Cajun seafood trend continues in Wichita with the planned opening of another restaurant
Cajun seafood restaurants are having a moment in Wichita, and now another one is about to open.
Recently, a sign appeared on the old Logan’s Roadhouse space at 353 S. Rock Road promising that Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood Restaurant was on its way. Based in Maryland, Hook & Reel is an 8-year-old chain that has 60 restaurants across the country. The nearest to Wichita opened earlier this year in Overland Park.
The chain promotes communal eating, meaning people order big seafood “boils” filled with things like snow crab legs, mussels, shrimp and crawfish and share them.
Diners can customize their boils at Hook & Reel, choosing which seafood items are included, which spice is added, how spicy it will be and what veggies and starches to throw in. Among the other seafood choices are lobster tail, scallops, calamari, king crab, clams and more. Spice options include flavors like lemon pepper, seasoned garlic bugger and original Cajun. The menu also includes raw oysters, appetizers like hush puppies and mozzarella sticks, Po’ Boy sandwiches, shrimp baskets, soups and salads.
The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner, and it will also feature a full bar with signature cocktails, draft beers and more.
It’s not clear when exactly Hook & Reel will open, but there’s already work being done on the interior. People who drive past can see lifebuoys stacked up inside.
The building, which is on the perimeter of Towne East Square, was built to serve as a Logan’s Roadhouse, but that restaurant closed at the start of the pandemic after 13 years in business. The west-side Logan’s at 2424 N. Maize Road is still open.
After that, the building on Rock Road was briefly home to a restaurant called Chef’s Table Roadhouse, which was open from October of last year until April.
The Cajun seafood trend is growing quickly across the country and in Wichita. Mama Nith’s Crawfish signaled the start of the trend locally when it opened in November 2018 at 604 N. Topeka. (It’s since closed but is expected to reopen in a new spot.) Then, Wichita added two more restaurants: Blue Hook Cajun Seafood & Bar in the former Granite City space at 21st and Webb and Headz & Tailz, which opened in March at 301 N. Washington in Old Town.
I’ll keep you posted on an opening day for Hook & Reel. In the meantime, you can peruse the menu.
Hook & Reel menu
This story was originally published September 20, 2021 at 10:47 AM.
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