The popularity of crawfish boils at one of HEB’s Houston, Texas, U.S.A.-based stores has led to the development of a unique concession-style restaurant right outside the storefront.
“We had success boiling seafood at this location during the crawfish season on the weekends and it made sense for us to invest in the store and community with this unique concept,” Neil Cochran, business development manager of seafood procurement for HEB, told SeafoodSource.
The new, 625-square-feet True Texas Boil House, a grab-and-go eatery, sits outside HEB’s store at 10100 Beechnut Street in Houston.
“Customers can walk up to the outdoor, concession-style, grab-and-go restaurant and take their food to-go or dine outside on one of the picnic tables, where you can pinch, peel, eat and repeat right in front of your local HEB store,” Cochran said.
True Texas Boil House is open throughout the year, with increased hours during the crawfish season. It offers a variety of boiled and fried seafood dishes, including: boiled crawfish for USD 6.97 (EUR 6.10) a pound; jumbo, head-on boiled Gulf shrimp for UD 7.97 (EUR 6.97) a pound; boiled snow crab legs for USD 17.97 (EUR 15.72) per pound; and a fried catfish basket for USD 7.97 (EUR 6.97).
Sides include seasoned corn, Cajun fries, hushpuppies, and coleslaw.
The new format allows for more efficiencies, generating a faster customer throughput, and an increase in menu options, according to Cochran. While it is possible HEB will open other similar venues, “we have not determined that at this time,” he said.
