Esther's Cajun Café & Soul Food — Restaurant in Houston

April 19th 2025-Saturday 1:00-2:00 PM A DEEPLY DISAPPOINTING EXPERIENCE AT ESTHER'S: COLD FOOD, COLDER ATTITUDES!

Let me begin by saying this, customer service at Esther's is absolutely horrendous. The lack of basic hospitality skills among the staff is baffling. From the moment my family and I walked in, we were met with blank stares, silence, and a complete absence of warmth or welcome. Not a single greeting. Not even eye contact.

Service & Atmosphere: We stood at the cafeteria-style serving line for several minutes as the woman behind the counter continued texting on her phone, completely ignoring us. When she finally put it down, she still didn't bother to greet us or offer any guidance. It was as if we were inconveniencing her by simply existing. We had to guess what each item on the line was, squinting and speculating about whether the white, creamy mystery dish was potato salad or broccoli rice casserole. Only after she overheard our confusion did she finally speak up--grudgingly and with clear irritation.

The only bright spot in that serving line was a kind Hispanic woman who dished out the sides. She was the one breath of fresh air amidst an otherwise joyless staff. Sadly, the pleasant interaction ended there. At the register, we were met by another staff member whose attitude could only be described as grumpy and disinterested. It's jarring to approach with a smile and get such cold, vacant energy in return. All I could think was, "Who hurt her?"

What makes this even more disappointing is that this restaurant holds sentimental value to us. My family and I visit every year in honor of my late mother--it was one of her favorite spots after church on Sundays. Visiting Esther's after laying flowers at her grave has been a quiet tradition for years. But if my mother were here to witness the behavior of the staff now, she'd likely say, "Let's go somewhere that feeds our souls, not drains them."

Food Quality: Now, let's talk about the food: undeniably flavorful--but served cold. And that's inexcusable at a restaurant with these price points and this reputation.

Food Ratings (Taste / Temperature): Fried Chicken - 4/5: Well-seasoned, but served cold. Fried Fish - 5/5: Piping hot, crispy, and fresh. A standout. Oxtails - 4/5: Tasty but not tender enough. Cajun Pasta - 3/5: Cold, mushy, and forgettable. Candied Yams - 4/5: Delicious flavor, sadly cold. Collard Greens - 4/5: Great taste, but cold. Mashed Potatoes w/ Brown Gravy - 3/5: Good flavor, temperature lacking. Mac & Cheese - 3/5: Not authentic, and--again--too cold. Cabbage - 2/5: Too sweet, too cold. Green Beans- 4/5 Tasty but too cold Red Beans- 3/5 Not authentic, too cold, but flavorful White rice- 2/5 Not authentic, It's Instant rice Cornbread- 4/5 Delicious but cold Drinks- 0/5 Too sweet, like diabetical sweet

While the fried catfish and oxtails were served warm enough to enjoy, the rest of the dishes felt like afterthoughts left under a heat lamp too long-or not long enough. It's especially disheartening considering how rich and soulful the flavors could have been if served at proper temperatures.

Final Thoughts The overall concept of Esther's--the live music, the cafeteria-style set-up, the soul food staples--could be a winning formula. But no amount of clever concept can make up for rude and ill-mannered service and cold food. It's a shame to see such a promising establishment reduced to a place where customers are treated with disdain and served cold plates with even colder energy. I will no longer partake in this ritual that they have going with droves of people lining up to spend massive bucks only to be treated like crap over and over while being served cold food that's supposed to be hot.

Black-owned or not, right is right and wrong is wrong. I say that with love and accountability. There are plenty of soul food spots in this city where warm hospitality and hot meals still matter. Esther's is not one of them.

I do not recommend this restaurant. And if someone dares recommend it to you, do yourself a favor and run...

IF YOUR THINKING OF STOPPING HERE, GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD!!!!!! Let’s start at the beginning. Upon arrival, a staff member occupied the ladies restroom for what appear to be 20 minutes, not to use the restroom just to find an extra brake place, possibly to seek solace from the tension between coworkers that we later witnessed. Moving on to retrieving our order. Being from out of town, myself from California and my partner from Chicago, there was no direction or greeting on how to maneuver through the Cafeteria style ordering system. We waited 3 to 5 minutes for three employees to figure out how to work a kiosk, I mean, how many people does it take to figure out how to work a kiosk? About the same amount to change the lightbulb, I guess. When we finally got acknowledged, I requested for a potato salad and was ignored, then I asked for fried fish and was advised it would take seven minutes, miraculously the fish appeared from under the cupboard of the hot food, then as I was about to place the remainder of my order, I was directed rudely to obtain my two sides from an additional employee. when I went to obtain these two sides, I still was not acknowledged by two employees who were standing about God knows what. Well, it’s attempting to order sides my partner requested for fried chicken. She was advised it would take 27 minutes to fry chicken. we obtained our sides that were lukewarm only to find a piece of lash hair on a plate. Upon returning the plate, we advised the staff along with the owner that there was a piece of hair on our plate, and there was a joke made amongst the coworkers of who the Hair it belong to there was no apology. There was no compensation just rude we waited an additional 20 minutes for our protein to be prepared and had to go and inquire for the food that we had been now waiting on for about 30 minutes. When asked the fish was already sitting waiting to be provided and the chicken miraculously made an appearance without announcing our food, was ready now let’s get to the taste. The fish was mediocre. The chicken had no taste, and The bones were old like they got the chicken on sale at save a lot, the greens were OK, the macaroni and cheese was bland and watery, and there was no cheese in sight. The peach cobbler was burnt and over sweetened. The Diet Coke was flat and over filled with ice. Also, please be advised that as we sat and while we waited for our protein. Our sides became cold. There was no offer of a warm side. It was basically as is, Service was extremely rude and unprofessional. Fortunately, we will not be returning, especially since the owner sat at the bar having a joyous conversation while her business is in ruines. Please get better staff who want to work with better attitudes and leave the dance moves at home. A better cook who can season the food properly thank you but no thank you sincerely, California and Chicago visitors who will...

Ordered the baked chicken which came with either dressing or rice and then 2 sides (appx $16.) I wasn't asked whether I wanted dark or white and I was too far away to see what was actually in the pan. When the pieces were placed on top of the dressing, I couldn't tell whether it was breast or thighs. So I asked her if it was breast or thighs, she replied,"Breast." I informed her that I didn't like breasts and she said that was all they had. So I told her I didn't want that. She then took the chicken off of the dressing, placed them back into the serving pan, took my container to the back and came back with 2 thighs & a leg after she told me all they had was breasts 😒 Additionally, in the process of placing the chicken in the large compartment of the container, she filled quite a bit of it's juices into both the smaller compartments where my mac & cheese and yams would go (see pic.) The next young lady was about to put my sides right into those chicken juice filled compartments until I told her that wouldn't be ok. She then advised me that it would be a $.50 upcharge to place them into individual containers (even though it was their low level service that created the issue.) I told her I'd go ahead and pay the upcharge. 😒 The other dinner purchased was catfish (appx $17) which came with 2 super large fillets and 2 sides even though it was supposed to come with 3 sides. Mac & cheese was boxed, dressing was subpar at best, yams & green beans were decent. Chicken was under seasoned and over cooked & catfish was fried to perfection but under seasoned as well. Overall, food was just ok...def nothing to write home about. Bread pudding was more like a combo cake/cornbread kinda feel & carrot cake was ehh 🤷🏾‍♀️ Neither were impressive at all. The cornbread was the most enjoyable imo. Bottled sodas are $2.99 & deserts appx $7 a piece. Not much parking or seating but the place has a nice setting overall. THERE IS NO AIR CONDITIONING AND WAIT LINES ARE LONG!!! AT LEAST 35 MIN IN LINE!! Sidenote: food was WAYYYYYY better when they were across the street...