How does a single nine-table dining room grow into one of Texas’s best-known Cajun brands? That’s the question CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler put to BB’s Tex-Orleans founder and CEO Brooks Bassler on an episode of his “What’s Eric Eating” podcast.

Over the course of the conversation, Bassler traces the journey from the original Montrose location, opened in 2007, to a multi-location brand across the Houston area and into Southeast Texas — all while keeping the family-recipe foundation intact. He digs into crawfish season in particular: the logistics, the demand, and the sheer volume of mudbugs that move through the kitchens when the season peaks.

It’s a candid look at the people and decisions behind the boils, the gumbo, and the po’boys that built BB’s into a regional favorite. Bassler talks about what it takes to grow a Cajun kitchen without losing the from-scratch character that made it special in the first place — the same Tex-Orleans cooking, rooted in Maw Maw’s recipes, that anchors every location today.

For anyone curious about the story behind the seasoning, it’s well worth a listen.

Find your nearest BB’s and the current menu on our locations page.

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CultureMap Houston — What’s Eric Eating
Brooks Bassler on crawfish season and a growing Cajun empire.
Listen to the full episode on CultureMap