Nguyen said he started cooking crawfish 10 years ago and has steadily honed his craft and developed his own recipe. After getting his ingredients and process down, he decided to take his skills to the public and opened The One Crawfish & Seafood with his wife in March 2021.
“We were just thinking about food trucks and stuff like that, but [decided on] the restaurant because it’d be more sufficient and easier to manage,” he said.
Nguyen said he was surprised to learn management has been the hardest part of his job. Managing a restaurant during the pandemic added more challenges as he not only had to manage employees, inventory and general restaurant operations, but he also had to keep an extra close eye on cleanliness and the safety of his employees and customers.
Despite these challenges, Nguyen said he knew local residents needed a place where they could relax and have a good time with friends and family, so he built the restaurant around customer service and affordability by offering happy hour deals and personally ensuring visitors enjoyed the experience as well as the food.
While crawfish is a staple of the restaurant, The One Crawfish & Seafood is also known for its fried rice, shrimp, snow crab and various Cajun-inspired side dishes to give locals their seafood fix.
“I try to [meet] the need where people can go out and have good food so they can enjoy the weekend and their day off,” Nguyen said.
10511 Jones Road, Ste. G, Houston. 832-756-2104. www.facebook.com/theonecrawfishseafood
Hours: Tue.-Sun. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., closed Mon.
