Whether you call them mudbugs, crayfish or crawdads, several eateries in the Tomball and Magnolia areas offer crawfish by the pound from February to June.

Here's where to eat:

The Crawfish Joint 9201 FM 1488, Magnolia 281-908-1321 www.thecrawfishjoint.com The Crawfish Shack 38925 FM 1774, Magnolia 281-789-4555 www.crawfishshack.com Go Crawfish 6923 FM 1488, Magnolia 281-814-3655 www.gocrawfish.com (Only available for catering and to-go orders) District 2•4•9 23238 Hwy. 249, Tomball 832-717-0020 www.district249.com (Fri.-Sun. only) Leblanc's Crawfish House 19530 FM 2920, Tomball 713-396-9364 www.leblancscrawfishhouse.com Tad's Bar & Grill 1000 W. Main St., Tomball 832-843-6440 www.tadsoftomball.com Tailgators Pub & Grill 33418 Egypt Lane, Magnolia 281-259-5343 www.tailgatorspub.com 

Here's where to party:

Historical Katy Crawfish Festival: April 2 The fourth annual festival, hosted by No Label Brewing Co., features live music, food, craft beer and crawfish. Noon-5 p.m. $10 (prepaid admission), $15 (at the door). No Label Brewing Co, 5351 First St., Katy. 281-693-7545. www.nolabelbrew.com  Rails and Tails Mudbug Festival: May 6-7 The annual Tomball festival celebrates crawfish season with music and food. The two-day event offers a boudin ball-eating contest, crawfish races and kids zone. Several bands take the stage for performances throughout the community festival. 11:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Free. Tomball Historic Depot Plaza, 201 S. Elm St., Tomball. 281-351-5484. www.tomballtx.gov Texas Crawfish and Music Festival: April 29-30 The 31st annual festival is held in Old Town Spring and includes vendors serving a variety of food, including more than 50,000 pounds of crawfish. The festival also features a lineup of live music as well as family-friendly activities. Noon-midnight (April 29), noon-6 p.m. (April 30). $12 (adult admission), $5 (children ages 6-12), free (children ages five and younger with adult admission). Old Town Spring, 209 Gentry St., Spring. www.texascrawfishfestival.com

Here's how to host a crawfish boil:

Crawfish boils are an annual tradition for many residents in communities along the Gulf coast. Lou Caporale, owner of Go Crawfish, sells live crawfish brought in daily from Louisiana and recommends a basic recipe for a first-time boil. The necessities

• live crawfish (about 3-4 pounds per guest)
• seasoning of choice
• vegetables
• a large pot for boiling
• a paddle for stirring
• a large cooler to store crawfish before boiling
• long metal tongs for serving
• a scoop with holes or a colander to scoop vegetables and crawfish from pot
• newspaper to line tabletop

The seasonings Caporale recommends a basic recipe to start before adding more ingredients based on taste preferences.

• lemon juice
• chopped onion
• garlic cloves
• corn cobs
• potatoes
• andouille sausage
• stick of butter

The boil Caporale said he recommends putting vegetables, such as corn cobs and quartered potatoes, into the boil first and cooking until them they are soft. The vegetables can be removed before the crawfish is added to the pot. To cook the crawfish, boil them in the pot for five minutes before removing the pot from the heat. Allow the crawfish to continue cooking in the hot water for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep seasonings from settling at the bottom of the pot. This allows the crawfish to soak up additional flavor. The meal To serve, Caporale said it is traditional to layout the entire meal on a tabletop covered with newspaper, allowing guests to serve themselves.