and sausage. I would definitely recommend a visit to this place it’s worth the money to try it. Plus it’s byob

So good! The best Cajun I’ve had since I went to Louisiana. The beignets are to die for. Don’t be fooled by the location, this place is a gem.

Fantastic little place worth going out of your way for!
My coworker and I stumbled upon this place on our third day in Houston, this was the fouth time eating Cajun food in three days. So we absolutely had something to compare it to. We tried the crawfish Etoufee, Po Boy, Boudin, and Beignets. Incredibly impressed! I certainly will be back.
The bread is homemade and not your typical french loaf — a bit denser, with a great crust, incredible dipped into the Etoufee. Which on its own was the best I’ve ever had, the flavors were on point, just the right amount of spice, I literally licked my plate clean!
The Boudin had a perfect texture and flavor and the dipping sauce delicious!
The shrimp po boy, recommended by the guy working/​cooking, I think his name was Josh, was served on the previously mentioned wonderful bread also did not disappoint! We were stuffed and could not stop eating!
Josh (i hope I got the name right!!!) himself, was incredibly friendly and had such a great attitude and personality! You could tell right away that a ton of love and care is put into the food he prepares. He talked about exploring new flavors and recipes and I’m certain this place will only continue to get better!
I can’t wait to come back on my next trip to Houston. Very very impressed! Recommending to my friends at home and here on Unilocal.Check it out.

Hicks House is one of the top restaurants on my list. So far, I have had the crawfish étouffée, gumbo, and boudin balls. They are all wonderful dishes! I recommended the boudin balls to a co-​worker who drives all the way to Louisiana for them. I took an order to work for him, and he proclaims them the best boudin balls he’s ever tasted. I couldn’t agree with him more… they are simply addictive, and I find myself craving them often. The owners, Jacqueline and Jabarri Hicks, are also two of the friendliest people you could ever meet. This restaurant was Jacqueline’s dream and her recipes are amazing. They along with Josh, who cooks and creates too, make up one great team! I look forward to many more visits to Hicks House, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has a craving for some great Cajun food and exceptional hospitality!

Cajun cravings cured here!!!
They treat you like family and oh yea the food is awesome!!!

Over the top food! Haven’t had anything that wasn’t good or fresh! Super nice owners and chef! Give them a try! You won’t be disappointed!

I went by on a Thursday evening for dinner. The restaurant is kind of hard to find but the location on the Unilocal map is correct and the restaurant is across the street from the Little Bitty Burger Barn which is a well known establishment on Pinemont. Hicks is in a run down strip center next to a beauty salon.
The interior of the restaurant consists of several four seat tables and decorated adequately. It’s not fine dining but at the same time is tasteful and reflective of a new restaurant that is just starting up. When I walked in around 7 pm it was dimly lit. You order at the counter from a short menu that is above the counter that consists of po boys (shrimp or fish), fish and shrimp dinners that can be fried, blackened or grilled, gumbo, crawfish étouffée and shrimp creole. Also they have boudin balls.
I decided to try the shrimp po boy that comes with fries for $ 11. The only drink options were bottled soft drinks in a stand up cooler.
While waiting for the food I talked to the cashier who is also a co owner with husband. Her name is Jackie and she was very friendly. Her and her husband have been in the catering business for a few years and they decided to open their own restaurant which is only a few weeks old. She explained to me that they make their own bread which is unusual for most restaurants like this.
About ten minutes later my food was ready and it was hot which I like. The po boy looked a little small. It is a little over 6″ long and rectangular in shape. It wasn’t French bread but looked more like ciabatta bread. Also the fries looked like standard store bought fries. Ketchup was only available in packets.
I sat down to eat and started with the fries. I must say they were good and tasty with a good seasoning. I liked them and they were hot which added to the taste. Eating the po boy I realized that while it looked a little small to me it was very filling. The bread is dense and was good. The shrimp were fried well and the po boy well dressed. Don’t get me wrong I liked the meal and would give it a 3.5. The bread was different and while I prefer the traditional French bread on a po boy it was still good. The only other criticism would be the ketchup packets. I like ketchup on my fries but packets are aggravating.
Second visit about a week later was for the crawfish étouffée. I ordered it due to the picture that the restaurant posted on Unilocal.I took a pic of what was served to me. I think you can easily see the difference so compare the pics. What I was served had a different consistency to it. Mine was much more drier. When I bit into it I noticed that the rice was crunchy… in other words over cooked. I brought it to the attention of the cook and he apologized and brought me some more rice. However I had already mixed part of the étouffée in the crunch rice so we determined the only way to fix it was to remake the dish. After waiting another 10 – 15 minutes for the second dish it arrived with another apology for the bad rice. The consistency was still somewhat dry to my tastes. The amount of food served was reasonable but I just didn’t fall in love with the étouffée. Other than being dry, it had a lot of spice and the flavor was too strong for me. I would rate my étouffée at a 2.5.
I hope this restaurant makes it. The owners and staff are very friendly and nice. I really like cajun food but my two experiences here don’t give me a reason to return. I will give an overall score of 3 here but I think it is a weak 3.

Today my husband and I made two new friends; charismatic Jabarri and his beautiful and devilishly talented wife, Jacqueline Hicks. I say ‘devilishly talented’ in that you will be addicted to her food.
The best boudin in Houston hands down. It comes with a light and very tasty sauce, but you could eat it with/​without as they are that good. My husband had the catfish which he polished off, and I the crawfish étouffée. It’s a good thing it came with French bread, because I wiped the bowl clean. The stuffed jalapeños I will say are phenomenal and a must try. Normally jalapeños are mushy or vinegary from being pickled… these were fresh and had a crisp bite to them that surprised you along with the smoky bacon and cheese.
Everything is homemade, from scratch and NO msg. This place is a welcomed addition to the area and we are already talking about coming back for their homemade desserts and crawfish next week.

Hicks House Cajun Café is a new place up off Pinemont. It’s only been open for a couple of weeks, and though our visit was not without it’s issues (clearly they are still working out the kinks), this is a solid 4-​star, potential 5-​star neighborhood establishment.
Like I said above, the place has only been open a couple of weeks, and you can really tell when you walk in. There’s nothing on the walls, the menu board looks like a hand-​me-​down from a 1970’s Dairy Queen, and the tables and chairs have clearly been around the block a few times. It’s the restaurant industry’s version of a starter-​home. But it certainly has character, and I love a place with character.
The menu is your basic Cajun fair, catfish, shrimp, poboys, gumbo, jambalaya… and a few other Cajun staples. The gentleman who took our order was very pleasant and helpful when my wife couldn’t decide what she wanted. As an aside, while the rest of the restaurant looks like something out of the past, their Point of Sale where they enter the orders looks like something out of Minority Report — it’s awesomely high-​tech!
My wife ordered the jambalaya, and I ordered the shrimp and grits with a side of boudain balls. They were out of grits, so I substituted the house rice. They don’t have a fountain for drinks so the drinks are a la carte in a cooler by the register. They offer bottles of coke products, and I found that I wasn’t really in need of a refill at any point, so this isn’t really a big deal for me personally, but I understand that some people love their refills.
Our food took longer than expected to prepare, but when it came out it smelled amazing, and also let me be really clear about this: the flavor is there. The seasoning on everything was pretty much perfect. The boudain balls were amazing, and the shrimp were phenomenal, and flavor on the jambalaya was pretty stellar. The one issue we had, and both my wife and I mentioned it at the same time, was that the cooking times were a little off. Both of our portions of rice were a little over (sort of mushy), and the shrimp was just ever so slightly over as well (I would not have even mentioned it if the rice hadn’t also been over). This is something that can easily be corrected by adjusting the cooking time on the rice.
Here’s the best thing about this place: the whole time we were there we were made to feel like family. What I have to assume is the owner and his wife both came to our table to talk to us and made sure everything was ok. They were genuinely interested in making sure our experience was memorable. You just don’t get that everywhere you go. Mytiburger is another place that comes to mind. I think that if Hicks House Cajun Café can remedy the few issues they have with cooking times and service speed, this place is going to take off. All in all our experience was really positive, and we’ll be back soon to try all the other items on the menu. Thinking back on it, I can’t believe I didn’t order the gumbo!