(Newswire.net — January 17, 2022) — Houston residents don’t have to wait for the state fair or for a carnival or a rodeo to come to town to eat a delicious turkey leg. They just head over to the Turkey Leg Hut, an open-air eatery owned by Nakia and Lynn Price.
The open-air diner uses a food truck-style kitchen that developed out of its owners’ time cooking turkey legs in a tent at the rodeo each year. From the plain roasted turkey legs of the rodeo, they developed the Haute Cajun/Creole cuisine Houston residents travel to the Third Ward to eat.
While many restaurants experienced closures and staffing problems during the COVID-19 outbreak, Turkey Leg Hut has thrived. Its outdoor concept enabled the couple who own it to continue serving meals throughout the pandemic.
To refer to their menu as a turkey leg menu doesn’t do it justice. The Price family serves seasoned and spiced turkey legs with side dishes ranging from crawfish mac and cheese to dirty rice to Alfredo shrimp.
The couple had no professional culinary experience when they opened their doors, just a love of food and cooking. It’s Lynn Price’s brother who works as a chef, but that Price brother doesn’t work with Turkey Leg Hut.
The couple simply wanted to make good food that expressed the cultural flavors of Houston and allowed them to own a business they could love running. That became Turkey Leg Hut, which recently expanded to add Daiquiri Hut, an eatery serving both turkey legs and a multitude of daiquiris.
While the pandemic did slow down their expansion, the Prices look to install a Turkey Leg Hut in Bush International Airport once the city can return to its normal health code approval system. That expansion will make it easier for world travelers to taste the Houston down-home cooking that has garnered coverage in The Washington Post and on ABC.
Currently, the eatery serves about 25,000 diners per week in the city of Houston, which has a population of 2.31 million. That’s a brisk business but the Prices own much of it to their growing reputation for delicious meals. Their home food, outdoor café has become the dining location in a city replete with fine dining options. It’s their little hut that has Houstonians talking though and that talk has made their café the place to take visiting family and friends.
Throughout Texas, diners have begun driving to Houston solely for the opportunity to dine on the turkey legs, crawfish, shrimp, and to try to save room for the cheesecake dessert. The café now tops many foodie lists including the Houston Press’ “Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets,” Culture Map’s “’ Where to Eat in Houston: 12 Favorite Black-Owned Restaurants” and “These Are the 13 Best Food and Drink Events in Houston This Week,” plus Nar City’s “8 Places in Houston Where You Can Find Cheap Street Food.”
That last list helped make the café a favorite among college students and food critics. It offers an LGBTQ+ friendly dining experience in a culturally significant neighborhood and welcomes diners from throughout the country. It stays open until 10 pm every weeknight and midnight on weekends. You can also have your turkey cuisine delivered to your door.