Crawfish Cafe

What Crawfish Cafe does

Crawfish Cafe is a Houston, Texas-based Viet-Cajun seafood restaurant chain founded in 2013 and operated by Crawfish Cafe Holdings, LLC under the Mamba Hospitality Group umbrella, which also owns Pho Prime and Ocean Palace. The company runs five full-service restaurants across the Houston metropolitan area (Alief, Heights, Shenandoah/Woodlands, Cypress, and Pearland), serving a menu centered on Louisiana crawfish, shrimp, blue crab, snow crab, king crab, Dungeness crab, lobster, clams, mussels, and oysters prepared with proprietary Viet-Cajun sauce blends, alongside chargrilled oysters, fried platters, poboys, sides, and a full bar. The concept pioneered Houston's Viet-Cajun crawfish category and was named Best Crawfish in Houston by Houston Press in 2022.

Revenue is generated through dine-in and takeout restaurant sales across the five locations, with a Toast Tab-powered online ordering channel and a mobile app layered on top. Catering is offered via two lines: standard off-premise catering with delivery within 10 miles and a $150 order minimum, and a premium onsite corporate crawfish boil service (packages starting at $4,495 and $5,295) that brings equipment, staff, and live boiling to events of 50 to 500+ guests. Customer segments are horizontal across general consumers, corporate clients, schools and non-profits (via a give-back fundraising program), and prospective franchisees (capital requirement under $250K to $1MM+). The underlying technology stack is entirely third-party — Toast Tab for POS, online ordering, waitlists, and gift cards, and Thanx for the cross-brand Mamba Rewards loyalty program spanning the parent group's restaurants. Pricing for crawfish and seasonal items is market-based and varies with availability and size, and final catering pricing is confirmed after event details are reviewed.

Name

Crawfish Cafe

Legal name

Crawfish Cafe Holdings, LLC

Website

https://crawfishcafe.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Crawfish Cafe is a Houston-based Viet-Cajun seafood restaurant chain operating five full-service locations in the Houston metro, serving crawfish, crab, shrimp, and shellfish with proprietary sauces, alongside catering, onsite corporate boils, and a cross-brand loyalty program under Mamba Hospitality Group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Seafood Restaurants

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Caterers (722320)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Seafood Fast Casual (THAFABAJ)

Keywords

• Viet-cajun seafood
• Boiled seafood restaurant
• Corporate catering services
• Restaurant franchise
• Loyalty rewards program

Headquarters

HQ city

Houston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Dine-in and Takeout Restaurant Sales: Full-service restaurant generating revenue from food and beverage sales across 5 locations in Houston metro area. Menu includes boiled seafood, Viet-Cajun dishes, chargrilled oysters, fried platters, poboys, and alcohol.
2. Catering Services: Corporate and event catering with delivery within 10 miles of each location. Offers customizable menus including fried seafood platters, boiled seafood, sides, wings, sandwiches, and appetizers. Minimum order of $150 required.
3. Onsite Corporate Crawfish Boil Catering: Premium onsite catering service that brings full crawfish boil operations to corporate events, including live boiling on-site, equipment, staff, and cleanup. Scalable for 50-500+ guests.
4. Alcohol Sales: Full bar service including beer, wine, cocktails, margaritas, and specialty drinks.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Crawfish Cafe is a Viet-Cajun seafood restaurant chain operating five locations across the Houston, Texas metropolitan area. The core offering is a full-service restaurant serving boiled Louisiana crawfish, shrimp, crab clusters, lobster, clams, mussels, and oysters prepared with proprietary Vietnamese-inspired sauces, supplemented by chargrilled oysters, fried seafood platters, poboys, wings, and Cajun-Asian fusion dishes. The company also provides catering services with delivery within 10 miles of each location, onsite corporate crawfish boil catering with live on-location cooking, and a multi-brand loyalty program (Mamba Rewards) shared across sister concepts.

Product overview

Crawfish Cafe is a Viet-Cajun seafood restaurant chain operated by Mamba Hospitality Group, featuring 5 locations in the Houston metropolitan area. The core offering is a full-service restaurant serving boiled Louisiana crawfish, shrimp, crab, lobster, and various shellfish seasoned with signature sauce blends, complemented by chargrilled oysters, fried seafood platters, poboys, and Cajun-Asian fusion dishes. The company extends its offering through catering services (delivery within 10 miles and onsite corporate crawfish boils), a loyalty rewards program (Mamba Rewards via Thanx), a secret menu, franchise opportunities, and a give-back fundraising program for schools and nonprofits.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Crawfish Cafe Restaurant Full-service Viet-Cajun seafood restaurant operating five locations in the Houston metropolitan area (Alief, Heights, Woodlands/Shenandoah, Cypress, Pearland). Serves boiled seafood (crawfish, shrimp, crab, lobster, clams, mussels, oysters), chargrilled oysters, fried platters, poboys, wings, sides, and desserts, with a full bar including beer, wine, cocktails, and specialty drinks. Locations operate Monday–Sunday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm.
• Catering Services Full-service catering with delivery within 10 miles of each restaurant location and pickup option. Includes fried seafood platters, boiled seafood, side dishes, wings, sandwiches, and appetizers. Catering minimum order of $150, with customizable menus and accommodation of special requests. Final pricing is confirmed after event details are reviewed.
• Onsite Corporate Crawfish Boil Catering Premium onsite catering service that brings full crawfish boil operations to corporate events, including live on-site boiling, equipment, staff, and cleanup. Scalable for 50–500+ guests. Packaged offerings include the Viet-Cajun Signature Boil Package (starting at $4,495, includes 3 lbs boiled crawfish per person, choice of up to two signature sauces, corn and potatoes, onsite cooking for 2 hours, sweet tea and water, breakdown and trash assist) and the Corporate Feast Boil Package (starting at $5,295, includes 1/2 lb boiled shrimp per person, choice of up to three sauces, corn, potatoes, fried rice or garlic noodles).
• Mamba Rewards Loyalty Program Points-based loyalty program powered by Thanx. Members earn 1 point per $1 spent, receive an $8 signup reward and birthday rewards, and can redeem points across all Crawfish Cafe, Pho Prime, and Ocean Palace locations. Accessible via a dedicated mobile app on the App Store and Google Play.
• Franchise Program Franchise offering for qualified operators, with prior restaurant or franchise experience preferred. Total investment ranges from under $250K to $1MM+. Available in the U.S. domestic market.
• Give-Back Fundraising Program Fundraising program for schools, sports teams, arts and music programs, and non-profit organizations. Participating groups earn a 20% donation from supporter purchases through a three-step process: apply, promote the event, and receive a check.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Mamba Hospitality GroupcoreOthersParent hospitality company that owns Crawfish Cafe along with Pho Prime and Ocean Palace restaurant brands. Manages the Mamba Rewards loyalty program that spans all three restaurant brands. Based in Houston, TX.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Hot N Juicy Crawfish: Seafood-focused chain founded on Cajun-sauce crawfish and shellfish, with similar seasoning profiles and bag-service format. Direct competitor for crawfish-occasion diners.
• LA Crawfish: Louisiana-rooted crawfish and seafood boil restaurant with direct overlap on Vietnamese-Cajun seasoning approach and multi-unit presence, comparable menu architecture.
• The Boiling Crab: Multi-unit seafood boil chain serving crawfish, shrimp, crab and other shellfish seasoned with Cajun/garlic-butter sauces in a similar dine-in + takeout model. Closest large-scale analog to Crawfish Cafe's concept and competitive set.
• Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood & Bar: Seafood boil franchise chain with a Cajun-Asian sauce playbook that overlaps directly with Crawfish Cafe's Viet-Cajun positioning, including bagged/boil service style and franchise expansion model.
• Bayou City Seafood & More: Houston-area Cajun seafood boil restaurant competing head-to-head with Crawfish Cafe on local dine-in, takeout, and crawfish/shrimp boil occasions.

Broad incumbents

• Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen: Houston-based, full-service seafood restaurant chain with much broader menu and footprint; competes for the same Houston seafood-dining occasions at a more upscale price tier.
• Captain D's: Large seafood-focused QSR franchise chain. Competes for value-oriented seafood occasions rather than the boil experience, but addresses overlapping seafood-eating demand.
• Bonefish Grill: Polished casual seafood chain owned by a large parent; competes for casual seafood dine-in occasions in the broader Houston market but with a different menu positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/CrawfishCafe
• Facebookfacebook.com/crawfishcafe
• Instagraminstagram.com/crawfishcafe
• TikToktiktok.com/@crawfishcafe
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/crawfish-cafe

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Crawfish Cafe