Their roots, though, remain the same.
In southwest Pflugerville, in a shopping center between I-35 and FM 1825, the twin brothers have taken their taste of home and turned it into a business. Serving authentic Cajun cuisine, Down South Cajjun Eats offers customers a place to find hearty, flavorful dishes combined with a lively atmosphere.
“We want to give people an experience they’ve never had before, make them feel like they’re at home and feel like they’re family,” Jermaine said.
How we got here
When the Dumes brothers moved to Georgetown to study at Southwestern University in 2017, they had trouble finding food they were used to.
From Beaumont, roughly 30 minutes from the Texas-Louisiana border, the brothers were accustomed to Cajun food—a prevalent cuisine for the region. With few options in the Austin area, they turned to their own kitchen to satisfy their hunger.
“So I started cooking and experimenting with different types of food,” Jermaine said. “That kind of gave me the idea—anything we eat is going to be Cajun, but how can we put a twist on it or innovate from your traditional Cajun menus.”
Over the years, the pair started hosting “pop up” crawfish boils around the city, or selling meals out of their home. In a couple more years they were hosting parties and serving all manner of Cajun dishes from an outdoor venue in Pflugerville. By 2023, they opened their latest location, where customers will find home-style cooking, a full bar, live music and good vibes.
What’s on the menu
Down South Cajjun Eats offers creole classics, such as chicken and sausage gumbo; crawfish etouffee; and shrimp and grits.
For starters, the restaurant has boudain egg rolls, wings, salmon bites and lamp chops. Signature dishes include The Dirty South, which comes with blackened catfish, crawfish tails and grilled shrimp over a bed of dirty rice and covered in a dark-roux etouffee sauce.
Other entrees include various Cajun pastas; seafood mac and cheese; and the Swamp Fries, which is topped with lobster, crab, crawfish, shrimp and jalapenos. Customers will also find a variety of platters, which can come with fried pork chops, wings, shrimp or catfish. The seafood boil menu includes plates of snow crab, shrimp or oysters, with corn and potatoes included.
15424 FM 1825, Ste. 280, Pflugerville
www.cajjuneats.com
