Crawfish season, the Baytown way

Crawfish is a season, not a permanent menu category. Baytown is at its best for it in the middle of the run, when supply is better, prices settle and church or league boils start competing with restaurants.

Use this guide well

- Ask the market price before ordering a large tray. - Go earlier in the season if availability matters most. - Go in March or April when you want the fullest choice. - At a fundraiser, arrive before the late rush. - Bring cash when the boil is temporary or community-run. - Expect spice level to vary wildly by pot. - Do not judge the season by one expensive late-May weekend. - The town moves naturally from crawfish back toward shrimp as the season fades.

The fuller guide

From roughly February to May the whole east side of Houston eats crawfish on the weekend, and Baytown has one of the better spots for it.

Where

Black Bayou, 1930 Garth Road. Vietnamese-Cajun, which means garlic-butter crawfish and a heat scale you should respect. Order by the pound, add the corn, potatoes and sausage, and take the local advice to order boiled eggs with the crawfish. It is the Garth Road room, not a downtown bar, with a strip lot out front, and it keeps a bar, outdoor seating and the game on. The listing has it open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, until 10 on Friday, noon to 10 on Saturday and noon to 9 on Sunday. When crawfish isn't on, the shrimp po-boy is the order, and the honey-drizzled beignets close the meal either way. Expect a wait on a peak Saturday. Online ordering runs through Toast, and the takeout window can close about half an hour before the dining room does, so order early if you are eating in the car.

CK’s Seafood, 8835 North Highway 146. The other boil house, next to the Walmart on north 146, and a different animal from the fried-basket counter on West Main. Garlic-butter boils and crawfish in season, with vermicelli and egg rolls on the same menu for anybody at the table who doesn't want a tray of shellfish. Open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. and Sunday from 11, closing at 9.

Happy Crawfish and Seazone Cajun Seafood and Oyster Bar, on Garth Road. Two newer boil rooms in the same stretch: Happy Crawfish at 4609 Garth, listed daily from 11 a.m. to about 9:45 p.m., and Seazone at 5010 Garth, listed until 10 every night and the one with an oyster bar. Both are thinly documented, so call to confirm the crawfish are on that day.

Crawfish Shack, 5822 FM 2100 in Crosby. A family-owned Crosby boil house that says it has been at it since 2004. Its own site posts Wednesday and Thursday from 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday from noon, and Sunday from noon to 8, and it is closed Monday and Tuesday, so it is a weekend drive rather than a weeknight one. It is also a useful fallback when the Garth lots are full.

The boils. Churches, clubs and the youth sports leagues run crawfish boils as fundraisers through the spring. They show up on the events board as they're announced, they tend to be cheaper than a restaurant, and you'll meet the town. Bring cash and a folding chair. The Nurture Nature crowd and the Little League crowd are the same people in a different parking lot.

Live sacks. If you're boiling at home, a sack is 30 to 40 pounds and feeds a big table of people who came hungry. We could not confirm which local seafood counters stock live crawfish in a given week, so call first, and buy the morning of. Rinse them in fresh water before they go in the pot.

The switch to shrimp. When the price climbs in May and the crawfish get small, the town moves to shrimp. Baytown Seafood at 715 West Main is the fried-shrimp-and-hushpuppies counter, open Sundays too. O’Neals on the Water at 2651 Highway 146 Business is the waterfront version, with a patio and Sunday music. The seafood guide has the rest of that list. For a change of pace, Devillier's Boudin in Highlands, at 715 South Main, sells boudin every day and opens at 9 a.m., which makes it a good stop on the way to a Saturday boil.

The calendar

- January to February: early crawfish, and smaller ones. Prices start high and fall as supply comes in. Skip them unless you can't wait. - March to April: peak. Big, cheaper and everywhere. One Houston supplier calls spring break week the Super Bowl of crawfish season, so expect the crowds then. - May: last call. Prices up, sizes down, and a dry stretch of weather can end the season early. - June onward: shrimp, and Galveston envy.

The etiquette

Pinch the tail, twist, suck the head if you're from here, don't if you're not. Nobody will judge either way. Wet wipes are not optional. Beer is.

Before you go

Crawfish is sold by the pound and the price moves with the week, so ask before you order rather than after. Plan on about three pounds a head for people who came to eat, which is our rule of thumb, not a menu figure. Wait times peak on Saturday afternoons in March and April, and a weekday lunch at any of these is the easy way in. Order ahead through the restaurant's own online ordering when it has one, and check the closing time on the takeout side. Bring wet wipes, a change of shirt, and cash for church and league boils, which often don't take cards.

Questions people ask

When is crawfish season in Baytown? Roughly February to May, with March and April the peak for size and price, and a longer tail of farmed crawfish in some years. Where to get crawfish near Baytown? Black Bayou and CK's Seafood are the boil houses in town, with Happy Crawfish and Seazone on Garth. The church and league boils are cheaper and on the events board. How much crawfish per person? Three pounds a head is a fair start for a table that came to eat. A 30-to-40-pound sack feeds a crowd.

A Saturday in late March, one in the afternoon, a Garth lot, three pounds a head and a second shirt in the truck. Everyone you meet in Baytown that spring will have been there the same week. Go while the price is down and the crawfish are big. By May the town has moved on to shrimp, and so should you.

En español

La temporada de crawfish en Baytown corre aproximadamente de febrero a mayo, con marzo y abril como el tramo más fuerte. Black Bayou en Garth y CK's Seafood en Highway 146 son opciones de la ciudad, pero las ventas de iglesias y ligas juveniles también forman parte de la temporada y suelen costar menos. Pregunte el precio antes de pedir una bandeja grande y llegue temprano a los eventos comunitarios. El tamaño, la oferta y el precio cambian durante la primavera. Cuando llega mayo y el crawfish se encarece, Baytown vuelve naturalmente al camarón del Golfo. No juzgue toda la temporada por un solo fin de semana caro al final.