After being furloughed from his position in the oil and gas industry during Covid, Nathan Leonard drove home completely distraught. He sent his wife a text, explaining what happened, but it wouldn’t be until several hours later that she would be able to find out that he was okay.
On the drive home, Nathan thought about how he and his son had always dreamed of opening a crawfish trailer. Recently a spot had opened up only five minutes from his home. He wondered to himself if they would lease it to him.
He drove straight there and as he pulled up, a man was standing outside, who turned out to be the landlord. They sat and talked for a few hours, and when Nathan left, he’d signed a lease for the first location of Geaux Daddy’s Crawfish.
His wife had repeatedly tried to call him, knowing he was devastated. When he got home and walked through the door, she asked how he was doing and he exclaimed, “Great!”
He and his son had dreamt of starting a crawfish trailer for years, and it was finally here.
Within two days Nathan had purchased a trailer, and within two and a half months he had completely built it out and was open for business.
In their first season of business, in 2022, they were voted top-10, out of 350 Crawfish places by the Houston Chronicle readers, then in 2023, they were voted in the top 22 by the Houston Chronicle paper. Then after two award-winning seasons, they needed a new location.
Nathan and his wife are from College Stations, they’re Aggies, and love the area. So he headed up from Cypress and concentrated his search for a new place in the BCS area. There were a lot of boxes that a new location would have to check, and he found a spot, just outside of Navasota.
Cresting a hill on Highway 105, tucked into some pine trees, he now has a “brick-and-mortar” restaurant. He added a large parking area, a huge deck, expanded the storage area and so much more to make this a great space.
“This is my happy place. Even if I'm in a less-than-positive place from all the stress, I can come here, turn the music on, and see the smiling faces. I’ve put so much into this, my family has sacrificed so much for this. So to be here and see the joy that it brings to other people…”
To hear the passion in his voice is heart-warming; this is his dream, his baby.
The best part of it all has been the community. He’s been amazed that so many of his customers from Cypress have followed him to the new location and also how the sense of community has developed in the new location. While working on the deck, a neighbor stopped by and just started helping him. Nathan still works full-time in the Houston area, so the time that goes into Geaux Daddy’s is in addition to that. He pulled up one day, and another neighbor was out mowing the grass for him, and another brings him eggs. He thinks that not only do people really enjoy the food, but he also believes that they appreciate having a great place to hang out.
Since opening in March this year, they have already surpassed their sales for 2021, and they keep growing. They’re already running out of room, so he’s got his thinking cap on, dreaming up how to grow this party.
If you want to sit inside with the AC, outside under the trees, or off the deck by the games, you’ve got room to kick back and have a good time. With games, free popsicles, and photo ops, it’s a great place to take the kiddos for a fun family outing.
If you’ve never eaten crawfish in the shell before, have no fear! Nathan will actually sit down with you and show you how, I know because he had to teach me!
I’d never had to peel them because I always thought they smelled disgusting. So when I say the Geaux Daddy’s converted me to a crawfish eater, I mean it.
Their crawfish is “Cajun style” he said that crawfish people would know what that means. For those that don’t, it means they’re soaked in the seasoning, similar to marinading, not just sprinkled with a seasoning dust. And they’re as fresh as you can get; caught one day, delivered the next. They’re “focused on improving the customer experience every time, and consistently providing an excellent product.”
The crawfish were bigger and meatier than I expected; seasoned perfectly with a spicy punch. Enough to seriously make my nose run, but it wasn’t killing me. I have a fairly low spice tolerance, and I would consider these about a 7 on my spicy scale. It’s not just spice in there, the flavors are complex, the meat is tender, and the juice runs out of them.
They just started selling snow crab legs also; which are prepared with a different spice mixture. The heat level is lower and I could taste the delicate crab flavor. After cracking the leg, a huge, hunk of meat slid right out. Not to mention how incredible the garlic butter sauce is; I could literally drink it.
The shrimp were huge, tender, and they peeled easily. Hands down, the best boiled shrimp I’ve ever had.
They also offer sausage links, which after months of trials, they settled on this one. It’s not made in-house, because they don’t have the capacity for that, but they chose the right product if you ask me. The flavor was different than any sausage I’ve ever had; not greasy like so many, it was meaty and seasoned with herbs and peppers.
The Geaux sauce is a remoulade and it had a pretty good kick to it; in case you want to add some extra heat to your bite. It’s great on the sausage, but I liked the potatoes dipped in it.
If you’re looking for the best crawfish and atmosphere to help you unwind this weekend, load up your friends, your kids, and your cooler; the take the backroads on over to Geaux Daddy’s in Navasota, Texas.
We’re on a mission to help Texas mom ‘n pop restaurants thrive, and we need your help! So if you enjoy our articles, reviews, photos, and videos, please consider sharing and help us get some butts in booths at Texas mom ‘n pop restaurants.
2736 County Rd 417, Navasota, TX
Comments