Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Dinner with the Queen

On a recent date night, Derek and I went to check out a little cafe in East Austin. It's called Nubian Queen Lola's Cajun Soul Food Kitchen. It's small inside, but Lola has a huge heart. We were the only customers at one point, so while we ate Lola told us her story.

She was once a depressed, alcoholic, but then she found Jesus. She now runs this restaurant all on her own - no cook or server. She even closes on Sundays to feed the homeless. She sells crafts made by a convict whose serving a life sentence. He donates the items to her, and she sells them for her ministry to the homeless. Sometimes customers leave a little extra to help, too. 

She told us that at one point she had a light bill that was $350, and she only had $150. She figured she didn't have enough to pay the bill, so she gave the money away. Then, a customer came in and left her a check for $500. She says the Lord is the one taking care of her, and He's gonna do a better job than anyone else!

She's got a big heart, but she's tough, too! She got the name Nubian when she first opened her cafe. A few guys came in and tried to steal some money from her. She told them she needed it worse than they did! They laughed, told her they just wanted to see if she could make it in this neighborhood, and gave her the name Nubian. It means warrior.

All that, and the food was amazing! I had crawfish etouffee with greens, corn, and cornbread. I swear it melted in my mouth! I can't begin to imagine how much butter and salt is in there, but it's worth it! I would imagine it's the best cajun food and the best soul-food to be had in Austin.

The cafe is at 1815 Rosewood Avenue, and is open Mon-Sat 9-9.





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2 comments:

Kaely said...

I'm so glad y'all went and tried it! Too cool! Maybe next time we are there we can all go.

Brooke said...

yes, we've been wanting to go for a long time...went once and it looked full inside so we left...heard the seating was VERY minimal.