Easter 2022 was one to remember. Holidays are always tough for me, because all my life before moving here, I spent the Holidays with my family. Unless we were traveling, we were usually with my family or my husband’s family.

We attend church for Easter every year. This year was no different.

Church was so good. Pastor Joel Osteen preached an amazing sermon.

Special guest singer, CECE Winans, sang the house down. She has been one of my favorites since I was a teenager. Her anointing and awareness of the Holy Spirit is so powerful.

After service we headed to Esther’s Cajun Soul Food for a bite to eat. Esther’s is a Cajun Soul Food restaurant. Southern cooking is the focal point of this casual dining spot.

As we walked in, the atmosphere really felt like home. I felt like we were walking into our family’s home for a big cookout for Easter. We were welcomed by  a young lady.

A sweet little girl invited my son to pick a book.

Esther’s has an Easter event called Books and Bunnies. They were giving away complimentary books, pictures with the bunny and face painting.

Another lady approached us and she was so kind to take a photo of my family.

We took our picture and hopped in the line. By the time we arrived outside, there was already a long line.

Honestly we weren’t surprised by the line, because any good Soul Food restaurant will have a line on Sundays. Why you asked? Because church people go to Soul Food spots on Sundays.

While in line the Easter bunny was walking around for photos for those who were interested. Our son wasn’t interested but the Bunny was cool.

We waited in line for about 30 minutes and then I had my family to grab a seat to get comfy and I would conquer the line.

The line slowly began to move forward.

The musicians arrived and began setting up. This was a nice treat that we didn’t know would be there.

After an hour of waiting, finally I was getting closer to the counter to order. My family had already told me what they wanted so this made it easy.

I met some super friendly people who were in line with me. We laugh and chatted. This definitely helped the time to go by quickly.

We received our plates, headed to the table to eat.

I arrived just in time with the food. The band was just starting up.

Oh what a good band. It took me back to backyard BBQ’s with some old school music.

The music was awesome. All I was waiting for was people to get up and start dancing.

Now back to the food.

My son ordered the Smothered Pork Chops over mashed potatoes with mac and cheese and green beans. The plate was massive! Each item in this plate was well seasoned. The mashed potatoes tasted like my grandma’s potatoes. The food was delicious.

Baby girl decided on the Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, double mac and cheese. OH man, superb. The chicken was seasoned and fried to perfection. The Mac and cheese was so good! She ate off of this plate several times. Each plate was worth the money.

My husband ordered the Smothered, Stuffed Turkey Leg. OH MY GOSH! A Massive turkey leg that was well seasoned. The Turkey leg was cooked to perfection. The meat was tender, served over rice with mustard greens and cabbage.

Wowzers! My husband was full when he left. This reminded him of one of his favorite restaurants in Louisiana called Laura’s II. Good soul food.

I ordered the Oxtails plate. Smothered Oxtails and gravy over rice with macaroni and cheese and candied yams. An Incredibly delicious plate of food. Fingerlicking good!

The oxtails were so tender. The gravy was a beautiful brown gravy. The yams were like grandmas! So good!

In addition, Esther’s also has desserts. There were about 5 different dessert options. A few options were the Banana Pudding, the Strawberry Shortcake, the Lemon cake just to name a few.

The desserts were delicious. I ordered the Strawberry Shortcake. I love the fresh strawberries on top.

My husband ordered the Lemon cake. Man this lemon cake was so moist. My gosh, huge too! A really good dessert.

Overall Esther’s Cajun Soul Food was incredible. The food was superb. Everything was seasoned perfectly and prepared to perfection. The atmosphere was really nice. I love that there was a band playing. It definitely added a great vibe to the whole dining experience.

My only complaint was that I think that Esther’s needs a better system to cut down the time in line. Especially for holidays. Maybe hiring extra staff to take drink and food orders for customers dining in.

There is also a room in the front, maybe setting up a second serving table and area for to go orders.

Providing paper menus to have your orders chosen ahead of time. The paper can be handed to the person taking the order. This would alleviate the wait time once you arrive at the counter.

This is only my observations and recommendations.

Besides the long wait, the food was incredible. The service was really good. We would definitely go back again for Easter at Esther’s. This may become our new tradition. Thanks Esther’s for an awesome Easter lunch.

Esther’s Cajun Soul Food is located at 5007 N Shepherd Dr, Houston, TX 77018. The Hours of Operation are daily 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.