The scent of smothered oxtails, red beans and rice drifts from Esther’s Cajun Café & Soulfood, drawing regulars and newcomers alike to a place that feels more like home than a restaurant.
But behind the booming flavors is a deeper story of family, resilience and generational legacy. At the center is Chef Esther Lewis-Bernard, a mother of six, grandmother of 14 and the proud matriarch of this food empire.
Lewis-Bernard, affectionately dubbed Houston’s Queen of Cajun & Soulfood Cuisine, opened her first restaurant in 2008 in Independence Heights, a historically Black, tight-knit community known as the first Black municipality in Texas. She aims to serve her community soulful Southern food rooted in the traditions passed down through generations of Lewis women…