A new Cajun seafood restaurant will open in Wichita this fall
For years, Darryl and Nith Huynh have been dealing in crawfish in Wichita.
They launched their business, Mama Nith’s, four years ago and have earned a following with their “pop-up” Cajun crawfish dinners all around town.
Now, the couple is ready to turn their pop-up business into a brick-and-mortar restaurant. They plan to open Mama Nith’s Crawfish at 604 S. Topeka in late October.
The restaurant will focus not only on the crawfish and sauces that people already know them for, but it will also have a full seafood menu, featuring items like shrimp crab, clams, lobster and Cajun-style sides like fried pickles.
The couple is in the process of remodeling the space, which sits just north of Kellogg on Topeka. It previously held businesses like Rocky’s Bar and Arena Spots Bar & Grill.
The Huynhs both grew up in Wichita but moved to Houston to be closer to their son. While there, they fell in love with a popular cuisine known as “Viet-Cajun crawfish,” which pairs Vietnamese flavors with Houston mudbugs.
When they moved back to Wichita four years ago, they made the crawfish for friends, who urged them to sell it. They started putting on pop-up crawfish dinners at places like Emerson Biggins and at the Laos temple.
“It’s been overwhelming,” Darryl said. “Everyone’s been wanting it all the time. As a pop-up shop, we only have certain days to do it. But as a restaurant, we can do it seven days a week.”
The Huynhs will have their crawfish and seafood delivered to Kansas fresh, Darryl said. He thinks customers will fall in love with the “Mama’s Sauce” he and his wife have created to coat the crawfish and other seafood. He describes it as “spicy, garlicky and buttery.”
The restaurant will be full-service and will be open for lunch and dinner. It will also serve alcohol.
I’ll let you know when the Huynhs are ready to share the menu — and when they choose an opening date.
This story was originally published September 13, 2018 at 10:29 AM.