Lowens Seafood aims for quality at affordable price

When Cody Miller was growing up, he ate seafood caught by his dad and Cajun food cooked by both parents. But as he got older, he struggled to find the same quality of seafood at restaurants. So he opened a restaurant where he could serve it himself.

“I figured it would be good to give [customers] what I always enjoyed,” Miller said.

Miller opened Lowens Seafood in Friendswood in November 2019. The restaurant serves seafood and Cajun food. Customer favorites include the Boudin balls; the Lowens Trinity, which is redfish topped with shrimp etouffée and served on a bed of rice; and the Huevos, which are deviled eggs topped with blackened shrimp, fried oysters or both.

Miller left the oil business to open a Center Court Pizza—which sits next door to Lowens—four or five years ago, he said. While he makes less money and works twice as hard than he did in the oil industry, he loves the restaurant business, he said.

“It’s definitely been a learning experience, but I’m happier. That’s a big deal,” he said.

Miller and his chef, Todd Fuqua, are the sole owners of Lowens, which offers them the freedom to change quickly, Miller said. However, the restaurant lacks the incoming funds of a franchise. As such, Miller has urged people to support local.

When Miller opened Lowens, he intended to offer high-quality food in a high-end setting. The restaurant later pivoted toward offering the same food at a more affordable rate, especially once COVID-19 started shutting down local businesses.

“It’s been a rough couple of years,” Miller said.

However, the business makes customers happy, which is the best part of the job, Miller said.

“People from Louisiana come and say, ‘This is the closest to home I’ve got,’” Miller said. “For people to come here and say that when we haven’t even been here a year—that makes me happy.”