Eunice

The dining room at Eunice looks like the latest cover of Southern Living, with light-washed wood, booths lined in seersucker, and a patio that makes you want to find a good rocking chair. The Cajun food isn't quite as consistently pleasant as the space at this Upper Kirby restaurant. We've had luck with dishes featuring shrimp, like the buttery shrimp and grits topped with roasted cherry tomatoes that dissolve as you keep eating. But for a place that's handing out tabs in the triple digits (those designer banquettes won’t pay for themselves), it's a bummer that dishes meant to be crispy—like fried oysters—end up soggy. Remember Eunice when you need an impressive power lunch or whenever someone else is footing the bill.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Richard Casteel

Drew’s Smoked Chicken And Sausage Gumbo

This bowl has smoky chicken and a few pieces of andouille sausage, and every piece of meat doused in cayenne and paprika works hard to bring Cajun flavor. It's all balanced—the meat, the clumps of rice, the okra, and the roux that’s dark but not too thick.

photo credit: Richard Casteel

Crispy Fried Oysters

Oysters coated in crackling cornmeal always sounds great, but sometimes the breading on these can get soggy. Go for the raw oysters instead.

photo credit: Richard Casteel

Crawfish Étouffée

Spiced crawfish bathing in a Cajun roux pairs perfectly with a mound of steaming rice in the center of the bowl. It’s creamy, a little spicy, and tender without being mushy.

Shrimp & Grits

Jumbo gulf shrimp, tiny disks of cherry tomatoes, and a rich sausage-based gravy smother and cover a bed of fluffy grits. Wake up to have a bowl of this at brunch or make it your entree for dinner—it's good no matter where the sun is in the sky.

photo credit: Richard Casteel

Bread Pudding

A heap of fluffy bread pudding covered in a rum-heavy caramel sauce? Sign us up.