Patty and her husband, Royce, who died in 2017, first concocted the idea of opening a business decades ago after Royce retired from the oil business. Patty said the couple often cooked stuffed deboned chickens—a dish that quickly became popular amongst friends.
“Before we knew it, we had ... neighbors there in Kingwood that were wanting to buy these chickens from us,” Patty said.
The Holliers opened their first business in 1995 on FM 1960, followed by a location in Rice Village in 1997. Their current location, which opened in March 2021 on Kuykendahl Road, is a 17,000-square-foot facility where dishes are produced and shipped for sale in grocery stores across Texas. The new facility also features a butcher shop that sells products on-site.
Jason and Barrett grew up in the business, often spending hours deboning chickens to use for their parents’ recipes. According to Barrett, one of the most common misconceptions about Cajun food is that it is always spicy. However, La Boucherie makes products of varying spice levels, Barrett said.
Staples of the business include crawfish pies and sides such as creamed spinach as well as cuts of beef, pork or chicken that are seasoned, wrapped in bacon, and stuffed or served with cheese.
No dish, however, has been more popular at La Boucherie over the years than the turducken, the Holliers said. A trifecta of poultry, the turducken comprises a chicken stuffed inside of a duck stuffed inside of a turkey and is often served in Louisiana homes for Thanksgiving.
During the early stages of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Jason said business doubled as grocery stores ran low on food, and La Boucherie was able to continue operating.
“[With] the shortages that were in the grocery store, you just see a piece of meat, you just pick it up because there was no other meat to pick up,” Barrett said. “That’s how we picked up a lot of new customers; they tried our product for the first time.”
Jason said one of the reasons La Boucherie stands out is that many butcher shops will use shortcuts to make their products cheaper, such as using dehydrated veggies instead of fresh ones. La Boucherie, however, prioritizes quality.
“You can offer someone a quality product; you can offer someone great service; [or] you can offer someone great pricing,” Jason said. “Well you can only give them two. You can’t give them all three and stay in business. So we’re all about the quality and the customer service.”
La Boucherie Cajun Meats
18908 Kuykendahl Road, Spring
281-583-8177
www.cajunmeats.com
Hours: Tue.-Fri. 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m.-4 p.m., closed Mon.
