Kray Cray Cajun House

By Christina Autry

Kray Cray Cajun House is steadily making its way through its second year of serving the Five Corners District, despite obstacles presented by Covid-19 pandemic. Opening as one of the few Cajun style seafood restaurants in the area, Kray Cray has earned customers across South Central Houston who crave Louisiana-sourced goodies.

In the Shell station complex along the Sam Houston Tollway, Kray Cray shares a wall with next door Singh Mart. Do not let its gas station location deter you from trying this Cajun gem; any negative stereotypes about gas station restaurants are entirely blown out of the water by the delectable food cooked at Kray Cray.

Kray Cray has earned its “Cajun card” by sourcing its seafood from Texas’ Cajun neighbor, Louisiana. The quality of these seafood farms, combined with the restaurant’s technique for boiling and seasoning the seafood has made this restaurant a favorite of many returning customers.

Kray Cray’s mouthwatering method for preparing crawfish, crab, and shrimp takes on the best aspects of Houston’s Vietnamese-Cajun tradition: garlic butter. Your seafood will be drenched in a butter sauce in addition to being boiled in Cajun seasonings and lemon. You’ll find pieces of chopped garlic dotting your crustaceans, adding that extra flavor that goes so perfectly with the tender meat you pull out of the shell.

As is proper for a typical southern seafood boil, you may order corn on the cob, potatoes, and sausage to be mixed in with your shellfish and boiled in the same spicy seasonings. Though crawfish season only occurs every spring, customers can enjoy these flavors on snow crab legs or boiled shrimp year-round.

From snack-sized meals to massive family trays, Kray Cray has an option for every size of appetite and budget. Starters like classic crawfish pie, boudin links, or boudin balls will only cost you between $2.50-$4 each. Their main dishes, or “plates,” give you any of their available seafood (fried soft shell crab, shrimp, crawfish, catfish, snow crab, oysters) or meat (pork chop or chicken) with a side for between $8-11. Add a decadent topping of etouffee on any entrée for an extra $2.50.

As much as customers love the seafood at Kray Cray, they enjoy the chicken wings just as much. Though the restaurant breaks the typical Cajun restaurant mold by offering wings, the flavors such as Cajun, Buffalo, or Mango Habanero have customers hooked. Orders can be made from the smallest 5-wing plate all the way through the 50-wing family pack. Family packs can also feature fish or shrimp, and cost between $30-50.

For those wanting to simply grab a quick bite, their $5 “snacks” include fish, shrimp, chicken tenders or pork chops served with fries. Poboy sandwiches, creamy pasta, sides of gumbo, red beans and rice and more are enticing menu items that would be difficult to pass up.

Whether you prefer to dine-in, order pickup over the phone, drive through, or order via delivery app, Kray Cray has all options available. Situated on the end of the small strip center, their quick drive through has proven to be convenient, though many customers dining at home may order with Uber Eats, Door Dash, or Grub Hub.

For those dining in, the cleanliness of the restaurant promotes a pleasant experience, with a simplistic but modern dining area and several TVs on the walls. Black chairs and tables, and corrugated tin along the walls evoke the typical Houston seafood café that we know and love. This is the kind of place that requires a large pile of something needing to be shelled, and a group to share the bounty with.

Though the menu might look large at first glance, the restaurant focuses on a short list of seafood and meat ingredients, preparing them in a variety of ways to suit your current craving. Between the satisfying flavors, low prices, and the range of dining options available, Five Corners District residents have every reason to give Kray Cray a shot; this might end up being your favorite neighborhood seafood joint.

4160 S Sam Houston Pkwy. Ste 200
Houston, TX 77053
713.413.9999