As one of the first Cajun restaurants in Cypress with more than two decades of experience, the team at French Quarter Cajun Seafood hopes it has become a permanent staple of the area.

Fred Foteh, co-owner of French Quarter alongside his wife, Janice, said the eatery is true to its goal of making authentic Cajun food that grows with the city.

“Janice’s dad’s side of the family is from the north side of Louisiana and her mom’s side is from the south side of Louisiana, like New Orleans and that area,” he said.

Since opening in 1995, French Quarter has undergone several redesigns. Following its 22-year anniversary at the beginning of 2017, Foteh said he completely revamped the menu to allow for more variety.

Newer items, including the stuffed catfish vermillion dish, replaced older menu items while core dishes like fried shrimp have stood the test of time. French Quarter also serves breakfast omelets as well as buckets of crawfish and oysters.

“We took [off] a lot of items that have been on the menu since we opened the restaurant, actually,” Foteh said. “We involved them in the daily specials, so they’ll be specials on occasion.”

Although French Quarter has been redesigned and moved locations over the past 23 years, the original chef and many of the other workers have been with the restaurant since the beginning, Foteh said.

“We’re more diverse now,” he said. “We have a lot of different [customers] now who like the food. We have people that came in here when they were young, like 20 years ago, when they were 5 or 6 years old.”

Foteh said French Quarter plans to continue serving fresh seafood with quality ingredients as it works to become an established dining option in the area.

Jay Mandola, a regular customer for the past four years, said the fresh food and bar space have kept him coming back time and again.

“I like the fact that the chefs are pretty much always the same chefs,” Mandola said. “The food will always have the same consistent quality.”