Louisiana Crab Shack: restaurant brings New Orleans to Georgetown

For 20 years, Tobin Henry has worked as a server and bartender at several well-known Georgetown eateries. Now, he is the manager of Louisiana Crab Shack, a Cajun seafood chain restaurant tucked away in the Republic Square shopping center off of Austin Avenue.

Louisiana Crab Shack offers a variety of traditional Cajun seafood dishes, including po’boy sandwiches made with New Orleans-style French bread; gumbo made with shrimp, sausage and okra; fried baskets with catfish, shrimp and soft-shell blue crab options; and boil bag combos that can be customized, if the patron prefers.

Other menu items include Cajun quesadillas, hush puppies and fried oysters as well as grilled plate options for those looking for something healthier, Henry said. The restaurant also serves chicken and sausage dishes for those uninterested in seafood as well as beer and wine, he added.

Henry suggested first-time visitors try the fried catfish and shrimp basket because it offers two specialties in one. For dessert, he recommended a few freshly-made French Quarter beignets, which are topped with powdered sugar and served with chocolate sauce.

“Everyone that comes in to try it—especially people from Louisiana in the area that come in—loves it,” Henry said. “That says a lot about our food, that locals from Louisiana absolutely love it.”

Henry said LCS is different than other crab shacks or seafood restaurants because of the seasoning and cooking techniques used by the chefs.

“It’s a different kind of style that you can’t get from any other seafood restaurant,” he said.

The restaurant opened July 26 and is owned by Vince Phan, who also owns the Waco location, Henry said.

While there are six LCS's in the Central Texas area and three more in the works, Henry said it does not feel to him like there are multiple locations.

“Even though it is a chain restaurant, we don’t have that feel here,” Henry said. “It’s still a small, all-Southern, fresh, home-cooking [restaurant], which is what I prefer in this industry.”

Visit Louisiana Crab Shack at 900 N. Austin Ave., Georgetown. 512-688-5275. www.louisianacrabshackaustin.com